How to make Bigger Clouds
For a lot of people, getting into vaping means having a healthier alternative to cigarettes above anything else. Vaping is a means to an end and that end is to quit the habit, without suddenly removing that nicotine hit.
If you’re included in this demographic, chasing clouds may have been the furthest thing from your mind when you started. But now that you’ve embraced the vaping lifestyle, it’s more than just a simple stress reliever.
You’ve found yourself as part of a community, comprised of experienced vapers who can blow big, billowy vapours and pull off the coolest tricks. It looks fun (and it is), so you want to get in on the action and make bigger clouds.
Without getting too deep into the more advanced methods, like rebuilding your own mods, this guide will help you get started with cloud chasing.
1. Vape Tank
There are a couple of variables to the type of tank you can use for blowing big clouds. One such factor is size. The bigger the tank, the more e-liquid it can hold; the more e-liquid you can vaporise, the bigger the clouds you can blow. You will also be able to cloud-chase for longer without refilling.
The material also matters. Glass or Pyrex is a must to withstand the level of heat your device will be producing when blowing big clouds.
Sub ohm tanks have these qualities built in, and they’re pretty much what cloud chasers use. These are tanks with a coil resistance below 1.0 ohms.
2. Coil Build
Your device’s coil resistance has a significant effect on how much vapour you can produce and how fast you can do so. The rule of thumb is the lower the resistance, the more vapour you can exhale at a speedier rate. Low resistance vape coils are thus the preferred choice for cloud chasers. Coils with a resistance rating above 1.0 ohms can still be used to blow big clouds, as long as there is enough power and the wick is durable enough to withstand high heat.
Size also matters. Coils with bigger wires take longer to heat up than those with thinner wires. Experienced cloud chasers opt to go with a dual coil setup with very thin wires. The ultra-low resistance and increased surface area make for even bigger vapour production. There are even coil builds that have triple and quadruple coils for those who want to get the most clouds out of their devices. It might take longer to ready the coil, but when cloud chasing is the goal, patience is a virtue.
How you position your wick can play a role in cloud production as well. With low-resistance coils, you can tuck the wick below or behind the coil to optimise the vaporisation of your e-liquid. It helps to cut both ends of your wick and fluff them out before tucking.
3. Device Settings
The two important settings you need to tune properly are airflow and power:
Airflow
Making big clouds requires a lot of power, which produces extreme heat. Airflow is what keeps your device’s coil cool, preventing your wick from burning from the intense heat production. The cooling process also condenses the vapour being produced, making it look thicker when exhaled.
The introduction of more airflow over your coil also helps create more vapour. When vaporising e-liquid, the air above the coil is filled with vapour. Allowing “fresh air” that isn’t yet saturated with vapour to come in means even more space for vapour to fill.
Another effect of more air is puffing out the exhaled vapour. With the right balance of condensation and air, your clouds will be the perfect mix of size and thickness.
Power
As mentioned earlier, cloud chasing requires a lot of power. Vaping at 50 W results in bigger clouds compared to vaping at 20 W, provided the tank and e-liquid are the same between both devices.
And as also said before, the higher the power output means the hotter the coil gets. This is why you don’t just crank up your power usage to the highest level.
Sub-ohm tanks are made for power use, so you can choose to increase the power when chasing clouds. However, be careful not to go beyond a coil’s suggested power settings. Just because the tank itself is rated for high power doesn’t necessarily mean the coil can match it.
Just one of the cool tricks you can pull off with bigger clouds.
4. Battery Type
To fuel your cloud-chasing sessions, your vape needs the right set of batteries. Generally speaking, you want high-power batteries. The stronger the batteries, the bigger the clouds you can exhale for much longer.
Fixed voltage batteries should be good enough for starters with simple vape devices. There are regulated box mods that allow the user to adjust how much voltage and wattage they want to use with their batteries for a customised vaping experience. Going down this route can lead to producing larger clouds, alongside a smoother hit.
With regulated box mods, you can fine-tune how much power you get out of your batteries either through the wattage or voltage. Variable wattage is the preferred choice for maximising cloud production. It is more consistent performance-wise even if you’re using different coils.
If you do have a regulated box mod, start with a low wattage. Check the recommended wattage range for your coil, and set your wattage somewhere at the bottom end of that range. If the drags you’re taking aren’t too hot or dry, increase the wattage. Repeat until you hit your comfort limit. At the higher end of your coil’s suggested wattage range, you should be blowing huge clouds.
Sub ohm tanks should be paired with batteries that have a high discharge rating to match the low resistance coils. A high continuous discharge limit is a must for a mod with a separate battery. With a defined limit you can reference, you’ll be able to chase clouds safely.
5. E-liquid
E-liquids are typically made with a mixture of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG). The amount of PG and VG in an e-liquid determines how smooth a drag will be and how much vapour you will exhale.
Remember: PG affects the throat hit, while VG affects the quantity and quality of vapour.
A 50/50 split between PG and VG can be enough to produce big clouds while still having enough of a kick when you inhale.
However, if you are going for even larger clouds, choose an e-liquid with more VG. The higher VG content leads to more concentrated vapour. A 70:30 ratio of VG to PG is perfect for cloud chasing. Just keep in mind that tanks not built for sub ohm vaping can have trouble dealing with thick vape juices.
Another important thing to consider is that the more vapour you make, the more nicotine you will end up consuming. If you want to puff big clouds, factor in the nicotine strength of the e-liquid you’re buying.
Too much nicotine in one vape session can be rough on your throat and make you nauseous. 0.6% to 0.3% nicotine e-liquids are better for sub ohm vaping to avoid taking amounts of nicotine that you’re no longer comfortable with.
6. Inhaling/Exhaling Technique
All the right equipment and fine-tuning in the world won’t do you any good in your quest to chase clouds if you aren’t inhaling and exhaling the vapour properly.
The first thing you need to do is to stop using the “mouth-to-lung” inhalation method that most regular vapers and smokers do. This way of inhaling makes it so that the vapour starts dissipating in your mouth before it even gets to your lung. It’s a slow and soft way of sucking in vapour that results in less-than-impressive clouds. With a sub ohm device, you’ll just be coughing instead of cloud chasing.
The direct-to-lung inhalation method is the way to go. This requires you to inhale fast and hard. By doing so, you minimise vapour dissipation and allow air to cool the coil, preventing a hot, harsh throat hit. Exhale slowly to keep the cloud from thinning out. It might take some time getting used to, and there’s a chance you will cough your first couple of tries. But with enough practice, you will be blowing big, beautiful clouds.
If you need help picking out the right device and build to produce bigger clouds, give us a call at 01179 669309 or email us at info@superiorvapour.com.