I never have come up with the exact stuff needed to completely stop smoking cigs myself... but of the many people I have got started with vaping, only 3 others that I know of still smoke them. I have however, cut my smoking down, so that is something in itself. I've also seen a considerable cost savings due to that which allows me to redirect funds formally used for buying cigs... to getting the juice/equipment to help aid me in smoking even less.
I have a thought ( for it to be a theory, it'd require a study I'm unwilling to do
) that if a smoker is mostly trying to get a fix for their nicotine habit only... they will more than likely succeed unlike those like myself where the habit is much more than just getting nicotine. In fact, I find that when I'm in situations such as visiting family ( that don't smoke ), I really don't find I have much of a craving at all to speak of. So my own habit isn't about the nic... it's everything else that draws me to smoking.
I might suggest that for your wife... ask her to actually pay attention to what it is that she is liking about it as she is smoking. Is it the tobacco flavor, the thickness of the smoke, the thoat hit/feel, how it feels going into her lungs and those types of things. For me, it is about all of those.
Flavor... I do like the other non-tobacco flavors but they don't provide any real satisfaction or substitute for the flavor of tobacco. Of the tobacco's I've had... the synthetic flavors ( which is what most carry ) don't cut it or even taste properly... it takes a naturally extracted tobacco to bring any real satisfaction for me. The absolute best most accurate ciggy tobacco ( minus the burning taste ) I have found is available from NET.com... aka
www.Naturally-Extracted-Tobacco.com, e-liquids for electronic cigarettes ... it's the Big Spirit which is extracted from American Spirit tobacco. They also carry a couple of Nat Sherman extracted versions ( the NS ones ) as well as some french style customs hybrids. There area also pipe and cigar extracts as well that are really nice and get great reviews. Their available payment options differ from many online vendors at this time... but they aren't much of a hassle and the products are well worth it.
Getting the right nic value can also make quite a difference... I'm vaping 5-6mg and find that plenty but not for the nic, but instead it's about getting the proper throat hit and also the flavor comes across better. I also keep hearing that if you are making clouds... you can drop your nic even further. A light cig will have between 6mg to 11mg nic typically... a regular ciggy will be 12mg to 18mg... heavy ( ie Pall Mall etc ) smokers may want/need a 24mg.... oh and ultra lights are probably in the 3-6mg range.
Vapor thickness and feel really plays a big role for me. With a cigarette, the thickness isn't much of a factor... but when vaping I find I need it to be thicker/fuller and I'm vaping 70VG/30PG almost exclusively. Others may find the flavor and throat hit drops too much with the heavier VG liquids... if so then a higher PG value may be in order.
The mod will also make a difference. Some like the simplicity and size of an eGo style but I find them limiting the power I want too much. If going with an eGo type... do get the VV version so she can crank up/down the power to her own liking. I personally don't care for the PWM regulated mods much anymore since they tend to make the vape harsher... if going with a regulated mod, spend a little more and get something with the DNA style chips in it ( either the original Evolve's or the China knock offs ). If the PWM doesn't bother you or you just need a more cost effective one... a lot of folks are liking the iSticks and they are certainly inexpensive. I certainly don't recommend the ciggy style stick mods since they don't have enough power ( but are handy for out and about )... or a mech mod for any newbie. In fact... I see a lot of mech mod users now switching to the DNA style mods since they now have more power than they needed in a mech available and have the flexibility that mechs have never had.
