Last updated: November 20, 2023

Vaping Jargon Buster

There’s a lot of ‘new’ terms thanks to Vaping, some are totally self-explanatory while some leave even the most knowledgeable vapers scratching their heads. If you’ve ever wondered what an RBA Build Deck is, or ever been confused over what an AIO kit is and why you should care, we’re here to help. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of all the vaping terms we could think of with an easy to understand explanation. Simply click the term below and get yourself in the know!

A 510 Connector is the name for the universal connection thread on the bottom of your tank which you screw into the mod. Since most Tanks use a 510 Connector, it means you can add most Tanks to most Mods with no issues.

50/50 is a term used to describe E Liquid that comes in an equal ratio of 50% VG to 50% PG. 50/50 E Liquids combine the smooth sensation and vapour production of VG E liquids, with the flavour production of High PG E Liquids.

70/30 is a term used to describe High VG E Liquid that comes in a ratio of 70% VG to 30% PG. 70/30 E Liquids are designed for use in Sub Ohm Vape Kits, the High VG content allows for an extremely smooth vape and allows the production of large vapour clouds when you exhale. Ideal for Cloud Chasers.

80/20 is a term used to describe High PG E Liquid that comes in a ratio of 80% PG to 20% VG. 80/20 E Liquids are designed for use in Vape Pens and Starter Kits, the High PG ratio delivers exceptional flavour but has a higher Throat Hit and produces less vapour than 50/50 or 70/30 E Liquids.

An AIO (All In One) device simply means a Vape Kit that have some (or all) of its components built into the Vape Kit itself. AIO Devices can be Vape Pens, Starter Kits or POD Systems. These kits minimise the required maintenance for your device, and eliminates the need for battery knowledge which is extremely important in the more advanced kits with removable batteries.

The Atmoiser refers to the coil itself, though it can sometimes also refer to the tank and coil together.

An All Day Vape (ADV) is either an E Liquid that tastes so good, you can vape it all day long. It can also refer to a Vape Device that performs well enough to last an entire day on a single full charge.

The Build refers to home-made coils once they’ve had wicking material added to them. The complete coil is known as the Build.

Cartomizers are the screw-in refill cartridges for your Starter Kit. These are some of the original E Cig designs and aren’t as readily available anymore.

A Vape Coil is a length of resistance wire (primarily Kanthal or Nichrome) which is wrapped in a ‘coil’ around wicking material (usually cotton). When E Liquid is added to the coil, the wicking material soaks up the E Liquid. Activating the battery makes the coil heat up which in turn vaporizes (turns the liquid to vapour) the E Liquid soaked inside the wicking material.

In vaping, clouds refer to the vapour that’s exhaled due to the physical similarity.

Mods have a ‘cut-off’ feature which is safety mechanism that prevents batteries from being active for too long. The battery will be forced to stop firing after a set amount of time to ensure the device is safe, doesn’t overheat, and the batteries don’t overload.

A Cloud Chaser is a Vaper who wants to create the biggest clouds of vapour possible. Cloud Chasers will use Sub Ohm or Rebuildable coils with 70/30 E Liquids, these coils and E Liquids are extremely smooth which allows you to intake massive amounts of vapour which, in turn, allows you to chase those clouds.

A Clearomizer is a smaller Vape Tank for use with Vape Pens and Starter Kits.

A Deck is the area on a Rebuildable tank where you install your Coil/Wicking Material.

A Drip Tip is the resin mouthpiece that attaches to your tank, which you inhale from.

If you fire your Vape Kit and inhale before the E Liquid has soaked into the coil, or if you run out of E Liquid and take a hit, you’ll inhale the unpleasant taste of burning cotton. This is totally safe, however disgusting it may taste. Once the taste has gone you’ll be totally fine, but you’ll most likely remember to not take a dry hit in the future.

Dry Burning is a method of extending a coil’s lifespan by burning off any excess material. This is more common with Rebuildable coils, but can be achieved with any tank that has a adjustable airflow. Simply fire the Vape Kit (ensuring the airflow is fully open) and gently blow into the tank instead of inhaling. This will (sometimes) clear the cotton of some impurities and improve the coil’s flavour production.

Direct To Lung is a term for vapers who inhale directly to their lungs, instead of drawing the vapour into their mouth and then inhaling. DTL tanks are usually Sub Ohm or Rebuildable.

An eGo connector is an alternative connection type to the 510. Usually used on Starter Kits, this type of connector is rarely applied to modern Vape Kits.

E Liquid (Vape Juice, eJuice etc.) is the substance you put into your Vape Tank which is vaporised and then inhaled. E Liquid is made from a mix of VG (Vegetable Glycerin), PG (Propylene Glycol) and nicotine, unless the E Liquid is a 0mg Shortfill E Liquid of course.

A Mechanical Mod has no circuitry or electronics whatsoever beyond a simple circuit. When the button or switch is activated it completes the circuit and activates the attached Atomiser. Because of this, Mechanical Mods are only recommended for advanced users with a working knowledge of Ohms Law.

MG (milligram) is a unit of measurement which refers to the amount of Nicotine per ML (milliliter) or E Liquid. For example, a 10ml E Liquid at 6mg strength will contain 6 milligrams of nicotine (or 0.6% of the total volume). An 18mg strength E Liquid in a 10ml bottle will be 1.8% nicotine, and so on

The Mod is the bottom part of the Vape Kit, in which the batteries are placed and the fire button is located. The term Mod is usually use to describe the more powerful Vape Kits which use powerful removable batteries such as 18650’s.

mAh is short for milliampere-hour. This relates to the capacity (or the charge) that a battery will hold. simply put, the higher the mAh rating, the longer the battery will last between charges.

Mouth To Lung (MTL) is a term for vapers who draw the vapour into their mouths before inhaling, much like the way most people inhale cigarette smoke. Most MTL vapers will use a Starter Kit, Vape Pen or POD System as Sub Ohm kits are designed to intake more vapour, which requires a DTL technique.

Nic is simply a shortening for the term Nicotine.

Nic Shots are flavourless bottles of E Liquid which contain freebase nicotine (the standard nicotine in all E Liquids). Nic Shots are designed to be mixed with 0mg (nicotine free) Shortfill E Liquids, so you can buy more E Liquid at a lower price simply by adding your own Nicotine to the mix.

Nic Salt (Nicotine Salt/Salt Nic) is a type of E Liquid made from the naturally occurring Nicotine Salts in tobacco leaves. Read our Nic Salt Guide for detailed information.

Nic Salt Shots are the same as Nic Shots, but they’re made with Nicotine Salt instead of Freebase nicotine.

Ohm’s are the standard units of measurement for electrical resistance. The Ohm resistance of your coil will determine what heat/wattage your device needs to be set to in order to vaporise the E-Liquid and produce the vapour. Lower Ohm coils will require higher temperatures to vaporise, while coils above 1ohm will require much less power to work correctly.

POD Kits (POD Systems, POD Devices, Vape PODs) are the newest design of E Cigs. These innovative kits are compact AIO devices which utilise plastic Pods instead of a Coil/Tank combination. The Pods are refillable and house the coil/wicking material, which means when your coil has expired you simply just replace the Pod (removing all the hassle of replacing your coils and cleaning your tank).

Propylene Glycol (PG) is an organic compound sometimes used as a food additive, but it’s been mainly used as a carrier for medicines that require inhalation (like asthma inhalers and nebulisers). PG has been used in this way for nearly 60 years and as such is known to be completely safe to inhale, and is an ideal carrier for flavour. This is why High PG E Liquid has a much stronger flavour than 50/50 or High VG E Liquid. PG is naturally thinner than VG too, as such it should only be used with coils above 1ohm (such as those found in Starter Kits, Vape Pens and POD Devices). Using High PG E Liquid with a Sub Ohm coil would lead to leakages.

Rebuildable Atomizers are the next step from Sub Ohm devices. There are three kinds of RBAs, RDA (Rebuildable Dripping Atomiser), RTA (Rebuildable Tank Atomisers) and RDTA (Rebuildable Dripper Tank Atomiser) which are explained in detail below. RDAs require you to build your own coil and add your own wicking material. All RDAs will have a deck on which to complete your build. You can purchase pre-made coils too, but you still need to add your own cotton (wick) to the coils.

RDAs (Rebuildable Dripper Atomisers) take Cloud Chasing to a whole new level. RDAs don’t use tanks in the same way regular kits do, they work by dripping a few drops of E Liquid directly on to the coil in order to soak the wicking material. This kind of vaping requires you to re-apply the E Liquid after every two or three hits which, while it can be annoying and time consuming, ensures the absolute best flavour and cloud production (and gives you the ability to change your flavour as much as you like).

Rebuildable Tank Atomisers (RTAs) are similar to Sub Ohm Tanks but utilise rebuildable coils instead of pre-made ones. RTAs are used in the same way as Sub Ohm kits by filling up the tank directly. This makes RTAs easier to use and less fiddly than RDAs, but it comes with a performance hit and makes it more difficult to complete the Build (since there’s a lot more to work with).

Rebuildable Dripper Atomiser Tanks (RDTAs) don’t require you to drip your E Liquid directly onto the coil like RDAs, they utilise Tanks in the same way as RTAs. The ‘Dripper’ element refers to the fact these kits use the same deck which allows for easier coil swapping and building. While RDTAs may be an upgrade from an RTA, most RDA users will agree the flavour/vapour production will always be greater in a pure RDA.

Resistance refers to the coils resistance, or ohm.

Starter Kits are usually Vape Pen style kits that come with an internal (non-removable) battery, spare coils, spare parts and an E Liquid.

Sub Ohm refers to a coil which has a resistance lower than 1 ohm.

The Tank is the top part of the Vape Kit in which you insert the coils and E Liquid.

The term ‘throat hit’ refers to the feeling on the back of your throat when you vape.

TPD stands for the Tobacco Products Directive which acts as the EU’s regulatory framework on tobacco and vape products. Rules put in place by the TPD mean that no product containing nicotine is permitted to exceed 20mg of nicotine/ml, while tanks are also capped at 2ml. .

The term ‘Vaping’ refers to the act of inhaling the vaporised liquid inside the Tank.

Vegetable Glycerin (Glycerol) is a clear, odorless liquid produced from plant oils, such as soy, palm or coconut. VG is used in a variety of foods and cosmetic products. E-Liquid with a higher proportion of VG produce thicker clouds of vapour and are smoother on your throat, meaning they’re ideal for higher-powered sub-ohm devices.

A Vape Pen is simply a Vape Kit in the shape of a Pen.

Vapour refers to the substance exhaled when vaping.

Vent Holes are found on the Tank and allow the user to increase or decrease their airflow, allowing for a smoother or tighter vaping experience.

A Variable Voltage device allows the user to change the voltage output, refining how strong the hit is.

Variable Wattage (VW) refers to a Vape Kit or Device that has the option to modify the wattage (power) output of the Mod. This allows you to refine your vaping experience by increasing the heat at which the E Liquid is vaporised. The higher the wattage, the more vapour is produced and the harsher the throat hit is.

Wicking Material is usually high grade cotton. In pre-made coils, the coil is wrapped around the wicking material. In DIY coils, the wicking material is carefully inserted into the coil once it’s been built.