Direct or indirect vaping: What is it? How to choose ?
When you arrive in front of a shop or on an electronic cigarette website, you look at the equipment in the window and say to yourself: “But why so many different models?! I just want to quit smoking!”
So today I’m going to try to help you make this choice or at least point you in the right direction, let’s start at the beginning and see together what is the difference between direct and indirect draw…
What is my vaping style?
There are two ways to vape: direct or indirect draw. This divides the choice of models that will be offered to you into two.
The indirect draw is mostly suitable for beginner vapers, or confirmed vapers, who want to find their traditional cigarette. That is to say that we will aspire in the same way as a traditional cigarette: in two stages. You will first inhale the vapour into your mouth and then swallow it into your lungs. This is called indirect (or MTL in English for Mouth To Lungs).
The straight draw, as the name suggests, is a “one-shot” draw (like on a straw) without passing through the mouth.
It is rare for beginners to risk themselves with this type of product. Unless of course if you’ve already tried it on someone else’s or if you’re a shisha lover…
If you are looking for a large volume of vapour and want to enjoy the unlimited flavours offered by the world of electronic cigarettes, this is the kind of model you need because it is designed for!
Practising indirect draw on devices not designed for this purpose could cause leaks, burn out your resistance much more quickly than expected or quite simply produce steam that is much too hot.
How to recognize the draw on a tank?
On a tank with the indirect draft, the part where you put the mouth called Drip-tip is similar to the diameter of the filter of your cigarette and the air inlet also called Airflow has small holes to be able to reduce or increase the resistance to the suction. The tank in the photo above is an indirect draw tank.
On a direct draft device, the airflow will not be restricted by small holes. It will be completely open to allow homogeneous air circulation and also come to cool the resistance, because yes it heats up… The powers necessary for the use of this kind of tank are different. The Drip Tip will be much wider to allow the steam to escape easily. The tank in the photo opposite has a direct draw.
Warning: Avoid reducing the diameter of the drip tip because if the vapour escapes badly it will cause leaks and/or a risk that the liquid will go back into your mouth.
In conclusion: If you are looking for a large volume of vapour or you are a confirmed vaper, you can go for a direct draw. However, if you are looking for the same draw as a cigarette, with a volume of vapour equivalent to that of a traditional cigarette, then we advise you to choose an indirect draw instead.
Thank you for reading this article! I hope it has helped you!