Hello Vaping101,

I'll cut to the chase:

I am looking to get a friend a starter vaping kit and I need advice. Also please forgive me for potential terminology errors.

I already have a KangerTech EVOD2 that I got for free at the vape shop I stopped at (hooray for promotions). First questions on cost of use and the vaping device itself:

• Is the EVOD a good starter? It was free which you can't beat for price but I do not want to give it as a gift if it is junk. The recipient is looking to try vaping so I want to know if this would give a good idea of whether vaping is for him or not. (What I am trying to avoid is getting something like those cheap pen-style gas station e-cigs that give a lesser experience and might put him off to vaping based on the observation that 'bottom tier vaping < regular cigarettes'. Will the EVOD experience be night and day different from a pricier atomizer or will it just be a small step down?).
• If he smokes one cigarette every two hours or so, please roughly estimate the juice usage (in mL) in a week or month. (Just want a ballpark for cost of ownership/use estimate).
• What other consumables are anticipated besides juice? The EVOD battery is rechargeable, will that last a year? 3 months? I know the coils need to be replaced. Any idea how many mL of juice can be consumed before the coil will require changing? Any tips for the cheapest way to buy coils in reasonable bulk? Any other consumables I'm missing?

The recipient intends to use vaping as a way to step down his dependency provided he actually enjoys vaping. With that in mind, I have some juice/e-liquid questions:

• Are there any brands that will provide a Certificate of Analysis (COA) with purchase upon request (Don't know if this is a reasonable request, I have a background in chemistry and would love to be able to look at the flavoring composition and also see from the COA that the PG, VG, and nicotine were pure)?
• What is considered a high, typical, and low ratio of VG:PG?
• Do vape shops allow for any sampling in-shop? Could a new user try a few different juices in their vaporizer to find what they like before making a purchase or do you have to purchase small sampler bottles first?

Would the following be a good kit for the intended application?:

• The EVOD2 vaporizer
• Three high-nicotine (18mg/mL), similarly flavored (probably flavorless or maybe cigarette flavor if that exists) juices, one with higher VG content, one with higher PG content, and one in the middle to allow the user to determine his preference for feel to get the proper 'throat hit' as he starts out vaping
• Three flavored juices stepping down the nicotine content so that he can determine what concentration he would want to start at and also to show what the flavors are like. I would choose one fruity flavor and at least one caramel/vanilla type flavor. The third flavor probably a mint flavor.
• Some coil replacements to get him through a couple months of use.

Backstory: I am very close with my girlfriend's family (have known them for ~9 years, been dating for ~3). I get along really well with her father who has been a user of cigarettes for decades and has quit a few times only to start up within 4-8 weeks due to work culture. He's actively trying to quit and recently during our board game night I mentioned coworkers of mine who had switched to vaping and he expressed interest in using vaping as a way to step down his nicotine dependency and eventually quit altogether. His hesitance comes from concerns about the initial investment and that he might end up not liking it and therefore could waste money trying it out (he is quite frugal, rolls his own cigarettes). I decided to remove the economic barrier by getting him a starter kit for Christmas so he can try it out and see if he likes it. I will be making it very clear to him that there is no pressure from me to take up vaping or even quit via the vaping route, I just want him to have an opportunity to try it and if it doesn't work out I won't be disappointed. To me the gift I am providing is not the vape equipment, but the opportunity to try something that he might otherwise not try due to the cost.

TLDR: I am trying to gift someone everything they need to give vaping a try and obtained a free KangerTech EVOD2. Is this a good vaping device to start out with? What other things should I include in a starter kit besides the vaporizer itself?

Thanks to all for your advice!