The History of Vaping
Although vaping is seen as a modern technology that came to be a few decades ago, the fact is vaping dates back centuries ago. The difference between vaping in the past and the present is the purpose and devices. In ancient times, vaping was done for enjoyment and healing. Enjoyment overlaps with the present purpose, and in addition, it is practiced as a substitute for smoking cigarettes. The evolution of vaping devices has occurred gradually into different levels of sophistication over the years.
The idea of inhaling flavored smoke did not start now. Ancient Egyptians would heat herbs and spices over hot stones and inhale the vapor.
According to Vaporesso, Shishas appeared in North Africa in the fifth century. They were long pipes used to inhale tobacco. Indians had Hookah, their version of Shisha, which is still famous in India and the Middle East. In Kenya, smoking shisha is popular. You will find shisha pens, bongs and vape pens for sale at major e-cigarettes shops in Kenya.
Important Dates for Vaping Devices
1930 – The earliest documented reference of an electronic cigarette. The patent was granted to Joseph Robinson who filed it in 1927, but the device was never commercialized. No information of ever manufacturing even a prototype of this device.
1960 – Herbert A. Gilbert created the vaping device closely resembling modern-day e-cigs but did not commercialize it. He created prototypes that are unclearly pointed to never including nicotine.
1979 – Phil Ray and his physician Norman Jacobson created the first commercialized e-cigarette, but was technically not electronic because it relied on the evaporation of nicotine. They performed the first formal research on nicotine delivery but their device was not a promising technology for nicotine delivery. However, they introduced the term “vape”, which is used to date.
The 1980s through 2000s – During this period, numerous patents for nicotine inhaler devices were filed by companies and individual inventors. The 90s saw a flurry of activity in developing e-cigarettes. Although many relied on nicotine evaporation or mechanical propulsion, a few designs were fairly similar to modern vaping devices.
2003 – Finally, a winning design of an e-cigarette was made in Beijing, China by a pharmacist named Hon Lik, an inventor, and a smoker. His father, who was a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer, which made him desperate to quit smoking. It was then that the idea of using vapor came to be. His design used a small battery and a chipset that produced vaper and mimicked cigarette smoking.
Lik’s device was named Ruyan, which means “little smoke”. The device became a popular alternative to smoking and spread to Europe and the Middle East.
Decades Later – The next decade saw a rise in several designs of vaping devices. Different E-liquids companies blasted the market with their vape juice flavors. E-cigarettes gained popularity, and celebrities endorsed them. Hundreds of companies sprang up and introduced their versions and designs, presenting them in different colors and designs to make them fashionable.
As vaping popularity grew, vaping devices evolved from cig-a-likes to disposable vapes and other vape pen devices, then box mods, and finally the most recent pod systems or pod mods.
Vaping Today – Today’s vaping devices are highly sophisticated, powerful, and available in many designs. You have a wide variety to choose from. Different vaping devices are suitable for different levels of vapers. There are vapes best for beginners and sophisticated devices for experienced vapers.
Pod mods continue to be the top-selling vaping devices since they are the most recent and with the greatest power and technology.
Will vaping devices continue to stay in the market?
The direction vaping is taking now gives it the possibility to have a long life in the market. The only cause of exit from the market would be through government policy. Currently, vaping continues to gain popularity and is legalized in many countries. Throughout history, vaporizers gained popularity due to the use of a good number of harmless inhalants, some of which are even used for medical purposes and in food.
Companies continue manufacturing different types of vaporizers in different levels of sophistication. Thanks to research and development teams in various companies, you get e-cigarettes with the latest features regularly and with improved efficiency. At Vape Lab, we source for you’re the best vaping devices from all over the world that will give you the experience you deserve.
The vaping experience has progressively advanced from simple to sophisticate over the years. Now that you know how vaping came to be, let’s take you deeper into learning more about modern vaping. Check out our article about MTL, DTL and Sub-ohm Vaping methods. You will learn more about the modern devices and how they operate.