How to pick vape nicotine strength without overshooting it.

It's just milligrams per millilitre. A 20 mg/mL bottle has 20 mg of nicotine in every 1 mL of juice. A 30 mL bottle of 20 mg holds 600 mg of nicotine total. The number on the label is the only one you need to track. Everything else is folklore.

Same number, different feel. Salt nicotine sits softly in the throat even at high strength, which is why disposables and pod kits use it. Freebase nicotine at 20 mg is harsh enough to make most people cough on the first pull. The chemistry changes how fast it absorbs and how it lands. Comparing salt and freebase by milligrams alone is the most common mistake we see in the shop.

Salt nic is the same nicotine molecule with citric acid bonded to it. The acid lowers the pH, which is what makes high mg drinkable. It's what cigarettes used to feel like before they were re-engineered.

Freebase is the older raw form. Big tank kits use it at low mg (3 to 6) because the device delivers more vapour per pull, so you don't need much nicotine per millilitre. It's harsher at high mg because it has nothing to soften it.

Two rules cover most cases: if your device is small, it wants salt. If it's a tank kit on a mod, it wants freebase.

20 mg salt — strong; pack-a-day smokers settle here.

10 mg salt — moderate; half-a-pack habits, or stepping down from 20.

5 mg salt — light; tapering, or a social vaper who wants something to register.

0 mg salt — flavour only.

6 mg freebase — sub-ohm strong (lots of vapour delivers lots of nicotine per pull).

3 mg freebase — sub-ohm everyday strength.

0 mg freebase — flavour chasers, hobbyist cloud builds.

Pack a day, start at 20 mg salt. Half a pack, try 10 mg. A few cigarettes a week, 5 mg. Never smoked but want some kick, 0 to 5 mg. Walk it up or down one step at a time. Most people end up back where they started by week two, which is the point.

Pod kit or disposable: salt nicotine, usually 10 to 20 mg. Tank kit on a mod: freebase, usually 3 to 6 mg. The wrong chemistry on the wrong device feels wrong. A sub-ohm tank with 20 mg salt will make you cough hard. A pod kit with 3 mg freebase will feel like vapour-flavoured air. If the salesperson sells you both at once, double-check it's the right pairing.

Two signals: a tight feeling in the chest, or a wave of lightheadedness a minute after a heavier pull. Both mean you went a strength too high for your habit. Drop one step. Don't tough it out — too much makes you vape less, not more, and the nicotine doesn't settle for an hour.

Common mistake. A customer buys 3 mg salt because they want to cut back, then chain-vapes a 30 mL bottle in a day trying to feel something. They end up using more nicotine, not less, and the kit gets thrashed faster. Pick the strength that satisfies in two or three pulls. Step down later, once the habit itself eases.

Not on a schedule. When the current strength feels stronger than you need — when a single pull lasts longer than it used to, or you forget you're vaping for an hour — that's the signal. Drop to the next step and give it two weeks before deciding whether to step again. Some people stay at 20 mg salt forever. Some land at 5 mg and stop. Both are fine.

Buying 3 mg salt nic to 'cut back', then chain-vaping it.

Putting salt nic in a sub-ohm tank. Coughs hard.

Putting freebase in a pod kit. Tastes harsh, feels weak.

Comparing 20 mg salt and 20 mg freebase by the label number.

Stepping down too fast and ending up irritable for a week.

Pack-a-day, first vape: 20 mg salt in a pod kit.

Cutting back from 20 mg: 10 mg for at least two weeks before deciding.

Sub-ohm tank kit on a mod: 6 mg freebase, dropping to 3 mg once you're settled.

Want flavour, no nicotine: 0 mg salt in whatever kit you already have.

Bring it back if it doesn't feel right. We've swapped strengths plenty of times for plenty of regulars.