Here we’ll discuss the history of vaping. From its roots to where we are now and everything in between. It’s going to take some hella research but I’m up for it if you are.
Technically, like a lot of things, vaping probably started in ancient Egypt. They used to use hot stones to create vapour from dry herbs. I don’t think they’d quite discovered sub ohm vaping by that point though, the Baghdad batteries wouldn’t push out nearly enough amps.
1927 – On the 3rd of May 1927, Joseph Robinson filed a patent for a “Mechanical Butane Ignition Vaporizer”. Although the patent was granted in 1930, the product was never actually brought to market. Looks like something I found under my sisters’ bed.
1963 – Herbert A. Gilbert is credited with patenting the first device that resembles vaping as we know it today. The patent was granted in 1965, but again, the product was never actually brought to market.
1979 – Phil Ray, who is accredited with fathering the microprocessor, worked with his personal physician, Norman Jacobson, to create the first commercialized variation of e-cigarette. Strictly speaking wasn’t an e-cigarette at all as it wasn’t actually electronic but rather it relied on evaporation of the nicotine. They performed the first formal research into nicotine delivery. Whilst the product reached major retailers, it never really caught on as it was a bit pants by the looks of it. Fun fact – Phil Ray apparently managed the Apollo program. In some ways he’s the antithesis of me. Can’t build an ecig for toffee, but he can get people on the moon.
2003 – Hon Lik created the first commercially successful electronic cigarette. He was a 52 year old pharmacist and inventor from Beijing, China who reportedly created the device after his father died from lung cancer. He named his company Ruyan, meaning – like smoke. After plenty of research and trial and error, Hon Lik released his smoking alternative to the public in 2004.
2006 – E-cigarettes are imported into Europe. And so it begins. Shortly after, also imported into the USA.
2006 – Umer and Tariq Sheikh invented the cartomizer. Two brothers based in the UK made the breakthrough and the design is now widely adopted by most “cigalike” brands. They launched this new device in the UK in 2008 under their Gamucci brand.
2007 – The company Kangertech was established. Whilst they had many other popular products beforehand, it was the Protank, released in 2013, which really put them on the map.
2007 – Ludo Timmermans created the RY4 flavour for Dekang. RY4 was one of the first e-liquid flavours to gain major popularity. Originally named after the e-cigarette inventors company name, Ruyan, presumably there were three failed variations that preceded it.
2009 – Joyetech developed the Joye eGo cigarette picture below.
2009 – Squonking was invented by Carlos49 of the E-CigaretteForum (ECF). Shortly after, The REO which was created by another ECF member, Robert O’Neil, was commercialized to great acclaim in the world of vaping.
2010 – The company Smok was established. Also known as Smoktech, it is the flagship brand of Shenzhen IVPS Technology Corporation Ltd. Located in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, the global manufacturing centre of vaping. In 2011, they released the industry’s first dual-coil cartomizer and in 2015 they released the incredibly popular TFV4 sub ohm tank.
2014 – Aspire released the Atlantis tank. The first sub ohm tank available that you could buy premade (stock) coils for.
2015 – Public Health England e-cigarettes evidence review is published which states that e-cigarettes are found to be at least 95% safer than traditional cigarettes. Here’s a link to the updated review
Leave a reply