First Vape Kit Checklist: Everything You Need to Buy (and Skip)
Buying your first vape setup should cost £40–£60 and take ten minutes. In practice, plenty of people either under-buy (one device, one bottle, no spares then panic when the pod dies on day nine) or over-buy (a drawer of gadgets they'll never use). This checklist sorts the essentials from the optional extras, with realistic UK prices for each.
If you want the full background on switching from cigarettes inhaling technique, how vaping compares with smoking, the rules read our beginner's guide to starting vaping first. This article is purely the shopping list.
The five things you actually need
1. A refillable pod kit £10–£25
This is the device itself: a rechargeable battery with a pod that holds the e-liquid and coil. For a first kit, you want three qualities simple, MTL-friendly (the tight, cigarette-like draw), and from a brand whose replacement pods are easy to buy anywhere.
The kits we point most first-timers towards come from Vaporesso (the XROS range), OXVA (the Xlim range) and Voopoo. All three tick every box: no settings to fiddle with, pods sold in every UK vape shop, and solid build quality at the price.
What to check on the product page:
- USB-C charging. Standard on anything current; avoid the odd older kit still using micro-USB.
- Battery of 800mAh or more if you're out all day. Smaller batteries mean a lunchtime top-up.
- Pod availability. If the shop sells the kit but not spare pods, buy a different kit.
2. Nic salt e-liquid, two or three bottles £3–£4 each
Nicotine salts are the smoother form of nicotine and the right choice for nearly every new vaper. Strength matters more than flavour at this stage:
- 20mg if you smoke around a pack a day
- 10mg for lighter smokers
- 5mg or so for occasional smokers
Buy two or three different flavours in 10ml bottles one fruit, one menthol, one tobacco is a sensible spread. Don't bulk-buy anything yet. Your sense of taste changes fast in the first weeks off cigarettes, and the flavour you love on day one is often not the one you're still buying in month two. Make sure the bottles say 50/50 (the VG/PG ratio) that's the correct thickness for pod kits.
3. Spare pods £5–£7 for a pack
The pod is a consumable. It'll last one to two weeks before flavour fades or it starts tasting burnt, and the worst time to discover you have no spare is when the only one you own has just died. Buy one pack of replacement pods for your exact kit with the initial order. Check the resistance if there's a choice for MTL vaping you want something in the 0.8Ω–1.2Ω range; the product listing for your kit will say which pods fit.
4. A charging brick you already own £0
Kits ship with a USB-C cable but usually no plug. Any phone charger you have at home is fine. One genuine caution: don't charge vapes (or anything with a lithium battery) overnight on your pillow or sofa, and stop using any device with a damaged cable or one that gets unusually hot while charging.
5. Somewhere to put it £0
Not a product a decision. E-liquid and devices should live out of reach of children and pets, away from direct sunlight. Nicotine is toxic to small bodies in small amounts, and a sun-baked windowsill degrades e-liquid quickly. A drawer sorts both.
The complete starter basket
| Item | Price | Running cost after |
|---|---|---|
| Refillable pod kit | £10–£25 | Replace yearly-ish |
| 3 × 10ml nic salt e-liquid | £9–£12 | ~£3.50/week |
| Pack of spare pods | £5–£7 | ~£1.50/week |
| Charger | £0 (use your phone's) | |
| Total | £24–£44 | ~£5/week |
Compare that with £16+ per pack of cigarettes and the basket pays for itself in under three days for a pack-a-day smoker.
Things you can skip (for now)
Vape shops sell plenty you don't need on day one. Skip:
- A sub-ohm kit or box mod. Powerful, cloud-focused devices for experienced vapers running low nicotine. As a first device they're the wrong tool and a common reason people quit vaping in week one.
- Shortfills and nicotine shots. Larger bottles you mix yourself genuinely good value for established vapers, pointless complexity while you're still finding flavours. Come back to them in a month or two.
- A rotation of ten flavours. See point above about your taste changing. Three bottles is plenty.
- External batteries and chargers. Only relevant to advanced kits with removable batteries. Your pod kit charges from a cable; done.
- Cases, lanyards, drip tips. Fine later. Not essential.
The one "extra" worth considering: a second cheap pod kit (£10–£15) once you know you're sticking with vaping. A backup device means a lost or dead kit never becomes an excuse to buy cigarettes. Many switchers say this £15 was the best insurance they bought.
Before your first puff: the 10-minute rule
New pod, first fill: fill it, then leave it standing for ten minutes before you vape. The cotton inside the coil needs to soak. Skip the wait and you'll scorch the dry cotton, and the pod will taste burnt for the rest of its short life. This one habit will save you more money than any discount code.
While you wait, a couple of setup notes:
- If your kit has a button, five clicks usually turns it on and off.
- Keep e-liquid topped above the minimum line on the pod running it near-empty burns coils too.
- First few draws: slow and gentle. It's not a cigarette; short sharp drags don't work.
Quick summary
Your first vape shop basket needs exactly four purchases: a refillable pod kit from a reliable brand (£10–£25), two or three 10ml bottles of 50/50 nic salts at a strength matched to your smoking, one pack of spare pods, and nothing else. Use a phone charger you already own. Total damage: under £45, then about £5 a week. Prime every new pod for ten minutes, keep it topped up, and consider a £15 backup device once you're settled. Everything else the shop sells can wait.
FAQs
What do I need to buy for my first vape kit? Four things: a refillable pod kit (£10–£25), two or three 10ml bottles of 50/50 nic salt e-liquid at the right strength for you, a pack of spare pods for that kit, and a USB-C charger you probably already own. Budget £25–£45 total.
Do vape kits come with e-liquid? Usually not. Most pod kits include the device, one or two pods and a charging cable e-liquid is bought separately. A few bundles include a bottle, but always check the listing.
How many bottles of e-liquid should I buy to start? Two or three 10ml bottles in different flavours. Your taste changes quickly after you stop smoking, so bulk-buying one flavour on day one is the most common wasted spend.
What pods fit my kit? Only pods made for your specific device (or officially cross-compatible ones). The product page lists compatible pods; for MTL vaping choose a resistance around 0.8Ω–1.2Ω where there's an option.
Do I need a special charger for a vape? No. Modern kits charge over USB-C and any standard phone charger works. Just avoid charging unattended overnight and retire any cable or device that gets hot or is damaged.