Look! Here Is a Group of Cloud-Chasing Vaping Users (Text and Images)

When Nicolai Spring wasn't paying attention, Cody Kite leaned over and blew a large vapor ring above him. Spring is the more successful "vaper" of the two, slapping his cheeks and exhaling a series of "cereal" or grain-shaped vapor that filled the room.

This is a typical afternoon for vapers, who often use vaporizers to inhale nicotine as a way to quit smoking. For vapers, more unique and specific terms include "cloud chasers," "flavor chasers," and "modders."

Kite, 24, became a cloud chaser in hopes of quitting cigarettes; he applied his hobby to vaping and became a discerning flavor chaser. Spring, on the other hand, is 20 and participates in vaping trick competitions, currently sponsored by several vaping companies. Undoubtedly, he is a cloud chaser.

"You can definitely tell which vapor is his," Kite said, admiring Spring's ability to blow such colorful vapor rings from his vaporizer. This vaporizer was awarded to Spring at the first vaping competition held in Santa Rosa, California, in 2015.

The two are among the few regular vapers who frequent five vaping shops in central Oregon, which contributes over $2 billion to the U.S. vaping market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers vaporizers and their accessories and e-liquids to be tobacco products and began regulating them this year.

While the vaping market may change in the coming years, a visitor at the third Vape Game held in 2014 believed everything would remain the same. On any given afternoon, a group of vapers would be sitting on high stools at a vaping bar, which features a wraparound counter, leather sofas, and flat-screen TVs. Prices are written in Old English font on a chalkboard, and nearby walls are lined with jars of e-liquids or nicotine solutions.

Here, Kite, who lives in Tumalo, performs in the morning and works as a sound engineer at local concerts in the evening. As a former smoker and recovering alcoholic, Kite says vaping helps him inhale nicotine while avoiding tar and cigarette additives.

Elizabeth Rainwater, who has been vaping for over two years, shares Kite's enthusiasm. She works at a car wash and often comes to the bar during her lunch break to vape with Kite.

Rainwater, 20, first tried lemon-flavored e-liquid when she was a high school student. Concerned about becoming addicted to cigarettes, she first saw vaping on social media and switched to it. Currently, she vapes a raspberry-flavored solution with 6 mg of nicotine. She says she likes having something to hold, especially while driving—her Tiffany blue vaporizer is just right. Rainwater identifies as a flavor chaser.

Flavor Chaser

When vapers are together, they exhale clouds of vapor, letting the vapor slowly escape from their mouths. When one person's vapor brushes against another's face, they don't recoil as they would when surrounded by tobacco smoke. This vapor often smells like fruits or baked goods, like a rich perfume filling the air.

"Vaping definitely smells better than tobacco smoke," Kite said. "No woman has ever complained that I smell like strawberry cheesecake."

Kite refers to the flavor of the e-liquid he is currently using; he has eight vaporizers. Fully manual vaporizers allow for fine-tuning of power output, which determines the quality and heat of the vapor produced. Kite is someone you would think still works at Vape Game, given his Vape Game T-shirt and professional demeanor. Kite is well-versed in the input and output power of vaporizers; he can easily rattle off multi-syllabic e-liquid formulation terms like "propylene glycol" and "vegetable glycerin." Kite spends $20 on an ounce of e-liquid every four days. The solution he is currently using contains 6 mg of nicotine, which is in the middle range of nicotine content from 0 mg to 12 mg. Some people gradually reduce their nicotine intake, but Kite says he has no plans to do so.

"Most vapers are people who need nicotine. I'm someone who would go crazy without it," Kite said.

Kite loves nicotine delivery devices, which has led him to help run two Facebook pages, the Bend Vape Club and Flavor Chasers United. These two groups have nearly 300 and 150 members, respectively. In both groups, administrators ensure members are over 18 before they can log in to exchange information and products.

"The forum is a place where vapers can make friends with like-minded individuals," Kite said. "It allows us to ask and answer questions conveniently."

Cloud Chaser

Sometimes cloud chasers and flavor chasers prepare mocking remarks for vapers competing in cloud competitions. Although Spring qualifies as a cloud chaser, his amiable demeanor and excellent skills exempt him from criticism—he's quite good.

Spring has never smoked; he became fascinated with "cloud tricks" when he started smoking tobacco-based hookah with friends. Later, concerned about his health, he switched to vaping. After five months of practice and learning different tricks from social media, Spring can blow thick, rich vapor rings.

Spring attends community college in central Oregon to become an X-ray technician while working part-time at Vape Game. Although he has never smoked, the e-liquid he vapes contains 3 mg of nicotine. He says he vapes five to six days a week and has not observed any adverse health effects.

Now, his performance in competitions has garnered attention and sponsorships, and he will soon appear at vaping shops, uploading short videos of his vaping tricks on his personal Instagram page, which has attracted 400 followers, while top vaping players have tens of thousands of followers. Spring lives in Deschutes River Woods and spends about 10 hours a week practicing his vapor tricks in front of a mirror. His 19-year-old girlfriend, Ashtynn Weber, sits next to him, questioning that number.

She laughs, "At least double that."