What is Direct-Lung vaping?

Direct-Lung (DL or DTL) vaping is a different practice entirely. Instead of a two-stage, mouth-then-lungs process, you inhale in a single step right down into your lungs. This is a lot less like smoking, but it helps you get the best performance out of many of the tanks on the market today.

How to DL vape

DL inhales are easy to perform, but many vapers end up coughing when they first try it. You simply take a big inhale from your device and pull it straight down into your lungs with the same breath. I generally continue my draw a second after releasing the button to ensure all of the vapour goes down into my lungs. This works better with a very open airflow and usually on higher power (wattage) settings.

Why would you do it?

DL vaping is better for producing big clouds and getting enough nicotine without vaping getting too harsh on your throat. It also works better with higher-VG e-liquids. Many premium e-liquids (like the Element Dripper series, for example) are best enjoyed with a DL device for this reason.

Pros

· Bigger clouds

· Works well with modern vape tanks

· Smoother throat hit

· Works with a wider range of e-liquids

· Still good for flavour

Cons

· Uses more power, so your batteries drain quicker

· Doesn’t work with more basic equipment

· Uses a lot more e-liquid

· Coils don’t last as long

Recommended equipment

Sub-ohm tanks and mods

Sub-ohm tanks like the Horizon Falcon II and the Smok TFV12 are all perfectly set up for DL vaping. These have more airflow (and usually adjustable airflow) so you can vape DL without coughing. You’ll need a mod to be able to use these, though, because the resistances of the coils are low and they need higher wattage settings to work well.

Kits

Pod mod systems are a great option for simple DL vaping. Our current favourite for Direct-Lung vaping is the Oxva Velocity, which combines large clouds of vapour with superb flavour.

Recommended E-Liquid

Lower nicotine

Although this isn’t strictly necessary, the greater vapour production with DL devices means that lower nicotine e-liquids are better suited for vaping this way. Generally speaking, 6 mg/ml is the highest nicotine strength people recommend for use with sub-ohm tanks and DL vaping.

Higher VG

You can still vape 50:50 or higher-PG e-liquids on a sub-ohm tank with DTL inhales, but overall 70% VG or higher e-liquids are ideal for this inhale style. They’re generally less harsh and produce much more vapour.