Victory Vapors at 717 Middle Street offers vaporizers and kits for both amateurs and experienced vaporizer enthusiasts. Photo by Jasmyne Ray.
An electronic cigarette or vaporizer can be broken down into just a few simple parts. There is a battery attached to an atomizer filled with flavored nicotine fluid, or “e-liquid.” An atomizer is a wire wrapped into a coil shape with a wick running through the middle that soaks up the e-liquid. When the battery is activated, the coil heats up and vaporizes the liquid.
With the popularity of vaporizers on the rise, there has been an increase in the “vape shops” that sell these products. To new users and experienced vapers alike, it can be difficult to tell which places carry quality products and genuinely care about customer satisfaction and which places are just trying to make a quick buck.
Victory Vapors is located on 717 Middle Street, Montevallo, which is only about two blocks from campus. Victory Vapors carries products for vapers of all skill levels from beginner to advanced user, and employees Nathan Aleman and Clayton Scogin are willing to give a rundown of the products for new people and answer any questions.
They carry authentic starter kits for people who want to start vaping without breaking the bank. These kits range from the most basic kit like the Evod kit by Kanger Tech that comes with one battery and one tank, to kits like the Triton by Halo Ecigs that comes with two batteries and two tanks.
For people who are willing to spend more money for a better product, Victory has various individual tanks like the Aerotank models by Kanger Tech and the Aspire by Nautilus that both have adjustable air flow. There are also batteries available with longer life and perks like variable voltage and/or wattage so users can adjust the power. A few of these slightly more advanced batteries include the Vision Spinner II with variable voltage and the MVP by Innokin that also has variable voltage as well as variable wattage and a puff counter, all shown on a digital display.
For hobbyists, Victory Vapors offers a wide range of mechanical mods, which are used with unregulated batteries so they provide raw power, and rebuildable atomizers(RBAs), which are atomizers that advanced users can build themselves.
Because authentic mods and RBAs can reach almost $400, they offer top of the line clones of the authentics made by companies such as Infinite and Tobecca. Some of the cloned mods they carry include the Panzer Blackhawk, the Penny Mod and the Hades. As far as RBA clones, some that they carry are the Patriot, the Tobh Atty and their newest addition, the Big Dripper.
Victory Vapors is, however, in the process of expanding their “authentic” selections for people with some extra cash who want the name brand. Their current authentics are the Ragnarok mod and the Vulcan RBA both by the company VLS.
The vape shop also carries plenty of odds and ends like mouthpieces to go on certain vaporizers, lanyards and supplies for rebuilding atomizers.
The store has a massive supply of vaporizer fluids and, according to Aleman, they are “constantly looking to expand.” In addition to popular lines such as Mister E Liquid and Alabama-based DB Liquids, they also have area rights to Darkest Day Vapor.
Co-owner of Victory Vapors Christopher White said that with the movement of the shop from the corner of Video Underground to next door, due to “a rapidly expanding product line and customer base,” they have big plans for the future, such as more products and possibly their own line of vaporizer fluid. Victory Vapors is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Fridays & Saturdays 12 p.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
