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No vaporising device that resembled a vape existed anywhere prior to 1963. Then an American gentleman named H A Gilbert filed his patent for a "smokeless non-tobacco cigarette". His patent expired in 1982 and the world simply didn't notice.
It wasn't until a Chinese pharmacist called Hon Lik made his version in 2003 did vaping make progress and he became known as the person who invented vaping.
Some wonder why vaping never took off in the 70s and 80s given that Hon Lik's device was very similar in design to Gilbert's. In an exclusive interview with James Dunworth, Gilbert speaks about how pharmaceutical and tobacco companies did what they could to maintain their markets. Hon Lik didn't face such restrictions with access to cheap infrastructure to translate his idea into sales.
The device spawned imitations from entrepreneurs who saw the real opportunity of a product that could be like smoking but removed the harmful elements produced during tobacco combustion.
Early adopters in the UK struggled with devices that were shaped like cigarettes and delivered nicotine poorly.
The absence of large corporations ploughing money into marketing and advertising meant the market was primarily growing through consumer word of mouth.
Footage from the very first UK VapeFest in 2010 shows just a handful of vapers in the backroom of a pub together with a couple of early businesses that came to market:
The ECF, an online forum, was created in 2007. Users exchanged information about the things they had tried in order to make devices work better. Despite being set up as a UK forum, ECF was predominantly used by Americans and so new forums were created to feed the UK need.
First came UK Vapers and a couple of others before a company complained about a review and threatened legal action in 2012. This led to the formation of what has become the largest online forum in Europe: Planet of the Vapes.
Apart from the standard equipment coming from China, all of the major development work being carried out was conducted by vapers themselves. Some set up lathes in sheds, others were trying different juice recipes in kitchens, and a third group were opening up shops, market stalls or online web stores.
If you transported yourself back to that point in time you would find today's ubiquitous 510 atomiser/mod connection vying with the 901 and 801 alternatives. People were inventing a whole new language like "cartos " and "throat hits". It was an age when the latest version of a mod or atomiser really was an improvement upon the previous iteration and vapers clamoured to buy it - frequently smashing the F5 keyboard button to refresh screens on launch day.
China saw this demand and began to produce inexpensive copies of the handmade devices that were too costly for many vapers.
The early vaping scene featured a mix of users of basic Chinese products and those moving over to low volume hand crafted atomisers.
People began experimenting with different wicks, the microcoil became a thing, and then metals other than Kanthal became popular. Methods of vaping expanded from "mouth to lung" to include "direct to lung".
The most popular device in 2012 was the CE2 atomiser, a simple 2ml tank that accepted replaceable heads using a silica wick. Adventurous vapers had already worked out that they could strip the tiny unit apart and put in their own coils rather than purchasing replacements.
Advanced users were moving onto one of two types of metal tanks that either used silica as a wick or the steel rod/mesh wicks - the latter being referred to as Genesis atomisers. People held concerns that silica might not be the safest or most efficient way of getting e-liquid to the coil, especially when you could see all the particles of silica flying off into the air when a length was cut.
A substance called Ekowool was offered up as an alternative before cotton became the go-to substance for most vapers. Other substances used included rayon and even something called cheesecloth. While some used Ego batteries to power their CE3s and 4s, other used variable voltage devices like the Vamo. Most vapers used a mechanical mod.
The next couple of years saw people experimenting with sub ohm vaping - making a coil that had a resistance of less than 1 ohm. This prompted folks to examine batteries to identify the ones able to handle the increased current draw.
Others became transfixed by the voltage drop caused by different metals and mod structure which resulted in manufacturers experimenting with removing the 510 adjustable pin to make hybrid devices. This entailed the atomiser touching the battery directly through the hole in the 510 connection.
Vaping in the UK exploded in 2013. There were approximately 1.3 million vapers across the country and online forums were expanding their memberships exponentially. The 2013 VapeFest witnessed unprecedented queues to enter.
By 2019 there were 3.9 million vapers in the UK. That figure had risen to 5.5 million by 2026.
Vapers in the UK can now choose from a wide variety of inexpensive devices, almost all of which are manufactured in China. Interest in cloud chasing appears to have peaked while the popularity of compact pod systems has grown significantly. Vaping is no longer a niche practice dominated by lovers of gadgets. Users now tend to favour simplicity and convenience.
Authorities in the UK continue to endorse vaping as a smoking cessation aid. However, disposables have been banned.
From a time where no research was being carried out, we have moved towards a world in which there's a wealth of independent British evidence supporting vaping as a quit tool. Reliance on facts and evidence has encouraged Public Health England, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Nursing, the NHS, the British Lung Foundation, the British Heart Association, Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health to all support vaping as an alternative to smoking tobacco products.