Right now, there's no such thing as a hands-free e-cig. There might be one or two wacky prototypes out there rigged up in someone's vape lab, but there's nothing you can buy online or in any vape shop that even approaches hands-free vaping. Which is totally lame, because who doesn't want to vape hands-free?
THE HANDS-FREE VAPING DREAM
C'mon, imagine it. Lounging in the tub, rubber duckie in one hand and loofa in the other. Vaping your fool head off. The huge clouds from your favorite Max VG flavor double with the steam and you feel like a total badass. Or imagine standing in a leather jacket with a cig-alike e-cig clenched between your teeth. Every time you draw, the tip lights up and the vapor flows without having to hold the button. Heck, we'd even take a 'vape-hat' just for a laugh with our friends during party time. The tragedy is that we can't do these things... at least not yet.
But remember, vaping is brand new. And technology moves fast. Five years ago, there were fewer vape brands, designs, and options than there are now. Custom rigs and sleek all-in-one pens have both come leaps and bounds in the last decade alone. So who's to say what we'll have in five more years, or even two?
LIVING THE DREAM
Here at Velvet Cloud, we live the vaping dream and we believe that hands-free vaping is in our future. We just have to imagine it. After a few dozen people have sketched it on Deviant Art and shared it on Twitter, the vape brands will have to pick up the designs! So join us, in imagining how hands-free vaping should be (and probably will be) in the near future...
VAPE BUTTON ALTERNATIVES:
First, let's imagine how we can replace the need to press the button with your hand. After all, we can figure out ways to hold the rig aloft. There is some light enough to clench in your teeth. Pressing the button is, so far, the most limiting factor between us and hands-freedom.
THE TEETH CLENCHER BUTTON
So the first idea is a button that you can press with your teeth. This is a cool trigger theory for any rig where you want to just prop the e-cig or a mouthpiece right in your mouth and leave it there. Then, when you're ready to take a hit, you fire the coil by clenching a strategically placed button between your teeth then drawing.
A clench-button is very likely to be something we see with the first commercial models for hands-free vaping.
THE AIRFLOW TRIGGER
Of course, what we're all hoping to see is some highly advanced device that can simply detect when we are drawing and fire the coil in exactly that moment. This is what would finally transform vape into a near perfect simulation of smoking. And it is mechanically possible to do, at least in theory. All you would need is an airflow detector, much like a simple party noise-maker, that can sense when you are breathing in and fire the coil.
Airflow triggers that rely on a sensor are likely to take a few generations of hands-free vaping to develop because they are more sensitive and prone to mistakes. most likely, when we do see them, there will be a safety switch for breath-vaping mode.
COOL HANDS-FREE VAPING STYLES:
Now that we've given some thought to the technology, let's predict how hands-free vaping will look when the vape brands finally get around to prototyping.
THE VAPE HAT
If you were going to try to rig up a hands-free vaping rig today, what would it look like? Here you can bet we thought about strapping some box-mods to a hat and vaping through hoses attached to the drip tips. After all, wouldn't that be the perfect way to mega-vape in the bath or while manning the summer BBQ pit? We think so. And we're confident other vapers will find the idea just as hilariously possible.
We're not sure if any legit e-cig or mod brands will actually develop vape-hats, but we hope that the vape community out there is already working on this classic half-measure for hands-free vaping. Send us your pictures of mod boxes taped to hats.
THE PERFECT CIG-ALIKE
Of course, many vapers are dreaming a different hands-free dream. If you're looking to simulate everything about smoking but the cancer, hands-free vaping holds the promise of the perfect cig-alike. Lightweight, slender, with an air-actuated atomizer that fires when you draw instead of when you push a button.
We believe this is possible. Not sure who's going to make it, or when, but the technology does exist for brands to work on refining the perfect hands-free cig-alike design. While we're at it, let's not to forget to demand a glowing red LED on the end that flares up in response to the draw trigger and fade realistically as your hit ends.
THE CRUELLA DEVILLE
Then there's the super cig-alike, vaping through an awesome Cruella Deville-esque long cigarette holder. In theory, the perfect cig-alike could prop in a normal cigarette holder. But who doesn't want to hold a dramatically long e-cig that also happens to draw exactly when you draw on the tip? We certainly do. Though the long stem makes it less mechanically viable, it would be cool if we could have cigarette-holder hands-free e-cigs (that's a lot of hyphens!) in the near future.
THE CLENCHER CIGAR
A far more realistic design is the tooth-clencher cigar design. A lightweight but stubby e-cig shaped like a cigar and designed to clench between your teeth as if you were an old-school movie general addressing the troops. This kind of e-cig could fit between the molars of someone who wanted to walk around vaping without getting their hands involved. From there, the vaper could choose to clench their teeth over a mouthpiece button to actuate the coil and start the vapor flowing for a nice long draw.
THE HARMONICA NECKBRACE
Finally, we'd like to posit the probably-ridiculous idea of the harmonica holder. You know what we're talking about, that weird stand used in one-man-bands so the artist can play the harmonica without holding the harmonica in their hands. Well, you could use the same idea to prop up a vape pen right by your mouth so that it only took a little lean-in to take a nice long clencher-button or air-actuated pull.
Chances are, this is another one the e-cig brands won't play with, but the hobbyists might. And if you already have one, we wanna see!
Hands-Free vaping is right around the corner. We've got all the technology, we've got companies researching better vape designs right now. By predicting the future, we can make it happen.