Vaping Techniques: How to Easily Achieve Cloud Chasing
Vaping techniques are at the heart of cloud chasing—one of the most exciting trends in the vaping world that blends stunning visual effects with the joy of vaping. Perfect for beginners looking to elevate their experience, mastering the right vaping techniques is key, whether you want to impress friends with thick, billowing clouds or simply explore a new side of vaping. In this guide, we’ll break down 3 core cloud chasing methods, share essential preparation tips, and highlight common mistakes to avoid. By the end, you’ll have all the tools to start chasing clouds like a pro—no prior experience required.
Cloud Chasing Basics: What You Need to Get Started
Before you get into cloud chasing techniques like the big pros, there are a few things you need to have first. To get the best, biggest, most flavorful clouds there are a few setup or supply tweaks to start with, like vapes and E-juice. Getting the right setup will keep it as safe as it gets and most enjoyable as possible.
Vape Device Selection for Cloud Chasing
Devices for cloud chasing are not created equally. If you are just starting, you are going to want a high wattage mod, somewhere in the range of 30 to 60, which is adjustable, along with a low-resistance atomizer that is ranging from 0.15 to 0.3 ohm. Here is why:
- Higher wattage mods are able produce and heat the coils quickly which, in turn, allow them to turn the e-juice into vapor rapidly and efficiently.
- Lower resistance atomizers allow for a greater amount of current to flow through the coils and as a result, obtain larger vapor clouds.
To help you compare, here’s a quick breakdown of device types for cloud chasing:
| Device Type | Best For | Pros | Cons |
| High-Wattage Mod + Sub-Ohm Tank | Beginners & Intermediate | Adjustable power, easy to use, consistent clouds | Requires regular coil changes |
| Pod Systems (High-Wattage) | Casual Cloud Chasers | Compact, portable, low maintenance | Limited cloud size compared to sub-ohm setups |
| Mechanical Mods | Advanced Users | Maximum power output | No safety features—risky for beginners |
E-Juice: Why VG Content Matters for Big Clouds
When choosing an e-juice to use while cloud chasing, make sure you consider your e-cig’s setup — but don’t forget to factor in the e-juice itself!
A primary reason for this is VG (Vegetable Glycerin) : a very thick, sweet liquid that enables e-juice to produce extremely thick clouds due to its density. If you want to generate the thickest clouds possible, select an e-juice with 70% VG or higher .Since you’re just starting out, consider a 70% VG, 30% PG e-juice — it’s an excellent compromise.Using 12 mg/mL e-juice is not recommended, as it often irritates the throat.
Other Essential Prep Steps
Before you start cloud chasing, you need to get to set up your device.
First, it’s a good idea to replace your coil, because new and fresh coils atomize e-jucie evenly, making it easier to make clouds. Try to replace your coils every week to two weeks, and replace them whenever you start to taste a burnt flavor.
Next, it’s a good idea to clean your tank before cloud chasing, because residue e-juice can build up in your tank, and it’s going to affect the vapor production. Do your best to clean and rinse your tank in warm water every two to three refills.
Lastly, priming your coil is essential, and can save you a lot of frustration in the long run. Before you use a new coil, you should definitely put in a couple of drops of e-juice to directly saturate the wick that you can see, to prevent dry hits. Doing this is really going to make the first puff a lot smoother.
By following these preparation steps your device should be ready to start cloud chasing!
3 Core Vaping Techniques for Easy Cloud Chasing
What we’ll talk about now are useful methods that will help you create heavy and dense cloud of vapor. All these methods are instructed in a simplified manner, so you don’t have to worry about trying to learn any complex skills or performing any intricate maneuvers. Simply choose the first simplified method for a start, and when you have gotten the hang of it, you can head on to the next one on the list.
Technique 1: Slow Inhale, Slow Exhale (The Foundation of Cloud Chasing)
The “slow inhale, slow exhale” method is the most basic technique and serves as a great starting point for beginners. All this method does is allow your device to fully vaporize the e-juice for the biggest and most dense clouds.
How to do it:
1. Take a slow steady inhale for 3-5 seconds. Don’t rush and let the vapor fully fill your lungs.
2. While this step is optional, it might help. Hold the vapor in your lungs for 1-2 seconds. This helps concentrate the cloud.
3. Exhale slowly and evenly through your mouth, keeping your lips open to flow the cloud smoothly.
A lot of beginners make the error of “inhaling and exhaling quickly” and that is the most common mistake to avoid. If you inhale and exhale quickly, the coil does not have enough time to fully vaporize the e-juice, which results in scattered and thin clouds. Remember that slow and steady wins the race when it comes to cloud chasing.
Technique 2: Mouth-to-Lung (MTL) Cloud Storage
If you want even more control of your drag clouds and want a smoother experience, you might try the Mouth to Lung technique. The Mouth to Lung technique involves holding the drag vapor in your mouth before inhaling, allowing you to build more concentrated and control your drag clouds before vaping.
How to do it:
1. Inhale vapor slowly into your mouth (not directly into your lungs) for 2-3 seconds. Collect vapor in your mouth.
2. Hold the vapor in your mouth for 1-2 seconds. This step helps build more concentrated vapor in the mouth and cools your mouth to thicken the cloud a little.
3. Tilt your down a little (head down) and then inhale the vapor slowly into your lungs. As you exhale, you can step through your mouth to control the shape of your vapor cloud and help you direct it.
Best for Beginners and people that want to try a bit of cloud rings or controlled vapor output. Because of this technique is gentler on your throat, it adds good control for a good starting even if you haven’t vaped before.
Technique 3: Airflow Control for Denser Clouds
AIf you are serious about your vaping experience and want to work on your cloud production, you’ll need to understand the role of airflow. While you might think that the more airflow, the better, that is actually not true. However, too little airflow can actually lead to overheating of your vapor. Understanding and mastering airflow will allow you to get your clouds to the desired thickness and consistency.
Now, let’s get down to the basic techniques you will need to do this.
1. Inhaling– When you are ready to take a hit and inhale vapor, make sure you gently seal the opening with your lips. Keeping a seal is important as it makes sure that all of the vapor is going to your mouth/lungs.
2. Exhaling– When you are ready to exhale vapor, make sure that your lips formed a circle, making a shape of the letter `O`. This will allow you to keep the cloud together, and control where the vapor is going to.
3. Adjust your airflow– Most vaping devices will have something called an airflow control ring. When you first start out, keep it at a medium setting. This is where it is about halfway open. This setting makes a good balance between the density of the vapor and the great flavors of the liquid.
Pro tip – While you are practicing, make sure you experiment with the different settings on your airflow control to find the perfect balance for you. If the cloud you are making is too thin for your liking, try closing the control ring a bit. If the vapor and the clouds feel too hot, slowly open the airflow more and more to cool it down.
Want to see the entire cloud chasing process in action? This super practical detailed cloud chasing video is here! Pair the previous written knowledge with intuitive demos—from basics to advanced, learn to create thick clouds step by step, watch now:
Common Mistakes That Ruin Cloud Chasing (And How to Fix Them)
Even with the right setup and techniques, beginners often make simple mistakes that hinder their cloud chasing progress. Avoid these pitfalls to get the best results from day one.
Mistake 1: Using Too Low Power Settings
One of the most common mistakes beginners make when cloud chasing is setting the wattage of their device too low. When the device is set below 30W, the coil does not have enough power to heat up fully, thus resulting in a very thin and wispy cloud.
Fix: A good starting point is setting the wattage to around 30-40W, using a 70VG e-juice with a 0.2-ohm coil. As you get the hang of it, you can increase the wattage, but do it in 5W increments, so you don’t go too high too quickly. The goal is to get enough power to produce thick clouds, but not so hot that the vapor burns your throat.
Mistake 2: Rushing the Learning Process
The more you cloud chase, the better you get. However, improvement in this area is not instantaneous. Bad cloud chasing practices such as ultra rapid, deep inhalations and sudden, advanced trick execution can lead to a plethora of health problems. These are usually characterized as poor cloud quality.
Solution: Dedicate 5-10 minutes a day cloud chasing for one trick at a time. You should start with the beginner, “short inhale, slow exhale” and work your way up to the more advanced mouth-to-lung storage trick. Cloud quality tends to improve as consistency is kept since muscle memory builds over time.
Advanced Cloud Chasing Tips for Beginners
Once you’ve nailed the basic techniques, these simple tips will help you take your cloud chasing to the next level. They’re easy to implement and don’t require any additional equipment.
1. Try Simple Cloud Shapes
Creating formations or rings isn’t too hard, even for a beginner. For the first style, use small rings.
- Form an s shape with your mouth into a small o and then exhale a small puff.
- Using a finger as a tap belt, lightly touch the front and center of the puff.
Once you have the technique, creating the rings is easy as we’ve described before. Other beginner clouds to try would be a smoke ghost where you exhale a puff and suck it back in. You could also try waterfalls where you puff your cloud straight down onto a flat.
2. Fine-Tune Your Device Parameters
After you become accustomed and comfortable with your setup, you can start trying out minor changes to help you dial in your ideal configuration.
Power: Increase power settings (wattage) by increments of 5W every few days to see how it changes cloud size.
Airflow: Change to more or less airflow to find out if it changes and improves cloud thickness and cloud density.
Coil Type: Change to a “clapton coil” and see if you can achieve a larger cloud. Also, clapton coils are easy to install and work with most sub-ohm tanks.
3. Practice Consistently
To improve your cloud-chasing skills, you need to be consistent. Participate in cloud-chasing training sessions two to three times a week, with each lasting 10 to 15 minutes. After each session, record what worked and what didn’t (example, “too much airflow thinned out the cloud” vs “45W produced the thickest clouds”). This is essential so you will be able to work on your skills step by step rather than on a big range of issues.
Conclusion:
Every cloud chaser has been a beginner at one point. Practice will make perfect and your cloud chasing abilities will only get better over time. Once you reach the baseline experience and get the hang of the core techniques, you can keep working to impress your friends and get even more techniques under your belt.
Let’s get you started with the first core technique: the slow inhale/exhale. You should have a setup ready with your favorite high-vg e-juice so you can get started right away. You should see improvement almost instantly and have fun cloud chasing.