How Many Packs of Cigarettes Are in a Vape—A Comparison

Vaping has become a great alternative for cigarette users who want to continue enjoying nicotine while reducing the inherent health risks that come with smoking. Both products are inhalable, meaning you won’t have to adjust to a new way of nicotine delivery when making the switch. 

However, one key difference between the two is the nicotine content. Vapes and cigarettes won’t provide you with the same amount of nicotine, which can turn some smokers away. To help you understand how the two products compare, we’ll look at how many packs of cigarettes are in a vape. We’ll also calculate how many puffs of a vape equals a pack of cigarettes to give a more precise comparison.

How Many Packs of Cigarettes Are Equal to a Vape in Terms of Nicotine Content?

Comparing vapes and cigarettes by nicotine content is more complicated than it may seem at first glance. Cigarettes are mostly uniform in the amount of nicotine they contain and deliver, but vaping includes several factors that can drastically change the equation.

A single cigarette contains 10–12 mg of nicotine, and with 20 cigarettes per pack, the total is 200–240 mg.

Vapes aren’t as straightforward. The total amount of nicotine varies depending on the model of the vape and the nicotine liquid you’re using. Disposable vapes, which are the most widespread, have a 2 ml vape tank on average. With a 5% liquid (50 mg of nicotine per ml), their total nicotine content is 100 mg.

This means that a 2 ml vape with 5% liquid will contain about half the nicotine content of a pack of cigarettes. However, the difference in nicotine total doesn’t mean that vapes are necessarily weaker. When comparing the two products, you should also account for how much nicotine you successfully absorb.

Source: Ruslan Alekso

How Many Puffs Do You Get from a Pack of Cigarettes vs. a Vape?

Aside from the difference in nicotine content and absorption, the number of puffs each product can deliver before you need to replace it can play a significant role when considering whether to make the switch.

For an average smoker, a single cigarette will last 10–15 puffs. This means that a pack of 20 cigarettes is equal to 200–300 puffs.

The number of puffs you get from a vape depends on the brand and model of the product you choose, ranging from 200 to 5,000 puffs. Some, like Fresor’s Max Beast3, provide more than 10,000 puffs. 

To put this in perspective, check out this table:

Source: Vinh Chế

How Many Puffs of a Vape Equal a Pack of Cigarettes Accounting for Nicotine Absorption?

While knowing the total nicotine content of a pack of cigarettes and a vape can give you a good general idea of your consumption habits, understanding how much nicotine you absorb from each will help create a more realistic image of your daily intake.

When you smoke a cigarette, you only absorb around 1.1–1.8 mg of nicotine, which is about 10% of the total 10–12 mg. This means that a pack of cigarettes will get you 22–36 mg of nicotine.

The amount of nicotine you absorb from a vape is more difficult to calculate. Factors like liquid concentration, the vape’s model, and the length of each puff can significantly change the numbers. 

One study on JUUL pods containing 5% nicotine (50 mg per ml) found that it can take up to 200 puffs to absorb the same amount of nicotine as you’d get from smoking a full pack of cigarettes.

With these numbers in mind, we can find out how many puffs of lower-concentration liquid it takes as well:

Note that these numbers are estimates and don’t account for individual factors like your body’s efficiency in absorbing and processing nicotine.

Source: Nastia Petruk

How Many Puffs of a Vape Are Equivalent to a Cigarette?

Understanding how many puffs are needed to reach the same amount of nicotine a pack of cigarettes delivers is helpful to the most experienced smokers.

Considering that the average smoker goes through less than 15 cigarettes every day, comparing a single cigarette to puffs presents a more realistic number.

If a 5% JUUL takes about 200 puffs to be equal to a pack of cigarettes, it will take about 10 puffs to equal one cigarette. This means that depending on the nicotine content of your vape liquid, it could take 10–100 puffs to get the same amount of nicotine you would from smoking one cigarette.

How Do Vapes Compare to Other Nicotine Products?

Vapes and cigarettes are most commonly compared since they are both inhalable products that require combustion. However, it can be useful to know where they stand compared to other nicotine products.

There are several notable smokeless products that are considered an alternative to vaping:

1. Dip tobacco
2. Snus
3. Nicotine pouches

Dip Tobacco

Dip is made from tobacco that’s either finely shredded or cut into long strips. It’s an oral product you use by placing it in your mouth between your cheek and gums and letting it sit there for up to 30 minutes.

However, dipping tobacco comes with a significant downside—it’s made from fermented tobacco, which means that all the health risks associated with cigarettes, like cancer and type 2 diabetes, are present. 

You’re also not supposed to swallow your spit while you have dip in, which makes using it inconvenient in places where you can’t spit freely or use a spitoon.

Dip ranges from 8 mg to 14 mg in nicotine strength, but only 19% of it is absorbed, meaning that while it’s more efficient than vaping, it’s not much different from a cigarette. 

Snus

Snus is a smokeless nicotine product that comes in pouches, which you place in your mouth for a gradual nicotine release.

The main ingredient for snus is tobacco, meaning that using it entails risks like mouth cancer and diabetes. However, the tobacco is pasteurized instead of fermented, so there aren’t as many carcinogenic chemicals present, making it one of the safest tobacco products.

Similarly to vape liquid, snus comes in a wide range of strengths, going from 3 mg to 45 mg of nicotine. You absorb 32–37% of the total nicotine content from snus, which means that the stronger variants are much more potent than both vaping and cigarettes.

Nicotine Pouches

Similarly to vapes, nicotine pouches are a 100% tobacco-free nicotine product. They’re small, odorless pouches you place in your mouth for a gradual nicotine release.

Nicotine pouches are made from pharmaceutical-grade nicotine and food-grade ingredients, which significantly reduces most of the risks associated with other nicotine products. 

The available strengths for nicotine pouches vary by brand and range from 1.5 mg to beyond 30 mg. You absorb almost 50% of the total nicotine content from a pouch, making nicotine pouches the most efficient nicotine product.

Source: Swenico

How Do Nicotine Pouches Work?

When you place a nicotine pouch in your mouth, it starts to gradually deliver nicotine straight into your bloodstream through the mucous membrane.

The pouches work slowly, and it may take a few minutes for you to start to feel the effects of nicotine. However, once the buzz starts, it hits harder and lasts longer than with vapes or cigarettes.

The timeline of a nicotine pouch looks like this:

1. Minutes 0–5: Your saliva wets the pouch, and the pouch starts delivering nicotine into your system
2. Minutes 5–10: The nicotine binds to the receptors in the brain, and you start to feel its effects
3. Minutes 10–20: The nicotine effects become more prominent, and you feel your focus sharpen and your mood improves
4. Minutes 20–30: Most of the nicotine is gone from the pouch, and your blood nicotine levels are at their peak

When you first put in the pouch, you might feel a tingle on your gums. This is a normal part of using nicotine pouches and means that it’s working.

Source: ZYN_Sverige

How Do You Choose the Right Pouch Strength?

If you’re switching to nicotine pouches from vaping, finding the right strength for you can be a tricky process that may require some experimentation. However, knowing how pouch strengths work can help narrow down the search, but there are several tricks you can use to find the sweet spot more easily:

• Start lower and move up: Because of how different pouches are to vaping, going for the strength that matches your vape tolerance may lead to a negative reaction. Start slightly below what you think your baseline is, and move up once your body gets used to it
• Mind your reactions: Pouch strength is a good guideline, but sticking to a number just because you think it’s right is not the best way to use pouches. When you put in a pouch, see how it makes you feel. If you start feeling dizzy or nauseous, the pouch may be too strong, and you may need to go for something milder
• Don’t overuse pouches: Nicotine is an addictive substance, and your body will build up a tolerance over time. If you use pouches too often, your body can get used to consistently high levels of nicotine. This can lead to health issues like increased blood pressure and heart rate, as well as nicotine dependency

There are slight variations in ingredients between brands, which means that you might not react the same way to two pouches of the same nicotine level if they come from a different manufacturer. Try exploring various high-quality brands until you find what works.

Find Pouches of All Strengths at SnusBoss

SnusBoss is a great source of high-quality nicotine pouches of all nicotine strengths. Founded and run by industry experts with over 10 years of experience, SnusBoss offers pouches that cater to different tolerance levels, selected for their great flavors and long buzz.

The website has a fantastic selection of products from the following brands:

Buying from SnusBoss is a simple three-step process:

1. Go to the online store
2. Select your preferred brand, flavor, and strength
3. Put in your payment and shipping information

Select express shipping and your pouches will be delivered within 2–3 business days. Shipping is free for orders over $249.

What Happens if You Absorb Too Much Nicotine?

Absorbing too much nicotine from a pouch is usually caused by improper use, a pouch that’s too strong, or a damaged pouch. If you get exposed to too much nicotine, you might experience some mild side effects:

• Sore throat: Nicotine can irritate the lining of your throat. Mild throat irritation is a commonly reported side effect of using nicotine pouches, but higher amounts of nicotine can make it grow into a stronger pain. If your throat feels sore with a pouch in, remove it and drink water to wash out the residue
• Nausea: When it interacts with your brain, nicotine stimulates the production of stomach acid. In higher amounts, stomach acid can irritate your stomach lining, leading to stomach pain or nausea. If you get nauseous with a pouch in, remove it, drink water, and don’t swallow your saliva cause it may make you vomit
• Acid reflux: Acid reflux is caused by the muscle that separates your throat and stomach not contracting properly, which lets stomach acid leak out. When this happens, you might feel a slight burning in your throat and chest and a sour taste in your mouth. Taking an antacid will help you neutralize the stomach acid 
• Headache: Nicotine acts like a stimulant and can raise your heart rate and blood pressure. It can also narrow your blood vessels, and when these two combine, it can lead to a headache. If this happens, remove the pouch and lie down until it goes away 

Featured image source: Ashanjaya