As you continue your vaping journey, you’re likely to encounter two of the most popular e-liquid options here at Legion of Vapers, namely longfills and shortfills. Whether you’re new to vaping or you’ve been puffing away happily for a few years, it’s important to understand the differences between these options, the benefits they offer, and how to make the right choice for your personal preferences.
Find out what you need to know about longfill vs shortfill vape juice below.
Longfill E-Liquids Explained
Also known as ‘mix and vape’ and ‘shake and vape’ e-liquids, longfills are aimed at vapers who want to customise their vaping experience beyond using different settings on their devices.
Here at LoV, these yummy liquids are usually sold in 60ml or 120ml bottles, although the bottle will only be filled partway with concentrated flavouring. The remaining space in the bottle is left for you to add a vegetable glycerine (VG) and propylene glycol (PG) mix and nicotine shots, giving you more control over the nicotine strength of your vape juice. Most nic shots are sold in 10ml bottles and have an 18mg/ml nicotine strength.
The Benefits of Longfills
Before looking at what shortfill means for vapes, let’s take a quick look at the benefits of longfills:
- Cost savings: In most cases, it’s cheaper to buy e-liquids in larger quantities.
- Customisation: You can tailor your e-liquid’s nicotine strength to your unique preferences.
- Flexibility: If you reach a point where you feel like you want to reduce your nicotine intake, longfills make it easy to do this gradually and at your own pace.
Shortfill E-Liquids Explained
Shortfill e-liquids are usually sold in 50ml or 100ml bottles containing a nicotine-free VG/PG mixture and flavourings at LoV. These shortfill bottles also offer enough space for you to add a nic shot to achieve your desired nicotine strength.
These vape juices are available in different VG/PG ratios, such as 50/50 ratios for MTL vaping and higher VG options for DTL vaping.
The Benefits of Shortfills
Shortfills offer the following benefits:
- Customisation: You can add your preferred strength of nicotine to the base mix.
- Flexibility: You can better control or reduce your nicotine intake.
- Flavour variety: You can choose from a wider variety of flavours and VG/PG ratios than you can with pre-mixed vape juices that contain nicotine.
- Cost-effectiveness: Shortfills offer more value for money than smaller pre-mixed vape juices.
Longfill vs Shortfill: Key Differences
There are a number of key differences between the e-liquid longfills and shortfills you can purchase at LoV. These include:
Nicotine strength: Longfills offer more customisation and control over the final nicotine strength of your vape juice than shortfills do.
Flexibility: Longfills offer more flexibility when it comes to adjusting the VG/PG ratio of your e-liquid than shortfills which only allow you to add a nic shot.
Composition: Longfills contain concentrated flavouring only, while shortfills contain a mixture of VG and flavourings. This difference impacts the mixing process as well as the level of customisation offered by these vape juice options.
Convenience: If you’re a beginner, you might find using shortfills more convenient than longfills, due to the simpler mixing process.
Cost-effectiveness: If you’re an experienced vaper, you might find that crafting your own unique vape juice is more cost effective than buying shortfills or pre-mixed e-liquid.
Shelf life: Longfills usually have a longer shelf life than shortfills, as they only contain concentrated flavour prior to mixing. This helps preserve the integrity of the flavour. The VG/PG-flavouring mix of shortfills may degrade slightly over time if you don’t store them properly.
How to Choose Between Longfills vs Shortfills
The big question now is how to decide between the delicious, flavour-packed longfill and shortfill e-liquids available at LoV. This comes down to how much nicotine you prefer, how much you want to be able to customise your vape juice, and your vaping experience, as well as a few other factors. Let’s break down choosing between longfills vs shortfills:
Consider your nicotine preference: Longfills are a good choice if you prefer higher nicotine strengths, or you want more control over your nicotine intake. Shortfills are a great option if you prefer lower nicotine strengths, are looking to reduce your nicotine intake gradually, or want to enjoy nicotine-free vaping.
Think about flavour intensity: Shortfills that have been pre-mixed with a higher VG content are known for providing more intense flavours. As longfills need to be mixed with base mix and nic shots, you may need to be prepared for trial and error before achieving your preferred flavour intensity.
Consider your vaping experience: Shortfills are a good place for beginners to start learning how to mix their own vape juice, as they require less mixing than longfills. Experienced vapers often choose longfills, as many of them enjoy experimenting with personalisation or making larger, more cost-effective batches of e-liquid.
Think about convenience: If you want to mix vape juice quickly, consider choosing shortfills. If you’re happy to mix flavouring, base liquid, and nic shots, longfills are the better option.
Evaluate storage: Due to the concentrated liquid they contain, unopened longfills, base liquids, and nic shots tend to have a longer shelf life than unopened pre-mixed shortfills, provided they are stored properly. Once mixed, longfills and shortfills have a one- to two-year shelf life, although it’s best to use them within three to six of mixing.
Customise Your Vaping Experience
Now that you know the difference between longfill vs shortfill, you can make an informed decision about how to customise your e-liquid. Take your vaping experience to new heights with shortfills or longfills by considering flavour, nicotine strength, convenience, and other factors. Find all the e-liquids and vaping accessories you need at Legion of Vapers.
