Disposable Vapes

What the number in a model name tells you

Many disposables have a number in the model name: Flavour Beast Alpha 80K, Drip'n by Envi EVO 63K, Orbito Lumo AI 120K. Some spell the number out in full, as with Flavour Beast Flow 5000 and Breeze Prime 6000. "K" stands for thousands, and the manufacturer sets the number. When it refers to puffs, it is the manufacturer's own rating, not a measurement of how you vape, so use the figure to compare one model with another rather than as a promise of how long one device will last.

The number is also the fastest way to tell product lines apart. Flavour Beast alone has the Flow 5000, Mode Max 18k, Beast Mode Max 2 50K, Mode Max 3 60K and Alpha 80K in our range, so a flavour name on its own may not tell you which device a listing is for. Some lines have no number at all. KRAZE Mega X and Breeze Smoke Pro are identified by their line names, so for those, read the full name before you compare.

Nicotine strengths in our disposables: 0 to 20 mg/mL

Strength is shown in mg/mL, meaning milligrams of nicotine per millilitre of liquid. Under the Vaping Products Labelling and Packaging Regulations, every vaping product that contains nicotine must display a nicotine concentration statement in that unit.

Our strongest option is 20 mg/mL, which is the maximum the Nicotine Concentration in Vaping Products Regulations set for vaping products manufactured or imported for sale in Canada.

Each listing has its own strength. In the Orbito Lumo AI 120K line, for example, one listing has "10mg" in its product name and others do not. The flavour name alone will not tell you the strength, so check it on the listing before you add the product to your cart.

Nicotine-free disposables are listed at 0 mg/mL. The MARZ BAR 1200 Zero Nic line is one example. Under the labelling regulations, a product without nicotine may display "Nicotine-free", "No nicotine" or "Does not contain nicotine", along with the French equivalent.

Flavour profiles and what "Ice" means in a product name

Our flavour filters sort the range into profiles. The Fruit profile has the most listings, followed by Iced and then Menthol. Tobacco and Flavourless are smaller groups.

"Ice" or "Iced" at the end of a product name usually means a cooling note has been added to the base flavour, as in Grape Ice, Lychee Mango Melon Ice and Polar Mint Iced. A fruit flavour with "Ice" in its name may appear under Iced or under Fruit, so if you want a particular fruit, check both filters. If you want the base flavour without the cooling note, look for names that don't end in "Ice".

Some names show their profile clearly. Al Fakher Crown Bar Cloud X 60K Watermelon Kiwi is a fruit flavour with no cooling note in the name. STARBUZZ E-Hose 100K Simply Mint is a mint flavour without "Ice", and Orbito Lumo AI 120K Red Tobacco is a tobacco flavour. Provincial rules on flavoured vaping products differ across Canada.

Narrowing 70+ brands to one product line

Our brand filter covers 70+ brands and lists each device line separately. Several makers sell more than one line, each with a different number in the name. STLTH has STLTH 60K, STLTH Titan Max 50K and STLTH X Geek Bar 80K. Kraze has KRAZE Mega X and Kraze Luna 42K. Drip'n by Envi has EVO 63K and Daily 100K.

Once you know which line you use, choose that line in the filter instead of searching by maker name. That way, listings from the maker's other lines stay out of your results. The Flavour Beast Alpha 80K line page shows how this works: every listing on it is the same model, so you only compare flavour and strength.

What should be on the packaging of a legal disposable?

Health Canada's vaping product safety page lists what to look for:

• Labels in English and French that list the ingredients, including flavours.
• For products that contain nicotine: a nicotine concentration statement in mg/mL, toxicity information with a hazard symbol and a first aid treatment statement, and a health warning about nicotine.
• Child-resistant packaging for any product with a nicotine concentration of 0.1 mg/mL or more.
• A vaping excise stamp over the seal.

Health Canada advises against using vaping products of unknown content or origin, even if they come from someone you know. It also says that vaping products and accessories obtained outside the legal market can pose additional risks to health and safety.