Vape Detectors Exposed: Understanding the Tech (Not Cheating It) & Vaping Responsibly
In most cities and states, the dos and don’ts of vaping tend to revolve around the rules and regulations governing tobacco cigarettes. In other words, you’re allowed to vape where smokers are allowed to smoke, and you’re prohibited from vaping anywhere smoking tobacco cigarettes is banned.
Here’s the catch. It’s easy to tell when someone is smoking a cigarette. The harsh scent of tobacco smoke is downright impossible to mask, and the way it clings to clothing and hair and how it lives on the breath are also pretty hard to disguise.
Vapes are a whole different ball game. It’s easy to vape discreetly. In fact, for many vaping fanatics, that’s a big part of the appeal. It’s also great that even the wildest of fruity or most intense of minty flavors won’t linger around in the air or on your clothes for long to give you away.
The bottom line is that it’s easier to vape where you’re not supposed to than to smoke where you’re not, and that brings us to the invention of the Vape Detector.
What is a Vape Detector?
Vape detectors are devices that look a lot like smoke detectors. Still, instead of detecting smoke, they detect specific chemicals released into the air while vaping, such as propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. Here’s the big difference. Vape detectors are not alarms and are not in place to ensure public safety. They do not make any noise at all. Instead, they alert an authorized administrator that someone is vaping in the surrounding area. This is done to have security or other authorized personnel rush to the site to catch the vaping perpetrator.
Vape detectors don’t sound audible alarms; they don’t have video cameras; they don’t record audio. They are usually hidden from sight and exist solely to identify and thwart potential vaping. Vape detectors are often used in high school bathrooms, hospital and healthcare facilities, workplaces, restaurants, and other public areas.
Can You Beat A Vape Detector?
If you’re vaping outdoors, chances are, even with a detector, it won’t be triggered as the natural breeze will carry away any essential substances. If you’re vaping indoors, you need to be more cautious.
However, before we go any further, we need to clarify that we do not encourage anyone to vape in many places where vape detectors tend to exist – like schools and healthcare facilities. It would be best if you were not vaping in these locations, regardless of any possible risk of detection. So, please don’t do it.
Still, we’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss how people outsmart these high-tech devices.
The Toilet Trick
One clever way people have foiled vape detectors in bathrooms is by following the incontrovertible laws of physics! If you exhale into the commode and quickly flush the toilet, it will often create a sort of centrifuge that sucks the exhaled vapor into the bathroom and down into the plumbing where no vape detector can sense it. Of course, this does require exhaling into a toilet, and for many people (we hope most people), that’s not worth it.
Exhale Into A Shirt or Sweater
If you know there’s a vape detector in the area, and you’re wearing a thick enough and absorbent enough shirt or sweater, go ahead and exhale right into a sleeve. There’s a good chance that the aerosol containing the chemicals identifiable by vape detectors will be absorbed into the garment before wafting up to reach the sensor. This tip works with scarves, sweatshirts, or other thick clothes.
Blow Into A Water Bottle
Another way vape fans are avoiding detection is by blowing into a standard water bottle. Take a hit. Put your mouth over an empty water bottle and exhale into the bottle. Quickly place a thumb over the opening and, when ready, screw the cap back on the bottle - fast. Warning! This trick is not risk-free. If some of the vapor is allowed to escape, there’s a good chance it will float up to the detector and trigger an alert.
Vape a High PG E-Liquid
Most vape e-juices use propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG) in different quantities to give them their flavors. Vape detectors can read both elements. However, VG-dominant vapes tend to produce those enormous vape clouds people love filming. These big clouds are almost impossible to hide from a good vape detector. PG-dominant vapes, on the other hand, tend to produce smaller puffs, which can be dispersed more quickly. It’s not foolproof, but if you must pick one type of e-juice to avoid detection, go with a high PG liquid.
Find a Well-Ventilated Area
The best way to avoid a vape detector is to ensure the vapor dissipates or gets carried away ASAP! Vaping into an air duct or outside a window is one way to avoid detection, but there is one caveat. Vape detectors are often placed next to windows or these well-ventilated spots so that you may blow your vapor directly into a device. Look to see if you can spot a well-placed device before you decide to take a chance.
Takeaways
One of the most important aspects of vaping is doing it responsibly and with consideration for others. While it’s true that having to worry about a vape detector seems a bit extreme in some instances, these devices are well warranted in other circumstances. Bottom line – don’t vape where you know you shouldn’t vape, and never vape where children are present. When we all vape consciously as a community, it helps our causes, and it helps us win more of the critical fights we want to win. So, please vape responsibly. Thanks, and look for more posts coming soon.
