Combat Vapors Photo by David Weaver[/caption]

To help customers fight their cigarette-smoking habits, Combat Vapors owners Kelli Neaville and Julie Dube arm patrons with the right equipment, including electronic vaporizing devices, accessories such as atomizers and batteries, and e-juice in more than 150 custom flavors including M16, Tropical Storm and Flamingo.

"I wanted to call the store Freedom Vapors because vaping freed me from that terrible habit of smoking," said Neaville, an Air Force veteran.

However, that name was taken, so the owners chose Combat Vapors and opened the Cedar Park store in March. So far Dube said about 1,000 customers have joined the fight. Dube and Neaville said they both were longtime smokers before vaping, and e-cigarettes helped them quit smoking.

"We want to help people," Dube said. "Vaping is an alternative to smoking. Even though we can't advertise it as a smoking cessation device, it has helped and assisted a lot of people to quit smoking."

Inside an electronic cigarette, a liquid— sometimes called e-juice—is heated, which results in a vapor that can be inhaled and exhaled by the user. Depending on the customer's preference, nicotine can be included in the e-juice.

Dube and Neaville said they strongly believe vaping is healthier than smoking and that there is no risk for the people subjected to vapor from an e-cigarette.

"You are not getting tars and all the carcinogens and everything that is used to process the tobacco," Neaville said. "There are no secondhand carcinogens, no second-hand smoke. It will not leave stains. It's vapor; it dissipates."

The shop strives to ensure quality, and Neaville said she mixes each e-juice herself.

"We are [measuring] with syringes, and that will never change. We are not mixing cocktails, we are mixing an exact juice. So when you come in and you buy one of my flavors like Blue Rocks, you come back in two weeks and buy the Blue Rocks again, it will taste exactly the same."

The owners use their own recipes and create about five new custom flavors each week, she said. They don't have a favorite, but Dube likes Strawberry Champagne, and Neaville likes Big Red and M16, they said.

"M16 is kind of my smoking gun," Neaville said, adding that is has a light tobacco flavor with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla. "It's what I used to quit smoking."

"I'm hooked on the Mojito flavor," said customer Sandy Johnson of Leander. She has been coming to Combat Vapors since it opened and likes the employees and the atmosphere, she said.

Dube said she and Neaville do not want customers to feel like a number and be rushed to try a flavor at the counter, so they have tables with Lazy Susans that are filled with flavors and invite customers to sit down, sample and enjoy.

"If somebody wants to come and try flavors for 1 1/2 hours until they find one that's right for them, they are more than welcome to," Dube said.

What is an e-cigarette?


"It is an electronic device that has a battery and an atomizer top, which has the heating element in it. There the e-juice is heated up, and produces vapor. It doesn't have the 6,000 chemicals that regular cigarettes do. The liquid contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, flavor and—if the customer wants it—nicotine. Propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin are ... [Federal Drug Administration] and [U.S. Department of Agriculture]-approved." – Combat Vapors co-owner Julie Dube

Cost to use


An e-cigarette can cost $45 to $150 and includes the necessary accessories, co-owner Kelli Neaville said. Bottles of e-juice cost $6 (10 mL) and $16 (30 mL).

Extended warranty


Combat Vapors offers an extended warranty on the smoking devices it sells.

"It costs $25 for a year. If the customer breaks the device, strips it, it just doesn't work, he can bring it in, [and] we replace it with no questions asked." Dube said. "As far as I know we are the only store around that does that."