We read over 6,000 posts from people trying to quit vaping. The same sentence kept coming up.
It wasn't "I can't handle the cravings". It was something much more British, and much more fixable.
Last month we did something most brands never bother to do. We sat down and read.
Not surveys. Not focus groups. The real stuff — the threads on r/QuitVaping at 2am, the Mumsnet posts from wives who've had enough, the "Giving up vaping" thread on PistonHeads that runs for three pages, the forum regulars on Planet of the Vapes, the one-star reviews on Amazon. Thousands of posts and reviews from people trying to stop vaping, many of them here in the UK. We kept 6,151 quotes.
We wanted to answer one question:
Why can so many people who managed to quit cigarettes not quit the vape?
Here's what they told us. In their own words, typos and all.
1. "I am vaping far far more than I ever smoked."
This was the sentence. In one form or another, it came up again and again.
"I used to smoke 2-3 roll ups a day. Although I don't miss smoking- I am vaping far far more than I ever smoked."
Mumsnet
"With a cigarette, you lit it, smoked it and stubbed it out - finished. With vaping, it's an almost continuous process (if you want it to be) with no natural end point, so my vape is almost a permanent fixture in my hand."
PistonHeads forum
"the convenience and comfort factor meant I was easily vaping more than 20 times more than I was ever smoking"
r/CasualUK
A cigarette had a built-in ending. You had to go outside. It burnt down. It stank. You could count them.
A vape has none of that. It sits on the desk, rides in the van, comes to bed. There's no last one. So the habit doesn't get weaker over the years. It gets stronger.
We asked 1,090 of our own customers why they'd bought HÜM. 566 of them ticked the same box: "I vape — and I used to smoke before that." More than half. They did what they were told, swapped the fags for a vape, and ended up worse off than when they started.
"I quit smoking in 2017 and thought vaping would be a good alternative. 8 years later and I'm still heavily tooting away."
PistonHeads forum
2. "I hate it how it has this control over me."
The second thing we noticed: almost nobody talked about enjoying it.
"can't go anywhere without my vape it's become a permanent object in my hand just hit it have another one never used to smoke in the house now I vape everywhere […] I hate it how it has this control over me"
r/QuitVaping
"My life was always dictated by whether I can vape when I go somewhere, will there be a vape shop? What if it dies?"
Amazon review
"The vapes are a total ball and chain."
r/QuitVaping
When we asked our customers what finally pushed them over the edge, the number one answer wasn't money, and it wasn't the kids. It was "I'm sick of feeling like it owns me."
3. The 3am moment
Then there's the night. A lot of the stories had one.
"here I am years later waking up in the middle of the night to vape. NO MORE. I'M DONE!"
r/QuitVaping
"I was lying in bed the night before I gave up after reading and vaping for a solid hour, with my heart really pounding racing a mile a minute and thought, this is crazy, I need to stop this."
Mumsnet
"I'm constantly having chest pains, wheezing. Out of breath from doing HOUSE CHORES????? […] I will NOT be my father who cannot breath at 60."
r/QuitVaping
You probably know the feeling. Lying there, vape on the bedside table, wondering what all this is doing to you — and reaching for it anyway.
4. "They cannot help with vaping, only smoking."
So people go and ask for help. And this is where it gets properly frustrating.
"I've spoke to by GP but they said they cannot help with vaping only smoking, similar to the story i got from stop smoking clinics."
r/QuitVaping
"I dont count as a smoker now, for NHS purposes, so I'm not entitled to any support at all - no access to stop smoking services, etc. But I'm more addicted to nicotine than ever"
Mumsnet
The system was built to get you off cigarettes. It did. Job done, as far as it's concerned. Nobody planned for what happens next.
So people try everything on their own. In the Reddit threads we read, 0mg vapes came up 1,470 times. Cold turkey, 1,267. Patches, 880. Gum, 413. Allen Carr, 328. And the same story kept repeating.
"I find 0mg to be a bit like an alcohol-free beer or a decaf coffee - It looks and tastes basically the same but it just feels like something is missing"
Planet of the Vapes forum
"I have tried cutting the nicotine strength down but I just ended up vaping even more."
Mumsnet
"Even after reading it twice, I still vape."
Amazon review of a quit-vaping book
5. The bit almost everyone gets wrong
Here's what changed how we think about all this.
The people who'd tried to quit, and failed, kept describing the same problem. And it wasn't the nicotine.
"I think a lot of it is habit rather than nicotine. I've tried switching to nicotine lozengers but it's more the feeling I crave."
PistonHeads forum
"For the first few days after I quit, I kept reaching for a vape that wasn't there. My hand would instinctively pat my pocket, or drift towards the corner of the desk where it normally sat."
r/QuitVaping
"Craving nicotine doesn't last so long but our habits do."
Planet of the Vapes forum
Read that last one again.
Patches handle the nicotine. Gum handles the nicotine. A 0mg vape removes the nicotine — and keeps everything else exactly the same: the cloud, the battery, the hand going to the pocket a hundred times a day.
Nothing on the list deals with the hand. The pocket-pat. The drag after the brew, in the van, after tea, on the sofa. The habit your body has practised more times than anything else you do.
That's why people who are "only" on 0mg still can't put it down. And it's why so many of the ones who did get out ended up holding something.
"I needed something to hold, something that satisfied the hand to mouth need, as well as something to occasionally draw on."
Amazon review
What HÜM actually is
This is where we come in. We'll keep it short and straight.
HÜM is a stick of wood and metal, about the length of your finger. You hold it, raise it, draw on it — the same movement your hand already knows. Inside there's a small flavour insert (mint, spearmint, coffee, maple and more). When you draw, you get cool, lightly flavoured air.
- No nicotine. None.
- No vapour. Nothing comes out when you breathe out.
- No battery. Nothing to charge, nothing to die on you at the pub.
- A twist ring at the top so you can set how tight the draw feels.
It doesn't do the nicotine side. If you need help there, plenty of our customers use patches alongside it. HÜM is for the other part. The part nobody else is treating.
When we asked our customers why they chose HÜM, the top answer by a mile was "the idea that it targets the habit, not just the nicotine." More than 22,500 people have tried it so far, and 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days.
What to expect (honestly)
We'd rather tell you now than have you find out in week one.
It is not a vape. There's no cloud and no throat hit. The first few days, it'll feel different. That's the point — but it's still strange.
"It isn't the exact same as a vape "kick" but the minty flavours definitely helped me most at the start"
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB
The flavour is light at first. Years of vaping dull your taste. Most people find it gets stronger as that wears off.
"it has been amazing how quickly the flavour feels stronger and stronger as the effects of the vape use on my throat wore off."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB
"A month on, I can now taste all flavours much clearer. If it keeps going like this, I'm worried they will be too strong. My taste buds are returning."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB
You still have to want it. HÜM gives your hand somewhere to go. It won't make the decision for you.
What our customers say
"My story is one of switching from smoking to vaping and then not being able to stop vaping and my nicotine consumption skyrocketing whenever life gets tricky."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB, August 2026
"I first tested the Hüm on a 6hr drive home from a holiday in Cornwall. Driving is one of my most habitual times to vape. It worked!"
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB, August 2026
"My apprentice smoking in the van as I tried to quit wasn't going to be helpful. So we've all done it together."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB, August 2026
"I never ever thought I would be able to stop vaping! […] I'm now 4 weeks vape free with Hum & importantly nicotine free."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB, September 2026
"After about a month I forgot to use it entirely and suddenly came to realise I had no cravings!"
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB, June 2026
Individual experiences. Results vary.
The HÜM Starter Pack — £49.99 £82.99 (40% off)
- 1 HÜM stick (Golden Maple, or Midnight Walnut for £4.99 more)
- 3 flavour inserts, each lasting around 72 hours
- Free UK delivery · ships in 3 days
- 30-Day Guarantee: use HÜM every day for 30 days. Not satisfied by Day 30? Email hello@feelhum.com for a full refund. Less than 1% of customers ever claim it.
- Or 3 interest-free payments of £16.63 with Klarna
22,500+ customers. 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days.
That's about what a lot of people spend on vapes in a fortnight.
"But I was on £200 worth a tobacco alone just me before this. So it seems a worthy investment."
Verified HÜM review, Trustpilot, GB
One last thing
Of everything we read, the posts that stuck with us weren't the angry ones. They were the ones from people who'd got out, looking back.
"Time with my wife and kids feels richer. Even a simple walk feels like I'm actually there, instead of rushing to the next nicotine hit."
r/QuitVaping
If the vape's been in your hand more than your phone this year, maybe it's time to give your hand something else to do.
This is an advertisement by HÜM. Quotes from Reddit, Mumsnet, PistonHeads, Planet of the Vapes and Amazon are public posts about vaping and quitting, reproduced as written; they are not reviews of HÜM. Quotes marked "Verified HÜM review" are from HÜM customers on Trustpilot. Survey figures come from 1,090 HÜM customers who answered our post-purchase questionnaire. HÜM is not a medical product and contains no nicotine. If you have health concerns, speak to your GP.