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The Health Brief


Men's Health · 6 min read

"I Counted Every Puff on One Shift. 311." — The Doncaster Lorry Driver Who Finally Got the Vape Out of His Cab

Lee quit cigarettes the week his daughter was born. Nine years later, she was the one who told him he had a problem.

"I always told myself the vape was the good version. I'd quit smoking. Job done. Then my daughter sat in the cab with me one Saturday and said, 'Dad, you've had that thing in your mouth the whole way.'" — Lee, 44, Doncaster

Lee in his cab. Doncaster to Felixstowe and back, most weeks.
Lee in his cab. Doncaster to Felixstowe and back, most weeks.

Lee has driven lorries out of Doncaster for nineteen years. A1, M18, M62. Felixstowe and back, twice a week.

He started smoking at 16. "Behind the bike sheds, like everyone." By his twenties he was on twenty a day.

Nine years ago, the week his daughter Ellie was born, he stopped.

"The midwife said it, the GP said it, the leaflet said it: switch to a vape. So I did. And it worked. I never touched another cigarette."

He pauses.

"What nobody tells you is that the vape doesn't have an end."

"A fag burns down. A vape just keeps going."

When Lee smoked, the cab had rules. Windows down. One at the services. One after the drop. He could count them.

The vape didn't need rules. It sat in the door pocket and came out every few minutes, from Doncaster to Felixstowe and all the way back.

"I'd get to the end of a run and realise I'd been on it the entire time. Not once or twice. The entire time."

Then came that Saturday. Ellie, now nine, came along for a short run to Leeds.

"Just past Ferrybridge she goes, 'Dad, you've had that in your mouth the whole way.' Not having a go. Just saying it, like you'd say it's raining."

That Monday, Lee did something he'd never done before. He counted.

One shift. 311 puffs.

That Monday, he counted.
That Monday, he counted.

"Twenty cigarettes is maybe two hundred drags. I was vaping more than I'd ever smoked, and I'd been telling myself I'd quit."

"We can help you with smoking. Vaping, not really."

Lee went to his GP.

Picture posed by model.
Picture posed by model.

"Nice enough bloke. But he basically said the stop-smoking service is for smokers. I'm not a smoker any more, technically. So there's nothing for me."

He tried what everyone tries.

0mg liquid. "Same vape, same cloud, same everything. I was on it just as much. Which tells you something."

Patches. "Took the edge off the nicotine. Didn't stop my hand going to the door pocket every five minutes."

Cold turkey. "Two days. Then a long run and a jam on the A14. That was that."

"It was never the nicotine I couldn't do without. It was having something in my hand. Driving with nothing to do with my hands felt wrong."

The bloke at Ferrybridge services

The answer came from another driver.

"I'm in the queue for a coffee at Ferrybridge and the fella in front of me has this little wooden thing. Draws on it like a vape. Nothing comes out."

Ferrybridge services. The fella in front had "this little wooden thing".
Ferrybridge services. The fella in front had "this little wooden thing".

Lee asked him what it was.

"He says, 'It's not a vape, mate. No nicotine, nothing. It's for your hand. That's the bit that's got you, not the nicotine.' I laughed. Then I went back to the cab and thought about it for two hundred miles."

He ordered one that night. It was called HÜM.

What HÜM actually is

HÜM is a stick of wood and metal about the length of your finger. You hold it and draw on it, the same movement your hand already knows. Inside there's a small flavour insert (Lee went with mint). When you draw, you get cool, lightly flavoured air.

HÜM: wood and metal. No nicotine, no vapour, nothing to charge.
HÜM: wood and metal. No nicotine, no vapour, nothing to charge.

"First few days it's strange. It's not a vape and it doesn't pretend to be. The flavour's light at first. But my hand had somewhere to go, and that was the whole thing."

It isn't just Lee. More than 22,500 people have tried HÜM, and 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days.

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The door pocket

Week one, Lee kept the vape and HÜM in the cab.

Week two, he noticed he was reaching for HÜM first.

"Third week, I'm unloading at Felixstowe and I realise the vape's still in the door pocket from Monday. I hadn't touched it. Hadn't even thought about it."

Week three. The vape, untouched since Monday.
Week three. The vape, untouched since Monday.

It's been in the bin since.

"Ellie noticed before I did. She said, 'You haven't got the sweet smell any more.' That's when I knew."


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★ 22,500+ customers · 89% feel the urge fade within 30 days


THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE OR BLOG POST. Lee's story is a dramatisation based on real customer experiences; names, places and photos are illustrative. Results vary. HÜM contains no nicotine and is not a medical device. For medical concerns, consult your healthcare provider.


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