From Traditional and Filtered Cigarette Holders to Personal Vaporizers and E-cigarettes

Audrey Hepburn's whimsical and poignant portrayal of a free-spirited New York socialite named Holly Golightly in the 1961 romantic comedy film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was the stuff of legends. In the movie, Hepburn was always seen holding a stylish cigarette holder between her long, slim fingers. That cigarette holder wasn't just a fashion accessory, however.

Audrey often used a cigarette holder whenever she smoked in real life. Reportedly, she could finish off two to three packs of non-filtered cigarettes each day, which meant Audrey Hepburn smoked 40 to 60 cigarettes daily.

Traditional Formal Cigarette Holders

Traditional cigarette holders have three formal lengths: Opera, Theater and Dinner. Convertible holders make use of extensions to turn a 6-inch Dinner-length holder into a 10-inch Opera type. Meanwhile, telescopic cigarette holders don't use additional parts to increase their length. Instead, each holder has three parts that can be twisted and pulled like a classic telescope. It elongates from the shortest Dinner to medium-length Theater to Opera, which was the longest.

Long Holders for Slim and Ultra Slim Cigarettes

There are four main diameter sizes for cigarettes:

1. Standard - most U.S. brands like Dunhill or Marlboro fit the standard diameter
2. Slim - Virginia Slim and Nat Sherman's Black and Gold are good examples
3. Super Slim or Ultra Slim (interchangeable terms) - The Capri, Sobranie Pink or Blue, and Virginia Slim or SuperSlim are excellent examples
4. Hand Rolled - which, depending upon how they are rolled, may fit any of the above categories.

Some holders are specially equipped with small-diameter tips to accommodate those really thin cigarettes made for ladies. Cocktail length holders normally have 3.5-inch diameter tips, which can be used with Ultra or Super Slim smokes. If you'd rather have a really long holder in your hand, you might like a 10-inch or 14-inch Theater length or a 20-inch Opera length holder.

Filtered Cigarette Holders

Cigarettes didn't used to have filters. Smokers had to use a long tube with a mouthpiece at one end and a small vessel to hold the cigarette at another end. Smoke from unfiltered tobacco carried bits of ash and glowing embers, intense heat, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and other unwanted elements down the long empty tube of the holder. By the time smoke has reached the mouthpiece, it's already cooled down and some of the gases have dissipated.

Modern cigarette holders now have filters in their mouthpieces. If you're smoking filter-tip cigs, then filtered holders offer an additional level of filtration. There's no proof that these filtered holders are effective in smoke. Yet, that didn't stop one of the companies that sell these items to proudly claim that using filtered holders to smoke filtered cigarettes can reduce the amount of TAR and other tobacco-specific carcinogenic compounds in the smoke by more than fifty percent.

While most people who smoke don't need a cigarette holder, many cigarette users - especially women - prefer to use one whenever they smoke. A long holder positions the glowing tip of a cigarette away from your face and body, and prevents accidental burns or blisters. Second-hand or third-hand smoke from the cigarette streams away from your eyes and nose, hair and clothes.

Electronic Cigarettes and Personal Vaporizers

The entry of e-cigarettes into the tobacco industry has upset the status quo. In addition to their universal appeal to young people, e-cigs are also widely perceived as less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. People used e-cigs for vaping. Instead of inhaling the smoke from burning tobacco, vapers enjoy chasing clouds of vapor. They put a small amount of e-juice into the atomizer and heat it up until it's vaporized.

Thousands of ex-smokers have already switched to vaping their favorite flavors of e-liquid or e-juice, which has a nicotine level that fits their personal needs. However, the amount of steamy vapor produced by ordinary electronic cigarettes isn't as prodigious as the thick clouds produced by personal vaporizers or variable-voltage mods.

A cigarette holder looks very chic and elegant, which is the reason why it's popular among women who smoke. However, they don't offer any benefit to women who vape. They already have their glammed-up mods and rhinestone-studded vape sticks to satisfy their nicotine cravings and to match their sense of style.

So, how do personal vaporizers and other nicotine-delivery devices measure up to filtered cigarette holders? Evidently, the e-liquid that contains a pure extract of nicotine in liquid form has completely eliminated TAR and other cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco. That's the main reason why PVs and electronic cigarettes are infinitely less harmful when compared to mechanical filters or filtered cigarette holders.