DTL vaping and MTL vaping are two phrases that not all vapers understand fully, but every vaper practices one of both. Both these vaping styles have their benefits and situations that best suit them, but most vapers prefer sticking to one style, regardless of the situation.
In this article, we’ll reveal the ins and outs of each technique so that you can decide once and for all if you’re an MTL or DTL vaper.
What Is Mouth To Lung Vaping (MTL)?
Mouth to Lung vaping is a technique whereby you draw the vapour into your mouth before inhaling it into your lungs. This style of vaping closely resembles the act of smoking cigarettes.
MTL Vaping – How To Vape?
To vape the MTL style, you first draw in vapour from your vaping device into your mouth, hold it for a few seconds, and inhale to your lungs before exhaling. To vape this style, you need to ensure that the airflow of your vape device is restricted or partially restricted at least. When drawing in vapour, do it smoothly, like you would a normal cigarette, only longer.
Benefits of Mouth To Lung Vaping
A mouth to Lung hit is quite similar to the experience gotten from smoking cigarettes, so MTL Vaping is the most suitable and most comfortable method for vapers who just quit smoking.
Also, there’s the matter of flavour: Mouth To Lung vaping is seen as the best vaping technique for flavour chasers. The major reason for this is that when you vape with the MTL style, the e-liquid vapour gets to stay in your mouth awhile, where you have more taste buds.
Finally, Mouth To Lung vaping is an economical way of vaping: You end up using less e-liquid compared to what you would’ve used for a Direct To Lung vape.
What Is Direct To Lung Vaping (DTL or DL)?
Direct To Lung vaping is a style of vaping whereby you inhale the vapour directly into your lungs without first holding it in your mouth, just like how you breathe air. It is also called straight to Lung vape.
DTL vaping – How To Vape?
To vape DTL style, all you need do is take a deep, long, steady vape straight to your lungs, just as though you’re taking a deep breath. When doing Direct To Lung vaping, allow for greater airflow, so the e-liquid vapour can cool down before going down your lungs. If you don’t allow enough airflow, you may get hot vape steam into your lungs, which is never good.
Benefits Of Direct To Lung Vaping
DTL vaping is the best style for vapers who love cloud chasing. It works hand-in-hand with sub-ohm vaping, consuming your e-liquids to give you thick massive vape clouds.
Direct to Lung vaping is also very intense, the kind of sensation that can turn your eyes red in one draw. Some vapers love this direct to Lung hit, as it brings more satisfaction.
Finally, DTL vaping gives you access to special VG e-liquid flavours and high-quality vape mods with multiple features you can adjust (such as vapour temperature and wattage) for a better vaping experience.
Mouth To Lung Vs Direct To Lung Vaping – What Are The Differences?
MTL and DTL vaping differ in many ways, from the nature of devices and e-liquids used down to the vaping experience. Here’s a rundown of all the differences:
Throat hit and Lung hit
A throat hit is the feeling you get at the back of your throat as you inhale e-liquid vapours. This feeling is minimal with the MTL vaping style.
For DTL vaping, however, you get a very harsh throat hit.
Lung hit is a term that only applies to Direct To Lung Vaping – it’s the sensation that comes when your vapour bypasses your mouth and hits your lungs directly.
Nicotine Content For MTL and DTL Vaping
MTL Vaping allows you to inhale higher nicotine content without any problems. Most reviewers would recommend amounts like 6mg – 20mg. Recent cigarette or tobacco quitters may need higher content (12 – 20mg), so they can satisfy their cravings easily.
Mouth To Lung vapers can also use nicotine salts: these salts deliver high nicotine content with a milder throat hit, and are more easily absorbed into the bloodstream.
DTL Vapers, on the other hand, need very low nicotine contents. This is because the e-liquid travels straight to the lungs; too much nicotine can give an extremely harsh lung hit when you inhale, and may cause lung sickness. Nicotine contents for DTL vapers fall in the range of 3 – 6mg. Also, nicotine salts are not an option here.
PG/VG Ratios For MTL and DTL Vaping
MTL
When considering PG and VG concentrations for Mouth To Lung vaping, you should go for higher PG contents. MTL vape devices work best with low VG juices due to the kind of coils they come with.
Here are some recommended ratios:
- 50PG/50VG: Good throat hit, fair vapour production
- 60VG/40PG: Smoother vape with better vapour production
- 70VG/30PG: Best vapour production. However, this ratio may not work well with most MTL devices.
DTL
Due to the nature of Direct To Lung vaping devices, it works best with higher VG concentrations. The VG is what’s responsible for the thick clouds. The least ratio you should use for DTL is 50/50. However, here are some of the most popular ratios used by DTL vapers and their perks:
- 60VG/40PG: Excellent flavour, strong cloud creation, and a slight throat hit when inhaled.
- 70VG/30PG: This is one of the most popular sub-ohm blends. It gives off good flavour, a lot of clouds, and a pleasant throat hit when you inhale.
- 80VG/20PG: Good flavour, thick clouds, and a silky smooth throat hit.
- 90VG/10PG: Good flavour, much denser clouds, and a smooth throat hit.
- 100% VG: Pure clouds and ultra-smooth; recommended for vapers who are sensitive to PG
Vape Clouds
DTL vaping produces the best, thickest and most flavoured clouds. This is due to the high VG contained in the e-liquids, as well as the high-powered devices used.
Also, when you inhale directly to your lungs, you suck in more vapour, as your lung’s capacity far exceeds your mouth’s. MTL vaping, on the other hand, produces fewer clouds.
MTL and DTL Vaping Devices
If you’re an MTL vaper, your vaping kit should consist of a vape pen and a vape pod. There are several designs of e-cigarettes available, and any of them can do a good job for an MTL vaper.
The best DTL vaping devices are the sub-ohmers and vape mods. A vape mod is an advanced vape device that allows you to customise your vaping experience. Vape mods have a way of increasing vape cloud production, unlike your regular e-cigs.
Here are some other things you should know about MTL and DTL vaping devices:
Coil resistance
MTL vaping kits use high resistance coils. You’ll find that most of the vape pods out there are in the range of 1 – 2ohms.
DTL vaping kits, on the other hand, use low resistance coils, hence the name sub-ohmers. These ones fall under 1ohm.
Wattage
Mouth To Lung vape devices use lower wattage, usually 11 to 25 watts. Direct To Lung Vape devices, on the other hand, use higher wattage. They can range from 40W up to 300W.
Battery
18650 batteries are the most popular when it comes to vaping. They are seen as the best for vape devices.
Sub-ohm devices mostly come with built-in batteries, and due to the high power output they give, their batteries drain quickly.
MTL vape device batteries are usually of lower capacities than DTL devices. They can be built-in or detachable, depending on the manufacturer.
Airflow
Opening the airflow while Vaping simply means that you allow more airflow through the tank into your lungs unrestricted. This is the recommended setup for Direct To Lung vaping. It makes for longer and easier draws and magnificent cloud production.
A restricted airflow, however, is the recommended setup for Mouth To Lung vaping. It makes the vape a bit warmer and boosts the flavour a little.
E-liquid Longevity
Sub-ohmers vapourise more e-liquids to produce the massive clouds that cloud chasers so love. This is why you’ll quickly run out of E-juice if you’re a DTL vaper. MTL vape devices, on the other hand, consume far less e-liquid.
Mouth To Lung Vs. Direct To Lung Vaping – Which Style Will Work Best For You?
In case you’re still at a loss of which vape style is best tailored for you, here are a few pros and cons, as well as some vape scenarios that warrant MTL and DTL vaping.
DTL pros and cons
Pros
- DTL mods have more features that can be customised to improve the vaping experience
- Massive clouds
- Sweeter VG flavours
Cons
- Due to the large battery capacity of sub-ohmers, charging time can be long and frustrating
- E-juice gets consumed quickly
- Vape mods are bulkier, less portable
- Limits your options of E-juice (for instance, you can’t use nicotine salts)
MTL pros and cons
Pros
- It feels just like smoking a cigarette
- Allows you to taste more flavour on your taste buds
- Less e-liquid consumption
- Wide range of e-liquids to use
- Smaller, portable devices
Cons
- MTL mods don’t have many features
- Less vapour clouds
- MTL vaping is less intense; no lung hit
Best Vape Style For Certain Scenarios
| Condition/scenario | Most Suitable Vape Style |
| Tighter draw | MTL |
| High nicotine e-liquid | MTL |
| Huge vapour | DTL |
| Best for new vapers | MTL |
| High PG e-liquid | MTL |
| Best for throat hit | DTL |
| Best for sub-ohm vaping | DTL |
| Best for high VG liquids | DTL |
| Best For Short, intense Vape Sessions | DTL |
| Best For Flavour/taste | MTL |
| Best For Vape Juice conservation | MTL |
There is no clear winner. The best you can do is to try vaping with both styles for a few days, and see which one you’re more comfortable with or which appeals more to you. Remember, there are no rules, so just experiment; eventually, you’ll know which side you belong to.