# Nic salts or freebase: which suits your draw > Nic salts or freebase nicotine? Throat hit, absorption, hardware and the 20 mg/ml ceiling compared, so you can match the bottle to your draw style. Two bottles side by side, the same figure printed on both labels, and two completely different sensations. Nic salts and freebase nicotine are not interchangeable, and the choice between them changes the throat hit, the hardware that suits them and how the whole setup behaves across a day. Choose blind and you end up with something either abrasive or oddly flat. Choose deliberately and the bottle stops being something you think about. ## What nic salts are, and how they differ from freebase Both forms contain the same nicotine. What differs is the chemistry around it, and that turns out to be more consequential than the number on the front of the bottle. Freebase is nicotine in its purified, unbuffered state. It is more alkaline, and that alkalinity is what produces the sharp, definite sensation in the throat that many long standing vapers specifically look for. Nic salts are made by adding an acid, usually benzoic acid, which lowers the pH of the finished liquid. The result feels considerably smoother in the throat at the same printed strength, and it is absorbed noticeably faster. That second point is the one people underestimate. Smoothness is not neutral: a liquid that goes down easily invites deeper and more frequent draws, so the same figure on the label does not translate into the same experience at all. ## Where nic salts belong in a British setup The hardware pairing is where the decision usually resolves itself. Salt based liquids were formulated for small, low powered devices that produce a modest volume of vapour, and that is where they still make the most sense. Compact pod kits are the obvious home. High value coils, a narrow air path and a small volume of vapour per puff mean the liquid arrives concentrated, and the buffering is what keeps that concentration comfortable rather than abrasive. Ratio reinforces the pairing. Salt based bottles are usually blended with a high proportion of propylene glycol, thin enough to feed the fine wicking channels these coils rely on, which is the arrangement described in our guide to [MTL vaping](/uk/mtl-vaping-explained/). There is also a plain practical reason they dominate British shelves. With tanks capped at 2 ml, nicotine bottles capped at 10 ml and strength capped at 20 mg/ml, a formulation designed for low consumption hardware fits the format the rules impose far more neatly than one designed for high output builds. ## Where freebase still holds its ground Freebase remains the default anywhere vapour volume climbs. Open and restricted direct setups produce a lot of vapour per puff, and a smoothing agent adds nothing useful when the liquid is already arriving in quantity. The throat sensation is the point rather than a side effect. Plenty of experienced vapers want that defined edge, and salt based liquid on the same hardware can feel indistinct by comparison. Ratio follows the hardware again. Freebase bottles intended for direct draws are weighted towards vegetable glycerine, thick enough to keep the large wicking ports of a low value coil saturated, as covered in our comparison of [DTL and RDL](/uk/dtl-and-rdl-vaping/). Flavour behaviour differs too, in ways that rarely appear on a label. The buffering in a salt based liquid tends to round off the sharper aromatic edges, so a tobacco or a citrus can read as flatter than the same flavour built on freebase. Availability is the last practical factor. Because freebase covers the whole spread of strengths up to the legal ceiling and every ratio from thin to thick, it simply offers a wider catalogue to work with. ## Matching the bottle to the draw rather than the number The number on the label is the least useful thing to compare across two setups, because vapour volume decides how much of it actually reaches you. A small volume of vapour delivers less per puff, which is why the tight end of the market works with the upper part of the legal scale. A large volume delivers a great deal per puff, which is why open setups are normally sold alongside bottles from the lower part of it. Strength within the legal ceiling is a personal comfort question, not a target and not something to copy from a forum post. What is worth knowing is the mechanism, so that an uncomfortable session can be diagnosed rather than endured. Mixing the two axes is where problems appear. Salt based liquid in a high output setup delivers a lot very quickly and feels unpleasant, while a low strength freebase in a tight pod can feel thin enough that people compensate by drawing constantly. Reading a British label helps here, because the information is standardised. The strength appears in milligrams per millilitre and often as a percentage alongside it, twenty milligrams per millilitre being the same thing as two per cent. The ratio is usually printed as two numbers, propylene glycol first and vegetable glycerine second. A fifty fifty blend signals a bottle built for tight draw hardware, while anything weighted heavily towards glycerine is aimed at high output coils. The word salt does not always appear prominently on the front of the bottle, so the ratio and the strength together are often the quicker tell. A high strength paired with a thin ratio is almost always a salt based product. If a setup already feels harsh or oddly flat, the form of nicotine is only one of several suspects, and the rest are gathered in our guide to [vaping comfort](/uk/vaping-comfort-problems/). ## Frequently asked questions ### Are nic salts stronger than freebase? Not chemically. At the same printed strength they feel smoother in the throat and are absorbed faster, which is why the same figure produces a very different sensation on the same device. ### Which form suits a compact pod kit? Salt based liquids are the usual pairing, because such devices produce a small volume of vapour and use a thin, propylene glycol heavy blend that matches how those bottles are made. ### Can salt based liquid be used in a sub ohm setup? It is not the intended pairing. A high output device delivers a large volume of vapour per puff, so a liquid formulated for smoothness at concentrated delivery quickly becomes unpleasant. ### Does freebase really feel harsher? At the same printed strength, yes. That defined throat sensation is exactly what some vapers want from it, and exactly what others are trying to avoid. ### How do I know my bottle does not suit my setup? An irritated throat, a persistent unpleasant edge or the feeling that you are drawing constantly to get anywhere all point at a mismatch between the bottle and the volume of vapour the device produces. ## Choosing without overthinking it Work from the hardware backwards and the decision resolves itself quickly. Establish the draw style the device was built for, then let that decide the form of nicotine before you look at any figure on a label. A tight draw on a compact device points towards a smooth, thin, propylene glycol heavy bottle. An open or restricted direct draw points towards freebase in a thicker, glycerine heavy blend that can keep a low value coil fed. Then adjust in one direction at a time. Change the form or the strength, never both together, and give the change a full day of ordinary use before deciding whether it worked. Approached that way, nic salts and freebase stop being rival camps and become two tools for two different jobs. Match the bottle to the volume of vapour your hardware actually produces, keep every choice inside the British legal limits, and the nicotine question quietly settles itself instead of dominating the setup. Editorial content for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, a substance that causes addiction. Not for sale to under-18s in the United Kingdom. This article is not a buying recommendation.