"You only see this sh*t in New York, my friend."

Suddenly realizing he's spilled ketchup on the collar of his canary-yellow polo, a 40-something man pauses to grab a napkin from his back pocket. As he lightly dabs the stain, he raises his half-eaten hamburger in salute and resumes his thought.

"Only in New York."

We're standing in the back patio of the Henley Vaporium in (understandably) New York City. More than 60 people are packed like sardines inside and outside the shop for a "cloud competition" — or, as it's pegged by patrons, the "X Games" of vaping.

In 20 minutes, a pair of "professional vapers" will take the stage, stand back-to-back and inhale from their vaping devices as deeply as possible. Then, on the count of three, they'll exhale. Whoever blows the bigger cloud will advance to the next round.

But Ketchup Polo has his facts wrong: This isn't something you'd only see in New York.

Apparently, cloud competitions have been big in southern California for the past two years. Ameravape, one of the companies co-hosting the event, frequently holds competitions at its shop in San Diego.

Vaping is different from smoking e-cigarettes. All competitors, some of whom are sponsored by shops like Ameravape, use customizable vaping mods that burn vegetable glycerol and liquid nicotine.

The crowd grows louder as the competition continues. With all the screaming, jumping and picture-taking, it soon starts to feel like a concert — even a borderline mosh pit.

The ultimate winner, a tattoo artist from San Diego named Chris "Bud" Wilson, exhales a massive cloud not unlike the one he blew during his performance on stage. "This whole thing — traveling, meeting new people and blowing big clouds," he says with a shrug, then smiles. "It's not bad, dude. Not bad at all."

Dude.

BONUS: How to Hack Your Own E-Cigarettes