Crafty/Crafty+ by Storz & Bickel

[UnshavenFish]

My observation so far.

I recently picked up a Crafty because of all the rave reviews and wanted to give it a try. I currently own an Arizer Air as well so I use this as my baseline for comparisons.

This isn't meant to be a full review but things that stand out between the two devices.

Taste wise they're pretty close. In fact I would say the glass stems on the Air provide slightly better flavor but the difference is negligible.

Resistance wise the Crafty wins hands down. It's literally a night and day difference between the two. The Air feels like you're pulling through a straw with a super thick milkshake. This requires long, slow pulls of at least 10-12 seconds to produce thick noticeable clouds.

The Crafty on the other hand is like sipping on a soda. Easy flowing and quite deceiving because it's so smooth.

My biggest complaint is efficiency and number of hits per bowl on each unit. With the Crafty on default temp settings I can only get 5-6 pulls before the vapor starts thinning and becoming less visible. Even on boost mode I only get maybe 2 more light hits that are hardly noticeable.

With the same amount of herb in my Air on the green setting (392*F) which is about 40* higher than the Crafty's default setting I can get about 10 good, visible draws and if I boost it to red (410*F) to finish it off I manage at least another 6-7 hits before it's "cashed".

I'm seeing about double the hits from my Air with the same amount of herb. This is the only drawback with my Crafty. I've read reviews and seen several online video reviews of guys averaging 10-12 draws per bowl and it makes me wonder if my unit is defective.

Sure the strain and how finely ground the herb is makes a difference but I'm using the same material from the same grinder in both and in terms of quantity of draws the Air makes my herb last longer, more from my money so to speak.

Sounds normal to me, I have the air and crafty and see the same sort of thing, I can put more in the crafty and get less hits than with less material in my air, this is just down to how they work, the crafty has better flow and IMO better heat retention/heater allowing bowls to be finished quicker with bigger hits, crafty is more like a bong something you can rip hard and fast and for me I feel like I get a stronger and faster acting high, air is more like a joint something to take your time with good for sitting taking it easy, this is just my point of view though.

I would agree the air will make your herb last longer due to smaller and longer lasting bowls, for me though the air is more of a daytime or top-up vape as I prefer big free flowing hits, sure the air can get me to the same place as the crafty but it takes longer to get there (for me), they are both great vapes and both outperform eachother in different areas, just a case of matching the vape to the situation.

Ok so maybe not ten mins first time round! :-)

Yeah the messed up way my overthinking head works that's an hour minimum (this post has taken over an hour )

Nice walkthrough bud

 

[Roth]

My biggest complaint is efficiency and number of hits per bowl on each unit. With the Crafty on default temp settings I can only get 5-6 pulls before the vapor starts thinning and becoming less visible. Even on boost mode I only get maybe 2 more light hits that are hardly noticeable.

With the same amount of herb in my Air on the green setting (392*F) which is about 40* higher than the Crafty's default setting I can get about 10 good, visible draws and if I boost it to red (410*F) to finish it off I manage at least another 6-7 hits before it's "cashed".

I'm seeing about double the hits from my Air with the same amount of herb. This is the only drawback with my Crafty. I've read reviews and seen several online video reviews of guys averaging 10-12 draws per bowl and it makes me wonder if my unit is defective.

Sure the strain and how finely ground the herb is makes a difference but I'm using the same material from the same grinder in both and in terms of quantity of draws the Air makes my herb last longer, more from my money so to speak.

I'd say that's working just as intended. The Crafty is just more efficient at extracting your goodies quickly. You're getting the same amount, just quicker and in less hits.

Once you get no more vapor from the Crafty, try putting that AVB into your Air. You won't be getting any more hits. At least I never did when I put my Crafty AVB into my EVO.

 

[vapviking]

My observation so far.

I recently picked up a Crafty because of all the rave reviews and wanted to give it a try. I currently own an Arizer Air as well so I use this as my baseline for comparisons.

My biggest complaint is efficiency and number of hits per bowl on each unit. With the Crafty on default temp settings I can only get 5-6 pulls before the vapor starts thinning and becoming less visible. Even on boost mode I only get maybe 2 more light hits that are hardly noticeable.

With the same amount of herb in my Air on the green setting (392*F) which is about 40* higher than the Crafty's default setting I can get about 10 good, visible draws and if I boost it to red (410*F) to finish it off I manage at least another 6-7 hits before it's "cashed".

I'm seeing about double the hits from my Air with the same amount of herb. This is the only drawback with my Crafty. I've read reviews and seen several online video reviews of guys averaging 10-12 draws per bowl and it makes me wonder if my unit is defective.

Sure the strain and how finely ground the herb is makes a difference but I'm using the same material from the same grinder in both and in terms of quantity of draws the Air makes my herb last longer, more from my money so to speak.

I used Crafty, now Mighty, and compare to Pax2 in similar way you see the Air. I tend to use Pax2 on higher temp settings ("3" though I forget exact temp, I believe before the lip-sensing boost it goes to about 205C[401F]). With Mighty, I'd be coughing at those temps. I tend to stay between 180 (default)-190C, with flowers, that is, assuming no water piece.

I find that very small fills like, barely covering the bottom of bowl,are not working as great with the Mighty, with the oil pad or extra screen topping the load, even extra heat. Needs just a little more product, like 1/3 full loose, then good pressing in with oil pad to get good clouds beginning. Sorry, I don't have a scale this fine to provide amounts, but lesser amounts can work out better in Pax2, with this little titanium aftermarket pusher gizmo. Of course, fill the Crafty/Mighty and it goes off like a racehorse.

I understand Pax2 is conduction piece, but yesterday, sipping thru a little homespun bubbler, ya coulda fooled me!

 

[Hotz]

I do not know if someone already posted that, but I'm with my crafty in the first version, namely 2.0.4, and I have just unable to connect the app on my moto x play (android version 5.1) before I could not do that due to higher android version ... anyone know if something changed in recemente app?

 

[Roth]

I do not know if someone already posted that, but I'm with my crafty in the first version, namely 2.0.4, and I have just unable to connect the app on my moto x play (android version 5.1) before I could not do that due to higher android version ... anyone know if something changed in recemente app?

Sorry, I'm not quite following. Are you saying that you just updated the app, and it stopped working? Or did you update your phone to Android 5.1 and it stopped working?

If it's the phone you updated, I'm in the same situation. I also have an OG 2.04 Crafty, and my phone just updated to Android 5. Since then, I can no longer connect to the app.

I plan to send my unit into S&B at some point to get an updated Crafty with the new housing, but going to try and drag it out a bit more.

 

[justcametomind]

Since new Android Marshmallow came out, official app is unable to connect to the Crafty.
Unofficial Android app by our fellow is fine.

 

[Niko87]

Battery needs to be able to discharge (at least) 10A constantly, and ideally have the lowest temps under-load if you are to tape the thermistor back to the cell. Mine is separated and tucked away from the battery so I don't get the cool down warnings and shut downs: I do not advise everyone doing this, I have done it as I am confident the cell can handle the temps and current I'm using it for + if it set's on fire I've got a good throw!

Different Lithium chemistry types have different characteristics for instance some are great at sustaining voltage under-load other have lower temps under-load, some have high overall density but cannot output high currents. Each has different trade off for safety performance and life cycle, some are good all rounder's.

Inside my crafty originally was the Panasonic NCR18650PF, it may well still be used in current version. This battery is rated 10A continuous @ 2700mAh with an internal resistance of around 21mOhm, but as I have found, having a battery in the crafty which can output 20A constantly and with a lower internal resistance (Samsung INR18650-25R @ 2500mAh with 13mOhm internal resistance) your reward is a faster heat up time and much puncher performance, the down side is that it has lower overall capacity (slightly less run time although I've not really noticed it) and the cell itself does heat up more than the Panasonic and I would not expect it to last as long either, but they are cheap! Hold's a fairly decent voltage and did I say they were cheap? I have used one now for over 150 hours and after such time the cell's performance had decreased from 1min 20ish heat up to around 1min55 so it still was working well really, but I have lots so changed it out again for the speed vaping.

Briefly, changing a battery consists of removing the existing shrink wrap from the battery to reveal the thermistor (tiny little black resistor at the end of 2 small wires) which is taped to the side. You then de-solder the red and black cables from the tabs attached to the cells positive and negative terminals. The cell you purchase will have to be tagged ready to re-solder the cables too. Remove the old cell, solder up the cables to the new, using either shrink wrap or kapton tape insulate the terminals then use a bit of kapton / sticky tape to reattach the thermistor to the side of the cell like it was when you cut it open. Plug the battery back into the board and the thermistor if you removed it, it is a tiny plug and you need to be gentle with it as you do with the heater connection on the main board. Make sure the cables all run back the way they came and do not foul the screw holes or interconnecting pieces of the case. If you want you could shorten the length of the battery cables to make it a bit easier to get it all back in. Mine were a bit to long to get it all back easily, but they do all go back into place, remember how they are run before you remove it. Do not over tighten the torx screws when re-assembling.

It's kind of catch 22, if you open up the unit you could possibly move the heater that is connected to the fuse which is pushed into the PCB. This could put pressure on the heater fuse which then if you don't solder directly, like I have, you could introduce or potentially cause a thermal issue when you use it again. If this does happen, the base gets warmer than it did before. You will have to solder directly like I have or engineer another solution. Although they may have improved the design of this since I received my crafty. So if you do open up the crafty to change the battery and you have not had any issues with the base of the unit getting hot then when you open it just be careful not to put any stress on this connection- you can keep it all in position when you open it with no issues, the only time your likely to move it is when you unplug the battery/thermistor.

Ok so maybe not ten mins first time round! :-)

Haha yeah might take me more than 10 minutes to do that, cheers for all the info Definately wont be attempting this while im still in warranty. Will keep a note of it though. Thinking if i was going to do this i would prob try and buy a used crafty cheap and practice on that first

 

[Krizzle]

Nooooooooooo my Crafty has popped its damn clogs at 165hrs, it was nearly a year old! Flashing red and yellow lights whilst on boosted temp. Never ran back to back sessions with it. Starting temp is 178C with a 20C booster.

Poor Crafty weirdly it still charges and connects to the app OK? But if I hold down the button just flashing red and yellow for a few seconds.

Good job I got back ups to tide me over, have contacted vapefiend for warranty replacement action.

 

[Astedra]

Just used my crafty default temp setting, 7 hits plus 3 on boost.

 

[vapviking]

Nooooooooooo my Crafty has popped its damn clogs at 165hrs, it was nearly a year old! Flashing red and yellow lights whilst on boosted temp. Never ran back to back sessions with it. Starting temp is 178C with a 20C booster.

Poor Crafty weirdly it still charges and connects to the app OK? But if I hold down the button just flashing red and yellow for a few seconds.

Good job I got back ups to tide me over, have contacted vapefiend for warranty replacement action.

Nearly a year means near original! You might have been a longevity-award contender. But,
As scenarios goes, this is nearly the best case! Lites mean definite malfunction, not even a question of battery overuse (oh, okay, small nagging question that they might bring this up). And new Crafty will be forthcoming. Not too shabby. And considering, if you're like most, you've paid enough for several of these things, it's your benefit & right to enjoy! As I've said before, if this is more than Crafty #2 or 3 for you, plead a case for an upgrade. I am, so far, very pleased and impressed by the Mighty, after 3 Crafty's, and I did love those!
Best of luck.

 

[CL52613]

I have owed The Mighty for about 6 months. It is a good vape, way over-priced, barely acceptable build quality, and a terrible policy regarding battery replacement. I will make this short. Battery craps out after a week, a month, it is buyer's responsibility to pay for the batteries (2) at $40.00 each; $10.00 labor charge, and return shipping. Over $90.00 to replace batteries since they are not covered under warranty. You will only be told about this after you have returned the machine to Storz and Bickel in Oakland, California, for repairs. If you think it is acceptable to charge an additional $100.00 every 5 or 6 months to use your vaporizer, than The Crafty or Mighty could be your ideal vape. I would not recommend either of these vaporizers to a friend

 

[Stinky]

I have owed The Mighty for about 6 months. It is a good vape, way over-priced, barely acceptable build quality, and a terrible policy regarding battery replacement. I will make this short. Battery craps out after a week, a month, it is buyer's responsibility to pay for the batteries (2) at $40.00 each; $10.00 labor charge, and return shipping. Over $90.00 to replace batteries since they are not covered under warranty. You will only be told about this after you have returned the machine to Storz and Bickel in Oakland, California, for repairs. If you think it is acceptable to charge an additional $100.00 every 5 or 6 months to use your vaporizer, than The Crafty or Mighty could be your ideal vape. I would not recommend either of these vaporizers to a friend

Buyers in the U.S. are being extorted with the battery replacement issues as your consumer protection laws leave a lot to be desired. I am very glad that my country protects purchasers against problems like this for the full length of the warranty.

Tell Bickel and Storz that you want a full refund and then buy the item from a reputable retailer who will handle your warranty issues for you.

 

[ntaylor]

Mighty vs Crafty
Has anybody here made a direct comparison between the Mighty and the Crafty vapes' draw and cloud quality? Please compare and rate the vapor quality of these two devices.

Forget the size factor. Forget temp control differences. Forget any reliability issues. Forget price differences. Just rate the vapor and hitting quality.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Krizzle]

@vapviking this is my first Crafty so my first go at Warranty replacement. Should be interesting as I am going through vapefiend directly and not S&B. I shall report back here once I am up and running again. In the meantime...back to the
Pax2

 

[BioSector]

Mighty vs Crafty
Has anybody here made a direct comparison between the Mighty and the Crafty vapes' draw and cloud quality? Please compare and rate the vapor quality of these two devices.

Forget the size factor. Forget temp control differences. Forget any reliability issues. Forget price differences. Just rate the vapor and hitting quality.

Thanks for your input.

I own both and find next to no difference in those specific areas you are asking about. Definite differences in the areas you don't care about but yeah.

 

[ntaylor]

I own both and find next to no difference in those specific areas you are asking about. Definite differences in the areas you don't care about but yeah.

Thanks @BioSector ... just what I wanted to know.

I'm extremely happy with my Mighty, but would add a Crafty to my arsenal if there was a significant difference in it's draw and vapor.

Would rather spend my money for a Daisy.

 

[No-Wrinkle]

I am beginning to regret purchasing the crafty. When it works, it works very well. I got my device back from S&B about two weeks ago after sending it in. I perceived some battery issues but they returned it to me just as I had sent it and said that it was fine. Fast forward to this past Friday and it is displaying yellow and red lights already. I think there are 24 hours on the device at this point and I have already been forced to contact support twice about repairs. I don't have any other vaporizers where I live now and I do not want to combust so once again I am forced to just wait for S&B to sort out the issue. I loved the crafty when I first got it but at this point it is proving to be quite a pain. I spent a lot of money on it and really don't have any more room in my budget to go buy another vaporizer at this point. I feel like even when I do get it back that I will only have a few months with it at most before some other issue crops up. I hope not.

 

[elmomuzz]

To counterpoint both my crafty and mighty are running flawless. Sorry some of you are having issues but I believe you are in the monolrity. I have several friends with units as well and they have also had no problems.

 

[dusdat]

I am beginning to regret purchasing the crafty. When it works, it works very well. I got my device back from S&B about two weeks ago after sending it in. I perceived some battery issues but they returned it to me just as I had sent it and said that it was fine. Fast forward to this past Friday and it is displaying yellow and red lights already. I think there are 24 hours on the device at this point and I have already been forced to contact support twice about repairs. I don't have any other vaporizers where I live now and I do not want to combust so once again I am forced to just wait for S&B to sort out the issue. I loved the crafty when I first got it but at this point it is proving to be quite a pain. I spent a lot of money on it and really don't have any more room in my budget to go buy another vaporizer at this point. I feel like even when I do get it back that I will only have a few months with it at most before some other issue crops up. I hope not.

I'm really considering switching from the Air to the Crafty.
I own a Air for about 6 months now, and I recently tried the Crafty out because friend of mine got one.
At the higher temps the Crafty delivers much better taste, the Air tends to give that burned vape taste much faster then the Crafty. Any opinions on this?

Maybe I have to try it a bit more before I really will consider buying one (and sell my Air first),
but all those posts on here about the faulty batteries are terrible! Do I understand it correctly that if the battery fails you have to pay for battery replacement + shipping??

 

[vapviking]

I am beginning to regret purchasing the crafty. When it works, it works very well. I got my device back from S&B about two weeks ago after sending it in. I perceived some battery issues but they returned it to me just as I had sent it and said that it was fine. Fast forward to this past Friday and it is displaying yellow and red lights already. I think there are 24 hours on the device at this point and I have already been forced to contact support twice about repairs. I don't have any other vaporizers where I live now and I do not want to combust so once again I am forced to just wait for S&B to sort out the issue. I loved the crafty when I first got it but at this point it is proving to be quite a pain. I spent a lot of money on it and really don't have any more room in my budget to go buy another vaporizer at this point. I feel like even when I do get it back that I will only have a few months with it at most before some other issue crops up. I hope not.

Red/yellow flashing, if they see it when they receive it, will automatically get you a new one. Not a battery issue. They will pay shipping to you, and if pressed, from you. Faster is just send it in with a note in the box about the lights, plus your purchase receipt and your mailing address. In US, my turnaround was 7 days total.

 

[Roth]

I just want to give a big thanks to @ligi for providing us with his Vaporizer Control Crafty app. I have an original 2.04 firmware Crafty with 65 hours on it. My phone updated to Android 5 earlier this month, and I lost the ability to connect to the the official app.

Using ligi's app, I once again have access to the settings and can change my temps. No need to send my Crafty back in to S&B yet. Going to hold on to this one for a while longer, she's been steady as a rock!

Even made a Google+ account just to give you a 5 star rating on the app!

@Hotz be sure to check this out, should take care of your issue too.

 

[skeletor]

Back on the Crafty-Go-Round, everyone! Unit 3 arrived today. Serial # in the 29000's, roughly 1500 units away from the one they sent me just over a month ago. 2.08 firmware. Looks like that "dent" or small divit in the revised housing on my last unit was not a one off, but an imperfection in the mold for the revised housing...If you have a 2.08 unit with revised housing, I'm talking about how when you look at the unit dead on so the LED is facing you and the charging port is facing away from you, there's a sloppy ding/divit in the plastic on the left side of the housing, just below where the cooling unit sits when attached. Not much attention to detail at S&B in the attempt to revise/correct problems with this device...

Guess we'll hope third time is the charm (even though it very likely isn't, given the tales of woe in this thread).

In related news, I now own three full sets of Crafty accessories, plus the contents of a wear and tear kit, and two more herb dispensers. I have enough Storz & Bickel branded plastic to start my own personal non-biodegradable museum of vaporizer accessories. I swear this company has given me more free acrylic grinders at this point than a California dispensary gives to new patients in a year. Here's an idea: reduce the pricepoint of the unreliable vaporizer and stop sending me all this frigging plastic I don't need!

I am beginning to regret purchasing the crafty. When it works, it works very well. I got my device back from S&B about two weeks ago after sending it in. I perceived some battery issues but they returned it to me just as I had sent it and said that it was fine. Fast forward to this past Friday and it is displaying yellow and red lights already. I think there are 24 hours on the device at this point and I have already been forced to contact support twice about repairs. I don't have any other vaporizers where I live now and I do not want to combust so once again I am forced to just wait for S&B to sort out the issue. I loved the crafty when I first got it but at this point it is proving to be quite a pain. I spent a lot of money on it and really don't have any more room in my budget to go buy another vaporizer at this point. I feel like even when I do get it back that I will only have a few months with it at most before some other issue crops up. I hope not.

This is unfortunately par for the course. I am now on my third unit, as of today, since July. Unit 1 lasted 43 hours. Unit 2 lasted 31. If you have a good retailer, I'd go through them for return rather than S &B if possible.

I'm really considering switching from the Air to the Crafty.
I own a Air for about 6 months now, and I recently tried the Crafty out because friend of mine got one.
At the higher temps the Crafty delivers much better taste, the Air tends to give that burned vape taste much faster then the Crafty. Any opinions on this?

Maybe I have to try it a bit more before I really will consider buying one (and sell my Air first),
but all those posts on here about the faulty batteries are terrible! Do I understand it correctly that if the battery fails you have to pay for battery replacement + shipping??

Most people do not have failing batteries as a cause of return -- though heat times do get longer as a result of stressed battery, and you never want to leave Crafty plugged in overnight, because despite costing an arm and a leg, S&B couldn't be bothered to throw a cut-off mechanism in the Crafty - so your battery, though the light is solid, will continue to draw juice from the charger, and burn itself out prematurely.

Red and yellow lights is usually an indicator of a hardware failure. Anecdotal evidence in the thread here suggests that many Craftys blow a fuse in the heating element, and thus become useless. I can't stress this enough: Keep your Air. You'll want it in the 7-12 days you are waiting for your Crafty to be replaced in your second month of Crafty ownership. I literally just bought one the day before Crafty died because I knew it was going to happen again and didn't want to be vapeless for 10-12 days. If you need to sell your Air to get a Crafty? Don't sell your air, wait, save money, and buy something more reliable when it comes out.

 

[No-Wrinkle]

I'm really considering switching from the Air to the Crafty.
I own a Air for about 6 months now, and I recently tried the Crafty out because friend of mine got one.
At the higher temps the Crafty delivers much better taste, the Air tends to give that burned vape taste much faster then the Crafty. Any opinions on this?

Maybe I have to try it a bit more before I really will consider buying one (and sell my Air first),
but all those posts on here about the faulty batteries are terrible! Do I understand it correctly that if the battery fails you have to pay for battery replacement + shipping??

I honestly would not sell your air in order to get a crafty because of my personal experience with the unreliability of the vape. I am not alone in experiencing this. I am actually thinking about selling mine and picking up a Zion when it is released.

The crafty works extremely well. It has amazing vapor quality and flavor. The heat up time isn't bad and it cooks the herb evenly. However, issues with heat, the battery, charging, defects in the plastic etc make the vape unreliable and frustrating to own. In the future I think I am going to avoid devices with non user replaceable batteries. I may keep my crafty as my portable to take to concerts and other events but it simple does not seem like it can handle the rigor of daily use.

Again, this opinion I have is due to what I have experienced. There are likely many users in this thread who would strongly disagree with me. I would keep the air.

Just my . YMMV

 

[dusdat]

thank you for the advices,

I think I'll keep my Air and wait for a better one to come out, because it would def be my daily driver
on the road, at work etc


must be indeed very frustrating to have such a malfunctioning vape for such a high price...

 

[Roth]

I really wish I understood why some people are having such difficulties with some of their Crafty's, while others (myself included) still have some OG Crafty's that are still ticking. Completely empathize with you all though, would be very frustrating.

I wonder if there was just a bad batch that went out at some point? Obviously a message board like this is a magnet for complaints, but I'd love to know the true failure rate. I'd have to imagine the volume sold is what is making it look like such a large number, but who knows.

I still have no regrets of my purchase though, nothing else I've tried has offered comparable performance in a portable (never tried the MiniVap).