Ok, I'm back for a first impressions review
I ordered the black Lotus WPA J-hook kit, Thankfully it arrived today as I was growing extremely tired of my knockoff EasyVape (I hated the taste!). The Lotus cap was lighter than I expected, but I was overall very pleased with the construction. My only disappointment is that I opted for black, I was hoping it would still show the wood grains, but it doesn't. I will certainly recommend the natural finish to all my friends! Hell, I might just buy a natural wood Lotus and sell my black one to a friend! I only wish they had other wood options like Cherry, and Burl Wood (ooo I'd pay extra for a beautiful burl piece!)
I regretted not purchasing the scoop - but I'll probably have a 3D printed scoop by tomorrow afternoon!
. Thankfully I thought to order extra screens! I loosely packed my first bowl about 3/4 full (ambitious and looking for clouds!!). Followed the instructions for filling the lighter with Ronson Butane (damn Neon butane - need to figure out which is Tip#1), adjusted the flame (bright inner flame around 10mm). And enjoyed my first session. The taste was decent, And I had amazing control over the temperature! First try and I was already soaring!
But I wasn't quite impressed with the taste, so I tried again, with a much smaller pack (just enough to cover the screen). And the taste was great! I will confess, The taste from the Lotus on a fresh bowl is delicious, but I get 3-4 much tastier draws at 330F from my DV Ascent.
I suspect this is merely a matter of flame control, seeing as how this is my first butane powered vape! I'm still trying to get the hang of the Lotus and the torch, I need to find some better quality butane to better control my temperatures. But all in good time, for a start, I'm extremely happy with my purchase. One issue I have noticed is that I still have a few green spots right next to the nearly black ABV - even after stirring once or twice in the session, I can't seem to get a consistent chocolate brown color - maybe because my cheap grinder isn't grinding fine enough? Doesn't seem to be an issue with my Ascent.....
Unfortunately I quickly noticed that the stir stick prevented me from fully inserting the lotus cap onto the WPA with my 18-14mm reducer on the D020. Fortunately, as others had mentioned, I was able to bend it slightly outwards, and allow for proper alignment. I was expecting the stir stick to put up a fight, but it bent with very little force. I'm a little worried about the stick coming lose (no signs yet it will come loose, but there is now a gap where the glue has separated from the stick). Maybe
@Max Jitter can suggest some adhesive to dab around the stir stick to ensure it won't get knocked loose in travel
So far I have equally enjoyed both the J-hook and the D020. I'm a bit concerned about how dark my ABV is, but that'll come with practice I think, it's certainly not as easy as my Ascent to select a vaping temperature and not go any higher.
I have also noticed it's really hard to see the glowing red spot on my Lotus - even when not slowly moving my torch, it takes a fair amount of time for the plate to start glowing. This is in my basement with the lights off! Heck, on my 4th session with the Lotus, I managed to combust! I think this was because I was overheating the plate trying to obtain the red glowing dot.
Overall, this Lotus will be a great companion to my DV ascent. I think these two vapes will keep me happy for a while...... until VAS kicks in again and I feel the need for an Extreme Q or some other quality desktop vape.
Now it's time to start designing some 3D printed Lotus accessories!!
I'm working on the models now, should have a few prototypes on my etsy store in a week or so (I'll post pictures of my progress). Current accessories I'm working on: Mini Scoop, J-Hook Stand, Rubber Padded Carry "case" for the Lotus Cap + WPA
, my mistake...sorry
Very fast delivery too . The 1/2 inch fit perfectly 
