Another newbie looking for a portable

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shakedangle

New Member
Hi all,

I've been lurking for all of a couple hours and I'm overwhelmed by the choices there seem to be, so I thought I'd clutter up the forums by posting another one of these threads.

First of all, for those who reply, thanks for taking the time. You're all better people than myself, whose presence on the web is usually limited to infrequent facebook harassment and commenting on gawker sites. I usually only help people so I can show them how much better I am.

I'm a fairly frequent smoker, 3-4 times a week, and I've been researching vaporizers to get out of combusting. After some superficial research I got a Firefly, but I honestly didn't like it so much. I felt I wasn't getting nearly as high as hitting a bowl and was wasting herb. I also found herb and resin built up quickly and cleaning was a semi-hassle. I was able to get a full refund and now I'm attempting to do better research for my next one.

So I've read Things to consider when purchasing your first vaporizer and and I've narrowed down my criteria.
  • Price - $300 hard limit. Ideally I'd like something less than $250.
  • Efficiency - bottom line, I'd like to get the most bang for my herb.
  • Along the lines of efficiency, I'd like good temperature control.
  • It's gotta be portable, I'd like to use this on car trips/camping.
  • Discreetness is secondary at most.
  • Usage - I usually smoke by myself but I've seemed to become the go-to guy at parties, so I'd like to be able to use this vaporizer in those settings as well.
  • Ideally I'd like to just pick up the vape, turn it on, and go. In that sense the Firefly was pretty good, but perhaps this feature sacrificed efficiency somewhat. I'll take efficiency if it means waiting a few minutes for a unit to warm up.
That's what I've come up with so far, please comment if you think there are other things I should consider. I have some candidates in mind already but I'm not going to mention them for fear of limiting the conversation - I'd like to keep an open mind and open thread.
 
420democrat

420democrat

Well-Known Member
Hey I've had plenty of portables, my favorite two to recomend to new users are the lotus and solo. The solo is extremly easy gives you a nice long sesion and ends with you super medicated. My second is the lotus, it's hard to learn well high learn curve imo but my combustion friends all love it because it can cook a entire bowl in 1 to 2 hits. .. it was stronger than my desktops.

I recently purchased a firefly for my main portable after losing all my vapes and after the 3rd day with it I have absolutely fallen in love, what don't you like? I find myself cooking a whole bowl in 2-4 hits very quickly very smooth good flavor and ends with me super medicated in a matter of 3 to 5 min tops, my firefly is keeping up with any portable I have tried and I may recommend it to my 2 frinds trying to switch
 
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shakedangle

New Member
420democrat said:
Hey I've had plenty of portables, my favorite two to recomend to new users are the lotus and solo. The solo is extremly easy gives you a nice long sesion and ends with you super medicated. My second is the lotus, it's hard to learn well high learn curve imo but my combustion friends all love it because it can cook a entire bowl in 1 to 2 hits. .. it was stronger than my desktops.

I recently purchased a firefly for my main portable after losing all my vapes and after the 3rd day with it I have absolutely fallen in love, what don't you like? I find myself cooking a whole bowl in 2-4 hits very quickly very smooth good flavor and ends with me super medicated in a matter of 3 to 5 min tops, my firefly is keeping up with any portable I have tried and I may recommend it to my 2 frinds trying to switch
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying! I have mixed feelings about flame heated vaporizers, how easy is it for you to inadvertently burn your herb? I'll look more into the solo, but how do you feel it compares to the Firefly?

The firefly I had maaaaaay have been a counterfeit. I got it on ebay for $40 less than the usual retail $270, and it broke after a few weeks. Fortunately the guy offered me a full refund. Until I found this thread I had discounted it being counterfeit, because it came in professional looking packaging, shrink wrapped, came with the nice carrying pouch and nice looking instruction booklet and cleaning kit. But maybe it was counterfeit. I really have no frame of reference since I'm completely new to vaping.
 
shakedangle,
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Rise&Solo

Well-Known Member
IMO the best vape and the best vape for a beginning vaper are not necessarily the same thing. The third one I bought has been the best one, the Solo. It meets all of the things you listed, at well under your price, except the instant on. If you want to spend more there is the Air, the Solo's smarter, smaller, cousin. I've never used it personally so I cannot comment either way.

Of the three I've had, the Solo had the smallest learning curve (about 20 seconds - but I had used other vapes before), uses herb more efficiently, tastes best, and has great versatility. It also has one of the best unpaid support groups you could imagine - and it is right here in the Solo thread in the reviewing portables forum. And if you are into expanding your practices there are a third-party add-ons like stems, hi-cap batteries, adapters for water tools, etc.

YMMV but the Solo has been plenty good enough for me.
 
420democrat

420democrat

Well-Known Member
The solo is an amazing device biggest con for me is the fact a session can take 10 minutes, usually does but no fear of combustion almost no learning curve at all amazing battery life good flavor. Can't really compare it to the ff because they are 2 different beasts. But the solo is always a winner at partys (no learning curve ) a month of heavy lotus use I only combusted twice, and it was not during my first sessions but as I became over confident. The fact it is flame powered can make you very timid with the torch, but my friends more often can't milk like me then combust. The skill is in cooking a entire bowl evenly in a few hits. It is very fun to learn extremly herb efficent. Great with glass or dry and is as powerful as any desktop you'll buy. If your buget is 250 I would invest in both. A solo can be had for 140 and a lotus for 80 ifirc. As you convert you'll learn having a variety of vapes is very useful and almost feels necisarry
 
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shakedangle

New Member
Thanks for the replies - I'll look more into the Air and Solo... BTW where did you see those prices? I saw Solo on the Arizer site for around $230, and after my experience with the maybe counterfeit Firefly I want to get my next vape from a legit source.
 
shakedangle,
420democrat

420democrat

Well-Known Member
I used aromatek for my previous 2 solos, others say puff it up will price match. Stay Away from eBay as you've learned with your ff
 
mitchgo61

mitchgo61

I go where the thrills are
Solo is great...no learning curve, great vapor, great battery life. Small, but the glass stem makes it less stealthy than some.

The FF is my favorite portable, and more stealthy than the Solo, but often much harder to use and the battery life is poor.

Based on your list, honestly, either is fine. The Solo is a better value. Personally I perefer the FF and wouldn't travel without it, but again, there are caveats.
 
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EveryDayAmnesiac

Well-Known Member
shakedangle said:
Ideally I'd like to just pick up the vape, turn it on, and go. In that sense the Firefly was pretty good, but perhaps this feature sacrificed efficiency somewhat. I'll take efficiency if it means waiting a few minutes for a unit to warm up.
Click to expand...

Actually, this makes the FF quite efficient, in the sense that it is only heating your herbs when you're inhaling. Many portables are conduction or partly conduction, and as the vape is warming up, it's slightly cooking your herbs, and then will cook your herbs the whole time after that until you shut it off, and even then a little longer for some vapes. Not all portables, but many.

I don't like conduction. :nope:

The FF's near-instant heat-up and virtually no loss except during inhalation can be quite efficient, IMO.

And you can get your material plenty dark with the FF. The color may look lighter than a vape that utilizes conduction, but when used correctly, the FF leaves very little of value in its ABV, IMO. And if you want, you can really burn through a bowl quickly with slow 30 second pulls.

:2c:
 
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shakedangle

New Member
EveryDayAmnesiac said:
Actually, this makes the FF quite efficient, in the sense that it is only heating your herbs when you're inhaling. Many portables are conduction or partly conduction, and as the vape is warming up, it's slightly cooking your herbs, and then will cook your herbs the whole time after that until you shut it off, and even then a little longer for some vapes.
Click to expand...

This is why I chose the FF in the first place - if it's only heating while you draw on it, then it stands it should be more efficient, right? Gah, but I've been burned by that maybe-counterfeit-maybe-not FF, I think I'm going with the Solo.

One thing I've been trying to figure out - What are Log vapes, and what makes them efficient (supposedly)? I don't think the definition in the Glossary [vaporpedia link removed due to malware] is what I'm looking for... I've read that log vapes are efficient, and Solo is basically (?) a portable log vape. Any truth to that?
 
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shakedangle,
mitchgo61

mitchgo61

I go where the thrills are
shakedangle said:
This is why I chose the FF in the first place - if it's only heating while you draw on it, then it stands it should be more efficient, right? Gah, but I've been burned by that maybe-counterfeit-maybe-not FF, I think I'm going with the Solo.
Click to expand...

The Solo will consume more material than a properly-used (genuine) FF by definition...there is conductive and/or radiative cooking at play with the Solo and you'll lose some small amount, but it's negligible most of the time. The Solo is very efficient for a session vape, unless you set it down during the heat cycle and stop hitting it, as it will continue to cook a bit.

If efficiency (the "use less" type) is your most important consideration, and you aren't totally new to vaping, I'd tilt toward the FF. There's so much additional upside, like vastly superior flavor (IMO), all convection, little or no waste, no "session-based" time shackles on your usage, that I think it edges out the Solo decisevely. :2c:

But if ease of use and long battery cycle are top for you, back to the Solo.
 
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EveryDayAmnesiac

Well-Known Member
shakedangle said:
This is why I chose the FF in the first place
Click to expand...

Wow. Yeah, I totally missed that part. :lol:

Log vapes that are currently available are: Underdog, E-Nano, and Heat Island.

I don't find the Solo to be a portable log, really. It's a session vape that uses plenty of conduction, IMO. It just happens to have a pretty small bowl.

I guess if you're taking the stem out between hits, it's sort of like a log experience... but... not really. And I found that to be annoying to do anyway.

Logs are convection, and pack a real wallop anytime you want if you leave them on 24/7. Much more powerful and free-flowing and more efficient, IME.

I just don't really see the Solo as any kind of pseudo-desktop, as some do.

This is all just the opinion of an average stoner...
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
Portable on budget: Solo
Portable with stealth primary concern/conduction- no ambient smell concern as it is there: Pax
Portable elec w/ all glass concern: Ascent (ambient smell as with pax)
Portable butane / you want to use water pipe and have no visibility concerns: Lotus/daisy
Max budget (meaning low $$): MFLB, then the Flowermate imo (MFLB lifetime warranty, you might get 2 years from a flowermate lifewise)
The "I want an upgraded version of _ vape" Firefly imo a better mflb option, and the ascent is a more portable option with less battery than the solo.
Desktop vapes: definitely recc log vape over all other, mainly the UD with dave and staff
Overall- if you need a portable I'd go for a solo for ~$120, and if you need a portable and a desktop get a UD on sale- amazing price and great piece.
 
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tennstrong,
herbivore21

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
EveryDayAmnesiac said:
Wow. Yeah, I totally missed that part. :lol:

Log vapes that are currently available are: Underdog, E-Nano, and Heat Island.

I don't find the Solo to be a portable log, really. It's a session vape that uses plenty of conduction, IMO. It just happens to have a pretty small bowl.

I guess if you're taking the stem out between hits, it's sort of like a log experience... but... not really. And I found that to be annoying to do anyway.

Logs are convection, and pack a real wallop anytime you want if you leave them on 24/7. Much more powerful and free-flowing and more efficient, IME.

I just don't really see the Solo as any kind of pseudo-desktop, as some do.

This is all just the opinion of an average stoner...
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EDA I agree brother.

The Solo is no substitute for any decent desktop unit. The draw resistance (to a much larger extent in older models but still significantly in newer models) is way too much for someone who has high-dosage requirements like myself. It feels like your lungs are in some kind of epic battle with some kind of vacuum powered beast who just doesn't want you to get all of that vapor anytime quickly. It also does not retain heat/heat back up to temp quickly enough to replace a plug-in unit.

Don't get me wrong, the Solo is fantastic, and for a long time the only battery-powered portable I would recommend. Still, a lot has changed since I started using vapes seriously (and that was only a year ago!) and I would not recommend this vape to a new purchaser as the one vape to rule them all. Whilst there are portables I would 100% advocate as able to be used instead of desktops (minivap, Mighty, Crafty and possibly a few others which I am unsure of yet), the Solo is not one of them. I should point out that I sold my Solo, Lotus and Sublimator and now only use the Mighty and Crafty for flowers.

The solo is a good middle of the road session vape though, which has plenty of decent after market accessories and would be perfectly reasonable for someone who is not a cloud-chaser and who is working on a budget.
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
herbivore21 said:
EDA I agree brother.

The Solo is no substitute for any decent desktop unit. The draw resistance (to a much larger extent in older models but still significantly in newer models) is way too much for someone who has high-dosage requirements like myself. It feels like your lungs are in some kind of epic battle with some kind of vacuum powered beast who just doesn't want you to get all of that vapor anytime quickly. It also does not retain heat/heat back up to temp quickly enough to replace a plug-in unit.

Don't get me wrong, the Solo is fantastic, and for a long time the only battery-powered portable I would recommend. Still, a lot has changed since I started using vapes seriously (and that was only a year ago!) and I would not recommend this vape to a new purchaser as the one vape to rule them all. Whilst there are portables I would 100% advocate as able to be used instead of desktops (minivap, Mighty, Crafty and possibly a few others which I am unsure of yet), the Solo is not one of them. I should point out that I sold my Solo, Lotus and Sublimator and now only use the Mighty and Crafty for flowers.

The solo is a good middle of the road session vape though, which has plenty of decent after market accessories and would be perfectly reasonable for someone who is not a cloud-chaser and who is working on a budget.
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I completely agree, only vape a friend who is a consistent smoker (near half oz/week) would swap from was my UD (and he was hesistant at first, would only smoke bong). I think the solo is the closest portable to the UD I've used through a water pipe, although for the non-vapor enthusiast the draw restriction might be a major drawback of the solo.
Edit: with this said, I haven't had trouble fully extracting to the same point my material with both devices
 
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tennstrong,
herbivore21

herbivore21

Well-Known Member
tennstrong said:
I completely agree, only vape a friend who is a consistent smoker (near half oz/week) would swap from was my UD (and he was hesistant at first, would only smoke bong). I think the solo is the closest portable to the UD I've used through a water pipe, although for the non-vapor enthusiast the draw restriction might be a major drawback of the solo.
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You need to try higher end portables if you want to get that kind of performance. I will say that the Mighty/Crafty offer performance which led to my selling what is one of the most expensive vapes money can buy (Sublimator XLR 2.0). I will be posting a video in @Ratchett's 3d printed vape accessories thread very soon showing his Mighty/Crafty SonG (silicone on glass bong adapter) connected to glass and giving an example of just what these vapes can do!

Mighty/Crafty + Glass = whitewall. I prefer the Mighty/Crafty to my E-Nano even! This is really saying something because the Nano (and other logs) is amazing!

We are entering an age where we don't really need to be tethered to cables anymore! :D
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
herbivore21 said:
You need to try higher end portables if you want to get that kind of performance. I will say that the Mighty/Crafty offer performance which led to my selling what is one of the most expensive vapes money can buy (Sublimator XLR 2.0). I will be posting a video in @Ratchett's 3d printed vape accessories thread very soon showing his Mighty/Crafty SonG (silicone on glass bong adapter) connected to glass and giving an example of just what these vapes can do!

Mighty/Crafty + Glass = whitewall. I prefer the Mighty/Crafty to my E-Nano even! This is really saying something because the Nano (and other logs) is amazing!

We are entering an age where we don't really need to be tethered to cables anymore! :D
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Yea I agree thats the closest to a desktop you can get with a portable, but for the price you can get a solo and a log vape, not to say the cost isnt justified if you need a portable.

Edit: Also to say that you got a good purchase in that. I really personally dislike the sublimator. (I'm canadian too so it hurts! Used multiple times in both dabbing and for flowers and although it reaches the temp faster than say the verdamper, it doesn't provide the same clean hits and flavor that the all glass verdamper does (as far as high end vapes go that I've used, personally I think the verdamper dominates in flavor but not vapor output). Also the amount of material needed and possible breakage points in using the device among friends is just too much. Personally there are so many vapes I'd choose over it (one of which being the mighty [good buy buddy haha], which if I ever were to get I'd have to save up and set aside cash over time for- and even then it's just too much for my budget on a portable vape, I'm just too clumsy with my non-glassware- at the MSRP I'd probably get a bag/log/butane vape and save money for other accessories like my enail, etc if I were to spend that $$)
 
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shakedangle

New Member
Thanks for all your responses. I got the Solo and it was delivered earlier this week. I'm pretty convinced now that the Firefly I got was a counterfeit, the vapor I'm getting off the Solo is incredible compared to the weaksauce I was getting from the fake Firefly (FFF).

I will definitely be looking into more vapes in the future now - perhaps a log like the Evo as a desktop unit. Thanks again and I'm glad I found this site!
 
shakedangle,
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