Discontinued The Okin by D.M. Pipes

Shit Snacks

Shit Snacks

Milaana. Lana. LANA. LANAAAA! (TM2/TP80/BAK/FW9)
pakalolo said:
I've been silent in this thread because I was waiting for the other testers to get their maple charcoals. I've been burning about two a day with good results, but I wanted to be sure my experiences weren't unusual.

The maple charcoals are superior to the bamboo in several ways, but there's no reason to get into that since you won't be getting bamboo charcoals. The maple charcoals take a bit longer to prepare but are clearly superior.

The charcoals sent to us for testing are about 12 mm (.5 in) long. I found that the first couple of millimeters did not produce any visible vapour and only a little flavour. It took three or four draws before vapour production began, but once it did it was tasty and thick—depending on your draw. Because of this, I have been shortening my charcoals by 1-2 mm. Short charcoals start producing vapour on the first or second hit, and still provide about 5 minutes of burn time. It's not clear yet whether Dan will deliver 12 mm or 10 mm charcoal, however. The longer length can always be easily cut down, but I'm not sure why anyone would prefer them. Perhaps another tester will come up with a reason, but I'm skeptical.

It is easy to pull too hard on the Okin and ruin the flavour, or worse, start combustion. It's also easy not to pull so hard and with breath control, you can get nice thin tasty vapour or thick cloudy stuff. The Okin works best with light, MFLB-style draws. If you pull too hard, the temperature climbs rapidly and you will overshoot and get a burnt taste, or actual burning. Not pleasant, and the Okin is also like the LB in that once you combust, it takes a couple of loads before the nasty taste goes away. On the other hand, it's pretty easy to control your session with just a little practice. LB users will have no trouble at all. The issue here is that pulling harder is how you get thicker vapour, so it's quite tempting.

In my experience, the Okin likes small loads, .05-.07 g, firmly packed. Loose loads and bigger loads (up to maximum, about .15 g) work, but not as well. I found it difficult to get the thick vapour that many of you prefer unless the load was packed. Dan has concurred with this but the others have yet to chime in, since they've only recently gotten their maple charcoals.

The Okin is like no other vapourizer. It's almost combustion and it feels like it. The experience is as close to smoking a joint or pipe as you can get. If you like ritual, preparing a charcoal and loading the Okin will appeal to you. I find that using it is a comforting throwback to my misspent well-spent youth. The Okin is not for everyone, but I think that those who grok it will really love it.
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Never heard the term grok until now:
Per wiki: "Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind man"

Neat! Is that where your username came from @grokit? Great word...

Makes sense the Okin would really need that kind of mutual understanding with a user, taming the charcoal with airflow certainly sounded trickier to me than coil of ESV, flame of Lily, or massive steel thermal mass of Zion... Why I didn't jump on the wait list but still follow the thread regularly. I love everything about this even though I know this particular model may not be for me, since I was never that good with a joint during my own miss/well spent youth

You really did the right thing getting Pak an Okin and all charcoal types asap @Dan Morrison, its tough for one manual vape to work well for everyone, but if there's one guy who can find a way to use every manual vape effectively it certainly is Pak imo, with precise detials and great photos to boot!

That being said looking forward to more feedback from the other testers too, as the production charcoals get locked in and more Okin experience gets shared, so Dan can begin churning em out for the eager masses
 
Dan Morrison

Dan Morrison

Well-Known Member
Manufacturer
Thanks @Shit Snacks !

And yeah! Grok is a great word eh?!

The main thing that users will get to understand when first using the Okin is that the heat source is very unusual in that it's heat output is completely realiant on breath control. For me, this is more intuitive for people who are coming from a combustion background. With a traditional tobacco pipe, the exact same principle is true. This is partially why I think it feels so natural to me.

Once accustomed to the draw weight and feeling of that perfect level of heat on your tongue, it becomes second nature.

But for a new user, without any instruction, it's going to take a few failed attempts to get the hang of it.

I do think, however, that if you handed someone a prepared Okin, and just told them how to draw air, it wouldn't be that hard for a first time user to grasp.

And yep! Pak has been a phenominal tester!
 
Shit Snacks

Shit Snacks

Milaana. Lana. LANA. LANAAAA! (TM2/TP80/BAK/FW9)
Dan Morrison said:
It's heat output is completely realiant on breath control.
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Exactly, with truly pure convection it really is ultimately a simple matter of just breathing in deep (why many struggle with these manual vapes, as others, particularly combusters, take right to it immediately). Actually builds up my confidence knowing that I likely could take to the Okin pretty easily as well, with all my convection experience now, you may see me with one here later after all... I'd say good luck but given everything we've seen from you here I almost feel like you don't even need it brother!
 
Stu

Stu

Maconheiro
Staff member
pakalolo said:
I found it difficult to get the thick vapour that many of you prefer unless the load was packed. Dan has concurred with this but the others have yet to chime in, since they've only recently gotten their maple charcoals.
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I also concur that a packed load provides the best hits with the most consistent vapor. I typically load about .07g into the chamber, attach the bamboo stem, then using a dowel I push the basket screen down to keep the load packed fairly firmly against the other screen on the bamboo stem. Basically, the load is kept as far away from the charcoal (heat source) as is possible. As Pak mentioned, the maple charcoal burns plenty hot, so this allows for keeping the load far enough from the burning charcoal to not have to worry about combustion. Yes, you can combust with the Okin if you're not careful.

I'll try to make a video showing the prep and loading process as my wordz are probably confusing.

:peace:
 
pakalolo

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
Stu said:
I also concur that a packed load provides the best hits with the most consistent vapor. I typically load about .07g into the chamber, attach the bamboo stem, then using a dowel I push the basket screen down to keep the load packed fairly firmly against the other screen on the bamboo stem. Basically, the load is kept as far away from the charcoal (heat source) as is possible. As Pak mentioned, the maple charcoal burns plenty hot, so this allows for keeping the load far enough from the burning charcoal to not have to worry about combustion. Yes, you can combust with the Okin if you're not careful.

I'll try to make a video showing the prep and loading process as my wordz are probably confusing.

:peace:
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My loads vary. Although I usually use .07 g loads, with the Okin I have gravitated towards loading ~.05 g. This is partly because the Okin is a session device and that's as much as I want to do in a sitting, but I also think it performs better with smaller loads. I do exactly the same thing you describe: load the tip, insert the stem, then use a rod to compress the load—just like a muzzle-loader.

I know I've said this before, but using the Okin strongly reminds me of smoking a joint, since you light it and then keep drawing on it until it's done. Another similarity is that the maple charcoals typically give me 4-5 minutes of vapour, depending on how often and how hard I draw, which is about the same time it used to take me to burn one down. Instead of rolling, Mostly, though, it's the way you hold it in your fingers and roll it around as you take in your latest hit. A draw on the Okin produces vapour of any thickness you like, including thick combustion-like clouds. It's hard to convince myself that it's vapour.
 
Snappo

Snappo

Caveat Emptor - "A Billion People Can Be Wrong!"
Accessory Maker
pakalolo said:
A draw on the Okin produces vapour of any thickness you like, including thick combustion-like clouds. It's hard to convince myself that it's vapour.
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Now THAT"S what I like to hear!!! How's the flavor, and can the charcoal last for a longer session if you space out the draws to an even more leisurely pace e.g., are relights required? Thanks!
 
pakalolo

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
Snappo said:
Now THAT"S what I like to hear!!! How's the flavor, and can the charcoal last for a longer session if you space out the draws to an even more leisurely pace? Thanks!
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The flavour depends on how hard you draw. Pulling harder gets thicker vapour but the taste degrades. Light LB-style puffs produce thin but tasty vapour.

You can extend the burn time a little but I don't think a lot. I haven't experimented with this, so I'm not sure how long you could get if you went all-LB all the time. I'll put that on my list.
 
Snappo

Snappo

Caveat Emptor - "A Billion People Can Be Wrong!"
Accessory Maker
Stu said:
If you are too leisurely in your pace, relights can be required, yes. I've learned to not go more than 15-20 seconds or so between draws so as not to have to re-light the coal. Also since each coal is different, some might be more prone to relights than others IMO.

:peace:
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Thanks, @Stu! Relights, as applicable to pipe tobacco smoking, are an accepted way of life and part of the ritual, making for an overall most pleasurable experience. So long as our Okin coals take easily to relights we can stay the course and continue to ENJOY!
 
Snappo

Snappo

Caveat Emptor - "A Billion People Can Be Wrong!"
Accessory Maker
stickstones said:
The coal makes it work backwards from most vapes. Pull harder and the coals heat up more and the temp goes up. Pull slower and the opposite happens. If you go at this like a normal vape it will surprise you!
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Sounds to me (thanks to @stickstones) like the Okin is a very intuitively usable vape when activated! Many high-tech vapes work counter-intuitively re slow pull vs. harder pull relative to heat.
 
pakalolo

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
Snappo said:
Sounds to me (thanks to @stickstones) like the Okin is a very intuitively usable vape when activated! Many high-tech vapes work counter-intuitively re slow pull vs. harder pull relative to heat.
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Hey, I've been saying that it works just like smoking for a while now. Isn't that how smoking works? So this is how much attention you pay to me... hmph! :nope:
 
Snappo

Snappo

Caveat Emptor - "A Billion People Can Be Wrong!"
Accessory Maker
pakalolo said:
Hey, I've been saying that it works just like smoking for a while now. Isn't that how smoking works? So this is how much attention you pay to me... hmph! :nope:
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Sorry @pakalolo - I guess sometimes I just need to say & hear it in my own words (otherwise I can be dumb as a stump), or get hit up side the head with a brick (this usually works best for me). I sure do appreciate all you do!!! :cheers: GO OKIN!!!

Edit: @pakalolo - I must be getting too old ...hard for me to mentally string together the gist of all of one's posts separated over pages and time.
 
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Unisonruss

Unisonruss

Well-Known Member
I really love what I see in the video! Nice looking clouds (are they super tasty?), and really digging the look, but...the metal piece is throwing me off slightly. I was hoping my future Okin would have a little bit more of a rusty/darker look. More rustic. The light color of the metal is throwing me off a little bit.

Regardless, I want one really bad :D
 
Unisonruss,
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pakalolo

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
Unisonruss said:
I really love what I see in the video! Nice looking clouds (are they super tasty?), and really digging the look, but...the metal piece is throwing me off slightly. I was hoping my future Okin would have a little bit more of a rusty/darker look. More rustic. The light color of the metal is throwing me off a little bit.

Regardless, I want one really bad :D
Click to expand...

The lighting is fooling you. Here's a better picture:

r7Todnr.jpg

​
The clouds are as tasty as you can expect for thick clouds, or in other words, not nearly as tasty as thinner clouds. You control cloud thickness (and therefore flavour) by how hard you draw.
 
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