A second first vape, while I wait.

Hi everyone!

I'm after opinions on a vape while I wait.

Waiting patiently for a Zion right now, I reckon it'll be absolutely awesome, but my husband and I are still combusting at the moment and as you all know, combusting sucks.

With the understanding that two is better than one, I figured I might try something a bit different. Looking at the Lotus, the Vapman or I'd be keen on the Peace but the website doesn't seem to exist beyond FC and google searches. I saw a neat YouTube vid, but their website doesn't work for me.

Restrictions include a small budget (less than $100USD I guess), and I can't plug-in 230VAC as I'm off grid and don't have an inverter yet. 12 or 24VDC is fine, but the budgetory restraints prevent the Underdog from being a consideration at this time. I can charge batteries easily though (Zion's 18650's are cool).

We aren't heavy users, just as a relaxation thing in the evenings and some pain relief at times, and I've found it really helpful with heyfever! Flowers are rare and expensive here, so conservation is a high priority as well.

Can anyone help me get through this minefield of vape shopping again? All suggestions eagerly taken on board!

Thanks!!

Hey @Choughed. I think the vapman would suit you and your husband very well.

It is a very efficient unit and it's torch powered which is great for off grid living.

A pear wood basic with a lighter and concentrate screens is only US $105 from http://infinityvm.com/ (a site run by forum member @M0J0)

I agree with Nugg that the Vapman seems perfect for your situation, conservative with herb and also Butane when using the Vapman torch or one of those cheap Power branded ones from china (that were sold with the Triihouse vapes, you can find 'em on www.dx.com as the 'Jet 1300-C Butane lighter' for $2.70 each with free but slow shipping from China).

One can of butane lasts me months of light daily use of 2-3 vapman bowls a day. The Vapman is one of those great buys since if you take care of it you should pretty much have a killer vape for life, they're crafted to last so torches are the weak link but I've had no problems at all with the Vapman torch or the cheaper one from Deal Extreme(dx.com) in well over a year of use now.

Hopefully Triihouse will have their website back up and running in a few months as they make their move from where they be now to California. Would hate to see that line of vapes die out as they're all pretty sweet "off the grid" vapes in their own right, Daisy is one big hitting but sweet vapor monster and her little sis Lily is right up there too.

Hope that helps and makes sense as it looks a long winded reply just to really say;

"Go with the Vapman and You can't go wrong"

Yep. Vapman, Lotus and Triihouse (daisy /lily /peace) are great choice ! You can't go wrong there.

Thanks for the help everyone. I love the look of the Peace most of all, since you can see what is happening, and it has the most simple, elegant design I've seen.

The Lotus would be my next favorite, because of the clean air path, and the length seems to me like it would make the vapor cooler. I like the look of the J hook though, but otherwise I don't use glass/water. I think it's just the visual of the vapor again.

My concern with the Vapman would be how small it is, short airpath, flame close to my face.. lol
Being a homebody, I'm not worried about stealth, but avoiding combustion and cool, good flavor is more important.

It'd be silly to have to wait for the vape that I want to use while waiting for the Zion, though mmm? Ha-ha.

Choughed said:

Thanks for the help everyone. I love the look of the Peace most of all, since you can see what is happening, and it has the most simple, elegant design I've seen.

The Lotus would be my next favorite, because of the clean air path, and the length seems to me like it would make the vapor cooler. I like the look of the J hook though, but otherwise I don't use glass/water. I think it's just the visual of the vapor again.

My concern with the Vapman would be how small it is, short airpath, flame close to my face.. lol
Being a homebody, I'm not worried about stealth, but avoiding combustion and cool, good flavor is more important.

It'd be silly to have to wait for the vape that I want to use while waiting for the Zion, though mmm? Ha-ha.

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I have both the Peace and the Lotus. Both are super smooth and efficient. I'd have to say I prefer the lotus because it is quicker, has better flavor as the session goes on (convection vs conduction), and you can put a cap on the pipe stem to hide the smell of a packed bowl (the peace is always an open glass stem which smells).

If you like the design/mechanics of the Peace I would strongly push you in the direction of the Vapman(I wish I had one), as the vapman does the same thing but better.

Why? Well the vapman has a metal bowl that is being heated by the torch instead of a glass one. The metal heats up much quicker and the bowl design distributes the heat evenly. The Peace takes a good while to heat up from cold start which can be annoying and requires alot more technique in that you must twirl and heat the glass all over. Both the peace and the vapman vapor path is short compared to the standard lotus long aluminum stem.

The Vapman is heated prior to taking a puff, so there is no need to worry about a flame being close to your face. The Vapman/Peace are more like smoking a joint in my eyes, while the lotus is more like hitting a pipe. Another thing to consider is that out of the three the vapman is probably the easier to heat/hit outdoors. The lotus is also really convenient at home when you want to just take a hit and put it down, versus having a whole session with the vapman/peace. Either way all three vaporizers are really good. If flavor/smoothness are your priorities go with the Lotus.

Edit: Since you are already getting the Zion, maybe go with the vapman because the Zion like the lotus is convection.

The vapman has 3 small holes in its middle section which inject cool air into to vapor stream. It makes for nice cool vapor. It can be a little warm if you are having back to back bowl in a long session. 1 bowl is usually enough to get most people where they want to be. If you heat it for 4 seconds, draw and repeat you get beautiful flavour on the first few hits and keep going until full extraction.

I love my lotus too but I find I chew through my herb pretty quick. I also find it harder to get full extraction from my herb with out combusting versus the vapman.

Its a hard decision to make.

JimmyCricket said:

The Vapman is heated prior to taking a puff, so there is no need to worry about a flame being close to your face.

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Ooooh I see. Well, I'm getting a general good vibe here for the Vapman, and although I've never smoked a joint (pipe only so far) it's sounding like a good alternative to the Zion.. something different, available now, something that might be used even after the Zion arrives in certain situations. I like it. I think I'll take the plunge! Thank you all so much!!

Vapman is an excellent choice but take a better look at the Lotus as well… It will definitely outperform Vapman in terms of taste, big clouds and speed. The Vapman is cuter, more efficient as well as simpler and faster with its maintenance.

As much as the Vapman is amazing a leisurely bowl takes me like 10-15 minutes to finish, which is a bit longer than I'd rather be waiting for my turn to come around if I was sharing!

I would like a Lotus too but can't give in to the VAS all the time....

natural farmer said:

Vapman is an excellent choice but take a better look at the Lotus as well… It will definitely outperform Vapman in terms of taste, big clouds and speed. The Vapman is cuter, more efficient as well as simpler and faster with its maintenance.

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But but but Natural farmer!! Part of my decision came from reading you say;

natural farmer said:

As a former long-time Lotus lover and a current Vapman one, I suggest you get both if you can afford it. If not, get Vapman first. For me it has proved to need less maintenance, it can handle concentrates better with the extra screens, it is much more stealth and discreet, its ritual is nicer and is also cheaper to buy. Not to mention that it is a piece of art!

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I like the ability to share the bowl with my husband.. we take a few hits, put it down, pick it up again a little later.. so maybe Lotus is a better option after all.

I thought I had this sorted! haha.. I'm going crazy! Can't there be a vape that combines the best of both the Lotus and the Vapman? I'll keep reading..

Choughed said:

But but but Natural farmer!! Part of my decision came from reading you say;



I like the ability to share the bowl with my husband.. we take a few hits, put it down, pick it up again a little later.. so maybe Lotus is a better option after all.

I thought I had this sorted! haha.. I'm going crazy! Can't there be a vape that combines the best of both the Lotus and the Vapman? I'll keep reading..

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Hahaha, sorry for the mess!

Both are really nice, but each has it's strengths and weaknesses. At that time I had to conserve a lot and rarely had fresh herbs in hand. With hash and concentrates the Vapman was the clear winner but with herbs you can't truly beat the clouds and taste of the Lotus. It's up there with the volcano in taste and less harsh with the throat!

natural farmer said:

With hash and concentrates the Vapman was the clear winner but with herbs you can't truly beat the clouds and taste of the Lotus. It's up there with the volcano in taste and less harsh with the throat!

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Ah, high praise I understand (but have no direct experience with!). I looked at the site.. wow.. I could really spend some money there. Ouch! I want everything, of course, to keep it cheap is going to be hard. The exchange rate is painful right now. I think the J hook looks great, but I do want cool vapor.. I'm wondering what I *need* though.

I think because I'm sharing it with my love, I'll go with the Lotus after all. This sure has been a head-spin, and I havn't even hit the ol' pipe tonight!

Oh gee.. ok. I talked over the pro's and con's with my better half, and he says what he's looking for is "efficiency in getting stoned", and cool vapor for me. If they're otherwise similar, he prefers the less torch time of the Vapman.

Does that description help the decision any?

The vapman can be used with a 14mm j hook right out of the box. Always a fun option.

I personally think I get better flavour from my vapman.

I use the lotus 90% of the time with water and the vapman 90% of the time dry so that might skew my perspective a bit.

I think the vapman is a very very good vaporizer for any price. Not to mention it can be used with very little material. Plus it can be used with flower,keef,wax or pretty much what ever you want to throw at it.

I only have the vapman. Something that wasn't said yet is the vapman is really practical with his waterproof egg and his funnel. Really efficient when outdoor.

What about the VaporGenie? I don't have one but they are under a $100 and I hear some folks that really like it.

The Imag Plus is under $100. I don't have that vaporizer either, you don't need butane. FCer @OF has one. Go to the Imag thread.

The Solo is around $150, it's a portable. I do have that one. It's a perfect vaporizer for a first unit its easy to use with excellent flavor IMO but over your price range.

EDIT
The Flowermate is inexpensive - I hear some good news about that portable. No butane needed.

Choughed said:

Oh gee.. ok. I talked over the pro's and con's with my better half, and he says what he's looking for is "efficiency in getting stoned", and cool vapor for me. If they're otherwise similar, he prefers the less torch time of the Vapman.

Does that description help the decision any?

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I'd say get the vapman because the Zion you're already getting is basically a battery powered lotus. That way you will have two vapes that are slightly different experiences. If just sharing with one other person the vapman should do fine.

I agree with the many. I think a vapman would be good here. I think the conduction (and a bit of magic...)of the vapman will be a good compliment to the convection zion.

I have found that following an afternoon of e nano (convection) a session from my 'much weaker' summit (conduction) can really get things going, and i think the different heating methods are a big part. (Note-stealth required or i would use the vapman as the conduction preference-no clicky torch lighters late at night here...)

Also, it was mentioned that a vapman session can take 10-15 mins. It can, but like mine, it can also take 3-5 mins. I usually use it for a quick session or a couple of hits and set down rather than a long sipping session. It works however you want (same as lotus, i assume).

For cooler vapour you can use a mflb stem, being about twice the length of the standard. For even cooler i have also used the mflb whip so you could have up to 2 feet of cooling path.

Good luck

Does it help any to compare a pipe at all? For example, I started with a 3 inch one, found it far too warm, went to a 5 inch, which helps with the heat, still can burn the back of my throat if I hit it wrong. It's an all metal one.

I don't know if I'm overly sensitive or unexpectedly tough. lol The only other smoker I know is my husband, and he's tougher than me, but he's an ex smoker (recently converted to ecigs).. so it's hard to compare.

I'm heavily leaning towards the Vapman now because it's so different to the Zion. The price is about right, I like the manufacturing and materials, it's small, and seems to have a great following here. I also like that you heat then draw, rather than doing both at the same time. I could pair it with a J hook and have the best of both worlds I reckon!

If you mean a hashpipe-Go! Weezer! (tube with a brass cone and mouthpiece) i think you would have to try pretty hard to get a vapman (or most vapes imo) to be as harsh as that, but i haven't used one in 15 years or so, and never liked them much, so bear that in mind.
I find because you heat then hit, if it is too hot, just wait a few seconds and it is a little cooler.

Also, i find vapes that don't require a long slow inhale of hot air/vapor are less harsh on the throat for me in the long run, so i tend to take shorter hits.

A lot of this is applicable to more than just the vapman, but i'll also throw in that most of the butane vapes also allow you to go as close to the combustion line as you want, which I found really the closest way to emulate the combustion type effect with vaping, which helps to cross over from smoking.

Both vapor genie and vapman feel a bit like smoking a hashpipe, but the vapman effect seems more like a hashpipe, despite the way you work the vg being more similar to using one.

The Vapor genie looked interesting, yes. I liked the all glass version (I've got a theme going here, don't I?), but I think it was the similarity between the pipe that actually put me off. I've never been a fan, but it is/was the only option available, and I don't really like cig lighters (and HATE cigs for that matter, nearly divorced over that issue, thank goodness for ecigs). I think a torch will be ok though, they come in lots of styles.

Gunna get this done. I've made up my mind.
Thanks again everyone. You've all been awesome!

Just ordered a vapman while I wait, butane is pretty fun. Own a VG and it's nice, cheap and tough but doesn't get much use lent it to a mate a while back. Still awesome for the fact it's super sturdy and you rarely can't get a bic lighter!
Hammer is awesome, but it's butane and long heat up times plus I think the zion will function similar but with a lot more power and it's battery (positive/negative depending).
Nearly bought a lotus but I figured it would be a similar story, similar style to the zion so might not get much use once it's here.... Seems the vapman has a cute little neich of it's own thst I can play with for a while!
The problem I had with the VG was how much you had to prime it to get a hit, where as the vapman is heat then hit.

Vapornation has the vapman for $85. Puffitup have the Lilly for $89?... Same torch, but convection and glass? Worth a look.

Nah, triihouse stuff is pretty hard to find from authorized distributors at the moment. Puffitup is out anyways, for now.