The Long and The Short - Source Orb XL Travel Kit Comprehensive Review (Part 1)
* Source Orb XL Travel Kit provided by Source Vapes (
http://www.sourcevapes.com/collecti...coil-vape-pen-travel-kit?variant=104346113310)
Who Are you?
I'm a guy that likes to shoot straight from the hip. It's who I am, it's how I've always been, and I probably always will be short of some form of cerebral rearrangement. I'm a legal medical user in BC, Canada. I live on a fixed income with my wife, and I don't have a lot of money to spend on equipment to vaporize my cannabis concentrates with. So when several companies put out the call for testers and reviewers to apply, I tossed my name in and was fortunate enough to be chosen. And let it be clear from the start – just because someone sends me a free product doesn't mean I'm going to like it or pump their brand up. I like to buy what is best at the time and what I think will last – in any facet of my life. And that is how I will review and present vapes – from the perspective of someone who values hard earned cash, who recognizes that brands can change over time and grow in positive and negative ways just like the people that run them. My commitment to you is to present the truth from my experiences testing vaporizers, and to give you the long and the short of it.
What does that mean to me, the reader?
Well, the advantage of having a tester who is extremely money conscious means that I look at how well a device functions for the cost of the unit. Being a medical user means that I find issues with products relatively quickly, and my medical issues also lead me to being very abusive to products unintentionally. I drop things, forget they're in a pocket fighting it out with keys and a knife. I sit on them, get them wet occasionally, and generally beat things up. I can put a months worth of normal abuse in 2 or 3 days when I'm shaky. Atomizers are a dollar a day affair for me generally. 30 bucks a month isn't much to some people, but to me, it is. I generally kill a standard dual coil atomizer in at most 7 to 10 days of service. I vape between .25g to .5g of concentrate a day. I am... a torture tester.
THE LONG (skip to the bottom for “THE SHORT”):
Before the Orb XL even arrived in the mail I was hearing reviews from the other advance testers – that it was huge, unstealthy, and heavy. I had it in my head that several postmen would appear after the ringing of the doorbell, truck parked at the end of the driveway with flashing lights and an ORB XL – WIDE LOAD caution sign warning other cars to stay clear. I was pleasantly surprised to come home from a walk with the dogs and find a regular sized envelope in the mailbox with my name on it. I was even more surprised to find that the contents were about 1/4 of the total package.
http://imgur.com/xMlyLP3
After getting the dogs and myself dried off from the West Coast rain, and warming up enough to take some steady shots, I began to dismantle the package. The first thing that struck me was the nice little carrying case, which would be small enough to fit in my back pocket without attracting looks, as it's about the size of my wallet, albeit thinner and heavier.
http://imgur.com/rQJv0ma
Inside the case is a USB to Ego charger, a small concentrate tool, a small microfiber cleaning cloth to let this baby shine, the Orb XL upper which is comprised of 3 parts (base, middle, and mouthpiece), a variable voltage battery, a Grade 1 Titanium wrapped Quartz dual coil atomizer, and la belle amore, the reason I was excited to be receiving this package more than anything – Gr1 Titanium wrapped 3 Quartz rods in a bowl that Source purports to hold 1 gram of concentrate.
http://imgur.com/DXW8DGL
Wait wait wait, I thought to myself. Three quartz rods? I harkened back to double blade razors blades... is this the vaporizer pen's industry move to Mach III that was thought of as a gimmick not so long ago?
If it is, I guess I'll have to show you the rest of the package so you can find out... And be prepared. An XL vape requires a XL study and review.
The variable voltage battery is nice and sturdy and has a recessed button, a nice thing for someone like me who forgets to turn batteries off fairly regularly as it makes the button a little harder to hit than a button which protrudes from a unit. Adjusting the voltage is done by turning the base of the battery where there is a nice grippy adjuster that is about 1/8th of an inch tall of the length of the battery, and it sits flush and firm against the battery housing. The battery itself is a solid flat manpalm wide – so it is very substantial.
http://imgur.com/apGMNT2
The Orb XL itself is just beautifully machined. The base of the XL really holds my fancy as that adjustable airflow ring fits on the unit perfect, it moves and rotates with ease. It seems to be machined and fitted to such a tolerance that getting even a hair into it would prove difficult. And so far, with 4 animals in the house it hasn't happened. I know the picture above doesn't show it well, but I wanted to show the 5 air holes that go right through the base. This thing does breath rather well compared to the bought with my own money v2 Source Orb.
http://imgur.com/WEL0tNg
Everything put together and in one shot.
http://imgur.com/3oeZKx0
I put the Orb XL beside 2 of it's provided atomizers, and a v2 Orb version.
http://imgur.com/r1hL0Ua
And the Orb XL with his little, but older v2 Orb brother (please excuse the 510/Ego adapter on the bottom, I can't get it off unless I try way too hard). I was pleasantly surprised that they're the same “color” choice, but the patina on the old Orb makes it look much lighter.
http://imgur.com/grcdU4r
Orb XL on top of battery next to v2 Orb on iStick 30W.
http://imgur.com/3rT8DJ5
Doing that first dry burn.
Now? Now we're ready to test the claim that this thing can hold one gram of concentrate. I happen to like fact checking, so this is VaporMythbusters time.
http://imgur.com/5Ai6I0x
I chose one gram of Beard Brothers “Bearded Blend” which is a combo of about 15 types of shatter. You're probably thinking that's a terrible idea to test flavor. Au contraire, it is a great way to see if I can recognize the variety of flavours that **should** be present. Not only that, but imagine you're a medical; cannabis patient that is always in some degree of pain. If you've ever been at circle on “420” and smoked a ton of different strains in one sitting, you're well aware of the complexity of the Entourage Effect. If I have the chance to smoke a variety of flavours in one go, I want to FEEL it. Tick as many receptors off as possible? Yes please.
http://imgur.com/DWNzBI7
First half gram verses the Triple.
http://imgur.com/GdCX7LK
I turned the battery down all the way to 2.7V – the lowest selection available - and gently pulsed the shatter into the bottom of the cart.
http://imgur.com/ZoAUZh0
http://imgur.com/w1oiiIN
And a full gram. VaporMythbusters CONFIRMED. I had to pulse a couple more low volt shots through the coils to make it happen, and gently make myself a path down to help things out a little, but that is a whole gram in there.
At this point, I actually put it down and went to bed. It was Friday night, and I wanted to enjoy the next day and see what this thing could do in 2 hits. So, I woke up on a Saturday in mid January, made some coffee and sat down to chat with my wife. I turned the voltage selector up to the 4.2V max and did a full 10 second pull. I couldn't tell how much vapor came out of me, my eyes were too busy... adjusting. I waited another minute, and pulled again for the same time and same setting.
The flavour was immense. Citrus varieties, earthiness, cinammon, another spice component i couldn't recognize, vanilla, and a hint of skunk dominated my palate. There was no burnt oil or diminished flavour between the two hits. It felt like the first time I'd taken a dab – an immense rushing body high, wonderfully calming closed eyed visuals and no more pain. No migraine, no joint pain, no aches, no neuropathic pain. Everything was right in the world, and remained so for around 5 to 6 hours. I'm used to having to vape every 5 to 10 minutes or so, so this was a nice bonus, but of course, I had just surely consumed a couple of days worth of medication. (continued)
His DT v3 will be fully rebuildable too so I'll probably give that a try first.
but I don't want to fry my Terra as its my only one, nor do I want to have this explode in my face if its not compatible lol.
