Aromazap/Myrtlezap/CeramicRockZap

[arf777]

Want to give Rick props for his customer service. Not only has he - IMHO - improved the log vape to an almost perfect degree and made some truly stunning pieces, he has kept his customer support at a 5-star level. I got one of the pretty 'Out-on-a-limb' RockVapes, made from a section of a whole branch. Because they're made from a branch, there is less of an ability to cut around problems in the wood. Mine ended up cracking after it was heated and cooled.

Rick has been amazing in dealing with this. First, because he knows I like naturalistic woodwork, he let me decide if the cracking was an issue. And now that we've determined it is getting bigger, he is being great in replacing it. He's testing my chosen replacement for similar issues since it's another one from the branch, and we've discussed what different piece I'd like if the other "Out-on-a-limb" one I want has similar issues. And I'm using the cracked one while we figure out what's happening, so I won't have a day without a Rockzap. I've spent thousands on high-end electronics and not gotten such great customer service (Bose immediately springs to mind). The only other vape company that has provided me comparable service is Vriptech (though I haven't needed service on my PD, so I have no point of comparison there, other than the long wait in getting one back when I ordered mine).

And like many other folks, I am amazed at the improvements to the vape. My cracked 'zap was ready to vape 15 minutes after I plugged it in, not an hour or more later. And IMO it gives a thicker hit than my PD, but without giving up efficiency. I'd ordered the Rockzap because it was pretty, figured it'd be a backup. But its been the only log I've used since getting it, and is one of my daily drivers (along with a VHW 3). Will post a pic when the replacement comes.

I'm from a family of heavy-smoking Russian emigres, was given my first personal briar tobacco pipe when I was 5 years old, along with my first pouch of Russian pipe tobacco. Gave me a life-long love of quality woodwork, though it also made me a tobacco addict .

 

[Alan]

Hey Rick - Have you retrofit any of your old square Zaps? That would be too cool.

You could also make PentaZaps, HexaZaps, and OctoZaps. I'm really just trying to tire you out so you will slow down a bit. lol

 

[Ennui Cookout]

I'm still in love with this vape. I made an early mistake with it where I attempted to clean the stems with a pick and I dislodged the screens -- I then remembered folks mentioning they could blow out the stems and unlike every other vape I've owned and cleaned, blowing it out actually worked /well/ with the stems on the RockZap. This immediately just shot it up to the forefront on maintenance since it's really minimal downtime to blow through a few stems.

And now for the small review no one asked for:

Honestly, this is the most impressive vape I've purchased if only because I cannot think of anything wrong with it. The bowl sizes of the stem seem almost perfectly calculated to be the right minimum of herb and when it's cooked, that now browned out 'shaped charge' blows right out neatly. That right there significantly reduces mess and maintenance with bowl changing /while/ helping you to conserve your herb.

As a pleasant side-affect, the smaller bowl also means that your time-to-cached is even shorter and easy to monitor: Within a few good hits, you can clearly see a 'lesser' hit and know that it'll be time to reload rather soon. Not a lot of guesswork and more importantly -- you don't have to spend more time with less-flavorful hits because you've got a larger bowl to work through. At least, I found this aspect appealing anyway once I learned how fast it was to change bowls.

I was mildly concerned that the lack of a bowl cap or similar to hold the herb in would promote mess, but that's really proven itself mostly unfounded provided you aren't clumsy and drop the stem before it's been good and glued by the heat. Overall, I've owned far messier vapes than this and I've owned /none/ that have been faster for swapping bowls.

With fixed-temp vapes, you really have to trust that the creator's taste in temperatures and draw rate are pleasant and easy to adapt to. It's also really important that it holds the temp steady. On all counts there, I've found zero to complain about with the RockZap. It's stupid easy for me to get cloudy yet mild hits and I've never felt like the vape is dropping temp too significantly after a few good hits so that I had to wait.

So yeah, if anyone needs yet another voice saying to 'Buy this thing!', count me as another. The RockZap really should be the first image you see on the Wikipedia article on vaporizing -- I can't think of any other vape anyone should start with. The rest of my gear just feels like exceptions to the rule at the moment, such as portable usage.

@Rick, Mods: Should this thread be renamed to 'AromaZap/RockZap'? Just a thought!

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

dude i know what your talking about i haD A quarter last me little over to weeks an im a HUGE A GUY WHO used to do two full ssv bowls straight to face maybe sometimes 3 of high grade. now i can get good off 3 stems maybe 2. love the rock zap now i wana run it through a perc or the vaportamer from ssv.

 

[Nycdeisel]

i use glass pretty often and im still interested in the vapor tamer.

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

yea man im probably gonna run the vapertamer through a perc do both water an vapertamer haha. best of both worlds bro.

 

[flasharoo]

hey, just out of curiosity, what do you guys prefer to use with your zap?

the basic stems that come with it? glass tooties? a glass piece?

 

[arf777]

I have an original (thin) vapor tamer from when I got my LSV. It's nice with the zap, as with other log vapes. But it gets warm very fast, and I've never noticed any difference when combining it with good glass, especially glass with ice. Just haven't felt a difference.

IMO, for the original tamer, at least, it isn't really worth it. The glycerin comes to room temp too quickly. I get cooler hits with the zap an a Hitman turbine tube with ice or some crushed ice in a tree bubbler.

With the original and a Rockzap, without a water tool, I get maybe 2 or 3 draws before the tamer needs to go back in the fridge for at least two hours. Can anyone who has tried one of the larger ones, the fatty or the Saturn vaper tamer, comment on this? Do the larger ones stay cold significantly longer or provide better additional cooling with a water tool and a zap?

 

[cluffy]

I just started a Vapor Tamer thread, hopefully it will grow and be helpful. Vapor Tamer

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

i was wondering im gona buy either a bubbler perc or a bong with a percs probably can spend 350. to run my ssv an rock zap through. so if i get an 18.8mm bubbler or bong will the rock zap stem fit right into to hit.


if not what will you have to do to make it fit

 

[SF Giant]

No

 

[hereatlast]

guitarscreamngrowler: If you buy an 18.8 mm bong/bubbler you can easily purchase an adapter (an 18.8mm to 14.mm) so that the Zap stems fit. The stems will make an airtight seal with a 14.4mm GonG joint.

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

oh alright so its 14mm the rockzap stem alright thanks man

 

[Vitolo]

...as for the SSV, you can get the adapter to the left... it will also fit the same downstem as your RZ stem does.

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

IS TO many percolators on a bong to run a vaporizer through over kill.

 

[SD_haze]

IS TO many percolators on a bong to run a vaporizer through over kill.

most vapes realistically do best with only one water filtration chamber.
especially log vapes

the heavier hitters like the SSV, supreme, etc do benefit from extra diffusion when you crank up the heat


I use a non-percolated tube but with a german (holes) diffused downstem with the rockzap and the vapor is always diffused enough to hold it in 8+ secs without coughing

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

yea so ill probably try an get one or 2 percs in it. cause i have a rockzap ssv an extreme q.

 

[placetime]

wow! lots of great-looking pieces in the new batch! that new myrtle (oct 16) is
amazing stuff you have going on there.

 

[Rick]

Finally got the call from Tim, our glass guy last night. The new Tooty tubing is in and I will pick up a big bunch of them tomorrow or Friday. We are installing the SS tips(and the old brass insert/tip) using hi temp silicone tubing rather than the old JBWeld bonding method. Tips will be easily removable and we will include extra silicone tubing with each Tooty which will make cleaning of the glass very easy. I have a few to send out to our first CRZ customers who ordered a Tooty but did not get one.
Very big bunch of CRZs out today. We missed yesterday because I have added an extra quality control step to the assembly process which takes an extra day to complete. All shipping notices have been sent out. More will leave tomorrow to make a Saturday arrival.
Dropped the price on wooden stems a nickel. That will be the bottom on those. That SS tubing and some extra labor keeps our cost up on the wood stems.
We have found a very nice Carnuba Wax/Walnut oil finish for our CRZs. This is to be applied after the regular finish, similar to the old ZaPolish. We will be looking into supplying a small dab with each order. I am currently using it as a final shine on the CRZs before we ship. We use a hi speed buffing wheel to make them really shine as the last step before they leave Zapville.

 

[Nycdeisel]

Is this new wax replacing the Zapolish? is the 'regular finish' that really shiny looking stuff that the old zaps didnt have?


@guitar: I think that a single chamber piece with one level of water filtration would be fine for that. I use my Supreme with a BC circ bubbler(the supreme gives large bong like hits), and that is very smooth even when i crank the temp up a little, it also works amazingly well with the zaps ! Keep in mind I have used double chamber pieces but i definitely stand behind smaller more simple setups for vapes- the log type in particular.
vapor does not need as much filtration and cooling as smoke does. for example if you used to smoke from glass, vaporizing from glass(referred to as vaporbonging

) will never really need an ashcatcher(or other methods of extra cooling/filtration)

 

[arf777]

I agree with what others have said as well - multiple chambers with extra percs is overkill for vapbonging. I use an LW bubbler with a small amount of water or a Hitman with a small amount of water plus ice.
Keep in mind that the main target chemical IS water soluble, contrary to what used to be believed, but at a low level (around .003 mg/mL - it's in the Merck manual). It dissolves more the more water it goes through. When combusting, it's worth the extra loss to get rid of all the nasties.

 

[NiceLungs]

Just ordered one of these new RockZap badboys. I'm pumped.

Nice work Rick!

 

[steiner666]

1 pass through water has been sufficient for me with zap or any vape. Sometimes i use ice but more often than not i'm too lazy to even bother with that extra step. fancy setups might look cool and be nice to use with those hot, big-bowled "wow look at this thick cloud of vapor i can blow" sort of vapes, but for zap i dunno. I think most ppl will find bigger or more complicated glass pieces to just be more of an inconvenience to use with the zap. a simple bubbler or small tube with the zap is the best daily drive setup possible imo.

 

[guitarscreamngrowler]

yea i have rockzap, ssv an extreme q. so ill probably get a one perc maybe one with two at most. but i live in pa so gonna be limit selection gonna have to go with roor or illdelphia. i live near allentown primal expressions or utopia where i go.

 

[hereatlast]

You are NOT limited to Roor or Illadelph in PA! Take the convo. over to the glass section to get some ideas guitarscreamngrowler!