HerbalAire with High Output Bag Fill System

[jcw919]

Hey i was wondering if anyone has any experience with the new high output bag fill system on the herbalaire. It says it fills bags in 20 seconds and can fill 3 at the same time. Although its sold as an extra(more $$$), it also means you can get a nice quick bag or three and then use the old pump to slowly vape the herbs, giving you the high efficiency that the HerbalAire promises.

I like this product because of its stealth and the fact the it has direct draw, a whip, and a bag system. The extreme also has these but im starting to think it may not be portable enough. I want to bring it around and let other people check it out and i think getting the extreme in my car and back into my house could be a problem. Plus it is suppose to be super-efficient.

Other things i am looking at are the VRIPMASTER (quite portable if someone else can bring a bong) and the extreme (the not-as-portable bag/whip combo). I was looking at the volc but i decided it will mostly be for personal use so that would be a waste. As i was just looking at the forums i noticed the i-inhale. seems like that should be in the running too and its at my local headshop.

Thanks for the help

 

[stickstones]

I've never used the HA but own an E. I took it on a roadtrip once to my hotel room and had no problems. I don't consider it to be a portable by any means, but I had no trouble on that trip. It does, however, have more glass pieces, which could be a problem if you're going to be wagging it around a lot.

 

[hazy]

I've got a HA and I've found it to be very efficient. I particularly like the way you can just break off a bud and throw it in the crucible, and it seems to extract everything from it without any need to grind or poke around with it. It's pretty lightweight and quite easy to throw in a backpack without any worries, although there are obviously a few parts involved that you will need to assemble when you get to your destination. As far as whip/direct draw use is concerned, I found it an unsatisfying experience and I wouldn't recommend this vape for that purpose, although I've heard some reports of people feeding it into a bong or hookah with good results.

 

[jcw919]

unsatisfying? thats not what i was hoping for. i'm thinking that im going to get the HA due to its versitality and portability.

why is it unsatisfying?

 

[hazy]

By unsatisfying I mean that it feels very restricted when sucking and takes ages to get a good lungful. You can hardly tell that you're getting any vapour. Put it this way, it takes a few minutes to get a standard bagful of vapour using the standard pump. A bagful is about three good lungfuls for me, so it's like you need to suck hard on the tube for about a minute to get a lungful. It takes quite a bit of effort over what ends up seeming like quite a long time. Or maybe I'm just getting old...

I should clarify that I only put a small bud in the crucible each time, because I'm a cheapskate and I have low tolerance. If you put a large amount in the crucible then maybe you'd get thicker hits, so you could take shorter draws for the equivalent effect. It all depends on what your usage patterns are, but I just thought I should warn you that the HA whip hits might not be what you expect.

It's worth remembering that the HA was designed primarily as a bag vape, and it does a pretty good job of this. So if you think you'll be mostly using bags with occasional direct draw/whip use (with a fully loaded bowl) then you'll be ok. If you want a whip vape then you might end up getting something else. I ended up getting a PD which is much better for direct draw, and only a little bit less efficient, but the vapour is hotter, and there's a little bit of "technique" involved. Taking hits from a bag is a no brainer and the vapour is cool, but sometimes it feels (to me) a bit unnatural to be sucking out of a plastic bag (kind of reminds me of sniffing glue when I was a teenager). It all depends on your individual style.

One thing I should also mention though, is that bags can be fun at parties. They're easy to pass around, and they're especially good for vapour newbies, because they can see the vapour and know that all they need to do is inhale it. You also get to be the centre of attention which can be fun if you're into that sort of thing. Also different people might throw a few buds your way, and you can just stick them straight into the crucible and away you go. No need to worry if it's a bit damp and no need to prepare it.

 

[max]

I've had a herbalAire for going on 3 yrs. and would agree with hazy's conclusions. The 18 tiny inlet holes into the bowl chamber are a key to the herbalAire's efficiency, but are also a detriment to getting satisfying whip hits. If you loaded up the bowl with a lot of ground herb you'd probably get a little better direct hit, but unlike most vapes, the herbie works great with pieces, and I wouldn't recommend grinding your herb for this vape. The screen in the main mouthpiece is more coarse and would allow very small particles through and you'd have more trouble keeping it clean.

The Extreme is a better hitter on direct draw, especially if you pack the upper screen instead of the bowl. Neither one of these vapes is known for easy portability, but both could be packed up and easily moved to another location. I don't think the herbalAire has much going for it in the stealth dept. either. What is it if not a vaporizer? At least the Extreme has the potpourri bowl.

The variety of vapes you mention, including Volcano, I-inhale, Vriptech (consider the heating wand with that brand) tells me you should probably do a little more looking and decide what aspects are more important to you. Stealth and portability would put some good vapes at one end-Purple-Days, I-inhale, and your bag fillers and glass vapes are more 'stay at home' and likely to prompt questions like 'what the hell is that thing?'.

We've got all the good ones covered here. Find out their strong points and decide which one fits your needs best.

 

[jcw919]

yeah well i listed everything that i have looked at so far but really its been narrowed down to stuff that does either both whip and bag (the E and the HA) or is badass (VHW). i think now its up to me to decide but i hadnt been able to find much on the HerbalAire so i thought i should ask here

 

[max]

I think the consensus is that the Extreme beats the herbie hands down for whip hits, especially when packing the elbow. I've probably only hit the herbie on direct draw a half dozen times, and that was just because it heats up fast and the 'ever on' PD hadn't hit the market yet. I wouldn't trade it for the Extreme or the Volcano as far as bag use. I like its unique features. But for direct draw the hits are effective but unenjoyable.

For every unit you've mentioned (except the I-inhale), portability means carefully packing up the various pieces. Nothing really breakable with the herbalAire, but still lots of stuff to pack up and assemble. And only the I-inhale (easily hidden or overlooked) and PD are considered stealth. When a unit is on display stealth involves an alternate identity-an aroma diffuser.

 

[jcw919]

nah i mean ability to get it into my car in like a small bag or something. i need to be able to let the other people who tossed iin money have access to it.

 

[hazy]

Well with the HA there's the main heater unit, the pump (both of which need power), the crucible, the two-part stem and the bags. It seems like a fair bit to keep track of, but if you're a little bit organised you shouldn't lose anything. In reality it takes about 30 secs to put it all together once you know what you're doing. I went on a bit of a "moving party" with it a few days after I first got it, going from house to house, unpacking setting up and then disassembling and packing each time. It wasn't as much of a hassle as I thought it would be, and I never felt like I needed to be careful or that I would break anything. It's a pretty solid but lightweight unit. Like I said, I can just throw it in a backpack and get on my pushbike no problems.

The main thing you've got to decide is if you and your friends will be happy with the "bag experience", because that's mainly what the HA is designed for.