Medical user & 2y+ Extreme Q user need change

Dear FC,

About two years ago I subscribed to FC to research vaporizers for recreational use and based on your advice had went with the Extreme Q. It has served me very well and was just awesome for occasional use. I always used the whip since I usually solo vaped and the bag system is so idioticially built (compared to the volcano's valve system) and the fact you have to keep your finger on the balloon. I used to vape once a week at the time.

A few months ago I was diagnosed with Chron's and was unresponsive to 5-ASA medication so my doctor suggested cannabis and bam, remission. Since then I've been vaping daily and the Extreme Q just isn't cutting it for me.

First off, I seem to be wasting herb. I start at 190-195C and stop at 235C tops. But since I work from home, I often find myself caught in a phonecall and will forget to shut off the vape, and will be wasting herb.

The glass pieces are a bitch to clean and the whips get brownish very fast, which I find disgusting. Arizer rips you off on the price, I got my own tubing elsewhere for much, much cheaper. I've finally figured out an easy way to clean the pieces (acetone, then soap bath, then I use an electric toothbrush and scrub it all) so this is not a deal breaker, mostly a con on the list.

I dislike the cheaply designed bag system. It's not convenient. I realize bags are mostly meant to be used at parties, but it'd be nice if I could vape a bag and leave it on the side if I need to and come back later to empty it.

Since I vape three times daily I've found the harshness gets to my throat sometimes. I'd like a vape that easily adapt to some kind of waterpipe. I have never owned or used a waterpipe so if anyone can suggest something, I'd appreciate it. I understand water would smooth things considerably.

I have just been approved to grow my own cannabis so in a few months will be able to harvest my own and make enough cannabutter to make edibles, but until then it's too expensive and I prefer to vape it.

Especially now, since I will be growing my own quality herbs, I am looking for

potency
taste
solo friendly
can be rigged with waterpipe

in that order.

Money is not an issue, keeping Chron's at bay and managing the pain and inflammation during flare-ups is too important to have a price limit.

I thank you very much for your help.

If you are located in the US and want the best for whatever money needed, the Cloud seems to be perfect:
-Potency - second to noone, people report that it is as efficient as logs with small ammounts and ripping like nothing else with larger. No stirring necessary.
-Taste - it's all glass heater, and almost all glass airpath (only a stainless mesh for herbs and herbs is not glass) => supertaste
-Solo frienldy - The Cloud can be excelent for letting your friend bake their head out. If you let them. But it's more like a solo vqpe, like a personal vape bong.
-It's whole purpose is to be paired with waterpiece.

The Cloud is imo the best for all these four criteria, if you can spend 500$+ on it, i doubt you will regret. I'vebeen waiting for it impatiently for years myself, becaue I'm not in US. And I have pretty much the same criteria as you. I even have the EQ with the same problems as you and wanta Cloud to resolve them. Sadly, right now they don't have much in stock, only HydryLine package (which a lot of people love). So you can get that one or wait few days for them to restock. Cleaning is somewhat easy too, just iso-bath the bowls and rinse the HT after some uses. No tubing, only once glass-piece and stainles meshes to clean.

Cons:
If you don't have a 18mm GonG female mouthpiece, you can use it ONLY with waterpieces (if that is a problem)
As with breaking a waterpiece -> buying a new one, if you break the glass core of the Cloud (bamboo) you have to buy a new Cloud (300$), that is much more than replacing brokem glass cover in the EQ (15$). That's because in EQ it's just a cover that you can replace, in a Cloud it's the core with a vape fused around it.

Log vapes or LSV are also a good choices.

I'm very sorry to read about your diagnosis and hope you all the best. Your post leads me to believe that you probably haven't experimented with the elbow-pack method, which really drastically improves the performance of the Extreme Q. You will get very dense, medicating vapor from a very small amount of material this way.

You can search on it for greater detail, but basically you pack the elbow screen instead of dropping it into the cyclone bowl, and use a somewhat higher temp on the unit. Suck the material to be vaporized into the elbow screen and then gently push it in with a fingertip, it will stay in place when placed into the cyclone bowl. I usually started around 370 or 380F for this method, and you can use very small amounts like this. Your Extreme Q can also mate easily to waterpipes, just attach an appropriate glass adapter on the other end of the whip. The Extreme Q comes with two elbow joints, so you already have a 18.8mm Glass adapter included.

If you still want a new model after trying the elbow pack method, maybe because you hate dealing with whips as you've stated (I hate whips too), then there's alot of choices and you should consider doing some research on this site. For the greatest at-home experience in regards to vapor purity and density, and knowing that you thankfully have funds to best care for your health, the Vape Exhale Cloud or the Vriptech Heat Wand are what I would recommend. These vaporizers have 99.9% glass airpaths, with the only exception being stainless steel screens, and they both deliver phenomenal performance. They will get you medicated in a hurry, with the absolute best flavor and vapor quality possible. Both are American made and have great companies standing behind them.

For portable use, I really enjoy the Solo, which delivers dense and flavorful vapor in a portable package which can easily mate to glass as well. It might be a great complementary purchase for when you need to medicate on the go.

Thanks you so much for your suggestions. I'm actually in Canada which is what had led me to try the Extreme Q 2 years ago since Arizer is a Canuck company.

@charlie: I have used the elbow packing method from the start. It was actually a fellow FCer that told me to do that. It's true that the vapor is very thick, BUT, the airflow restriction starts to get annoying when you use it multiple times a day. It makes pulling much more difficult and it definitely takes away at the experience. Elbow packing was great for the occasional vaping sessions, though. However, after reading your method (sucking gently then tapping with fingers), I just tried it and airflow is so much better. I used to pack it down manually before. The disgusting whip issue is still in play though, but until I get another model, it will save me some herb, so thank you for that!

@seek: Thanks for your suggestions. I had never heard of log vapes before and was very surprised when I checked out reviews on Youtube. Spending 500$ for a quality vaporizer is a small price to pay when it's actual medication. I just cannot express how much cannabis has improved my daily life. Now that I will be growing my own, it's all the more important to get the best equipment for the job. My brother had suggested the volcano, and while I wouldn't have hesitated to drop 669$ on the digital model if I was sure it was the best thing on the planet, I thought there MUST have been better things released than the volcano in the past few years, and it seems there is.

I checked out the Vape Exhale Cloud and it is one sexy machine. Wow. What's the deal with the swagger packages? They provide fancier glass inside? My utter most budget is 1000$ for EVERYTHING.

I think vapexhale ships Clouds to Canada too.

Yes, the volcano is still considered the best, because well, it WAS THE BEST some years ago. It is very old model and even today it remains top-notch, but imo not the best anymore. People just don't cahge opinions as fast as vape industry is evolving. Also, it offers only your first two criteria. And the Cloud satisfies these two even more plus the other two. So imo FOR YOU the Cloud seems much better option than a Volcano. You don't seem to me like you appreciate bags much, so why spending 600$+ on a perfectionistic bag-blower?

Swagger is an expensive brand-name. Also it's imported from Germany, which surely adds some cost. Imo they are not special in anything, the upcoming Evolver 2.0 will be the same, but imo also even better quality for the same price. With 1000$ you can get really anything, so get the best (for you) . And you could spend some extra cash for third party accesories for the Cloud. Like some foam-case for safe travelling and storage, or deadfoot desings hydra-station for mounting the Cloud and HTs securely to prevent breakage.

A quick question about the Cloud: does the glass piece keep the vapor trapped or is it a smoke as you go vape (aka no bag-system at all)? The FAQ on their site is not clear.

It's more like a hydrating mouthpiece. You should lift it and clear it after a hit, so the vapor doesn't stay there and get wasted. Bags are not good for solo use because of this reason, if you leave a bag, the vapor inside condense, making the vapor weaker and the bag dirtier. These tubes have volume of a fration of lung-capacity, so you can get as much vapor as you want. And if you have enough, you can easily pull the ELB with herbs out and leave it for later with no losses like when filling larger bag than you need.

I think a video says more than a thousand words:

OK I need one

I'm waiting for them to come back in stock, checking every day.

Is the 2.0 glass new?

OK guys, I got my cloud with swagger double today!

I'll let you know how it is!

PS. Canadians, VapeX will not be discrete on the CN22 custom forms. I got hit with 105$ in taxes and duties at delivery. Keep this in mind if you order from them.