Next step vaping

[Mrblack]

Fairly new to vaping. I've only really used the MFLB and a pen. At first LB was good. Learning technique. Couple burnt bowls. Couple great hits. Then, after awhile, I started coughing after every hit. Even small. Googled and found similar instances. Same happened with the pen as well.

So I'm trying to figure out where to go now. I want to vape over smoke, but if they're all similar, then the vape is more harsh strangely enough. So I'm trying to find the best solution, which, after much research, seems to be adding moisture (bubbler, bong, etc). The warmer the better. Seems the dry air is what thrashes the throat. I have yet to test it, but I know old bong rips weren't as harsh as bowls or J's.

The herbalizer and aromed seem pretty good, but have heard some bad about herb. Not a ton on aromed. Herb would need a water attachment.

Portable, I'm thinking either the solo, air or flowermate, with a bubbler tube (portable) or whip/gong/bubbler attachment (desktop).

I don't have a bunch of money to test, so does anyone have any experience with these? Also, is conduction or convection heating tend to be any less harsh than the other?

Tip: to cool hits even further, add peppermint essential oil to your glass mouthpiece and enjoy. I tested it on a glass tip for a J and it was a nice addition.

Btw, pretty cool site. Been wanderin' a bit.

 

[herbivore21]

Fairly new to vaping. I've only really used the MFLB and a pen. At first LB was good. Learning technique. Couple burnt bowls. Couple great hits. Then, after awhile, I started coughing after every hit. Even small. Googled and found similar instances. Same happened with the pen as well.

So I'm trying to figure out where to go now. I want to vape over smoke, but if they're all similar, then the vape is more harsh strangely enough. So I'm trying to find the best solution, which, after much research, seems to be adding moisture (bubbler, bong, etc). The warmer the better. Seems the dry air is what thrashes the throat. I have yet to test it, but I know old bong rips weren't as harsh as bowls or J's.

The herbalizer and aromed seem pretty good, but have heard some bad about herb. Not a ton on aromed. Herb would need a water attachment.

Portable, I'm thinking either the solo, air or flowermate, with a bubbler tube (portable) or whip/gong/bubbler attachment (desktop).

I don't have a bunch of money to test, so does anyone have any experience with these? Also, is conduction or convection heating tend to be any less harsh than the other?

Tip: to cool hits even further, add peppermint essential oil to your glass mouthpiece and enjoy. I tested it on a glass tip for a J and it was a nice addition.

Btw, pretty cool site. Been wanderin' a bit.

Convection is harsher on the throat than conduction. It is like sucking on a hair-dryer However it also provides better flavor generally speaking.

I would recommend looking elsewhere and working out a bit more of what you want from your vaporizer:

Do you want to do long vape 'sessions'?

Do you want to recreate the bong smoking experience (ie: 1 hit bowls with big clouds)?

Do you need something portable, or would you be happy with a desktop unit?

I do suggest using a bubbler with whichever vape you get, it is hands down the best way to reduce harshness. With this in mind, I suggest looking for a vape that is designed for use with glass. The plug-ins you have identified require whips or third party attachments which leave them only compatible with hydratubes (in the case of the Herbie). I suggest avoiding these options unless you actually want to use bags or whips. Whips can connect to glass but get very dirty with use and cannot be fully cleaned, this leads to worse taste with long term use.

With some answers to the above questions, we can get to work figuring out what will be best for your needs.

 

[Mrblack]

Convection is harsher on the throat than conduction. It is like sucking on a hair-dryer However it also provides better flavor generally speaking.

I would recommend looking elsewhere and working out a bit more of what you want from your vaporizer:

Do you want to do long vape 'sessions'?

Do you want to recreate the bong smoking experience (ie: 1 hit bowls with big clouds)?

Do you need something portable, or would you be happy with a desktop unit?

I do suggest using a bubbler with whichever vape you get, it is hands down the best way to reduce harshness. With this in mind, I suggest looking for a vape that is designed for use with glass. The plug-ins you have identified require whips or third party attachments which leave them only compatible with hydratubes (in the case of the Herbie). I suggest avoiding these options unless you actually want to use bags or whips. Whips can connect to glass but get very dirty with use and cannot be fully cleaned, this leads to worse taste with long term use.

With some answers to the above questions, we can get to work figuring out what will be best for your needs.

Hey herbivore, thanks for responding. The ideal vape situation for me now would be something portable, but not discreet. Around the house. Be able to take some big rips if desired, so pass through charging on the air or solo is a plus. I saw there is also a glass stem water attachment for the air and solo as well. Curious if that cools just as well as a desktop bubbler.

Think I'm on the right track?

 

[CarolKing]

I think a Solo would be an excellent choice for your second vaporizer. IMO the Air is a bit on the harsh side compared to the Solo. The D020 bubbler mates well with the Solo with an 18 mm GonG.

It's best to identify your needs and go from there, so @herbivore21 is right on about that.

I have the Solo and the Air and prefer the flavor of the Solo. You can replace the Solo battery yourself that's a real plus. The Air is nice because of the replaceable batteries but the Solo wins out over taste for me. I thought the MFLB had terrible flavor but plenty of folks like it.

Down the road think about a log vape too. Maybe for your 3rd or 4th unit.

@Mrblack Welcome to the forum. Glad you decided to enjoy cannabis in a healthier way.

Edit
The Solo does have some air restriction and there are stems that improve airflow like the PVHES line of mouthpieces and GonGs from @PlanetVape I haven't bought any lately because I've stocked up. I'm not saying don't look at other portables but it's worth a second look.

I notice FCer @Ed's TnT has added extra airflow Solo stems. He's selling glass too!! I plan on trying at least one of the models out. I haven't bought yet.

Pick five portables that you are interested in and read through a few pages of each - then take the plunge.

Sometimes the newer units have some flaws and bugs to get worked out in the beginning. Theres many choices out there.

 

[herbivore21]

I think a Solo would be an excellent choice for your second vaporizer. IMO the Air is a bit on the harsh side compared to the Solo. The D020 bubbler mates well with the Solo with an 18 mm GonG.

It's best to identify your needs and go from there, so @herbivore21 is right on about that.

I have the Solo and the Air and prefer the flavor of the Solo. You can replace the Solo battery yourself that's a real plus. The Air is nice because of the replaceable batteries but the Solo wins out over taste for me.

I don't recommend the Solo these days. Don't get me wrong, we've all had one and relied on and enjoyed admirable service from it. However, I find the draw too restricted (like sucking on a very frozen shake) and the shape and size off-putting and not exactly portable. The battery is replaceable, but it is not very convenient to replace the battery in the Solo (requires some tools etc). The Air has a more easily replaceable battery and it is a much more serviceable size for portability (this seems less important for you), but I have heard it has a slightly more restrictive draw than the Solo, this is more than I'd recommend to anybody. The way you have to put your load in the stem means that carrying spare, pre-loaded stems means you have relatively large pieces of glass which could be avoided with other vapes.

I would consider a variety of different vapes in your case. The Da Vinci IQ looks really promising on all of the things you want. It is conduction, not convection but has a nice inert airpath for good taste all the same! It has all the modern bells and whistles, much faster heatup time than the solo and the manufacturer retails GonG adapters for glass connectivity. It has a somewhat large bowl but you can reduce the capacity by ~30% according to the manufacturer using the built-in 'pearl' attachment, also the same inert high-end ceramic as the rest of the path!

The Dynavap range (Vapcap, Omnivap and many more) are great vaporizers which can be had for little money. They use a jet lighter (they do heat up off of just about any heat source including induction!) and unlike other lighter based vapes, do let you know when they to stop torching to avoid accidental combustion.

The Mighty is worth consideration for use with glass or at lower temps direct draw (temps well below the maximum can still whitewall a bubbler!).

The Grasshopper is too hot and harsh IME and I can't recommend it. The Milaana gets good reviews but it is convection and may not suit your desire for less harsh vapor.

The Haze V3 is wonderful, affordable, minimizes pesky reloading during public use (two chambers allow you to pack two loads at once and you can carry as many spare herb cannisters for quick loading as you can fit in your pockets, they are tiny!). It does warm up slowly compared to the Dynavaps and the Da Vinci IQ but similarly to the Mighty. One thing I really like about the haze is if you stick to the first 3 temp settings for flowers, it never gets very harsh even for direct draw. It tastes very good and is a favorite of mine! The Haze has user replaceable batteries too (comes with 2, used one at a time).

I replaced my Solo with a Haze V3, which even itself feels a little dated now (warm-up time is a bit slow now, despite being better than the solo, heater doesn't give endless whitewall vapor like some of the new cloud machines) but fills that affordable mid-range reliable niche that the Solo used to fill in my line-up.

I will say that I've never had a 'pass-through' vape that worked well and have come to prefer vapes with user replaceable batteries that can be externally charged with spares at the ready when you run out of power. Almost all of the vapes I mention here allow this kind of usage or don't require any electric power

 

[ginolicious]

It's really a personal preference.

Some people say convection is not as harsh on your throat than conduction and vice versa.

What you will want is a fully adjustable vaporizer for temperature that way you can control it.

You should also look at what type of vaporizer was harsh on your throat. If they were all mainly conduction, then move onto a convection based vaporizer.

Then there is the debate over portable or desktop. Desktop usually have longer air paths thus cooling vapor a lot more.

 

[Squiby]

All my adult life I have consumed weed. Over 40 years now. The singular turn off for me was always the inevitable coughing, throat and chest irritation. It was such a downer for me that sometimes I would choose to not partake just to avoid the harsh smoke. I am a severe asthmatic.

My primary goal when I started vaping was to reduce the harshness and irritation. After several vapes, few by some standards, I discovered the Vapcap.

The Vapcap has been an absolute pleasure. Smooth cool vapor, easy operation. No batteries, cords or electronics to charge, rotate, keep track of, replace, organize etc. Heats up in a few seconds, seriously, like as little as two seconds. There are no plastic parts. Made in the USA. A quality company that has superior customer service.

I use a mouthpull technique and a degummed hemp fiber filter and the vapor is shockingly smooth.

There are several models sporting different bodies, stems and mps. There are glass tipped Vapcaps and titanium tipped vapcaps. They range in price from $35 for the all glass OG Vapcap to the titanium Omnivap, an indestructible doomsday device, for $160, and several in between.

They are the size and shape of a cigarette, regular or kingsized. The ritual is similar, heat, then toke.

The ti tipped Vapcaps are fully modular so you can swap out the various components to create a personal look or function like a VonG body for example. The Vapcap is without a doubt, the most attractive vaporizer on the market, IMHO.

This is my Ti Copper Stoned Vapcap with a Cocobolo mp and a Wenge DynastashER to store the Vapcap and stash.

Now I just love getting stoned. Pure pleasure. No downside.

I highly recommend the Vapcap.

 

[GreenHopper]

Someone just posted a thread about a new portable vape with inbuilt cooling called Cloudious9, but its not actually available yet.

The Crafty/Mighty always seem to go down well with those who like smoother vapor. Same with the firefly 2 although I've not seen a decent water tool adapter for the firefly.

 

[herbivore21]

Someone just posted a thread about a new portable vape with inbuilt cooling called Cloudious9, but its not actually available yet.

The Crafty/Mighty always seem to go down well with those who like smoother vapor. Same with the firefly 2 although I've not seen a decent water tool adapter for the firefly.

We should clarify that the Crafty is not useful as a daily driver for moderate-heavy users due to shitty battery life which is why I don't mention it here. I owned the Mighty and the Crafty and quickly found that unless you are using it very occasionally, the Crafty's battery life is a big deal breaker. I only mention the Mighty; despite not having user replaceable batteries, because it offers fantastic battery life compared to most other such vapes!

Couldn't agree more with what you have said about the firefly 2 as well

 

[CarolKing]

What I've found out here on FC is we are all so different. What one person raves about another person wasn't that impressed. It really is an individual decision. Many of us can only give you our interpretation of what we liked or not. Our personal lifestyles are so very different and sometimes more similar. You really need to read through some of the various portable threads.

Be wary of Chinese vaporizers being sold on eBay. Know your sources. You know all the vendors here on FC will treat you right. Also contact @stickstones as a resource - just give him a PM.

The vendors on FC have been vetted by the best. We speak up around here when we aren't happy.

Edit
The pass through operation is really hard on the batteries.

The Vapir No 2 is a big older portable. It could be used with or without the battery. You could take the battery out or just use the plugin. I haven't used mine in awhile because it's so big and doesn't produce the flavor I like.

 

[invertedisdead]

I don't think anybody could go wrong with the Air and a few extra batteries and a Nitecore external charger. The pass through charging is just good marketing though. Doesn't work in practice. It will shut off if battery level is below a certain percent or if the unit gets too hot. Easily solved with spares and the aftermarket charger though.

 

[herbivore21]

What I've found out here on FC is we are all so different. What one person raves about another person wasn't that impressed. It really is an individual decision. Many of us can only give you our interpretation of what we liked or not. Our personal lifestyles are so very different and sometimes more similar. You really need to read through some of the various portable threads.

Be wary of Chinese vaporizers being sold on eBay. Know your sources. You know all the vendors here on FC will treat you right. Also contact @stickstones as a resource - just give him a PM.

The vendors on FC have been vetted by the best. We speak up around here when we aren't happy.

This is why I always go to great pains to be clear with my reasons for disliking a given unit. We don't all have the same needs and preferences and our main gripes will not necessarily be a problem for other people's purposes. The OP is clearly looking for a main driver and stated a preference for a portable so I have responded on this basis.

While I've used most of the current crop of portables, I haven't used them all. For example, I think that the Da Vinci IQ may possibly be the best option that has been mentioned in this thread so far, but I've not used it myself and it is quite new so it is difficult to say whether to pull the trigger.


+1 billion to what CarolKing said about using vendors who are present and well-regarded on FC. These guys are tried and true

 

[Mrblack]

Lots of great info posted. I've heard the same thing several times about the draw resistance of the air and solo. Also, the two Vapes I tried are conduction based, so I was thinking of trying convection based next, but who knows. I have a feeling a lot of the harshness of vapor is more in the fact it's dry air than anything.

The Milaana seems good, but I think I need something easier for my next vape. That way I can get some good consistent draws and enjoy some vaping.

vapcap is intriguing. Ease of use? I'm fairly intelligent, but do like easy.

DaVinci IQ seems like the new up and comer. (Edit: just read a lot of people are having customer service issues with their product. Not sure exactly what).

The Cloudious9 looks right up my alley. Such a gamble with new ones.

My overall plan is to get into vaping for several reasons, but also to be able to vape the herb to different temps and then create different tinctures with the ABV.

 

[Mr. Me2]

Lots of great info posted. I've heard the same thing several times about the draw resistance of the air and solo. Also, the two Vapes I tried are conduction based, so I was thinking of trying convection based next, but who knows. I have a feeling a lot of the harshness of vapor is more in the fact it's dry air than anything.

The Milaana seems good, but I think I need something easier for my next vape. That way I can get some good consistent draws and enjoy some vaping.

vapcap is intriguing. Ease of use? I'm fairly intelligent, but do like easy.

DaVinci IQ seems like the new up and comer. (Edit: just read a lot of people are having customer service issues with their product. Not sure exactly what).

The Cloudious9 looks right up my alley. Such a gamble with new ones.

My overall plan is to get into vaping for several reasons, but also to be able to vape the herb to different temps and then create different tinctures with the ABV.

I vote for you to try a vapcap. A modest investment for a beautiful piece. And I don't even have one yet! But it's next on my list!!!

 

[Prolusio]

I've had both the Solo and the Air, they're definitely great portable vapes especially for flavour. But if I had to pick one I'd choose the Air. I found the draw resistance to be more restrictive than average on both the Solo/Air, but the Air seems to be less so for me. And if you're planning on being a heavy user having the common and replaceable 18650 batteries in the Air is fantastic; much easier to keep a charged battery on hand than to rely on passthrough charging.

I've also found that using vapes while passthrough charging can be hard on the batteries particularly if you're in the cold or using car power inverters, so I don't like to rely on it. The charging often just can't keep up with the usage resulting in over drained batteries. Just my personal experience though.

I've never used the water attachment for the Air but I've heard great stories about them and seen many accessories; I'd definitely recommend looking for one that suits you if you have issues with harsh vapour as I find the Air does get fairly hot.

Also with the Air I found my grind consistency to be very important, too fine and it was impossible for me (small lungs) to get good hits due to the already semi-restrictive air flow. Too coarse and the small bowl didn't have enough herb to produce satisfying hits. After a little experimenting and acquiring some proper sized screens though I was getting really satisfying use out of my Air as far as portable vapes go.

I'd also recommend looking into the Boundless line of vapes. I recently aquired a Boundless CFX and I'm really liking it so far; I'd highly recommend it for an easy to use and satisfying vape. I've heard people with "high end" vapes like the Mighty or Crafty say the CFX has a more restrictive than average airflow, but coming from the Air I was very satisfied. It has a larger bowl so it's easy to pack a good amount for sharing, but not necessary for proper use. Because of it's convection/conduction combo heating I find it very easy to get good results with any herb consistency/amount. Very brainless, just grind and toss it in no worrying about over or under packing.

CFX doesn't offer replaceable batteries or passthrough charging, but it does have a very good battery life and heat up time. 6 sessions per charge is more than enough for me to get medicated out and about. Mine also came with an awesome universal water pipe adapter that replaces the mouthpiece, super easy to use and clean. I didn't find the vapour from the CFX to be nearly as harsh as the Air and the digital temp display makes it easy to fine tune your vapour output.

Only downsides to the CFX for me would be the lack of replaceable batteries and that it does use up your bowl each time you turn it on. You're not going to be able to do 1/2 sessions very well with this vape because it's just so good at cooking the entire bowl. But that's not exactly a bad thing! I love not having to crack my vape open to stir it every single hit. They also have the CFV if you're looking for a convection only vape. But I've heard negative things about the battery life as convection is very hungry.

I've also heard really good reports about the Da Vinci Iq, supposed to taste really good with it's ceramic vapour paths and flavour chamber. It offers some programmable features that aren't common on the market right now. I believe it also has replaceable 18650 batteries, which is always a plus in my book. I'm considering adding one to my collection once my VAS gets the best of me.. BUT If you're looking at getting a Da Vinci I'd hold off for now and keep an eye out on their site because they're having a 12 days of christmas event with some surprise saved for the end; maybe you'll end up getting a better deal?!

I've never tried a vap cap or any other torch based vapes before but there are a ton of users around here who have one in their collection so there must be something to it! I really like the idea of them; basically limitless use, as long as you have herb and lighter fluid you can vape. Just not sure how well I'd manage with the more finicky/skill based heating techniques..

 

[Squiby]

as long as you have herb and lighter fluid you can vape. Just not sure how well I'd manage with the more finicky/skill based heating techniques..

The Vapcap is very easy to use. It is different from many other "butane" vapes in a couple of ways.

The Vapcap has a temperature indicating cap. When it is heated to toking temps, the cap makes a clicking sound. Easy, no fuss no muss. Respect the click and you will not combust.

Different bowl temperatures can be reached by heating different areas of the cap.

You can heat it with nearly any heat source; bic lighters, butane jet lighters, one jet, two, three or four jets, candles, stove elements, sticks from camp fires, etc.

You do not have flame near your face. You heat the Vapcap, then you toke.

The Vapcap is very efficient with your herb or concentrate.

It really is a great little vape. I think that everyone should have at least one.