Underdog Log Vapes

[BrianTL]

Good morning Dogs... I see this place got hit by a Cat 3 shitstorm while I was away.

I'm not going to respond to specific people as I don't see a benefit to the thread but if someone feels slighted and wants me to respond to their comments specifically just say so and I guess I will but I see this as a bunch of people arguing over semantics and that's not my shtick.

The fact(s) of this situation are:

• I've received 4 Alphas back and tested them and their power supplies extensively on the bench in addition to using them to vape with both ID fitting stems and their OD fitting stems. All worked exactly to spec and produced good high volume vapor.
• 2 of them came back with visible abv/resin on the core which means they need a deep cleaning, 1 was almost totally clean and the last looked unused. I specifically didn't out specific vapes/users because I have no desire to shame anyone. Dirty is totally subjective so no point in arguing about it. I appreciate the users who were able to get theirs fully (or close) clean and accept the rest as-is. Lots of people probably don't have the ability to get them clean enough for resale, we strip them down and clean the cores in an ultrasonic.
• Some people had expectations (microdosing, no stirring needed, etc) that weren't met by the vape. I don't think we advertised the vape as any of those things but we can only control the info that we personally give out and I'm sure there's plenty of inaccurate info on the web.
• We supported our product and gave people full refunds despite having a no return policy in place for the last decade.

Those are the facts. I'm not shaming anyone, not arguing with anyone, not pointing fingers and have moved on with no hard feelings so hopefully everyone else can chill and do the same.

Not every vape is for every person and we've never tried to convince or push someone into an Underdog we though wouldn't suit them. It's not our style, goes against our 'code' and there's no financial incentive to do so since demand for UDs generally significantly outweighs our production capacity.

Like I already said hopefully everyone can chill and go their separate ways now with no hard feelings.

If someone wants to argue though let me know I have a clear schedule for the afternoon.

Likewise if someone wants to out themselves as the owner of a specific vape that they think wasn't working properly and have us send it to another Alpha user to see how it performs for them let me know. I'm 100% confident in the vapes running properly so I don't see the point personally but if it'd stop the bickering I'd give it a shot.

You can send one to me as a zero-experience alpha user and see if I can't get it to run right

I usually charge for my 3rd party review services but I would be willing to do this pro-bono

 

[arb]

You can send one to me as a zero-experience alpha user and see if I can't get it to run right

I usually charge for my 3rd party review services but I would be willing to do this pro-bono

Shit I will buy one or two right now @underdog send me a email and lets get them dogs rehomed.

 

[underdog]

I really appreciate this post! Thank you!

Happy to be here, thanks!

You can send one to me as a zero-experience alpha user and see if I can't get it to run right

I usually charge for my 3rd party review services but I would be willing to do this pro-bono

Hmmm... you have an SC3 that's working well for you though right so that's a good point of comparison at least.

I'll meet you in the middle and pay outgoing shipping if you pay the return but you'll have to work for free like all the suckers on Team Underdog. lol

 

[BrianTL]

Hmmm... you have an SC3 that's working well for you though right so that's a good point of comparison at least.

I'll meet you in the middle and pay outgoing shipping if you pay the return but you'll have to work for free like all the suckers on Team Underdog. lol

Yeah my SC3 has been working very well for me, so I suppose that would be a good point of comparison.

I'd be in for that.... you know, for the good of the forum. Free labor and I'll even provide my own material

 

[underdog]

Shit I will buy one or two right now @underdog send me a email and lets get them dogs rehomed.

Hmmm I'd have figured you would be holding out for one of the Alpha+ cores I'm building out.. like the proto core we put in Big Wang for you.

Yeah my SC3 has been working very well for me, so I suppose that would be a good point of comparison.

I'd be in for that.... you know, for the good of the forum. Free labor and I'll even provide my own material

You sir are a master negotiator.

Send me an email if you want to play with one of them and we'll get you sorted.

 

[CurryLeafTreehugger]

Hmmm I'd have figured you would be holding out for one of the Alpha+ cores I'm building out.. like the proto core we put in Big Wang for you.

ALPHA+????

You mean as in, PLUS? Like MORE Alpha?

How DARE you continue to innovate! You sir, are a rascal! A RASCAL I SAY!

*storms off in high dudgeon*

*I have no idea what a dudgeon is, but I'm pretty sure if its been anywhere near my alpha, it is high*

 

[sydryherb]

Question. Did you try your WS vvps with the UD? I had a similar issue, it was the power supply. Best of luck with the burl project - sounds cool!

I actually saw you say you had luck with the WS power dial and gave my Alpha one last try with it before shipping out! Unfortunately it didn’t feel much different, from what I’ve gathered the vape functioned as designed it just wasn’t what I expected, and that’s more than fine.

 

[Sour Dream]

BTW - that snotty reference to my comment about a half ounce of weed in 4 days - you totally miss the point. The point is that NO ONE has to put that much weed through a log vape. They are extremely thrifty devices. Throwing more weed at the vape doesn't make it better. It is evidence of user error.

I could not care less how much weed anyone consumes. I think it ought to be not only totally legal for purchase, but to grow your own without licensure or permit.

im not sure if you are confusing me with someone else or if you just didn't bother to quote the right person.

Stop watching this thread, stop coming here and telling us we are all lying idiots, and I guarantee you, that is the last of the hostility on here. Those people bring it with them, vomit it all over the rest of us, and then walk away until the next time they decide to needlessly vent their spleen, just because they can.

is that how these forums work?

 

[vtac]

Folks, please do your part to keep things civil and friendly. If you feel there's a problem with a post you can report it or take the conversation to a PM. Please don't imply that another member is a "troll". Individual customer service related posts can quickly clutter up a thread and are better conducted through private communication.

Thank you.

 

[arb]

Hmmm I'd have figured you would be holding out for one of the Alpha+ cores I'm building out.. like the proto core we put in Big Wang for you.



You sir are a master negotiator.

Send me an email if you want to play with one of them and we'll get you sorted.

Yes........yes I would very much like that!

 

[SquirrelMaster]

After day 1 here are my observations so far.

When I got home yesterday my VVPS had dropped another 0.5V so I bumped it back up to 11.0V. This fell another 0.2-0.3V into the evening so I just kept bumping up the voltage to keep it at 11.0V according to the VVPS. So a total of 0.9V-1.0V over the course of 8 hours. I don't trust the read out on the VVPS as it hit 12.5V when it was turned about halfway up from a cold start. I'm going to double check with my multimeter to see if the readout is accurate when I get home and it's been heat soaked for an hour. Then I'll toss it on one of my other similiar power supplies (4 are 3A, 2 are 5A) and wait for the UD VVPS to cool down before firing back up to see what the voltage shows and then actually meters.

The device felt warm and the first hit was good but I very quickly overwhelmed the heater and had to wait to take another draw. 30 seconds was not long enough between hits it was more like 5+ minutes (didn't time it yet) to get the heat back up to a suitable level. I confirmed this by leaving a packed stem out that wasn't giving vapor on an immediate or delayed hit and then returning to it about 5 minutes later and getting vapor. Ambient temperature was 16°C/61°F with 47% RH.

Stirring is a necessity on the glass stems, which I expected and do without thinking anyways.

On the to-do list tonight is slowing my draw as I'm guessing that's why I was able to drain the stored heat energy so quickly?

Edit: I forgot to post my packing techniques. The stem is 14 mm wide inside diameter (freakin huge!) and my first load was really big at 11 mm deep then the next one was 8 mm deep and the next two about 3 mm deep. There may have been another lol. I didn't have my scales handy so I can't say on weights. I used the funnel from my Taffe plastic grinder to load and I did not tamp at all. I would lift the log up to hold tight to the stem for each hit.

 

[CurryLeafTreehugger]

im not sure if you are confusing me with someone else or if you just didn't bother to quote the right person.


is that how these forums work?

What, not going out of your way to call people lying idiots? It USED to work that way, on this thread at least.

I have no idea who made the comment referred to there. I've been getting dinged a lot for posting back to back (I NEVER realize that is going to happen until too late) so I may have been combining responses without making it clear what was going where. I should not have been so careless. I'm not sure *I* could untangle it now.

Deleted.

 

[Sour Dream]

What, not going out of your way to call people lying idiots? It USED to work that way, on this thread at least.

I have no idea who made the comment referred to there. I've been getting dinged a lot for posting back to back (I NEVER realize that is going to happen until too late) so I may have been combining responses without making it clear what was going where. I should not have been so careless. I'm not sure *I* could untangle it now.

Deleted.

I understand

 

[AWistfulNihilist]

ALPHA+????

You mean as in, PLUS? Like MORE Alpha?

How DARE you continue to innovate! You sir, are a rascal! A RASCAL I SAY!

*storms off in high dudgeon*

*I have no idea what a dudgeon is, but I'm pretty sure if its been anywhere near my alpha, it is high*

It seems like a new core that has more thermal mass and is able to respond to the heat drain from intqake would fix a lot of problems that users were reporting with both uneven extraction and the refractory period between inhales.

I don't think anyone who had real critiques about this unit would think that's a bad thing.

 

[underdog]

After day 1 here are my observations so far.

When I got home yesterday my VVPS had dropped another 0.5V so I bumped it back up to 11.0V. This fell another 0.2-0.3V into the evening so I just kept bumping up the voltage to keep it at 11.0V according to the VVPS. So a total of 0.9V-1.0V over the course of 8 hours. I don't trust the read out on the VVPS as it hit 12.5V when it was turned about halfway up from a cold start. I'm going to double check with my multimeter to see if the readout is accurate when I get home and it's been heat soaked for an hour. Then I'll toss it on one of my other similiar power supplies (4 are 3A, 2 are 5A) and wait for the UD VVPS to cool down before firing back up to see what the voltage shows and then actually meters.

The device felt warm and the first hit was good but I very quickly overwhelmed the heater and had to wait to take another draw. 30 seconds was not long enough between hits it was more like 5+ minutes (didn't time it yet) to get the heat back up to a suitable level. I confirmed this by leaving a packed stem out that wasn't giving vapor on an immediate or delayed hit and then returning to it about 5 minutes later and getting vapor. Ambient temperature was 16°C/61°F with 47% RH.

Stirring is a necessity on the glass stems, which I expected and do without thinking anyways.

On the to-do list tonight is slowing my draw as I'm guessing that's why I was able to drain the stored heat energy so quickly?

Edit: I forgot to post my packing techniques. The stem is 14 mm wide inside diameter (freakin huge!) and my first load was really big at 11 mm deep then the next one was 8 mm deep and the next two about 3 mm deep. There may have been another lol. I didn't have my scales handy so I can't say on weights. I used the funnel from my Taffe plastic grinder to load and I did not tamp at all. I would lift the log up to hold tight to the stem for each hit.

Hey SquirrelMaster, glad things arrived safely and thanks for the day 1 observations.

I'll let you play more and experiment a bit but I wanted to chime in with an observation of my own that may benefit you and other users...

As you probably noticed our 'instructions' are very minimalistic and could use some refinement and updating, it's on our mile long to-do list. I'm starting to see a pattern that I think is leading some users to have less than awesome results and that's the voltage recommendation section. Each batch of heaters is tested and binned (sorted) so they are all approximately the same heat level unless otherwise noted. That recommended voltage level is usually pretty conservative and on the low side because we really want to make sure people don't combust right off the bat. Our intent is that people start there and then slowly dial things in with voltage adjustments in the .2v to .5v range at a time. After each adjustment the vape should be allowed at least a couple minutes for the heat to equalize before testing and evaluation. I see that the instructions are not at all clear on this (and it's more important for the Alpha than the smaller cores with less mass) and the current version doesn't mention that those adjustments should be made slowly in small increments at all.. it used to but I guess it got deleted at some point and never added back in.

So what I'm noticing is:

• users are setting their vapes to a voltage in the recommended range and letting it heat up for the indicated time (or longer) and then their first hit produces some level of vapor but pulls a bunch of heat from the core which is then unable to quickly build it back up because with that conservative voltage level it takes 'forever'.
• after going thru the above steps some users then crank the voltage up in a big increase and either try to use it right away to poor result because it hasn't had time to equalize so they crank it up again then repeat, etc. This causes a seesaw effect where the heat climbs too high and this can then cause scorching (and sometimes but not usually outright combustion) on the next hit assuming the vape has had a few minutes to build heat but then a poor followup hit because the vape is still struggling to equalize and get off the seesaw.
• we'll crunch some numbers and update the instructions but that initial dialing in should be done with the assumption that the heat level and saturation will start on the low/conservative side, have the full indicated heat up time (or more), that voltage changes are between .2v and .5v(max) with at least 5 minutes between adjustments and the next hit for the vape to equalize. That slow, deliberate process should keep people from getting on the seesaw and will lead to successful use.
• the above is a dialing-in process to find the desired performance/voltage and not the way the vape is used all the time. Once the ideal voltage for a given vape is figured out it's just left at that level all the time (for 24/7 use) or set to that voltage upon startup going forward and just used normally after the heat-up period.

As far as I can determine that seesaw effect is causing pretty much all the difficulties that have been reported. Users are sometimes skeptical that a voltage increase of such a small amount (.2v to .5v) can produce such different results but that's the way the math works and when they hit the sweet spot of voltage and proper heat up time they're invariably like 'holy shit'. zzzzz

These Alphas are super powerful but they are a bit harder to learn to use properly compared to our Standard Core vapes because of their significantly higher mass. That mass is what kicks the seesaw effect into action when not dialed in right but is also what provides the killer performance once tamed. These Pups are way more powerful but are similar to old PDs and Zaps in that high mass performance regard.. slow and steady wins the race while brute force causes seesawing.

We need to work on updating the instructions, or more accurately probably just make a sheet specific to the Alpha but in the meantime maybe this will help people.

 

[fifapleb]

Hey SquirrelMaster, glad things arrived safely and thanks for the day 1 observations.

I'll let you play more and experiment a bit but I wanted to chime in with an observation of my own that may benefit you and other users...

As you probably noticed our 'instructions' are very minimalistic and could use some refinement and updating, it's on our mile long to-do list. I'm starting to see a pattern that I think is leading some users to have less than awesome results and that's the voltage recommendation section. Each batch of heaters is tested and binned (sorted) so they are all approximately the same heat level unless otherwise noted. That recommended voltage level is usually pretty conservative and on the low side because we really want to make sure people don't combust right off the bat. Our intent is that people start there and then slowly dial things in with voltage adjustments in the .2v to .5v range at a time. After each adjustment the vape should be allowed at least a couple minutes for the heat to equalize before testing and evaluation. I see that the instructions are not at all clear on this (and it's more important for the Alpha than the smaller cores with less mass) and the current version doesn't mention that those adjustments should be made slowly in small increments at all.. it used to but I guess it got deleted at some point and never added back in.

So what I'm noticing is:

• users are setting their vapes to a voltage in the recommended range and letting it heat up for the indicated time (or longer) and then their first hit produces some level of vapor but pulls a bunch of heat from the core which is then unable to quickly build it back up because with that conservative voltage level it takes 'forever'.
• after going thru the above steps some users then crank the voltage up in a big increase and either try to use it right away to poor result because it hasn't had time to equalize so they crank it up again then repeat, etc. This causes a seesaw effect where the heat climbs too high and this can then cause scorching (and sometimes but not usually outright combustion) on the next hit assuming the vape has had a few minutes to build heat but then a poor followup hit because the vape is still struggling to equalize and get off the seesaw.
• we'll crunch some numbers and update the instructions but that initial dialing in should be done with the assumption that the heat level and saturation will start on the low/conservative side, have the full indicated heat up time (or more), that voltage changes are between .2v and .5v(max) with at least 5 minutes between adjustments and the next hit for the vape to equalize. That slow, deliberate process should keep people from getting on the seesaw and will lead to successful use.
• the above is a dialing-in process to find the desired performance/voltage and not the way the vape is used all the time. Once the ideal voltage for a given vape is figured out it's just left at that level all the time (for 24/7 use) or set to that voltage upon startup going forward and just used normally after the heat-up period.

As far as I can determine that seesaw effect is causing pretty much all the difficulties that have been reported. Users are sometimes skeptical that a voltage increase of such a small amount (.2v to .5v) can produce such different results but that's the way the math works and when they hit the sweet spot of voltage and proper heat up time they're invariably like 'holy shit'. zzzzz

These Alphas are super powerful but they are a bit harder to learn to use properly compared to our Standard Core vapes because of their significantly higher mass. That mass is what kicks the seesaw effect into action when not dialed in right but is also what provides the killer performance once tamed. These Pups are way more powerful but are similar to old PDs and Zaps in that high mass performance regard.. slow and steady wins the race while brute force causes seesawing.

We need to work on updating the instructions, or more accurately probably just make a sheet specific to the Alpha but in the meantime maybe this will help people.

As someone who had their alpha for 3 days I can attest to this.

Day one: followed the instructions, used it after 30-40 min heat soak. Not ideal results. Actually, went back to my enano later in the night
Day two: left it running, at 10.9 since last night, it's settled at about 10.7. skeptically tried the glass draw stem and was blown away. Literally, I didn't crave for hit all day. Also tried the steel stem and it's my go to.

I dunno, maybe alphas take a day to stablize out? Just my experience, but it's been on every since and settled at 10.7

 

[underdog]

It seems like a new core that has more thermal mass and is able to respond to the heat drain from intqake would fix a lot of problems that users were reporting with both uneven extraction and the refractory period between inhales.

I don't think anyone who had real critiques about this unit would think that's a bad thing.

Heh.. I like the way you think but I'm one step ahead of ya in that this Alpha is that new core with the higher thermal mass. The original Alpha was a limited run product we put out back in 2017 and performed great but had a pretty low mass so had a longer recovery.

As someone who had their alpha for 3 days I can attest to this.

Day one: followed the instructions, used it after 30-40 min heat soak. Not ideal results. Actually, went back to my enano later in the night
Day two: left it running, at 10.9 since last night, it's settled at about 10.7. skeptically tried the glass draw stem and was blown away. Literally, I didn't crave for hit all day. Also tried the steel stem and it's my go to.

I dunno, maybe alphas take a day to stablize out? Just my experience, but it's been on every since and settled at 10.7

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talkin about, glad you left in on and eventually came back to find it ready to rock!

The time it takes things to fully stabilize changes with any alteration to the vape size or shape, the wood species and grain direction, the mass of the wooden body and the size of its footprint. It's almost certainly not a day but it wouldn't surprise me if it was a few hours for larger bodied Dogs in dense woods.

I used a high end thermal camera setup in the design of the SC2 and OG Alpha to kind of see the progression of the heat soak and deduced that at 30 minutes the core is fully heated and in the average vape the wooden body has sufficient saturation to affect at least good vaping results.. but yeah these things really excel once they settle down and reach an equilibrium.

They can be quite hard to use as a session vape and falling into the seesaw especially if a user is in a hurry or just impatient can be hard to get out of even if you know what's going on.

 

[BKR2311]

I just grabbed a second Pucc grinder, can't say enough about these - so close to the brilliant cut for 36 bucks on puffitup, or 49 shipped from pucc.com....


When I read posts like this I truly scratch my head. By no means am I suggesting the issues are not valid, they just don't match my experience. My alpha is as simple as plug it in, heat to 10.8, suck some material into my chosen stem....next stop milky-cloud-city! Hope you get it figured out....maybe post a video?

I mean for what its worth, I had a very similar experience to him. First vvps didn't work at all sometimes, it would just straight go cold even at 12v. Got a new vvps (dual), and it worked better, but I still didn't realize the potential of the alpha. Was kinda underwhelmed tbh, couldn't combust even on max (not that I wanted to, just that it wasn't possible)

Then Dave sent me a new wall adaptor that goes up to 15v, and I set it to 13 thinking it just needed a little more power. Way too hot, easy to combust. Dropped to 12.5, still a bit too hot. I figured the sweet spot must be 12.3 right? Wrong. I've set it all the way down to around 11ish and its cranking way harder still than the other 2 put together. For some reason these wall adaptors may be having issues, because it's definitely not the Alpha itself. This thing is a beast with the right voltage.

So yeah, I wouldn't be too confused about other experiences not matching yours. It isn't always user error.

 

[tom battleboar]

Hi I purchased 18 VERY defective Underdogvapes. Lol this foo made em out of wood & broken light socket as heater. Mean I felt so bad for Underdogvapes I had to purchase 18. Hi you can send me defective Underdog vaporizer and I can send you working pax3 or firefly.

Hi i love the alpha core after the heat soaking except times when you want a quick hit use the sc3+ at 11.3

The only problems I found were when I was bored and using it. I just want to know how many vvps can hit 12.5 volts out of the box and which can do 12.4 volts max. This is another reason why I purchased so many to test quality control on a stoners eye level. Well alpha or sc3+ you can't run it on 11.8 or higher then you get the burning wood smell like from the lathe. My sc3 can do 12.5 volts no burning wood smell either.

 

[arb]

The only problems I found were when I was bored and using it. I just want to know how many vvps can hit 12.5 volts out of the box and which can do 12.4 volts max. This is another reason why I purchased so many to test quality control on a stoners eye level. Well alpha or sc3+ you can't run it on 11.8 or higher then you get the burning wood smell like from the lathe. My sc3 can do 12.5 volts no burning wood smell either.

I have run all 3 of mine at 24 volts.......they glow red.
Do NOT do that!
No burning smell is there residue on the heater tube?

 

[underdog]

The only problems I found were when I was bored and using it. I just want to know how many vvps can hit 12.5 volts out of the box and which can do 12.4 volts max. This is another reason why I purchased so many to test quality control on a stoners eye level. Well alpha or sc3+ you can't run it on 11.8 or higher then you get the burning wood smell like from the lathe. My sc3 can do 12.5 volts no burning wood smell either.

The SC3 uses the heaters that are the coolest running, the SC3+ the middle ones and the Alpha the hottest.

This is why we can't use voltage to compare vapes. 12.5v is like 11v or 10.5v because of the different heaters.

I have run all 3 of mine at 24 volts.......they glow red.
Do NOT do that!
No burning smell is there residue on the heater tube?

Lol on purpose like a 'hold my beer' scenario or just to play mad scientist?
The heater doesn't care, it was meant to run 24/7 at 1000° for 16,000hrs (2 yrs) in an industrial role so it can do the vapes job in it's sleep.
The wood will char but many of the more dense species don't have an odor when they do.
The plug will be the first thing to fail since it's sized to act as a fuse if power use gets too high.

 

[arb]

The SC3 uses the heaters that are the coolest running, the SC3+ the middle ones and the Alpha the hottest.

This is why we can't use voltage to compare vapes. 12.5v is like 11v or 10.5v because of the different heaters.



Lol on purpose like a 'hold my beer' scenario or just to play mad scientist?
The heater doesn't care, it was meant to run 24/7 at 1000° for 16,000hrs (2 yrs) in an industrial role so it can do the vapes job in it's sleep.
The wood will char but many of the more dense species don't have an odor when they do.
The plug will be the first thing to fail since it's sized to act as a fuse if power use gets too high.

Started as an accident and it just went from there.
I have zero doubt the units can supply all the heat I will ever want.

 

[SquirrelMaster]

Heh heh heh I have a little story. I've been super busy so I hadn't read any replies until now. I posted, went back to work, drove home and picked up dog food on the way (not weed, for the actual pups ) and then went straight to the new pup (my Underdog).

After I finished up my session (I'll get back to that) I started looking for my AVB tin which after a few minutes I noticed was right in front of me. I went inside and had a shower and after finishing up I then tried to exit through the hinge side of the door .

Now I'll re-wind to the session. 3 bowls back to back with maybe 30 seconds between hits. All were about 50% higher than the depth of the basket screen in the 18mm gong. I went through a dry stereo matrix sidecar. First 2 I held the stem flush to the core. Holy hell they were strong. On the last bowl I kept one edge of the glass on the core and lifted the rest. I was immediately blasted with minty cookies from my Kush Mints x Secret Cookies. I like that because the core stays warmer as I suck surrounding air in and I get super terpy hits.

The key to my success and the tip I would give any user having trouble?

SLOW YOUR DRAW!

I have a tendency to let my breath get away on me and I just can't do that with the Alpha. Remembering that, it delivers massive hits. There is a learning curve with these, they're not like other devices that you can just haul on but they're also not fire hazards, they are damn beautiful and they give a retrial unlike any other vape I have owned.

I don't have time to write more at the moment (up in 5.5 hours for work) so here are some pics. The fresh packed herb was a later session but the AVB pic is for a different bowl that had a little more packed thank the fresh herb shit. Also I loaded approximately 150 - 4mm boro balls in a glass direct draw stem as you can partially see. Stupid smooth.

 

[SquirrelMaster]

Too late (or early haha) to edit my last post so ya get a double.

I again can't stress enough how important it is for new users to slow their draw if they're having issues. The AVB pic I posted was after 4 draws and I tried to get another after but just came away with a wispy, nasty hit so it was definitely extracted thoroughly.

With my voltage probably a little on the high side right now I may have to adjust when I pull out the nong, nylon direct draw or stainless steel piece (thanks again @underdog ). It works so well right now, with the ability to toast a load quickly or keep the stem back a little bit to get really tasty bowls.

The ritual of a session with the new pup is fantastic. I haven't tamped my loads at all so with the glass direct draw I invert the stem so no goodies fall out. Holding that warm, sexy ass block of wood feels good. I figured it would stay more stationary, which I'm sure it would if I tamped at all but I much prefer getting to touch the surface of the wood every time I want a hit.

 

[invertedisdead]

Y'all will like the Alpha+ if you want to steam on it, in my videos of it I'm drawing as hard as I can!