Never used a halogen! Which ones do you like?
I have two halogen vapes. One is an artisan halogen vape made by
@Vaporooni (see
https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/dat-halogen-taste.55585/) and the other is the Angus Enhanced portable halogen vape. I used to use the portable AE a lot but less so recently after that fiberglass materials scare. It's been removed and I've received the updated version but the way YLL handled it left a bad taste in my mouth - no pun intended.
Either way, halogen vapes are amazing and amongst the tastiest vapes I've ever used. My vapor halogen log is one of my go-tos for long, tasty sessions and there are many builds to choose from now if you search the forum.
Yes, the question for me really is how much the radiant and residual conductive heat impacts the flavor. For example, the Tempest, the Simrell in convection mode, the Convector, and the Woodscents all maintain a good amplitude of flavor through the bowl in my experience, but all of these vapes definitely introduce an element of radiant / conduction as the bowl heat soaks through the session.
I've always had the impression that even just a little bit of conduction "deepens" the flavor, almost like salt or MSG, and my recent experiences with the TB make me wonder if maybe there are some flavor compounds that pure convection heating cannot extract as handily. Again, all of this could have absolutely no basis in scientific reality, just an intuition I feel.
I agree with all of this. I think the key to the conduction component is how "soft" it is and how delicately it can add to the convection experience. You want to build ambient temperature but you don't want that burnt conduction taste you can get when you overdo things. I find vapes that blunt the conduction component either through glass like Arizer vapes, or another insulator like ceramics, allow the conduction component to build slowly without burning or charring. When flower directly touches metal is when you have to be more careful with conduction to avoid ruining taste I think.
Halogens build their non-convective heat mostly via constant radiant heat of the light hitting the flower/bowl and raising the temperature, even if you're not drawing. This radiant effect is mild enough though to not ruin flavor easily in most cases. I find halogens are generally convection dominant, but hybrid enough with radiant/conductive heat in the perfect amount to preserve flavor.
The TB feels like the purest convection vape I've ever used. Even just the texture of the vapor feels convective, if that makes any sense haha. I also had a Tinymight in the early days of my VAS, when I was less discerning of subtle differences in flavor and effect. Trying to remember how that experience compared but really can't say for certain.
Lol I hear you. The TB2 is very convection dominant but if you use the side-breath technique I described earlier to lengthen your draws until it times out (20 sec about), the ceramic bowl can absorb a lot of heat and start contributing nice conduction effects. Especially after multiple long draws. I can't always handle the ceramic bowl right after my last hit sometimes it's so hot.
