18650 portable with no plastic: TM2, FW, Toad- anything else?

[buford]

I am a very big fan of the TM2, but i am about to send it back to the shop for a button replacement for the third time in nine months.

So i am interested in another device to supplement it, to give it a little longer between button replacements. What i want is something very similar to the TM2- no plastic parts, no digital read-outs/screens/apps, all wood/metal/glass/ceramic, portable, 18650 batteries.

I am on the waiting list for the Toad for 2 years now, and will buy a FW X as soon as there is some way to turn it off. As far as i know, these are the only available, in--production vapes that satisfy those criteria (besides the MFLB (been there, done that) and the Nomad, which is an even longer wait than the Toad). I hope that i'm wrong, but a few searches here and elsewhere, and skimming the last few pages of the "Ask" thread turned up nothing.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me how much i will love your favorite butane/wand device, not interested. Too much like smoking crack for me.

 

[Kaiju]

I am a very big fan of the TM2, but i am about to send it back to the shop for a button replacement for the third time in nine months.

So i am interested in another device to supplement it, to give it a little longer between button replacements. What i want is something very similar to the TM2- no plastic parts, no digital read-outs/screens/apps, all wood/metal/glass/ceramic, portable, 18650 batteries.

I am on the waiting list for the Toad for 2 years now, and will buy a FW X as soon as there is some way to turn it off. As far as i know, these are the only available, in--production vapes that satisfy those criteria (besides the MFLB (been there, done that) and the Nomad, which is an even longer wait than the Toad). I hope that i'm wrong, but a few searches here and elsewhere, and skimming the last few pages of the "Ask" thread turned up nothing.

Any suggestions? Please don't tell me how much i will love your favorite butane/wand device, not interested. Too much like smoking crack for me.

Only thing that comes to mind is the Bakx by lamart. Those are typically available a few times a year though.

Tafee bowle is another option but not sure it meets your criteria for materials or 18650 battery.

 

[buford]

Bakx is 510, not 18650. I think Tafee Bowle has plastic parts? In any case, it seems cumbersome, and not really portable in the sense of "put it in your pocket". But thank you for your response.

Anything else? Surely late capitalism has provided us with more choices here?

 

[Hippie]

I dunno what's going on with Ryan Rastabuddhatao Herbaltherm and his latest projects
just that his site's up for sale and people are struggling to contact him again, at the moment lol
but he's made a couple of devices that would probably fit your need

Vapwood made a couple too but his history is even worse

 

[Shit Snacks]

Bakx is 510, not 18650. I think Tafee Bowle has plastic parts? In any case, it seems cumbersome, and not really portable in the sense of "put it in your pocket". But thank you for your response.

Anything else? Surely late capitalism has provided us with more choices here?

Not plastic but not as nice yeah 510 is actually a good option however because those do use 18650... Not necessarily always the most sleek portable, but tetra and the RBT, old stuff, other old stuff artisan style, and a few upcoming ones potentially to keep an eye out on?? Is all there is still...

Probably best to try for the firewood if TM has not been good to you consistently with longevity ultimately although it may not be the one for you either unfortunately now

 

[buford]

Thanx for the reply- if anyone would know of anything out there, it would be you. Checking out the Tetra.

I guess there may be a FW X in my future, though it just seems nuts that there is no way to turn it off.

And will pray to my heathen gods for my Toad time to arrive.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Thanx for the reply- if anyone would know of anything out there, it would be you. Checking out the Tetra.

I guess there may be a FW X in my future, though it just seems nuts that there is no way to turn it off.

And will pray to my heathen gods for my Toad time to arrive.

There's actually no way to turn off the toad either btw, mods can turn off though

 

[buford]

I think with the Toad, you just remove and reverse the bottom, and it won't turn on?

I know you can remove the battery in the FW, but that seems less convenient. Suppose i will buy one anyway, perhaps with that leather sleeve to make the button recessed. Smoking this weekend because TM2 is out to lunch, do not like smoking.

Kind of amazed that the non-plastic 18650 market is so limited. Probably new things will come along soon....

Anyway, thanx again for the expert replies.

 

[TigoleBitties]

I think these guys (Limelight) from Serbia (I think?) are about to drop some really nice 510 mods that use wood and metal. Supposed to be very customizable but no feedback on them yet. Worth a look maybe.

If you like the TM2 you'd probably love the Bowle. No plastic, anodized aluminum stem, ceramic bowls. Taste is amazing. Speed is <2sec. But yes, it's only portable-ish. A bit klunky however battery is great (a whopping 6000mAh) but not removeable.

 

[Shit Snacks]

I think with the Toad, you just remove and reverse the bottom, and it won't turn on?

Oh yeah I guess it can do that I forgot I've never tried, the button is pretty hard to push anyway so I think accidental is unlikely? But also really feels like it needs a case haha All of these are too nice to just shove in a pocket! I also don't think any of them fit well in a pants pocket regardless unless it's like a big cargo, better in a jacket or hoodie pocket... Honestly I don't even like oil cart pens in a pants pocket, better to just be careful with any of these in my experience

I know you can remove the battery in the FW, but that seems less convenient. Suppose i will buy one anyway, perhaps with that leather sleeve to make the button recessed. Smoking this weekend because TM2 is out to lunch, do not like smoking.

Kind of amazed that the non-plastic 18650 market is so limited. Probably new things will come along soon....

Anyway, thanx again for the expert replies.

Honestly I would recommend trying v3pro or roffu as a backup unit, despite plastic, so much better than smoking... I would never want to do that again personally lol

 

[buford]

I think these guys (Limelight) from Serbia (I think?) are about to drop some really nice 510 mods that use wood and metal. Supposed to be very customizable but no feedback on them yet. Worth a look maybe.

The Limelight Frolic looks a lot like a TM2 with plastic parts. Very cool and high-tech, but not what i want. Will keep an eye open for mods, though still not really what i want. Thanx for the suggestions.

All of these are too nice to just shove in a pocket! I also don't think any of them fit well in a pants pocket regardless unless it's like a big cargo, better in a jacket or hoodie pocket... Honestly I don't even like oil cart pens in a pants pocket, better to just be careful with any of these in my experience

Emailed the FW guy to get on the X list, and to ask if there are any plans to add an "off" function. Never hurts to ask.

As to my fear of pocket misfires- i too don't carry vapes in pants pockets. But in a bag or jacket pocket, especially a bag, it seems like accidental button presses would be possible. I've found flashlights, and bike lights, that that have turned themselves on in my bag in the past. Maybe my fears are exaggerated- i guess i will find out.

Honestly I would recommend trying v3pro or roffu as a backup unit, despite plastic, so much better than smoking... I would never want to do that again personally lol

I actually have a functional Firefly somewhere, but the restricted draw always drove me nuts. Like sucking on a piece of chalk.

Smoking is gross, but it is simple and it works. As a very temporary thing, i don't mind it too much, could not imagine going back long-term.

 

[Hollywoodrage89]

Just get another TM2

 

[Shit Snacks]

Emailed the FW guy to get on the X list, and to ask if there are any plans to add an "off" function. Never hurts to ask.

As to my fear of pocket misfires- i too don't carry vapes in pants pockets. But in a bag or jacket pocket, especially a bag, it seems like accidental button presses would be possible. I've found flashlights, and bike lights, that that have turned themselves on in my bag in the past. Maybe my fears are exaggerated- i guess i will find out.

That is true, but in that situation it is even more important to have a good case for it? Protect it in a bag?? I'm sure there is some sort of, cover that can protect the button, Delta 3D just got theirs, I bet they can make a 3D printed cage that snaps around to protect the button from any accidental press in that situation... However in that situation I also think it would be really easy to keep the battery removed, separate in a case with other spare batteries? FW9 still avail too

I actually have a functional Firefly somewhere, but the restricted draw always drove me nuts. Like sucking on a piece of chalk.

Smoking is gross, but it is simple and it works. As a very temporary thing, i don't mind it too much, could not imagine going back long-term.

Yeah a firefly is pretty frustrating, would not want to rely on that either myself, that's why those two budget options are better than that even though they are still budget options lol better than they used to be!

 

[TigoleBitties]

The Limelight Frolic looks a lot like a TM2 with plastic parts. Very cool and high-tech, but not what i want. Will keep an eye open for mods, though still not really what i want. Thanx for the suggestions.

I think that's just one of their models. https://limelightmechanics.com/limelight-products/

 

[buford]

Aha- i just found their instagram, which featured that heavily.

Their website has many very cool-looking products. I have no idea how one might use any of them to vape herb, trying to figure that out.

 

[envyxoa]

Im honestly hoping for more style vapes like this not gonna lie, with some experimentation with these styles of vapes especially with the unregulated heater, could be a lot of modularity especially if its a stem style vape ( hit size etc ) that plus being able to have it small form factor like the toad. I saw someone make one on reddit and it looked like a pipe used a 18650 unregulated heater and modified it where he could turn it into a butane vape as well, something like that would be sick, heater for out and about and butane heating at home.

This guy, He made a newer version recently, def worth checking this guy out.

 

[buford]

That's pretty cool. Over-large, too complicated, but that's the kind of thing that i've never heard of that i was hoping to learn about- thanx!

 

[maremaresing]

I think that's just one of their models. https://limelightmechanics.com/limelight-products/

https://fuckcombustion.com/threads/frolic-by-limelight-herb.56172/

It's their first foray into dry herb vapes, supposed to be releasing soon. I'm intrigued, for sure.

 

[Fearless Disaster]

Aha- i just found their instagram, which featured that heavily.

Their website has many very cool-looking products. I have no idea how one might use any of them to vape herb, trying to figure that out.

limelight is an ecig company not a weed tech company. the 510 interface is from the nicotine world, as are all 510 mods. you would buy a 510 mod from them or others (I'm a dna fan personally) and then hook up some device or atomizer from a weed tech company that is choosing to use the 510 connection to gain access to all the devices in the nicotine world. the 510 interface also has nothing to do with battery size or type. Generally 18650 or 21700 batteries are used in 510 mods, though the smallest and most portable can use lithium polymer packs instead.

 

[Flotsam]

Maybe i misunderstand all this old vape technology. I was doing some background research on Reddit and found posts on the Frolic from like 6 years ago. So i don't know what to think.

I only got into DHV like 7 months ago or so . 510 is like some old technology to me only associated w carts, but i know i am wrong on that. Is 510 more associated with e-cigs. LOL i am so clueless on that SHT and don't wanna know about it. If the new Frolic or whatever is 510 based i don't think i would care to look at it

 

[maremaresing]

510 is a connection standard. It's not inherently associated with ecigs, or carts, but rather a way to connect a power source to something else. It's also designed to not cross thread easily, withstand repeated screw/unscrew, and keep a seal between the battery electronics and not-battery electronics.

All this keeping the positive and negative polarity of a high power source right next to each other, on a moving connection, without shorting.

Of course, due to it's widespread use, the quality of 510 depends on the quality of the device. Cheap cart batteries and carts have less durable or more finicky connections. But that's no fault of the 510 standard.

I haven't seen the Frolic use 510, rather than the owner expressing desire to design 510 dry herb tops for mods. If 510 is used in the Frolic, then it would be between the heater cartridge and the rest of the device. I don't think that's necessary or good, and would like it hard wired, but it could be made robust and reliable easily.

Connection standards are good, we like standards. 510 has a decent history of showing up in dry herb/wax vaporizers since 2010 or so, and there is a whole device type using this to add a dry herb top to an old ecig battery mod.

 

[Flotsam]

510 is a connection standard. It's not inherently associated with ecigs, or carts, but rather a way to connect a power source to something else. It's also designed to not cross thread easily, withstand repeated screw/unscrew, and keep a seal between the battery electronics and not-battery electronics.

All this keeping the positive and negative polarity of a high power source right next to each other, on a moving connection, without shorting.

Of course, due to it's widespread use, the quality of 510 depends on the quality of the device. Cheap cart batteries and carts have less durable or more finicky connections. But that's no fault of the 510 standard.

I haven't seen the Frolic use 510, rather than the owner expressing desire to design 510 dry herb tops for mods. If 510 is used in the Frolic, then it would be between the heater cartridge and the rest of the device. I don't think that's necessary or good, and would like it hard wired, but it could be made robust and reliable easily.

Connection standards are good, we like standards. 510 has a decent history of showing up in dry herb/wax vaporizers since 2010 or so, and there is a whole device type using this to add a dry herb top to an old ecig battery mod.

The reference to 510 based design comes up on their website. and I will copy:

!00% liquid and air tight, it’s the first 510 with a dual o-ring design. The stainless steel body is paired with a silver plated central pin and Delrin insulators. The Piezo 510 is a self-adjusting connector with a large movement, meaning it will work flawlessly with or without a beauty ring on top. It consists of seven parts which together form this marvel of engineering.

How do you interpret that? At least for me it doesn't say someone they started with a clean sheet of paper or recognize that the year is 2025 and virtually no one else is coming out with new 510 products? It does look nice and i said that. But nah not at that price.

 

[maremaresing]

But that's Limelite, which is an ecig component maker, describing a very well designed 510 connection for the devices they've been making for years. The Frolic is a departure for them and I've not heard or seen it being used there.

With a clean sheet of paper, designing a vaporizer in 2025, using an established standard rather than a proprietary and unserviceable component, be well ahead of most dry herb manufacturers.

The owner themselves expressed displeasure with the quality of design that we as dry herb vaporizer users consider "high end" and I fully agree with him. Through the guise of "it's just for stoners who cares about them" we have been subjected to a litany of truly unsafe and unacceptable devices over the years.

I don't like nicotine or "ecig culture" but the ecig space has had safe materials and advanced build design and quality on absolute lock for well over a decade, which isn't something I can say for many dry herb vaporizers in 2025. They've been modular, self serviceable, easily cleaned, and safely isolated, almost as a rule.

And none of this has anything to do with the 510 standard, which is brilliant and perfectly suitable to use. We have a whole subforum here for devices built with this in mind.

https://fuckcombustion.com/forums/e-cig-based-portables.43/

To put another way, it would be as if you said the 18650 battery was bad and lazy to use for a Dry Herb Vape because you first heard about it from the ecig world.

 

[Fearless Disaster]

Maybe i misunderstand all this old vape technology. I was doing some background research on Reddit and found posts on the Frolic from like 6 years ago. So i don't know what to think.

I only got into DHV like 7 months ago or so . 510 is like some old technology to me only associated w carts, but i know i am wrong on that. Is 510 more associated with e-cigs. LOL i am so clueless on that SHT and don't wanna know about it. If the new Frolic or whatever is 510 based i don't think i would care to look at it

510 is definitely old technology, but until the boro mods exploded in the last couple of years, no standard has ever been able to dethrone 510 in the nicotine world. I started vaping nicotine in 2009. At the time, all ecigs were meant to look like analogs. hence the stick battery format and the carts that look like filters. afaik the 510 standard was invented by the Chinese when they invented ecigs but I don't actually know that for sure and have never looked into it. When weed carts hit the scene they adopted the stick battery / cart model with the 510 connection which I think was a good move. the 510 interface has weathered competitors for over a decade.

The reference to 510 based design comes up on their website. and I will copy:

!00% liquid and air tight, it’s the first 510 with a dual o-ring design. The stainless steel body is paired with a silver plated central pin and Delrin insulators. The Piezo 510 is a self-adjusting connector with a large movement, meaning it will work flawlessly with or without a beauty ring on top. It consists of seven parts which together form this marvel of engineering.

How do you interpret that? At least for me it doesn't say someone they started with a clean sheet of paper or recognize that the year is 2025 and virtually no one else is coming out with new 510 products? It does look nice and i said that. But nah not at that price.

So there have traditionally been a few issues with the 510 interface. the length of the positive pin can vary among atomizer manufacturers so a lot of mod makers started putting adjustable 510 connections so that users could adjust the pin height to avoid gaps between the mod and atomizer. That is what they mean by a self adjusting connector. Another issue with mods from the pre regulated days was corrosion that would build up on the mechanical switch contacts over time and mess up the connection. The contacts would need to be sanded regularly. Plating the contacts with silver or rhodium is a way to address corrosion from arcing but tbh that applies to switches. the 510 connector is never connected while hot and thus will never arc. a beauty ring is something that is added either between the mod and atomizer or around the atomizer to manage diameter differences. So if I have a mod that takes 25mm atomizers and I put a 22mm atomizer on it, it might look weird. the beauty ring kind of smooths out the diameter difference.

the idea that nicotine culture might be safer than weed culture is odd to me and sad. I have always considered weed culture to be more health conscious than nicotine culture, since the point of comparison in nicotine culture was cigarettes. This last year I have been a bit shocked to see that it seems to have reversed. I see people using the inductor to crust their air intakes with TiO2. I see brass used in devices. I see S&B making dosing caps out of aluminum.

 

[Fearless Disaster]

mistaken double post