I tried my new toys (stems) last night, with mixed results...
1. The bubbler, it's OK, but I ended up with warm water in my mouth! the glass seems a little thin also, so am glad I got a discount on it!
2. The Vortex 'Shorty' - Initial thoughts are :- quality build, nice thick glass and interesting design (single hole vs 4 holes). The length on the shorty bowl size is great and only allows a pinch (roughly what I was only putting in the stock stems). However, the flavour is amazing, really tasty hits indeed. The only criticism of the Vortex stem is it rattles like a cock in a bucket it's such a lose fit. It's even looser than the stock stems and they are pretty lose!
I have deduced in my evenings testing of the Vortex the following...
1. Uses less herb
2. Tastes amazing
3. Extracts far more efficiently
4. Sessions are shorter
5. High is more intense
6. Higher temps (5+) too hot
I have found with this stem I start on 2 and can only go to 4 (with the Easy Flow I find 3-5 the best settings).
I seem to get much more flavour out of the Vortex, with decent enough clouds at lower temp setting (2), and go up to 4 to finish the bowl, all before the 12 minute auto-session shut-off kicks in.
With the Easy Flow stem, I can hit the session for 2 x auto-shut off and go up to 5 temp setting.
I also find the Vortex extracts much more efficiently (weird, how changing the air flow does this?), I get really tasty hits that smack you in the face, before the auto-shut off has kicked in, the bowl is wasted and so am I.
So although the Vortex seems hotter and the session is over quicker, the high is more intense, it is more flavoursome and more efficient with the herb.
I need to do some more testing for a fair comparison, but no matter which one I prefer Vortex or EasyFlow, they are both far superior to the stock stems.
So far I have the EasyFlow winning on fitting (snugness) / session length / temps and the Vortex with efficiency and flavour.