Best of the Vapman thread

[Rmpl Stltskn]

mod note: To comment on the Vapman, go to the full Vapman thread. To add posts to this thread, read the sticky at the top of this forum.

Here's my collection of random notes about the Vapman, my favorite portable.
I've had one for over a year now and I'm pretty happy with it. I had the VaporGenie for about a year before that, but it has now been relegated to tobacco use. I've also owned the Vapir Oxygen Mini (which I would NOT recommend due to plastic fumes and a crappy battery pack) and the I-Inhale (which I like!). I also have the semi-portable original Vapir with the battery pack, but I wouldn't recommend this either.

About the 3 holes in the mouthpiece: I think they're just to mix in cool air so you don't dry your throat, and so you don't have to pull so slow. Covering them with my fingers does produce a more dense cloud.

The usage video on the Vapman site is very helpful, but here's my modification:
I count 4 for the first heat blast, pause for 2, then heat for another 4-5 seconds until I see a wisp of vapor from the mouthpiece. This requires the right lighting (looking into darkness with light behind you), and only works for the first pull, but a little practice to get the timing of your particular torch down, and I can now do it by counting if the lighting is not ideal.

I use the Prince PT-4000 torch. I think it's made by Blazer and sold under their brand name also. I've had many other torch lighters that all died within a few months, but the Prince is still solid after > 18 months of use. Not cheap, but well worth it.

Compared to the II:
I've had my I-Inhale for about a week. It seems less efficient than the Vapman. Spent herb is not as brown, and it seems to take a couple minutes of pulling to get the full effect. With one dense pull from the Vapman, I'm ready to go. On the positive side, the II will never burn your material. The II is great, but so far prefer the Vapman by just a bit.

Vapman Cons:
In its travel pod it's smaller than it looks on the website, but still a bit big/round to go unnoticed in a small pants pocket.
It's possible to burn your material until you get the timing down for whatever torch you use.

 

[Jonah Hex]

Yes, you can put it back in the egg case right away after using it. I do it all the time. I've had a few hits and sometimes come back to the same bowl days later and hit it more. It's amazing how many hits you can get off one bowl - an easy dozen if you heat it just enough to vaporize each time. I heat witht the outer tip of the flame. Play with it though, you must master it Grasshopper.

 

[He-Man]

Here is my newly acquired Vapman , this is my first vape, so no more combustion for me.

While doing this photo session downstem rolled off the table
So I had to MacGyver myself new one with some plastic straw

Not to get in describing too much, i'm not good with words anyway ...
enough to say that I was completely vaked after 5-6 hits from the bong












mod note: Broken emoticon links removed.

 

[VaporNinja]

On the second page of the manual for the vapman is written: When the copper bowl gets severly overheated( 600C/1100F)

Nothing to worry about, I've had my vapman for 3 years, and the bowl still looks like new after cleaning. The gold plating will only bubble up and flake off if you severely overheat the bowl; just don't use it when you're stupidly drunk or tripping balls until you have master the technique; and always use a medium soft flame, and never scrape the bowl with sharp metal object.

 

[charliedontsurf]

On the topic above, if I'm not mistaken then the Basic is missing the mica insulation, at least on the bowl portion. I've collected some photos below. So really the basic might be the best choice for a more health conscious consumer.

On that note, I emailed the Vapman manufacturers and told them about FC. They said they will consider participating on the forum and that they appreciate that so many people dig their product - they also told me that shipping will be way faster than I was pessimistically expecting, and that they expected no additional import fees for a CA consumer. You can tell that they're cool, friendly people for sure.

Classic bottom:

Classic top:

Basic top, unused and after 6 months usage:

Basic bottom: see image in post 99.

http://verdampftnochmal.de/images/product_images/original_images/100_2.jpg

 

[Abysmal Vapor]

Well it has mica inside too .. but it is not exposed to heat,wear and tear(you can aways drop you vapman and crack the mica... or just scratch it when you puting it on some abrasive surface.. Anyway as for heat it is safe till 1500 C Torches burn at 1300 so i dont see much danger if you don't overtorch.

 

[Stone__Man]

Look what the cat drug in



even after seeing photos I was amazed how small it is. As you can see early on top and bottom the burning. as time passes I will share more 'burn' photos.

this being my very first vap, it took a bit of getting used to it. I have found taking a small 'tobacco pipe" huff to see if any vapor is there and if so draw, quite slowly works the best so far. At first I was drawing to hard . I sat and looked at it and thought about HOW it was designed to work, and drawing air too hard lowers the bowl temps to below vap temps, so as stated above a small huff and light draw. Imagine the breath it would take to try to keep a small feather 'floating' around your head and draw in at that rate. Lightly blowing in your girls ear. so fairly light. My logic in doing so is , it seems to keep the bowl at vap temp longer. and that I believe is EXACTLY why they have the three holes in mid section in the vapor stack, to help the user not draw too much cooler air through the pan tubes.

I can tell you this I am quite happy with my recent acquisition. Its amazing to get ripped on such a small amount of flowers. this is going to save me a LOT of coin.

few questions for those that have the vapman. I have noticed my stainless steel screen is not tight, even if I torque a bit of the little screw (afraid to break it) it has a back and forth wiggle and right beside the screws of middle section the wood is starting to get... how to say>? um stained, getting darker brown, as the screen is a bit bigger than the mid section wood. I wonder if they are just made that way or if mine is a bit 'off'.

is this the same on your vapman or not?

Now I want to try an all glass if I can find a reasonable price on one, I like what I see in the Vapbong, much moreso then the ubie, but its price seems quite high to me. Cause I keep asking myself is this the taste of vapor it self or am I also tasting the wood.

I really like the funnel tube < weird name. loading ring sounds better to me ... funnel maybe but tube no lol

 

[charliedontsurf]

My basic came in the mail today and it's a definite keeper. This thing is absolutely tiny and produces very nice vapor density and flavor and I'm quite happy with it so far. The bowl isn't as small as I feared - I think I'm getting 3-6 good size hits per fill. One thing I like is that it heats quickly, and with a small jet lighter, not a big ass tabletop torch. I may do a more in depth review in the future, but suffice it to say that at the new reduced price, this is a great vaporizer. It's a pretty amazing bargain given its handmade nature, beautiful design, and good vapor production.

Plugging one of the air holes on the mouthpiece seems to better the vapor to air ratio as some people have mentioned.

MFLB acrylic mouthpieces fit snugly into the mouthpiece hole of the Vapman, so those who prefer them, or better yet those with glass mflb stems, have an alternative. I was hoping a Q mouthpiece would be narrow enough, but no dice.

 

[charliedontsurf]

Here's the Vapman with a glass MFLB stem, and the MFLB with the vapman mouthpiece. Excuse the aborted attempt at cropping the image. As you can see I've plugged the three air holes with toothpicks and am enjoying the difference it makes.

Any of the handmade MFLB stems made by Ed and others should work in your Vapman; shorter ones will allow it to continue fitting in the egg carrying case.l

 

[OF]

I don't know how many folks have one of these fun little vapes, but if you've never played with one I think you're missing a fun time. First off, it's just plain neat. It's got that 'steam punk' thing going on. What with wood, stainless steel, gold plated parts, mica insulation, bitty little screws and a decidedly strange profile. And then you fill it in a strange way, turn it on end and shoot it with your lighter while holding it in your fingertips. Trust me, that looks strange. This is not a good vape for low profile in public places.

It does, however, do an amazing job with a tiny bit of herb (what would you expect from the Swiss?). A little pinch gives you a dozen or more hits, and not all that thin either. Very frugal....again Swiss. I got mine from Amazon for what I consider a reasonable price (or I wouldn't have bought it....dumb thing to say, really) but the point is it's actually cheaper from Switzerland if you can believe it. More over there's a not finish sanded and oiled version that doesn't have the mica that's about half price there (not so good a deal here for 'the Junior' which is really the same size).

Anyway, I bring it up to see who else has one and encourage guys to consider it if you can spare the money and like vapes like MFLB for their 'funky' aspects. Fact is it comes to mind because I just got bored with going between testing some of this other vape stuff some more and dug it out to have some fun with some tasty blue dream I got the other day. A true treat late at night. I caught myself turning it around and around on the deck by the stem like it was a top, enjoying the different shadows each time it stopped. Not the sort of things a normal guy normally does.........

Anyway, check it out, this thread's not all that long and has all the information you'll need I think.

Thanks for reading.

OF

 

[Stu]

Have you tried it attached to glass yet? It's alot of fun that way too...just invert it into the downstem.

No, not yet. But it sure seems like a reasonable idea. Be right back...



Edit: Worked suprisingly well. There is definitely some skill required, but decent vapor can be had with this thing from such a teeny load.

 

[OF]

one more thing to discuss for me at least. jet flame are okay to inhale since its blue flame the exhaust is safe right? .

I've never had any taste of butane. You are directing the flame onto the tip of the cone, so you should be inhaling very little, if any exhaust at all.

Always stick to a torch. The Vapman is not designed for soft flames like a bic.

First off, Tweek missed the big point, you heat the copper then shut off the lighter, and move the unit to your face to take the hit. No butane fumes anywhere at the time, let alone near the inlet holes. 'Zero' exposure.

He's spot on about lighters, though, you need lots of hot and careful control. I recommend you order several of these guys:
http://dx.com/p/jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-1320

Three bucks each shipped (they get to you fast as well) and they work great. I must have 5 or6 spread around here, I have yet to have any trouble with any of them. I even do light soldering with them.

Would you mind trying to weigh out a full bowl. Interested to know how much flower can fit in there. (.3 - .5 and Im sold) Looks interesting and I've been longing for a portable w/o batteries. The VG looks pretty obvious on first glance and this device stored seems pretty sleek.

I don't own one yet but another forum did this test I think their info is on vaporpedia or Wikipedia but the vapman according to their chart holds about .69. my arizer solo I can fill a tube up using 0.0 on my scale

Someone's tugging on your lariat there cowboy! 3 bowls of what I'm using right now averaged .085 grams. About 2/3 of a MFLB trench. Look at the videos of it in use. Do you seriously think you can jam half a gram in there? It's made in a part of the world where a pinch of bud is a lot. The bowl is about 5/8 inch in diameter (less than a dime) and is a cone about .165 deep with a fat post in the center taking up some of the small space there is. A little over half a MFLB trench (.125 grams as I load the box), no way it's five times bigger.

Sorry. But I really like it that way. It's not a top choice machine for cloud chasers.....still. IMO won't ever be.

OF

 

[MTBerVAPEer]

The vapman is wonderful better than the flashvape seeing as my friend bought one and i got the vapman both from the toronto vaporoizer website mine is much better and actually works.
i got the free 40$ zeus torch and it already stopped working.
i only have used it for 3 days now and i use it more than my arizer solo.
theres somthing about the whole making and doing about it. i have some pictures as well as a short review video

 

[OF]

i got the free 40$ zeus torch and it already stopped working.
i only have used it for 3 days now and i use it more than my arizer solo.
theres somthing about the whole making and doing about it.

Bummer. Order yourself a few of these guys, great lighters, good price, fast shipping. I'm not sure which was made to go with the other, but IMO they and Vapman belong together:
http://dx.com/p/jet-1300-c-butane-lighter-1320

(when they're back in stock, of course.....).

Regards,

OF

 

[basement farmer]

The kief was sublime!!

I did try a bowl of herb and it, as would be expected, wasn't as robust as the kief, but very, very flavorful. I'd have to say that of my four different portables, this little guy has the best flavor. But I'm sure as my Vap Fu skills improve, flower power will improve as well.

I'll definitely have to check out the "making of" video, sounds fascinating. I'm still amazed at the intricate design of this thing.

 

[vapmanjoe]

you will find some news about the vapman on their facebook. a new instruction manual with some interesting facts about the developer...and apparently they will release some new vapmans with different wood type/color...pictures included:

http://m.facebook.com/pages/Vapman/424549587558778?id=424549587558778&refsrc=http://www.vapman.com/&_rdr

 

[nopartofme]

Here's the image of different types of wood from the last page of the manual:

 

[Elevapor]

My little setup. The pinnacle water tool and mflb adapter work perfectly with the Vapman.

Out hiking not too long ago.

 

[Seren]

I have another question. The Vapman I have has the element logo on it while others I've seen say Vapman. Anyone know what's up with that?

Vapman is the vaporizer model name, and Element Medical Ltd is the company name. I think the Element logo was used on earlier units, and Vapman on later/current ones.

 

[stim]

I've had a a Vapman for about 6 weeks now. It was my first vape.
I got it because my lungs were vigorously complaining about my daily spliff intake. After some research I opted for the Vapman - the specific reasons for which I now largely forget.

As others have noted it is tiny and very well made. It's a lovely, personal object. Easy to load and clean. Using it implies following your own little ritual, which in itself is both relaxing, and distracting for someone trying to stop smoking cigarettes (I find that the psychologically-led action of putting hand-to mouth, as well as the feeling of draw into the lungs, is as important as the physiological craving for a nicotine hit).

It can be quite the artform to get a consistent heat and vapour. I must say I'm still not fully there yet. I haven't combusted but I frequently overheat. There is a fine line that must be straddled to get a consistent smoke. When it works it works well.

Admittedly, I wasn't t getting the satisfaction I had hoped from the Vapman and ended-up buying a desktop unit (Arizer Q). That's when I discovered FC and the great tips herein. This has helped me to conquer the Arizer and achieve satisfaction. But what about the poor Vapman?

No fear - FC to the rescue again. I went through this thread last night and had several D'oh! moments. Whipped-out my vapman and had a nice little session. Thanks for the generous advice!

The big one for me was connecting it to my bong - I would have never thought of it! The mouthpiece fits snugly inside a small section of arizer whip tubing which I attached to my waterpiece and it makes a big difference. I can control the heat more precisely now as I can see when the vapour is starting to form. I've found that quality of the herb makes a big difference too, especially so because of the small chamber. I can get anywhere between 2-6 decent draws per bowl. Overall very efficient.

In short, connecting to the bong is a game-changer for me. I got the best clouds yet. Still plenty of rooms to experiment but yeah, I'm very pleased with this little fella. I think it's long-term affair.

One thing I don't like about Vapman is, despite it's size, it's too noisy to use to use discreetly. The lighter technique also draws some negative connotations (what's in that bowl young man!?). A battery-operated heating adaptor would go down very well I think.

As it was my first vape I was blown-away by the taste. Only thing was, I had ordered an ebony mouthpiece. Without washing it I am almost certain that it contributed to the initial taste, making it bitter and lingered for days. I've since tasted other vapes and yeah - I think you really need to clean out those wooden mouthpieces before use. Perhaps mine had some residual varnish or something.
I switched back to the plastic mouthpiece. Now I am getting amazing flavour (much more so than the Arizer).

Would I recommend this as a first vape? Probably not - I felt it important to experiment with temperatures and optimal airflow before being able to properly use the Vapman. But as a second, personal vape I highly recommend it.

EDIT: Regarding the three airholes, after my experimentation I feel it is better to leave them unbocked. Breathing technique is important - a slower draw prevents the bowl from cooling too quickly. With some practice the vapour density can be higher than you'd think.

 

[vorrange]

You may grow to appreciate the simplicity and quickness of using a lighter based vape over time. The nice thing about the Vapman is that you can apply the torch out of sight and then hit it on the sly. It doesn't look like a pipe either, so you can concoct a story if you need to explain away what it's really for.

IMO, of the three butane powered vapes that I have, the VM has the best taste quality. It's only draw backs are it's tiny capacity and the level of involvement it takes to lock 'n load. It's probably no worse than my MFLB though, and I would suspect that most other e-powered portables have relatively complex loading procedures.

It's not what I would consider a big hitter but works awesomely for shake and kief.

What other two flame based vapes do you have? Just curious. I own the VaporGenie and the Vaponic and have a Lotus on the way.

Would very much like to add a Vapman to my collection although it's use would be similar to the Vaponic with more durability but much more difficult to load (and i don't grind in my Vaponic).

But i find i reached the same conclusion as you did, flame based allows for much smaller units, better taste and much higher autonomy. You only lose on stealth to SOME units, and it's not silent but it's not extra loud either.

I have used it in buses, cafes and bars, out on the street, bathrooms and there is very little instances where i can't use the Vaponic.

Usually places that i can easily drop it like in the middle of the crowd in a concert, or in the movies, or somewhere or sometime when you need to be absolutely silent... most times it's easy to figure out a way to bypass that but i end up not bothering and just vaping sometime later.

I still have a MFLB but i am sick of batteries and charging things that need charging two hours later, plus, the autonomy of a unit is inversally proporcional to it's flavour, meaning the better the taste profile, the worse the autonomy.

For a taste nut like myself, i rather bypass some stealth and/or some autonomy than some flavour. Something i only realized after having bought a MFLB, a DaVinci, and a Solo. MFLB has got the best stealth, DaVinci is a nice equilibrium between stealth and autonomy but with bad taste for my standards, the Solo has very good taste and autonomy but its not stealthy at all.

Flame based units like the Vaponic and the Vapman, have got the best taste and 20x the autonomy of others, while sacrificing a bit on stealth. I believe that is a very nice tradeoff, for taste nuts at least.

The problem is that we have come to distance ourselves as much as we can from combustion, and there is this weird stigma with jet lighters and happened to be used to smoke heroin and crack but that is ridiculous.
It is a lighter guys, its noisier than a battery (of course!!), but it's not that noisy,someone speaking will easily mask the sound. And 95% of situations there we'll be something that is louder than that, or else i live a very noisy life in very noisy places.

People are always praising the Cloud for it's capacity to maintain heat and adjust temperature, well, if you think about it, a lighter that gives you a 1300C/2370F flame does the same of the Cloud system, if you learn to maintain temp by how much and how far you heat your vape.. The only difference is that it is YOUR technique that makes the best or the worst experience.

A lighter, especially a jet lighter, in someone who has excelent technique and can manipulate and maintain temperature, will in theory have a better heating system than 95% of vaporizers when it comes to maintaining temp and fast manipulation of temperature with flame distance and air speed.

 

[OF]

I recommend grinding, and fairly fine. The oven is small and very narrow at the edges. It's very hard to get a good fill without grinding.

I tried, didn't like it. Even 'scissor chopping' had to be fine and the bud fairly dry. Use moist bud with poor contact and it's not going to work well I think.

FWIW I think most of us cure and grind in bulk and carry several loads in a small vial which is, I think, the fastest and easiest way to load in the field. Some guys us little baggies too I guess?

OF

 

[Elevapor]

My gf lost the white plastic mouthpiece in the snow. Here's the ebony one I bought as a replacement, pretty slick. If you look closely you can see the grain pattern. It's really hard, reminds me of plastic in a way.

.

 

[M0J0]

this happend to me to its fine it is only for the first couple of uses you could just heat it and char the wood yourself to speed that process up.. it really isnt a big deal. and you arent getting SS bits stainless steel is prime for this. and as for the pear wood. have you ever inhaled campfire smoke and died?

Long time lurker, 1st time posting.

Thank you all for the great info you've posted here over the years.

I am waiting for my Vapman Pure to arrive and to kill the time I searched for a simple way to deal with the wood charring and I found this:

http://charredwood.com/how-does-charring-make-wood-fire-resistant/

The oldest way to make wood fire resistant is to char it! Talk about fighting fire with fire.

I'm pretty handy, so I plan to fine sand it, oil it and char the bottom, and the bottom of the mouth piece before I use it the first time.

I plan to char the whole bottom cone up to the edge and then fine sand it to make it look nice.

If I do this right, I'll post before and after pics on here.

Peace.

 

[M0J0]

Well, I took it apart, fine-sanded it and then gave it the fire-treatment with a small torch lighter. Oiled it after that.

This is NOT for the faint-hearted. I was pretty nervous during the whole process – taking it apart, charring the right spots and then putting it back together.

It was kinda like painting with an Air-Brush, and I like how it turned out.

Before:

Sanded, Charred and starting oil treatment:

Note how much smoother the bowl is now.

After:

I charred the middle section completely...