BFG Castle ‘unofficial thread’

[endof3d]

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For those who missed out on owning a Lotus and have been waiting for the reintroduction of the BFG’s Castle, your wait is close to over.

Although their has been no official announcement from BFG on FC, the teaser pic and brief description below appeared on their website with no further info, specs or estimated price. Looks to be a major upgrade of the discontinued V2 Castle.

Note: The previous Castle version also had the option of a pipe stem that the wpa neatly fit into for native use. Guessing that add on will be available in the not to distant future. If not, a J Hook should do just fine. A rosewood stem though would be truly epic!
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The new V3 Castle

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The discontinued V2 Castle

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The release of two new vapes in one month is quite an undertaking for any company, let alone a small craft shop. Nice work BFG!

 

[Shit Snacks]

Wow I didn't know they were doing a lotus reversion revival too... Very cool although I really did not get on with my lotus at all and have hardly used it lol tricky torch technique

 

[leanpubpackage]

hyped! Been waiting for this thread to be made but admittedly, was too lazy to do it

 

[Grass Yes]

Inspired by the lotus is some interesting phrasing.
Anyway I thought I would include the link to the site:

BFG

BFG

www.batteryfreeganz.com

 

[Kreator87]

Curious on the piece point. Seems pretty barebones with no stem. Maybe it will be the loss leader and they can clean up on stems!

 

[Sour Dream]

Kinda let down by the bowl size I saw somewhere else, but interested in seeing how it performs

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

More info

 

[Sativapo]

Kinda let down by the bowl size I saw somewhere else, but interested in seeing how it performs

0.15 is not so bad, no ? Too small ?
How much is the lotus bowl?

I wonder if this design would fit in 14mm joints that are a bit deep ( won't it be blocked by the 18mm part ?)

 

[anasrzi]

Was saying just this morning the only regret I've ever had vape sale wise was letting the lotus go from my collection, didn't know what I had till it was gone, along with lotus in general. Hope they ship internationally and very interested overall.

 

[coolbreeze]

Was saying just this morning the only regret I've ever had vape sale wise was letting the lotus go from my collection, didn't know what I had till it was gone, along with lotus in general. Hope they ship internationally and very interested overall.

Love my Lotus so I'm happy to see others have the chance at something like it, and maybe even an improvement.

 

[FlyingLow]

FUCK THIS COMPANY!

Shame on them for even using Lotus's name in their adverts... For anyone following along, this company has NO relation to Lotus, the design or the manufacturer. They do not hold any Lotus patents or proprietary material, they simply are riding on the coat-tails of Lotus's good reputation AND they are doing it openly while MaxVapor is trying to sell the company. They just shit in the Lotus cereal - Max Vapor has been a part of this community for a long time- this is not something we should support.

I would be surprised if you avoid litigation.

 

[kuzko]

Probably emboldened by the fact that they ripped off Dynavap and then Anvil first. Not only without any negative repercussions, but with praise instead.

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

Appreciate it's kind of off topic, but I've found Byun Chul Han's writings on fuzhi and Shanzai particularly helpful in working through my thoughts around intellectual property.

 

[Sour Dream]

Is it confirmed that they are violating any patents or is this just speculation just because they are similar

 

[BingsBuddery]

FUCK THIS COMPANY!

Shame on them for even using Lotus's name in their adverts... For anyone following along, this company has NO relation to Lotus, the design or the manufacturer. They do not hold any Lotus patents or proprietary material, they simply are riding on the coat-tails of Lotus's good reputation AND they are doing it openly while MaxVapor is trying to sell the company. They just shit in the Lotus cereal - Max Vapor has been a part of this community for a long time- this is not something we should support.

I would be surprised if you avoid litigation.

Really? You are losing your mind over the patents of a defunct company? Okay then. The Castle is no clone of the Lotus, and BFG has merely said it was inspired by the Lotus. When you see photos of the two next to one another, you'll realize how different they are. The Castle is much girthier than the Lotus, at probably double or more the height. The bowl/load of the Castle is also much further from the heat than in the Lotus. So this is no clone device, and I think Lotus fans will find it is tangentially a similar experience. It requires a completely different technique to use: different heat, different timing, different distance. Different.

EDIT: Also, The Castle is not planned for mass production. These are handcrafted, small batch vapes. So it's not like BFG will be lapping up all the business that might be possible for this style of device. MaxVapor could easily still sell the company, and whomever buys it and resurrects the Lotus will absolutely sell devices, if for no other reason than the legacy and collector status.

Here's a performance teaser:

 

[Grover]

Really? You are losing your mind over the patents of a defunct company? Okay then. The Castle is no clone of the Lotus, and BFG has merely said it was inspired by the Lotus. When you see photos of the two next to one another, you'll realize how different they are. The Castle is much girthier than the Lotus, at probably double or more the height. The bowl/load of the Castle is also much further from the heat than in the Lotus. So this is no clone device, and I think Lotus fans will find it is tangentially a similar experience. It requires a completely different technique to use: different heat, different timing, different distance. Different.

EDIT: Also, The Castle is not planned for mass production. These are handcrafted, small batch vapes. So it's not like BFG will be lapping up all the business that might be possible for this style of device. MaxVapor could easily still sell the company, and whomever buys it and resurrects the Lotus will absolutely sell devices, if for no other reason than the legacy and collector status.

Here's a performance teaser:

Sorry about the length of this post!
My GOAT vaporizer, to this day, remains the Lotus...the one I bought 6 years ago. I use it regularly b/c it best suits my personal needs and preferences in a vape. It reveals all the tasty nuances of the herb that I am vaping to an almost diagnostic level and I enjoy the ritual that comes with its use...I find this very soothing.
I also have been beta testing the BFG Castle.
I am, personally, struck more by the differences than the similarities between the two devices. They function quite differently, exhibiting the same traits that Bing described. The air control ring built into the Castle is a decent innovation. I believe that there are things that could definitely be improved. In an effort to engineer an extra degree of flexibilty into this vape, the heating plate is further removed from the herb pack requiring more heat to be used to get vapour production. Some of this heat conducts to the surrounding wood, making things quite toasty. I find the device quite tall and chunky...with WPA included, over 3 x the weight of the Lotus. I'm NOT a fan of that WPA.
I have several other thoughts but this post is getting pretyy fuckin' chunky as well.
IMO, the Lotus might have been a starting point/inspiration for the Castle but the Castle has taken the ball and run with it...it is NOT the same device other than sharing a similar form factor.
And, just in case anyone cares, I won't be giving up my Lotus. It took me quite a while to become the Lotus Jedi that I am: I can dance the dance with it and it makes beautiful music in my head. Loves me some Lotus!!
There will defintely be two camps of Castle users: those who know and love the Lotus and those with no experience with it. The second group will approach this vape without bias or preference and will make of it what they will...yea or nay. It is a worthy vaporizer. However I'm afraid that, as it stands, the first group may be somewhat disappointed with this iteration of the Castle...it's NOT a Lotus.

 

[tango_foxtrot404]

FUCK THIS COMPANY!

Shame on them for even using Lotus's name in their adverts... For anyone following along, this company has NO relation to Lotus, the design or the manufacturer. They do not hold any Lotus patents or proprietary material, they simply are riding on the coat-tails of Lotus's good reputation AND they are doing it openly while MaxVapor is trying to sell the company. They just shit in the Lotus cereal - Max Vapor has been a part of this community for a long time- this is not something we should support.

I would be surprised if you avoid litigation.

 

[Sativapo]

the heating plate is further removed from the herb pack requiring more heat to be used to get vapour production. Some of this heat conducts to the surrounding wood, making things quite toasty.

Hmm that doesn't sound very good... especially for a dark avb guy like me.

 

[BingsBuddery]

Hmm that doesn't sound very good... especially for a dark avb guy like me.

I've come up with a mod that solves this issue. BFG is considering implementing it for retail pieces. I can easily achieve dark AVB with no hot spotting, post-mod. It makes it more forgiving to bury a flame in, as well. I'm not much for dainty fire dancing whispy hits.. i need the impact to satisfy the tolerance.

 

[Grover]

Hmm that doesn't sound very good... especially for a dark avb guy like me.

Oh, you can get there, you just gotta pour the heat to it. The Lotus heating plate is right above the herb pack making it quite touchy...this is the learning curve that put a lot of people off the Lotus; if you deviated from procedure (small flame, quick circling of the plate, constant monitoring of vapour temp/volume, etc) it would combust in a heartbeat. But, if you persevered and learned the Tao of Lotus, it was a thing of beauty! TI believe that the Castle was meant to be a more approachable/forgiving vape that most people could use right off the bat and get decent results. TBH, I think that this 'forgiving' nature is engineered into all the BFG vapes; for example, a person can can heat WAY passed the click with the Dani or the Fusion without all hell breaking loose...just thicker vapour.

 

[leanpubpackage]

FUCK THIS COMPANY!

Shame on them for even using Lotus's name in their adverts... For anyone following along, this company has NO relation to Lotus, the design or the manufacturer. They do not hold any Lotus patents or proprietary material, they simply are riding on the coat-tails of Lotus's good reputation AND they are doing it openly while MaxVapor is trying to sell the company. They just shit in the Lotus cereal - Max Vapor has been a part of this community for a long time- this is not something we should support.

I would be surprised if you avoid litigation.

Yes yes…let’s try to discourage a small company that actually made an attempt at innovation that the community has been asking for. Vapcap on steroids, BFG delivered. Revive a device similar to the lotus, BFG deliver(ing)?

My argument assumes BFG has considered patents. If not, then it’s on them if they go down under because of litigation. But that’s also not for me to worry about. I just sit back and enjoy the hell out of their products

 

[Perfect_Speed4069]

My way is a song. We all know the words. There's many people who perform it well, and many who are dreadful. Imagine if Bowie had been cease and desisted for turning it into Life on Mars. Or Sid Vicious for shitting all over it.

 

[Cheebsy]

a small company that actually made an attempt at innovation

This is such bs... They copied the DV, even calling it a name that was sooo close it could be confused if you didn't know better. They've copied, or taken inspiration from, the lotus. Then they copied the anvil..... That doesn't sound like innovation to me, that's plagiarism, even if they made small changes. I'd love to see them innovate, but I don't hold out much hope for that. All that plagiarism achieves is it stifles innovation.

As for the vapes needing to be pushed consistently past the click, that's just bad design IMO.

 

[BingsBuddery]

This is such bs... They copied the DV, even calling it a name that was sooo close it could be confused if you didn't know better. They've copied, or taken inspiration from, the lotus. Then they copied the anvil..... That doesn't sound like innovation to me, that's plagiarism, even if they made small changes. I'd love to see them innovate, but I don't hold out much hope for that. All that plagiarism achieves is it stifles innovation.

As for the vapes needing to be pushed consistently past the click, that's just bad design IMO.

And yet nobody bats an eye at all the ceramic heater vapes, all the butane intake brick style vapes, all the 510 coil vapes, all the injectors.. None of this shit is particularly original or ingenious. You wanna talk about stifling innovation, you should definitely be talking about patents. I'm not sure what patent lawyer worked his magic indoctrinating some people in this community, but don't kid yourselves, patents are good for business people, not makers, not innovators.. Suits and ties. That's patents. I don't want to support suits and ties and litigation. If that's your thing, giver, but don't try to instruct us on what's bullshit, because the real bullshit is gatekeeping BFG for the patents of a company that isn't even making vapes.

 

[Cheebsy]

nobody bats an eye at all the ceramic heater vapes

Actually not nobody... It's been brought up a few times here and there, but consumers have thier wallets in the fore front of thier mind so often gets quickly forgotten when the deal is too good to resist.... There needs to be market space, and the relevent rewards, for the actual innovators otherwise we will be drowning in clones of clones. I hope this will never happen but it's also why the artisanal makers do so well in this space.