The Upline clone arrived yesterday. For $50 it is good, but I am not sure it is a perfect replica as a few comments on the DHGate store say ( the downstem is not 100% perfectly vertical, etc).
I couln't resist pimping it up with some extra bits to make it look even more like an Elven crystal hookah!
It actually performs well with the ash catcher/not drop down thing!
Here's a nice shot with the Thunderbolt next to it. (The bowl needs a deep scrub so it got left out of the shot)
This does what I expected, compared to my recyclers: Smaller hits, bigger flavour. It is a real terp delivery vehicle and will probably pair really nicely with a Dynavap with heat jacket, or Anvil, etc. With my Quartz Thunderbolt injector it cannot deliver the big dab-like rips I can get with a recycler, but allows for a slower savouring of the flavour, and the lighter draw keeps the heater hot for a longer time.
You have to get the water level just right, and you need to draw slowly at first so as to stack the bubbles in order and build up the percolation through each successive chamber and get a nice steady boiling action going on in the upper chamber rather than a haphazard splashing. It seems to work better when held at a slight angle rather than perfectly horizontal on a tabletop.
The experience is similar to the Rattle Can bubbler that has been mentioned here a few times.
Here's a few sneaky quick milk pulls from the QT and slightly too much water in the piece.
The mouthpiece is a bit narrower than I would have liked- it is clear that the narrower the mouthpiece the better the vapor tastes, but the more coughing it causes! If i had a glass blower nearby I would be tempted to ask them to cut off about 1/3 of that nipple so as to enlarge the hole slightly.
I would have liked thicker glass for this piece. The entire design is CRYING OUT for a detachable mouthpiece... It would be a simple matter to replace the mouthpiece tube with a 14mm elbow joint....
On the whole it' s a fun piece and qualifies as cheap and relatively quality bubbler but now I want to try the original! This is the 5th and probably final Chinese clone bubbler I have bought...