So I find myself the owner of a custom
@Ed's TnT wood stem by chance yesterday. Long story short, I had ordered a Solo stem... Ed thought I wanted a Nano stem (who can blame him given how I am with my Nano?)... and now I have a Nano stem with a Solo stem on the way!
Now, I am not telling you this to knock Ed in any way. Absolutely not! Ed had given me top notch customer service and is on top of making things right... not that things were wrong as you will see. In any case, you may know that I am a fiend when it comes to vaping with my nano through glass. I really only busted out the glass stems for my Nano when I didn't have a WT for a time, and I think once when I first got it. 99% of the time I use my Nano, its with a WT and if Im "going dry" its with my Solo on the go.
And that brings us full circle, and now you see why I was looking at a Solo stem and not a nano stem. Ah, but this was a blessing in disguise! Having spend the better part of last night getting to know the stem (relearning how to pack/draw vs using a gong/WT) I think I have a better idea of what this thing is about!
I'm not saying that Im going to be giving up vaping through water any time soon, but the mere convenience of being able to load a dry stem at my computer station has something to be said about it. Couple that with the pure elegance that this stem brings to the table and the new subtle flavors which become involved, and you have an attractive alternative for when you dont want/need the mind crushing power of full on bong rips, or the soothing kiss of water conditioned vapor. Really the only bad thing I have to say about the whole experience is that the wood tends to wick moisture from my lips, making them feel dry over long sessions. Im sure theres a workaround for that somewhere...
So in conclusion, while Im not a convert, I think I will be doing a lot more dry path vaping with my Nano now that I have one of Ed's stems.
But enough of that. Lets some pics of my new wood!
The species is Hawaiian Koa and the inlay is turquoise. Obviously pics don't do it justice.