You got it! Sorry I didn't reply earlier with some advice, I haven't used the extreme but I'll try.
1 -- I was expecting the hi to be slower coming with vapor because I had read somewhere that you don't get the instant rush like from combustion due to your body not reacting to the smoke. The rush isn't actually a mj hi, but a reaction to smoke. Is this true?
If you're getting decent vapor hits (which I don't think you were) it doesn't take very long to start buzzin', a few minutes at most. When I first started vaping it would kind of creep up on me, I'd have a nice buzz and then ~5 minutes later I'd have a really nice buzz. After using it a few times you'll get a feel for it.
I've read that you can feel your body fighting off the carcinogens when you smoke and that some people associate this with the buzz. There's probably a bit of a "head rush" just from inhaling a large amount of smoke, too.
2 -- Because of this, I waited awhile before rendering judgement. I got some headiness after awhiile, but I am convinced that last night I did not get strong vapor hits.
Yeah, it sounds like you were just barely getting a vapor.
3 -- Marcuss, you said to put the temp in the 335 - 350 range. This would be the temp of the heating element and not the air passing over it, yes? That sure makes things confusing.
Again, not familiar with the extreme, but I'm guessing the temperature sensor is near the element so basically it's reporting the temp of the element.
By the time the air passes over the element and hits your herb, the temperature (of the air) is going to have dropped substantially, and really, that's the temp that matters. It just takes some experimenting to find the sweet spot.
Marcuss says ~340 on the display is right for the extreme, so if you had it at 250, that was probably the main issue. The herb would likely still have dried out but without much vaporization taking place.
5 -- I have three grades here of herb right now...superduper, average and regs. I am very familiar with my superduper and regs, but had not smoked the average until last night. I started with the regs last night because I am familiar with them and I didn't want to cut my teeth using good stuff. Should I expect a different high from vaping herb than from smoking the same herb?
I've vaped many varieties and even the ones that I'd have considered low quality worked well. Vaporizers seem to be more forgiving than smoking when it comes to quality of herb, in effectiveness and taste. I've found that in general, really good stuff tends to produce more vapor, but I've been surprised by seemingly lower quality stuff.
Once you've found the right temp, and everything is set up properly for your extreme, the "vapor on demand" should be the same procedure as with most whip based vapes. Just relax and take a hit! Sort of like taking a hit from a bong, nice medium slow draw for ~10 seconds. Keep an eye on the tubing of the whip (pretty sure the extreme uses clear tubing) and you should see it get cloudy as the vapor passes through it. The exhaled vapor should be visible and there should be a good amount of it in 1 exhale, though it dissipates into the air quickly.
You probably figured it out by the time it took me to write this. I'm sure you'll be a pro in no time.
By the way, welcome, sipscience.
