Firewood7 vs Tinymight cooling in portable config?

[gordontreeman]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking at higher end electronic portables to plug some gaps that I think the Dynavap leaves: while it will always have a place in my collection when I want the smallest/lightest possible option or something indestructible, I don't think the torch is very discrete in a more populated setting and the vapor temperature is a little much for me sometimes. I'm not super interested in an IH as its not going to do anything about the vapor temp. I've been looking into portables (n.b. portable for me == pocketable, so while the vapor is supposed to be fantastic the TB is out of consideration) that might fill that gap and two that are extremely popular are the TM and FW7.

There's lots of positive feedback about both, but it seems like the vast majority of people are using them through water or with J-hooks. That is rad, but I'm really interested in how they do at cooling higher temps in their portable set ups: probably the short stem + cooling unit for the TM and the dimpled stem (or maybe an aftermarket beaded option) for the FW. Not sure how many folks own both, but figured I'd ask and see if I can get any feedback--thanks in advance!

 

[west-elec]

Yeah good question because both are hard hitters and both can be hot native. They do a better job cooling than most but both have the potential.
For me the TM short stem is too hot native and when out and about I find myself adding a short length of silicone which makes all the difference. I am always above 7 so if you don't mind lower temp stepping you might be ok. Many say it is quite acceptable at 5 ish but bigger clouds means higher temp and hotter vapour.
The FW7 can also get hot from long draws but where the TM pretty much needs longer draws the FW can be used differently with shorter hits and more conduction to build up the vapour density without necessarily using big long draws. This keeps the cooling tube from getting too hot and keeps the vapour stream a bit more tolerable (at the expense of flavour on later hits). 3 hits with TM might be 6 hits with FW7 adding more conduction waiting after buzz and adding puffs and breaks in the draw.
Best experience is with big long hits getting lots of convection. When not at home I do use standard cooling tube this way mostly and it is ok, but gets hot. Seems less scratch dry than TM but maybe even hotter as the stem gets hot and can't cool quite so effectively.
So slight advantage to FW but if you are ok with low temp hits maybe TM would be better, even on level 1 the FW gets almost just as hot. They both do as good a job as any out there but FW7 is easily my favourite.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Yeah it's a bit of a wash I think, I can do short quick rips in either really, or long slow sips, low temp or high temp, I do think the TM cooling unit may be a bit more effective? But if you are at upper temps it can still be quite harsh... And similar with FW7, the cooling stem it comes with now is very effective but at the upper temps things can get harsh for me so I use lower temps in mine, I actually take longer draws in my FW7 than I do in my TM typically, but they may actually be more or less the same?? I don't know these are my two favorite portables so I have a really tough time choosing between them, like two nice sides of the same coin!

 

[Momor]

I would give a very slight advantage in cooling to the TM (short stem + CU).
For me the real plus of the TM compared to the FW are the ease to load/unload and charge on the go

 

[purepotstill]

Don't have the FW, and my experience with TM is quite short (had it two days ago), but I came to it from the same situation as you : Dynavap user (although using glass stems), don't want an IH (tried one, and didn't like at all the lack of control in comparison of the torch), and I prefer my vapour to be fresh.

I'm using the TM with its included short stem for now, and have to say I absolutely loves it. You can set it to fairly low temps (2.5 or 3/10) and still get big clouds taking long draws while the vapour remains fresh. Things get hotter when you rise the temp, but I still can take one good draw with temp set at 7 without coughing (the last puff on my VapCaps makes me cough sometimes, if I'm not careful to how I'm drawing) although the stem begins to get hot. Methinks if you plan to use it on-demand, taking a puff here and there, you'll be happy with it (and as it's pretty efficient, one long puff even at low temp should be enough to get you high). If you want to use it as a session vape, then the short stem could get too hot for the vape to be fully enjoyable.

 

[Texus]

I haven't tried Tiny Might. Still playing wait and see about their customer service issues. But wanted to note that dimpled cooling stem is now stock on the FW7. In my short few day experience with FW7 I have been quite pleased by the temp of vapor at the stock temp setting

 

[bossman]

You may as well buy a Tinymight and see how you like it since pre-orders for the next batch of FW7 won't ship for five or six weeks yet. Both resell for full price in the unlikely event you want to sell your TM.

One thing I like about the Tinymight is the convenient precision of the little dial at the bottom. Doesn't the FW have like three temp settings and you switch between then by button pushing and haptic feedback? I like to temp step from 3.5 or 4 to around 7 and would not want anyone to make it so there was only one step in the middle of that range. You can definitely notice the difference between 4.5 and 5 or even smaller adjustments on the dial.

I'm on the pre-order list for the FW7; deciding on that would just have you waiting with me and using your vapcap in the interim

 

[gordontreeman]

Waiting isn’t really an issue @bossman. I’m not in any group that gets the vaccine soon. In theory my state just opened eligibility to anyone over 16, in practice all providers are still trying to get them into the arms of folks with high risk secondary conditions. I’ll be using at home for a while yet. Ideally I can hone in on one for now and avoid the need to resell for a loss: seems tm’s turn around time has gotten to like 10 days or less on the US. Maybe it’s just me but I’d never buy second hand without a discount as opposed to waiting two weeks.

@Texus the cs is a concern. It seems to have gotten better, but I tried to shoot them an email to ask a basic inquiry and didn’t hear anything back. Not exactly confidence inspiring. Fw is more responsive by all accounts, but I am a little concerned about the build quality. When it was first recommended to me back in February it was readily available on his site. At the time all the units I saw photos of looked top notch. In more recent photos since it blew up in popularity the fit and finish looks much worse (gaps at the joint, chunks of wood missing by the battery compartment, ceramic heaters/plates elevated above the base of the wood making sliding the mouthpiece wood off a pain). I don’t know the makers mind and maybe these just got missed in qc, but it sure seems like craftsmanship was compromised to cash in on the demand. So quality unfortunately might be a half a dozen one way/6 the other kind of thing.

 

[Siebter]

I still use my TM without any added glass and don't consider it to be harsh at all. 7 and below at the dial is always smooth for me, above 7 I will have to wait for the cooling unit to cool down for a minute – I like to pause a bit in between hits, so it's not really an issue for me. But as others have mentioned, even way below 7 you will have great clouds.

 

[bossman]

Waiting isn’t really an issue @bossman. I’m not in any group that gets the vaccine soon. In theory my state just opened eligibility to anyone over 16, in practice all providers are still trying to get them into the arms of folks with high risk secondary conditions. I’ll be using at home for a while yet. Ideally I can hone in on one for now and avoid the need to resell for a loss: seems tm’s turn around time has gotten to like 10 days or less on the US. Maybe it’s just me but I’d never buy second hand without a discount as opposed to waiting two weeks.

@Texus the cs is a concern. It seems to have gotten better, but I tried to shoot them an email to ask a basic inquiry and didn’t hear anything back. Not exactly confidence inspiring. Fw is more responsive by all accounts, but I am a little concerned about the build quality. When it was first recommended to me back in February it was readily available on his site. At the time all the units I saw photos of looked top notch. In more recent photos since it blew up in popularity the fit and finish looks much worse (gaps at the joint, chunks of wood missing by the battery compartment, ceramic heaters/plates elevated above the base of the wood making sliding the mouthpiece wood off a pain). I don’t know the makers mind and maybe these just got missed in qc, but it sure seems like craftsmanship was compromised to cash in on the demand. So quality unfortunately might be a half a dozen one way/6 the other kind of thing.

I think you missed my point: there is no sell for a loss scenario and "hone in" just means using a Tinymight for a month or thinking about a FW7. None of this is anything to do with covid

 

[gordontreeman]

I think you missed my point: there is no sell for a loss scenario and "hone in" just means using a Tinymight for a month or thinking about a FW7. None of this is anything to do with covid

I didn’t miss your point, I just think it’s wrong. If you can get delivery brand new from the manufacturer why would you buy a used device second hand for the same price? Maybe there are a handful of very impatient users out there, but the six week wait for TM that caused the second hand market to support this seems to be gone.

Re: covid since I’m not vaccinated an on the go vape isn’t an immediate priority for me atm. I’m exceedingly happy with my Woodscents at home, and it might more realistically be May before I’m out and about with people (having received my vaccine). The wait for a fw isn’t a concern was my point.

 

[florduh]

I have both. If you’re looking for a truly pocketable portable option, go with the FW. I think the TM is bulky in pockets.

Some might say the FW is harder to load, but I don’t find glass stems that easy to load on the go either. I use little aluminum pill containers and just dump it into the oven.

 

[gordontreeman]

@florduh the bulk is something worth considering--a lot of the motivation for looking at the FW is that the recessed stem seems like it would be harder to break on the go. I'm not too concerned with loading, though. I'm kind of a lightweight so if I pack a bowl in either before setting out I'm going to be good for a few hours. Stopping by some trees to straw method a TM stem or re-pack a FW bowl isn't a huge concern to me.

For everyone asking or commenting about temp stepping, at least through water I do tend to prefer higher temps. I find it gives me a mellower experience that is usually more inline with what I want (sometimes obviously I'll turn it down for a more intellectually stimulating/active mood). I know its not that helpful in terms of what the actual temperature is, but on the dimmer dial with the woodscents I like an 8 through water. It leaves me coughing dry unless I take very small sips. Its about as comfortable as inhaling regular old air through water. The ABV ends up being a dark tobacco brown if that is helpful at all (I'm guessing not!)--certainly not the charcoal that I see a lot of folks on reddit chasing after to get every last molecule, but I also see folks here post pictures of ABV that I consider unacceptably green.

I don't really mind if the stem gets a bit warm and I need to let it cool back down before throwing it in my pocket, but I'm mostly a one hit wonder so my usage would be closer to @Siebter's with a minute or so between hits unless for whatever reason I'm with friends and we're really going for broke. Really just trying to get some perspective on how they compare cooling natively--sounds like its maybe a wash with the option to do a conduction warm up with the firewood to do smaller puffs than full convection sometimes offers? I think that matches my WS experience in that I "sip" dry, but its still a larger sip than if I were taking a sip off a joint as I need to get a minimum amount of hot air in there to get the vapor production rolling.

 

[Siebter]

The ABV ends up being a dark tobacco brown if that is helpful at all (I'm guessing not!)--certainly not the charcoal that I see a lot of folks on reddit chasing after to get every last molecule, but I also see folks here post pictures of ABV that I consider unacceptably green.

That's extremely hard to compare I think – cameras often fail to reproduce detailed color hues, many pictures I see are not even taken with a macro setting. Also keep in mind a conduction or hybrid device usually will create a darker abv compared to a convection device, both still can have the same efficiency.

I also like to point out that the necessary cooldown only refers to the temperature of the hits, the device itself hardly gets warm at all (at least not in on-demand mode); I can remove and clean the stem right after my last hit (usually at „8“).

 

[gordontreeman]

@Siebter yeah unfortunately its the best proxy for temperature I've got, I don't think it represents any kind of objective measurement--I would imagine if I had fresher flower with more moisture content vs dried out stuff the resulting avb color would be vastly different. Just meaning it as "on the temperature continuum, there are certainly people who go hotter than me, but I'm not exclusively flavor chasing."

 

[Siebter]

@gordontreeman – Sounds like a 6 or 7 on the dial for to me. :-)

Either way, I'm sure the TM will easily allow you to have a comfortable, yet punchy hit. It's a heavy hitting device, but that refers to the fast extraction it is capable of, not how harsh or hot it is. Setting the temp with the dial is easy and quick and becomes second nature after a few sessions.

 

[gordontreeman]

Definitely agree with you @Siebter and @bossman that the dial looks like a better solution for temp stepping than the presets on the FW. Through water I tend to really just sit at the same temp so I’m not sure how important that is. I guess hitting my WS natively I did do some more temp stepping.

Really though I think whichever cools more natively would be my preference. The FW seems a bit more pocketable, but I’m thinking if I take the stem out of the TM and maybe buy something small to wrap or keep it in with the tm (maybe a ryot case or similar) it will kind of be a wash.

 

[Siebter]

@gordontreeman – Carrying the TM in your jeans pocket might be not very practical, but beside that it is super portable. It comes with a hemp pouch which is good enough for my usual scenarios, even with the stem being inserted (others have posted hard case solutions over in the TM thread). That would even work in a jacket pocket or baggy pants. I would stay away from abusing it as a football, but it's actually a pretty sturdy thing (wood, thick glass, simple layout). Having some extra stems is always a good idea, but in almost 1½ years of TM usage I never had to use any of them.

 

[Texus]

@Texus the cs is a concern. It seems to have gotten better, but I tried to shoot them an email to ask a basic inquiry and didn’t hear anything back. Not exactly confidence inspiring. Fw is more responsive by all accounts, but I am a little concerned about the build quality. When it was first recommended to me back in February it was readily available on his site. At the time all the units I saw photos of looked top notch. In more recent photos since it blew up in popularity the fit and finish looks much worse (gaps at the joint, chunks of wood missing by the battery compartment, ceramic heaters/plates elevated above the base of the wood making sliding the mouthpiece wood off a pain). I don’t know the makers mind and maybe these just got missed in qc, but it sure seems like craftsmanship was compromised to cash in on the demand. So quality unfortunately might be a half a dozen one way/6 the other kind of thing.

I haven't been following FW threads about those build issues that you mentioned, but can say that I'm super pleased with the build quality on what I received from the last batch (the Sunday drop that then included later dates that you could buy rather than just selling out in 2 min). Even without the wax/oil applied by FW (I'll apply any oil etc to the wood myself), it is a great feeling product with nice tight tolerances.

 

[Shit Snacks]

... Doesn't the FW have like three temp settings and you switch between then by button pushing and haptic feedback?

Yes but you can set these three temp settings to be whatever you want, default is 340-380-420, I reset my new one down to 310-340-370 to milk those low temps, still get great clouds and thorough extraction with long hits, never any scorch bits, and it is a fine temp step range for me... But yeah the TM dial is nice because you get the full range without any setup so you can temp step more finer, like often with my TM I start at level two and go up .5 increments or less, temp stepping each hit... However both feel pretty analog and yes do have a full range of temperatures to use!

I didn’t miss your point, I just think it’s wrong. If you can get delivery brand new from the manufacturer why would you buy a used device second hand for the same price? Maybe there are a handful of very impatient users out there, but the six week wait for TM that caused the second hand market to support this seems to be gone.

I actually think you did miss his point, he was saying you can sell whichever one you do not like, not that you should buy a used one yourself... "Both resell for full price in the unlikely event you want to sell your TM" So his advice was by TM now while you can, by FW later, sell the one you don't like... Sorry seems like that went missed unless I am wrong?

 

[gordontreeman]

Hmm, I guess I am just contending that now that delivery times seems to be well within 2 weeks for the TM, selling a used (especially a month or so of use) unit at cost seems unlikely to me. Maybe both of you aren’t being so literal and are meaning like a 10% depreciation (which depending on use for a vape might not be so bad). Sorry if this was unclear.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Hmm, I guess I am just contending that now that delivery times seems to be well within 2 weeks for the TM, selling a used (especially a month or so of use) unit at cost seems unlikely to me. Maybe both of you aren’t being so literal and are meaning like a 10% depreciation (which depending on use for a vape might not be so bad). Sorry if this was unclear.

Oh now I understand, you wouldn't want to sell a used vape, at cost brand new, which is mighty scrupulous of you! However yeah people still seem to snatch them up in classifieds or entexchange, because for some people even a week or two is too long to wait, also the international shipping...

 

[gordontreeman]

Oh now I understand, you wouldn't want to sell a used vape, at cost brand new, which is mighty scrupulous of you! However yeah people still seem to snatch them up in classifieds or entexchange, because for some people even a week or two is too long to wait, also the international shipping...

Haha, not quite. I would be happy to sell it at cost (provided everyone knew it was used and such). I'm just thinking once most folks hear that delivery is now coming from the manufacturer inside of two weeks they would expect more of a discount on a used product and I would likely be selling it for at least a small loss. Maybe that is not the case yet. I personally would not pay the original cost for a used product that is so accessible, but that is just me!

 

[Shit Snacks]

Haha, not quite. I would be happy to sell it at cost (provided everyone knew it was used and such). I'm just thinking once most folks hear that delivery is now coming from the manufacturer inside of two weeks they would expect more of a discount on a used product and I would likely be selling it for at least a small loss. Maybe that is not the case yet. I personally would not pay the original cost for a used product that is so accessible, but that is just me!

Ah Yeah I agree I would not either but some people prefer to buy stuff within the US, because when vgoodiez started to carry the VB they were a little more expensive however you were able to pay by credit card (had to be bank transfer at the time from AoV) and have them shipped within the US already so very quick and by regular mail...

 

[BrianTL]

There's lots of positive feedback about both, but it seems like the vast majority of people are using them through water or with J-hooks. That is rad, but I'm really interested in how they do at cooling higher temps in their portable set ups: probably the short stem + cooling unit for the TM and the dimpled stem (or maybe an aftermarket beaded option) for the FW.

I kind of skimmed through the responses but didn't see anybody address this... and I dont think this is actually the case at all. I'm sure more people are using it through water than J hooks but even then, I'm thinking the most common use is with the native stock stem + cooling unit for the TM or the stock stem on the FW.

Like I got my TM in October, used it through water maybe 3 times and just got my first J Hooks 3 weeks ago... and only have maybe 2 weeks of use out of them. Other than that this whole time I've been using the stock short stem and cooling units.

Similar to the FW7, which I got in November, I had only used the stock cooling stem, never ran it through water, and it's seen split duty with the TM since I got my hooks switching back and forth.

Portability wise I think they're both great in the stock set up. I have no issues with either of them at the higher temps, I mean sure it gets a little hot on the throat but you can't expect it to be as smooth as it is running it though water for example.

9/10 times for being out of the house, I will take the TM. Yes it's a little more bulkier but for being on the go I find it to be more convenient. Basically if I'm going out for something quick like walking the dog, I might take the FW. If I'm going to be gone for the whole day or multiple days, I go for the TM. Much easier to load on the go IMO which is pretty valuable to me