OO: One thing you must be aware that you heat the heating element to much higher temperature than the one that reaches the herb. In case of flame powered, the metal is heated above 250 degree celsius, where low-temp oxidation begins at 300. Glass Vapo-Bowl heating element isnt even pure stainless steel I would say. Mine collapsed after extensive heating and I can confirm the flaking. I did posted pictures of the broken vapo-bowl hat but somehow there is no this thread anymore. (I don't mean the one in ask FC section).
The airpath IS altered by metal. The bor. glass should not release anything up to the 1000 degrees.
You are right that gn0me has bigger surface area, that's why it can retain heat better than Vapocane / VG / Vapo-bowl. It is also heated indirectly so you dont inhale burned fuel. Vapocane can be heated indirectly too but I find this less effective than with gn0me for you need bigger torch and longer pre-heat. with gn0me slider I used our kitchen toaster as a heater (see the gn0mes thread) so its quite effective to sum up:
gn0me - pure airpath, all-glass, good heat retain,
vapo-bowl - non qual. metal source, direct method (you inhale burned fuel)
vapocane - pure airpath, all- glass, bad heat retain
VG - bad quality ceramic element (see glass VG thread), direct method
The airpath IS altered by metal. The bor. glass should not release anything up to the 1000 degrees.
You are right that gn0me has bigger surface area, that's why it can retain heat better than Vapocane / VG / Vapo-bowl. It is also heated indirectly so you dont inhale burned fuel. Vapocane can be heated indirectly too but I find this less effective than with gn0me for you need bigger torch and longer pre-heat. with gn0me slider I used our kitchen toaster as a heater (see the gn0mes thread) so its quite effective to sum up:
gn0me - pure airpath, all-glass, good heat retain,
vapo-bowl - non qual. metal source, direct method (you inhale burned fuel)
vapocane - pure airpath, all- glass, bad heat retain
VG - bad quality ceramic element (see glass VG thread), direct method