==== Thoughts on the Haze V3: Almost a year on ====
by Bibbly Bobbly
Almost a year on - something like 9-10 months to be not very much more precise. And around this time I find it therapeutic to write a brief review of my experiences, as I did for my 1-year anniversary with the Vaponic (
http://fuckcombustion.com/posts/723772/) to collect my thoughts.
Why did I get a Haze?
Haze ownership has propelled me through variety of emotions and new experiences; so I may as well start at the beginning. Having flirted with vapour using the Vaponic for a while, I felt I needed the convenience that only electricity could provide, in order to sever my ties with combustion once and for all. After much consideration of what I wanted from an electric vaporizer:
- reliability
- hygiene and safety
- versatility - specifically UK-import-resin-vaporability (we will revisit this topic later...)
- replaceable battery
I did some research and opted for the Haze V3, also considering the Arizer Air. The 10 year warranty clinched it for me - that policy reflects their devotion to QC and subsequent risk management - money talks. I actually made the decision right around the time the V2.5 was being phased out, so I actually pre-ordered the V3.
I met Vapour God and shook his hand
After several weeks of anticipation, I took delivery of the V3 and began to realise that I had been using my Vaponic kind of wrong, and often ending up with combustion. I was enamored with the Haze's computer-precise control of long vapour sessions. Producing tons of V before changing taste and thereby signalling that it's time to switch off and dump the dried-out herb. It actually made me better at using the Vaponic. For quite a while I was only vaping, except the occasional smoke with friends. I can confirm, like everybody says, that the Haze tastes great, is very convenient to use, and feels well-built.
The fall from grace
Around xmas time my jubilant innocence was shattered into pieces by a faulty switch. Haze was very helpful about it - I'm pretty sure they paid for the shipping back to the US, and eventually they just gave me a new unit instead of repairing the old one. Along with some extra cans and other peripherals.
During this dark period I realized that there was so much of the device closed off and unavailable for cleaning. It worried me considering the international shipping. I gave it a very thorough going over with alcohol beforehand, but this still tickled my paranoia gland. It also worries me about the long term stability. How long can it keep accumulating crap under those little holes before something stops functioning optimally (without voiding my warranty and taking it apart, I can only speculate)? Sure you can stick a cotton bud down the hole where the mouthpiece goes, and get off (hopefully?) most of that crap, but the region under the ovens is inaccessible as far as I can tell. And honestly, even the mouthpiece part - I'm not really satisfied with how clean I can get that, given that I can't properly see down into it. Not satisfied enough for international travel (currently under discussion over at
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/vapes-on-planes-traveling-with-vaporizers.239/). While Hazeless I didn't use the Vaponic much because I couldn't be bothered to fiddle around with butane torches anymore. The new Haze arrived and it's been smooth sailing ever since.
What does the future hold?
Nowadays the Haze sees a bit of use, although I often fall back to that duplicitous siren, smoking. I can mostly attribute this to not really caring for my health or future at times. But my existential turmoil can hardly be blamed on the device.
I now consider buying an Arizer Air, because its loading mechanism and air-path seem to be all exposed up at the top, and readily cleanable. I'm not sure whether this is a grass-is-greener thing, or whether it's part of my cultural indoctrination that buying more shit will solve all my problems. I know a lot of you guys have zillions of vaporizers, but I never really intended to go down that rabbit hole (that's not a judgement by the way!)
In closing: it's a vaporizer.
P.S. A more fine-grained resolution for battery level wouldn't hurt.
P.P.S. I forgot that I never revisited that UK-import-resin topic. In short, I tried it a couple of times and it didn't work that well.