Thanks for the post, PPN!
A note for those that think visibility or "cloudiness" is an accurate gauge of hit potency;
it's not.
Visibility/thickness of vapor is caused by the condensation of vapor against the particulate in the airstream and lack of fresh air. The percentage of particulate and fresh air in the airstream are also the main contributing factors in the harshness of each hit.
Visibility of vapor is incidental.
When you grind or go to very high temperatures you allow
far more particulate into the airstream; which
appears to create "thicker/bigger" hits, but in reality they are no more potent than the "thinner" looking, less harsh clouds HA would have produced without grinding.
Knowing this fact, it becomes obvious as to why other vapes that
require a fine grind and/or stirring throughout the session to extract all the actives appear to be "cloudier" or "heavier hitters", when in reality they are extracting less of the total actives per hit; producing weaker, yet cloudier/thicker/harsher vapor.
There are many reasons to NOT grind with the Herbalaire; reducing/eliminating the issues PPN mentioned.
Don't let smokier vapor visibility trick you into thinking grinding and/or vaporizers that require grinding are functionally preferable.
An example of visibility not equaling potency: I
always produced "thicker, cloudier, bigger" hits from my Purple-Days than I do with 5x the material in my Herbalaire. However, the thicker/cloudier/bigger hits from the fractional amount in the PD were also 1/5th the strength.
Not to mention the mandatory ultra-fine grind and "golfball through a garden hose" level of airflow the Purple-Days required...
Just some food for thought.