Alright, these are my favorite kind of vapes and I want to compare the pros and cons of each. This is not a place for fanboy nonsense, just a comparison of the function and feel of the products themselves.
The Zion: This is the "original" I suppose. It's got a ton of power, and it's a big wooden brick. I get great results from the Zi but it isn't my favorite of these vapes for a few reasons. For one, I find the knob to be kind of useless. Maybe my unit runs cool but I never turn the knob, I keep it turned all the way up at all times. I also find it's easy to overpower the heater, so I tend to feather or partially cover the air inlet. I don't have to do this on any of my other vapes in this category.
The fit and finish is pretty damn good. The magnetic cap and battery door are well made and satisfying to remove/replace.
I use this one in the same vein as a "desktop replacement" laptop. That is to say it's not something I carry around with my everywhere but if I'm going to a friends place or camping and I want a desktop experience this is the one I'll take.
The Milaana: This was my favorite for a long time, and for good reason. It's dead simple well built, and Performs like a champ. No feathering of the intake necessary. It's small, comfortable, and cool-looking. I do not particularly like the "guitar pick" method for battery safety, but it works well enough.
The Splinter: I got to admit, I'm not a fan of the 510 form factor at all. My splinter broke after 2 hits and Ryan has agreed to fix/replace it but I haven't had the time to send it back. That said, it worked fantastically for those two hits. The 510 connector is better quality than the one used in the IH, but the wood was fastened to the metal with some sort of adhesive which I believe is why it failed.
The Insta-Heat 510: On the surface it's similar to the splinter but there are key differences. The 510 connector I'm sorry to say just doesn't feel as well made, it doesn't thread as smoothly and I'm concerned about long term wear if I were to constantly switch what it's on. But the unit is fit to the 510 connectors O-rings, so the wood slides on and off if needed for service and it will never fail in the same fashion that the splinter did.
The Insta-Heat Plug-In: I find this one to be noticeably more powerful than the others on this list. I keep it at just above 50% power. It still uses a 510 connection but has a base unit that plugs into a power supply. The 10A PSU is quite large. This is my go-to desktop solution because it provides all the benefits and power of these other heaters with a tiny form factor and no need to hassle with batteries. It's probably the most versatile on the list because you can take the 510 heater off and use it with a box mod if you wish.
The Lil' Bud: Similar in form factor to the Milaana. Uses the same spiral heater and all-wood, no glass heater design as the Insta-Heat. It has a magnetic battery door and a little tab for battery cut-off. I definitely like the battery door a lot more than the thumbscrew/copper plate on the Mi, but unsure on how I feel about the cutoff tab. Seems like it could easily get lost. Also not a fan of the shape of the battery door. It's got squared off edges that dig into your palm, vs. the fully rounded side of the Milaana in you palm when in use.
Heater differences between RBT's Heater and Alan's Spiral Heater:
RBT's heater is a mesh folded in a Christmas tree shape with a mica plate down the middle to insulate it. The sides of the mesh may touch the glass insert, which is glued to the wood at the top rim. This top rim is cool to the touch even after abuse, so the glue isn't a safety/health issue.
Alan's Spiral heater is a mesh spiral that is held up on two poles. There is no glass insert and the spiral doesn't touch the wooden sides of the heater cavity at any point. The wood is tapered to a 18mm glass connection so it works with all the same stems and accessories as RBT heaters or any other 18mm glass vape product.
This has two effects. One is that heat up AND cool down times are faster. Less mass to heat up. Because of this you don't "ride the wave" quite as much, since the heater isn't holding onto all that heat.
In practice this means a slight variation on how much you hold the button on subsequent hits
With the spiral if you hold the button for too long you'll get a "hot spiral" where with the RBT products if you hold it for too long you get a hotspot. It's a minor difference honestly and with proper technique you shouldn't be seeing hot spots or hot spirals with either device.
If you tap on the side of a vape with the spiral heater you can hear and feel a bit of "springiness" as the heater warps slightly and then returns to form. Kinda fun, but has no effect on functionality.
TL;DR
The short version is that all of these vapes are well made and produce great vapor. They all have design and form factor differences that make them each unique.
I use my Zion for camping/friends houses, my LB or Mi as the stealthy on the go/movie theater vape and the IH as my home vape. I haven't found a good fit in my life for the 510 versions, but they might be the right fit for someone else.
Missing: What other vapes belong in this category? The Mistvape Touch? What else am I missing? How do they compare to the vapes listed above? What are your experiences with these vapes?
The Zion: This is the "original" I suppose. It's got a ton of power, and it's a big wooden brick. I get great results from the Zi but it isn't my favorite of these vapes for a few reasons. For one, I find the knob to be kind of useless. Maybe my unit runs cool but I never turn the knob, I keep it turned all the way up at all times. I also find it's easy to overpower the heater, so I tend to feather or partially cover the air inlet. I don't have to do this on any of my other vapes in this category.
The fit and finish is pretty damn good. The magnetic cap and battery door are well made and satisfying to remove/replace.
I use this one in the same vein as a "desktop replacement" laptop. That is to say it's not something I carry around with my everywhere but if I'm going to a friends place or camping and I want a desktop experience this is the one I'll take.
The Milaana: This was my favorite for a long time, and for good reason. It's dead simple well built, and Performs like a champ. No feathering of the intake necessary. It's small, comfortable, and cool-looking. I do not particularly like the "guitar pick" method for battery safety, but it works well enough.
The Splinter: I got to admit, I'm not a fan of the 510 form factor at all. My splinter broke after 2 hits and Ryan has agreed to fix/replace it but I haven't had the time to send it back. That said, it worked fantastically for those two hits. The 510 connector is better quality than the one used in the IH, but the wood was fastened to the metal with some sort of adhesive which I believe is why it failed.
The Insta-Heat 510: On the surface it's similar to the splinter but there are key differences. The 510 connector I'm sorry to say just doesn't feel as well made, it doesn't thread as smoothly and I'm concerned about long term wear if I were to constantly switch what it's on. But the unit is fit to the 510 connectors O-rings, so the wood slides on and off if needed for service and it will never fail in the same fashion that the splinter did.
The Insta-Heat Plug-In: I find this one to be noticeably more powerful than the others on this list. I keep it at just above 50% power. It still uses a 510 connection but has a base unit that plugs into a power supply. The 10A PSU is quite large. This is my go-to desktop solution because it provides all the benefits and power of these other heaters with a tiny form factor and no need to hassle with batteries. It's probably the most versatile on the list because you can take the 510 heater off and use it with a box mod if you wish.
The Lil' Bud: Similar in form factor to the Milaana. Uses the same spiral heater and all-wood, no glass heater design as the Insta-Heat. It has a magnetic battery door and a little tab for battery cut-off. I definitely like the battery door a lot more than the thumbscrew/copper plate on the Mi, but unsure on how I feel about the cutoff tab. Seems like it could easily get lost. Also not a fan of the shape of the battery door. It's got squared off edges that dig into your palm, vs. the fully rounded side of the Milaana in you palm when in use.
Heater differences between RBT's Heater and Alan's Spiral Heater:
RBT's heater is a mesh folded in a Christmas tree shape with a mica plate down the middle to insulate it. The sides of the mesh may touch the glass insert, which is glued to the wood at the top rim. This top rim is cool to the touch even after abuse, so the glue isn't a safety/health issue.
Alan's Spiral heater is a mesh spiral that is held up on two poles. There is no glass insert and the spiral doesn't touch the wooden sides of the heater cavity at any point. The wood is tapered to a 18mm glass connection so it works with all the same stems and accessories as RBT heaters or any other 18mm glass vape product.
This has two effects. One is that heat up AND cool down times are faster. Less mass to heat up. Because of this you don't "ride the wave" quite as much, since the heater isn't holding onto all that heat.
In practice this means a slight variation on how much you hold the button on subsequent hits
With the spiral if you hold the button for too long you'll get a "hot spiral" where with the RBT products if you hold it for too long you get a hotspot. It's a minor difference honestly and with proper technique you shouldn't be seeing hot spots or hot spirals with either device.
If you tap on the side of a vape with the spiral heater you can hear and feel a bit of "springiness" as the heater warps slightly and then returns to form. Kinda fun, but has no effect on functionality.
TL;DR
The short version is that all of these vapes are well made and produce great vapor. They all have design and form factor differences that make them each unique.
I use my Zion for camping/friends houses, my LB or Mi as the stealthy on the go/movie theater vape and the IH as my home vape. I haven't found a good fit in my life for the 510 versions, but they might be the right fit for someone else.
Missing: What other vapes belong in this category? The Mistvape Touch? What else am I missing? How do they compare to the vapes listed above? What are your experiences with these vapes?
