Most Efficient Portable? For beginners (groups of 2 to 6)

[lfzero]

Hi there, I'm looking for a vape to order very soon. I've eliminated the following

• Fury 2 - too little battery
• Sticky Bricks - noobs (like my friends and me) will probably heat too short or too long
• Pax 2 & 3 - inefficient, battery could be better, price is too high
• CF & CFX - battery could be better & not super efficient
• Lots of others because they're way over the $175 price ceiling (need everything from ground up, not just the vape for that price.)

Seems like the ones in the running are the Vapcap M the Solo 2 (tiny bit over my price limit, but if it's that worth it, another $15 isn't gonna break the bank) and maybe a few others like the Air 2. I'm trying to determine relative efficiency as I think that'll really help me make a good determination. I'll define what I mean by efficiency below for clarify, and describe how I'll be using whatever I get.

Preamble: I need a grinder, lighter (if necessary,) and whatever else is usually needed to vape (material containers?) I don't know anything about that stuff either, so recommendations about those are appreciated too.

Efficiency to me: When I say efficiency I mean it isn't going to waste weed. I'm a beginner with low tolerance and low experience, and so are my friends. We try to take it slow because we get too high pretty easily. A round may constitute 6 ppl passing and each taking a small to medium sized hit, and then waiting 5 it 10 minutes.

Price Range: Hoping to stay under $175, all-in, but I'll reach a bit above that if it's really worthwhile. I'm an infrequent, and light-weight user (which isn't going to change,) so I'm not looking to spend a lot.

# of Participants: Anywhere from 2 ppl to 6 ppl. Primary use is small gatherings of 4 to 6 ppl. Secondary is me and my significant other only. Typically all participants have very low tolerances and very little experience (this describes me too.)

Locations: Often smoking will be inside, but occasionally it will be used outside (camping / bonfire) and very occasionally we may need to be discrete.

Toking Routine: I don't toke much. I usually have leftovers which get forgotten in a drawer and go bad (I realize that need to look up how to store it better.) I smoke maybe 10 to 15 times a year at max with friends, but most of that is stuff they provide, and often it's combusting so I'm trying to fix that. Having a vaporizer may bump it to 20 times/year

Extraction Speed: Doesn't matter as long as it's efficient and easy for beginners.

Environment/Form: Ideally something stealthy and portable is favorable. For reference, my Pixel 2 XL is considered portable for me despite being a big phone. I will smoke at home, at friends, both inside and outside, and take it camping like once a year. Discretion isn't a primary concern, but would be a bonus.

Vape Experience: This will be my first vaporizer. I've used a friend's Vapcap once or twice, and another friend's resin pen once, but beyond that it has only been smoking.

Personal Requests: Fairly simple for beginners to use, portable / pocketable, quick shipping (need it by Friday.) I strongly prefer good battery life and USB charging, however for units like the Solo 2, as long as a can buy a cord in Amazon that is USB A to whatever type of input the vape uses, that will work for me -- basically I want to be able to connect it to my USB battery pack for charging on the go, if necessary.

Location: Western, NY -- not in a city (in other words I'm not living in Buffalo)


Any and all suggestions are discussion are welcome. Thank you in advance!

 

[ginolicious]

Get a mighty. End of story.

 

[lfzero]

Get a mighty. End of story.

Thanks for your contribution, however the Mighty is not one I'm considering because of the relatively high price. For my particular use-case it does not make sense unfortunately.

 

[ginolicious]

Haze Dual V3. Removable battery. Get two. Two bowls.

 

[lfzero]

Haze Dual V3. Removable battery. Get two. Two bowls.

Again, I really do appreciate you providing recommendations, however once again, the price limit I'm trying to work within in greatly exceeded here. My ceiling is ideally $175 all in... I'm still considering the Solo 2 because at only $15 over target, and seemingly one of the best vapes on the market, that's an acceptable increase. At $250, the Haze Dual 3 is $75 over budget, which is roughly a 43% price increase - that's unfortunately too steep.

 

[ginolicious]

You are looking for a needle in a haystack. Getting a cheap vape that’s good for heavy use in groups and sessions. Even a vapcap wouldn’t do well in a session. Reloading all the time.

 

[lfzero]

You are looking for a needle in a haystack. Getting a cheap vape that’s good for heavy use in groups and sessions. Even a vapcap wouldn’t do well in a session. Reloading all the time.

Yeah, that is kinda what I figured :/
And the Vapcap reloading is actually one of the major reasons I posted - when we used my friend's we were frequently opening it up to try and reload it and/or to see if it was spent. As our dexterity and the light decreased things got tougher and tougher.

I guess now that I'm thinking about it, it does kinda sound like I'm looking for something that probably doesn't exist -- an on-demand session hybrid...

What about this - would I be able to use the Solo 2 or something similar to pass around, but also just load in less material when using it between only 2 ppl?

 

[GreenHopper]

I think the Solo 2 is a good option for you but you should also check out the LilBud by Vapwood.

FC thread here.

It starts at $160 for a cherry unit.

Uses a single 18650 battery.

You can get an 'X-tar MC1 Ant' (MC2 for dual Bay) charger that will allow you to use a USB battery pack to charge the batteries.

Is a very efficient convection based vape. Efficient both with material and battery power. Made mostly of wood.

It is unregulated so there is a little bit of a learning curve but you'll figure it out fairly quickly.

It's pocket friendly.

Uses a standard 18mm GonG joint for standard stems so you can buy more stems in the future. This would allow you to prepack stems.

I haven't got one myself yet but mine is on the way. Users seem to be enjoying it and @ $160 it's great value.

 

[CarolKing]

I have the Solo original and the Solo 2. I like my Solo 2 and the original. It isn’t the most powerful unit out there but it’s powerful enough for me. It isn’t a weed hog. It conserves the herb pretty well. I use a log vape at home as well it even uses less weed.

A plug in will be more powerful. A powerhouse of a plug in is the EVO.

I have the Milaana, it’s a powerful portable but has a learning curve. The most powerful vape isn’t always what I’m looking for. A lot can be said for ease and convenience.

I’ve heard the Air 2 isn’t as good as the Solo 2.

We are all different so you will get a lot of answers. You may eventually want to add to your hobby so keep your options open.

 

[virtualpurple]

If you can flex slightly upwards on your budget the tubo evic is available for $195.00 and for another 11 bucks you can get a braided whip tubing which will help cool the vapor.

Save some cost up front and hand tear your herb or use a mug. After a few puffs take out the nug and crumble it between your fingers and suck it back up! Your next rips after that will pump out some huge clouds. You can save up for a grinder while still having a portable vape that is super efficient and can entertain a group.

 

[arb]

Solo for one hundred and eight wins for me.......it is much better than the air 2.

 

[CarolKing]

I’ve been reading up on the Fury 2. You might want to check that portable out. A lot of folks have been talking about that vape. It’s not too expensive either. Not too many little parts to lose.

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

6 people to one portable? Forget it. How about a Lil Bud which you could pass around.

 

[Vaporware]

With one or more VapCaps you could keep going all night, any battery powered option will run out at some point (unless you buy a bunch of extra batteries or have a way to charge when camping).

I wouldn’t personally choose a VapCap over all plug-in and battery powered capes, but for the requirements you have and the budget you’re working with I think it’s a good option and it won’t fail on you.

You shouldn’t have to check it as often once you get used to it, but needing to check and reload it more often than some others is one drawback.

If you liked your previous VapCap experiences, my recommendation for < $175 would be to get a couple of them to cut down on waiting, frequency of reloading, etc. Maybe an M and an $85 NonaVonG which would have a titanium tip. Unlike the stainless steel tip in the M, the Ti tips have 3 settings to hold approximately 0.01g, 0.05g and 0.075g if I remember correctly, so there’s some versatility there for those with a low tolerance.

Don’t expect to easily adjust the Ti tip each load in the dark while camping though. It’s fairly easy (I just push the screen in and out with the condenser tube), but if you’re trying to adjust it too much under those conditions you’ll probably start losing screens.

It’s not a bad idea to pick up a couple of extra screens and stuff anyway, and of course you need a couple of torches and some butane.

Or you could get one VapCap, a battery powered induction heater, and maybe a torch for a backup and still come in around your budget.

There are some other great options out there, and some were mentioned, but the only other one I can think of right now that fits your needs and budget is the MVT/MVT 2 (MistVape Touch). Oh, and maybe the Firewood 5 but I forget the price. You can load several bowls in it at once and quickly switch between them, so as long as you had enough batteries that could be a good option for a group.

 

[virtualpurple]

I also would give consideration to getting a few vapcaps. Wait for a sale and pick up a few M’s and an induction heater from pipes or a few torches if you don’t mind butane and the clutter of having a few lighters to carry around with your other vapcaps and herb. You can gradually save up for a few titanium stems down the road if you want to achieve a faster heat up and cool down as well as an adjustable oven.

Hell, I rotate through a few different stems and comfogurations often when I am vaping solo.

 

[Andreaerdna]

For a beginner Solo or even better solo2 is my advice (then a vapcap M as a solid backup)

 

[LesPlenty]

I usually take all my portables to social gatherings and most newbie`s seem to like my Arizer Air OG for the taste, ease of use(5 heat settings so no worry about temps/combusting) and form/feel(no silicon condom when trying to impress). You can charge from any usb and swap batteries if needed(18650) and it is very efficient.

 

[Andreaerdna]

Sorry I missed the 2-6 group situation when recommending solo and vapcap (those are oriented to individual use IME or occasionally 2 persons max)

I believe sticky bricks, even the junior, should do the job better: easier to reload frequently and needing less butane even than vapcap, but delivering huge amounts of thick convective vapor. It is bigger (zero stealth) and needs more learning/control and has a ritual similar to pipe smoking (load-stirr-tamp-dump-reload) with risk of combustion but it should be intuitive and harmless for a smoker or person in soft transition from smoking (in addiction to be very satisfying)

 

[Mookie0608]

For that many people hands down I would say volcano. Pax is simple to use so is mighty but I would go with the volcano first for that many people.

 

[Slagzord]

Yeah, I'd say get a Solo 2. Hell, you could get a Solo 1 and a vape cap. Nothing wrong with the OG Solo! I have one from 2011 or 2012 that has been used near daily and hasn't crapped out! Price is right too!

The desktop is also worth exploring and shouldn't be discounted. For ease of use a log like an Enano is pretty up there. Efficiency can't be beat. They're also easy on newbies and there isn't any real draw technique and they're not imposing like a fully set up Flowerpot.

My honest thought is that you should buy a vape that meets your immediate needs because a 5-6 person session is going to drain any bowl. And when you have that many people, sometimes you just need a couple going for peopleto be truly happy. At my buddy's bachelor we had 8 dudes, so we were rocking my Crafty, a Solo/Air, vapcap with IH, and I was chilling by my flowerpot as dabs scared the other dudes.

So yeah, two Solos or something.

 

[LesPlenty]

5-6 person session is going to drain any bowl

I took my Plenty to an out door party hooked up to an inverter and battery, it got at least 6 people smashed with it`s 1 gram bowl. I also had the reducer with 8 caps loaded for smaller seshes as the night progressed, most people could not believe the effects of the Plenty but most still said the Arizer Air tasted the best.