Need suggestions for 1st purchase.

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Red-eyed Pete

Red-eyed Pete

New Member
Hey all, I'm totally new to using a vaporizer and looking to purchase my 1st unit. I've been reading through some posts but I could definitely use a point in the right direction among all this information. Here is what I'm looking for:

Odor Control/Stealth - I live in a drafty, non-smoking(including incense) apartment building. I currently use a 1-hitter and blower(cardboard tube with softner sheets) to help cover the scent but it's not ideal.

Flower/Oil - I prefer using flower over oils. I usually grind but I don't want to have to grind it into a fine powder. If I find a unit that also can use oil that's a definite bonus.

Quality Materials - I do have medical concerns so I'd rather have quality if I can afford it, definitely don't need to be sucking on any lead-based paint or plastic.

Price - I'm hoping to keep it under $150 if that's possible. Less is even better since I live in a state where I wouldn't be able to return a unit if it brakes.

Usage - I usually smoke at between 3-5 puffs at a time so I don't need anything that'll require a huge battery if I go portable. This is also a concern related to odor control, I need something that won't stink if I don't finish the bowl.

Portable vs. Plug-in - Portable would be nice but if it means saving a decent amount of cash I'd go plug-in so long as it's something I could stash quickly. Something that's not a pain to clean will also be a big help.

Thank you for taking the time to read and any advice you have.
 
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Mr. Whitewall

Well-Known Member
Well, awaiting the more veteran members' opinion, heres my little wall of text/:2c::


Odor Control/Stealth - Regarding smell, units will always of something especially if they are warm right after use, although some more than others. I have had 2 VERY 'high risk' relatives (father AND grandfather :argh:) around it, and it was funny to see them try to pinpoint exactly was that mushy peas smell lingering somewhere near my funny-looking Solo. If it doesn't combust you'll always have an edge :ninja:.
If you refer to the smell that you exhale, then there's not much to worry, pace the toke using the famous rebreathing technique (hold it in about 2-5 seconds, then exhale slowly through nose or mouth til you see/taste some vapor, then inhale fresh air and so on, til' there's no more vapor coming out of your lungs). Usually about 3 breaths in for me.

Quality Materials - I don't think anyone here will recommend any vape that thay wouldn't use themselves (if they don't already have one already that is!). Knock-offs, etc, are labeled as such so you are forewarned where you get into.

Usage - It isn't my style of use so I may not be of much help here :p sorry. But I'll still tryto give you some advice, please feel free to completely disregard, as it may be completely unfounded :whoa:

Portable vs. Plug-in - Well, you can always get a desktop and 'hide it in plain sight' saying it is for aromatherapy purposes (you may also want to use it so before and after a session to mask any smell both in the room and from the vape itself) a portable may attract more attention regarding its design, whatever the model. If its a key factor for choosing your vape I'd get something that really looks/works for aromatherapy purposes, instead of a fancy-looking thing.

Based on these rants/considerations, you still have a few vapes to choose from:
-The ones @Vapour Haze mentions.
-Log Vapes: E-Nano/Underdog. Right up your alley, they look very nice and perform as aromatherapy devices for around 125$. Sturdy as hell and solid customer support. They are members of this forum too. You can still get some nice legal herbs with the $25 left over. There is a related thread (sorry brother I'm too tired to go looking for the links at the moment :p).
-Solo. Looks like a naked log vape, performs similarly but its a battery-powered portable. You can get a good discount for being a member from sponsored retailers here on-site.
You may just take out the glass/wood/nylon stem (depending on model chosen) provided after a few hits.
-Something from 7th Floor maybe? A Silver Surfer Vaporizer could tick all the boxes as well.
-Extreme Q?
-Vapolution 2.0/3.0??
-VaporGenie? May smell a bit after use, but if you can cool it a bit and clean it/stash it in a smell-proof bag it may as well work for you.

Actually, you may even want to add the VG to any of the other above... May just go about $20 over your budget or so and add a cheap gas-powered back-up.


Again please feel free to completely disregard, as I don't own most of these vapes, but I have read extensively and some of these are on my prescription for curing VAS as well. :drool:

Hope this helps, sorry for the long post... It's pretty late in the morning here :p

Oh btw, welcome to FC and happy vaping! :tup:
 
OF

OF

Well-Known Member
Excellent suggestions pf proven 'good choices for a first vape' so far. I'd like to add Vapor Genie (avoid the bat versions) as well.

Some of the suggestions (like Air) are otherwise excellent choices but not appropriate to "between 3-5 puffs at a time so I don't need anything that'll require a huge battery if I go portable". Taking a couple of minutes to get going (two to even get to temperature, longer to fully heat soak the load) makes them not practical for grabbing a few quick hits.

Lots of good choices, hard to go wrong if you stick to the list.

Best wishes,

OF
 
OF

OF

Well-Known Member
Mr.tuffyino-h-i-o said:
Guess that could be complex for some.

...and battery last for 6 sessions.
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It's not really a question of intelligence or prowess with one's chosen tool, I think most would consider Solo and Air 'session vapes'. As you just did? In a fraction of the total time with Air one could take a few quick hits with VG, VM, MFLB or the FM Mini, have it back in their pocket and be on their way again and not be dealing with a HOT stem? While FM still has the hot stem 'issue' it's not only faster to temperature but has a built in storage place for the stem ready and waiting.

Having those and a few other excellent vapes handy when it comes to grabbing a couple hits, even when not 'on the sly', I don't reach for Air or Solo. Despite their excellent performance as a session vape.

My recommendation to the OP stands owner skill not withstanding. For his consideration.

His call, of course.

Another thought is you really need to have a backup vape no matter, both for a 'change of pace' and as protection from being tempted to backslide to combustion in the event of failure. Those vapes, being about half the price of Solo or Air also have an advantage there?

natural farmer said:
Bro… just wait for the Grasshopper! Actually go ahead and pre-order it so you can take it faster. It should cover all bases… :tup:
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Possibly another good choice, should it ever be delivered (it's how much over a year late?). For a guy looking for a first vape I think one that's available and has some positive record with a broad spectrum of owners might be a better call today?

Once available and established it could be appropriate I think. For now, ESV does basically the same things I think, and is available? Not that I think it's as good a choice as a first vape as the ones listed above.

OF
 
max

max

Out to lunch
Red-eyed Pete said:
definitely don't need to be sucking on any lead-based paint or plastic.
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Lead paint? Well there's the ancient flame powered Vape Buddy (which you won't find available). As for plastics, they're all high temp space age versions and not exposed to vaping temps anyway.
Red-eyed Pete said:
Price - I'm hoping to keep it under $150 if that's possible. Less is even better since I live in a state where I wouldn't be able to return a unit if it brakes.
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You can safely ship any vape, as long as you clean it, no matter where you live. Any concerns in this area are unfounded.
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
First vape I do not recommend the MFLB due to it not being a fixed temp(my first vape was a mflb but looking back I should've gone for an arizer)- I would look at Arizer's portables as others have mentioned. That aside if you are looking for a desktop there are a plethora of options that can suit your medical needs- such as if you have weak lungs, you may want a bag vape where there is no draw resistance.

This is coming from someone who went from a MFLB to a Underdog (RIP) to a Solo (temporary) to now getting my VapeXhale Evo in the mail tomorrow. I have used a lot of plugin vapes, so any inquiries regarding that I could probably help with. I seem to be in the only crowd (maybe because im canadian?) that has used the sublimator as a vape and as an enail- both times disappointing save your time, money, and possible burns and go with a unit that doesn't claim to do something "innovative" or out of the box, because most of the time it's BS I.E. the sublimator says they sublimate the herb instead of vaporizing, this is just a stupid marketing gimmick.
Just some desktop vapes I can help with: volcano, ion, verdamper, sublimator, etc...
Some portables I have experience with would be: MFLB, Solo, Ascent, Pax v1, Healthstones if you count those, etc...
Feel free to PM me about questions- I prefer answering in a PM to having threads brought up about 1st purchases frequently. (no offense meant)
In all honesty for your first vape I couldn't steer you wrong with recommending the Air or Solo, also would recommend on spending around 200$+ and getting a good US or Canadian made vaporizer, you can be much more sure of the parts and what you are inhaling. I'd personally say go arizer because their units seem to be nigh-indestructible and that is a large factor for your first vape: as much as you may think you will treat your vape with absolute care you don't want to drop your first delicate 400$ vape and be like oh well fuck vaping (assuming you don't have a backup which is a reasonable assumption). With that in mind I would consider durability, cloud production, battery life, and ease of use to be the main factors you are looking for- all of which are met by the arizer portable line, as well as other member suggestions. I would say however not to start off with a butane vape, you might not get the heating correctly down and think that vaping sucks in general. (the vapman and others are great vaporizers, I just wouldn't recommend a beginner to use one- even the mflb I found takes a few weeks of practice before you are nailing your temps down and before then you are potentially combusting or not evenly extracting.
 
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ripped

Well-Known Member
tennstrong said:
I seem to be in the only crowd (maybe because im canadian?) that has used the sublimator as a vape and as an enail- both times disappointing save your time, money, and possible burns and go with a unit that doesn't claim to do something "innovative" or out of the box, because most of the time it's BS I.E. the sublimator says they sublimate the herb instead of vaporizing, this is just a stupid marketing gimmick.
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I'm Canadian and have used the Sublimator for both vaping weed and with oil and shatter and it works fine for me, if its disappointing for you maybe you never read the directions or don't own one? I have owned for a couple of months now and it works fine and most that use it with me love it!

As for the burns, I haven't burnt myself even once, while it does get very hot its no different than anything else thats hot, an e-nail could fall over and burn your crotch but your usually smart enough to not put yourself in that situation right?

As for the marketing gimmicks, everybody got one and all I can say is I get fricken blasted off my sub more than I did with my Volcano, I'm a medical user and use it multiple times per day and I'm competent enough to say it gives you a wicked amount of meds when you need it, I'm not the only one that agrees the Sublimator is a potent way to deliver your meds and I read 100's of posts on this forum before I even considered spending the money and they helped make my decision, nobody seemed disappointed at all with it.
 
CarolKing

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
You're ground cannabis will have a definite smell even in a grinder. I have a wooden tiny box (lid seals) that I keep my ground herb in and it doesn't smell. Also a clean stem and unit smells less when using than a dirty one.

Everyone has some great suggestions. Keep your eyes open and read up on the Grasshopper. If you buy one vaporizer now and possibly a Grasshopper later. See how low the FireFly is cost wise, I don't have one but hear great things. It used to be expensive.

Here is my herb box that's smell proof. It's size is about 2 inches by 2 inches square and about an inch and a half deep. The top fits on like a puzzle piece. You can't even see where it fits. I bet @Ed's TnT could do this too. That's a glass spacer for the Ascent with herb.
 
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Red-eyed Pete

Red-eyed Pete

New Member
Thank you all for your responses! Awesome community here, definitely a great place to pickup some knowledge. I read through all the posts and made a list of models to check out hopefully by this weekend. I'll let you all know what I go with. Thank you again!
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
ripped said:
I'm Canadian and have used the Sublimator for both vaping weed and with oil and shatter and it works fine for me, if its disappointing for you maybe you never read the directions or don't own one? I have owned for a couple of months now and it works fine and most that use it with me love it!

As for the burns, I haven't burnt myself even once, while it does get very hot its no different than anything else thats hot, an e-nail could fall over and burn your crotch but your usually smart enough to not put yourself in that situation right?

As for the marketing gimmicks, everybody got one and all I can say is I get fricken blasted off my sub more than I did with my Volcano, I'm a medical user and use it multiple times per day and I'm competent enough to say it gives you a wicked amount of meds when you need it, I'm not the only one that agrees the Sublimator is a potent way to deliver your meds and I read 100's of posts on this forum before I even considered spending the money and they helped make my decision, nobody seemed disappointed at all with it.
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Hey man no hate I don't own a sub so that could have been some of the cause- I just find that an enail combo + a vape on the side does the job a little better. Like you said I used it at a lounge so no manual instructions, just advice and stuff. I found that it extracted more quickly than my VXC, but didn't give me the same flavor (obvious reason/glass airway ). I will say that the VXC Evo and the Sub are the two vapes I've been able to cache a complete hit in one draw though. I have no hate toward the sub, I just think it is a bit dangerous (more so for a newbie, less so for someone who is used to handling an enail or has a lot of deskspace, these are reasons I didn't want to recommend it).
As far as burns go with it, you have to admit that you are exposing a lot of hot elements when you remove the herb heater from your bong usually. Friends and myself had to take extra care to not burn themselves- with an enail it just sits on your bong and you dont need to move the heater.

Regardless I'd still say that the VXC Evo and the Sublimator are hands down the best GonG desktops I've used- but my complaints with the sublimator regarding flavor, high, and hazards to friends remain the same. Not to say it won't extract better than 90% of the vapes on the market, just personal opinions. I couldn't imagine being disapointed by it because it does exactly what it claims to do very well. Just that it ignores some aspects that I find preferable from other vapes. I asked my friend for a critical comparison yesterday and he said: he liked how the sublimator could do wax and herb well, just not as well as dabbing for wax and the herb used a lot each load and didn't get the same flavors you get off the VXC. I asked him if he would ever buy a sub and he said well if the price wasn't a factor he probably wouldn't just because of the inherent danger that is around the hot elements exposed and the wires that could catch causing something to fall. He said the sub did rock the herb real quick and effectively, but didn't get the same flavor he got from the VXC.

It's a personal opinion of mine that I prefer the VXC to the Sub, but that is the truth- mainly because when I want a desktop vape I want it to nail down the low temps with an all glass or close to it airway for maximum flavor. I have no complaints about the extraction of the sub- I have seen many videos and I know it does this very well. I just can't justify spending top dollar for a jack of all trades master of none style vape in my eyes (price wise let me be clear, it is still an amazing herb extraction vape). Would still hit a sub if a friend had one, don't get me wrong I'm not nearly that snobby- I consider them to be both the top cloud production units on the market.

This is all in discussion of high-end vapes though so not sure how much it will pertain to this thread
Edit: and to the crotch burn, it would be scary if I were to lift up my piece when hitting it and the wire caught on something and the burner would fall right on my lap... I couldn't see this happening/ more than once but that would be more than enough haha but in the end no hate all love for the vapes
Edit2: and to clarify my differences between using this and an enail is that when using an enail you rarely move the heater, but when using the sub it is moving frequently- just clarification

Edit3: forgot about the herbalizer, I would say those 3 are the reigning gods of gong plugins- I hate to say my Underdog (RIP) wouldn't be up there because it was a great home vape when I had it, but it just doesn't have the technology of the others.
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OP read below line IMO
To clarify, for a beginner plugin vape I would recommend the 7th floor lineup (can't go wrong based on the huuge amount of positive reviews [disclaimer: have not used one by 7th floor but have watched countless vids], buy from their website), or an Underdog/E-Nano if you plan on using it with a stem/ bong often. At the moment I can't really think of anything that compares that is a plugin for that pricepoint. You might be tempted by the extreme Q but I have many complaints about it's design and airways- for example the airway goes right through the electrical components and can short them with dust buildup. My personal preference would be for a UD since I love the company, they are consistently great to the customers, and @underdog / Dave on FC forums is a great guy to deal with.

For a portable vape I think other members are much better at giving you butane based portable recommendations, all I can say is that I stand behind the quality of the arizer Solo and the Air both as great vapes from my experience, and did not care for how much herb the pax would need. Never cared for my MFLB it didn't produce anything near what other vapes provide even when using good technique unless you use a water attachment and a huge battery. the ascent I have only used on one occasion but it tasted aight, I hear the pathway isnt fun to clean tho and it leaks vapor. I think if you are going to spend the $$ on a mighty or crafty just wait a while since there are complaints of the plastic cracking and that's no fun to worry about- and the enano/ud/HI/log vape will out perform it and also give you the option of a convection vapor pathway (all air, taste is cleaner).

TLDR 200-300$ range plugin recommendation in order: Underdog Vaporizer, E-Nano, LifeSaberVape (7th floor, this if you are going to use bong attachments/ otherwise I'd put the Silver Surfer above this), Silver Surfer Vape (7th floor), or a Da Buddha (7th floor)- if you get from 7th floor I would recommend saving cash and getting a blemished model, they are very minorly cosmetically damaged from what I've heard
Portable: Would recommend the air or solo, but compare these with different members opinions as I lack a range of portable experience- honestly I'd go butane if i were to get a portable in this range, and other members know more about the vapman/vaporgenie/etc...
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
Cereal_MF said:
1 vote for the enano. It's simplicity and efficacy is almost unrivaled.
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yep e-nano and other log style or semi-log style convection (Clarification edit: the Solo is a conduction/convection hybrid) only vapes are kings of efficiency- Even after using my Underdog for a couple years I never realized that I was going too high on the temps til I got my VapeXhale Evo which in a sense is an all glass airway log with a temp sensor- I love it. Convection simply is the best way to get the full flavor hands down.
Edit: my only consideration when buying an e-nano would be the tubular heating stem versus the thick base with stem on the UD, but I hear the e-nano heats up faster, so whatever serves your needs
Edit2: I think I pretty well got the general consensus on my post above, desktop: UD/E-Nano, Portable: Solo/ Butane vape option that I'm sure other members know more about
Edit3: if you are on the fence about a desktop, the log vapes are usually the size of a can of coke or smaller like @CarolKing said and personally I would skip the purchase of the solo, get a log vape that will last you a lifetime, and a small butane vape like the vapman for on the go- those are my personal opinions though- that being said the solo won't disappoint a new vaporist, but for me personally it wasnt enough for me to quit dabbing as well like the VXC has
 
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CarolKing

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
I love my enano but it's not portable. You could get a desk top as well as a portable with the Solo. The price is around $150. You can use it plugged in or untethered.

It's about the size of a can of Red Bull. IMO it has good flavor and there are many ways to accessorize. I use my D020 bubbler with mine along with some shatter sandwhiched among the herb before bed some nights.

If portable isn't an important issue I would choose the Enano.
 
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Cereal_MF

Cereal_MF

Green goes to brown, n that's what I stand for.
The way I see it, it's better to get something that does the job really freaken well even if there's drawbacks such as portability. You can always get an MFLB or something for on the go, but the eNano is what I refer to as the gravbong of vapes if you catch my drift. I can get by on a gram a week if I wanted to stretch it, and that would be with me getting medicated multiple times per day.
 
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tennstrong

Well-Known Member
grokit said:
While I have a crafty, this is why I usually recommend the mighty to others instead :tup:
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The S&B portables could be an exemption- which i put in my main post, they do the job very well and at the level of most decent desktops, just not quite the constant output that a plugin can (obviously) provide. I would say for a first purchase to be a desktop just because there are a plethora of great portable vapes for on the go- but if you have a backup vape or the sort or are very trusting in S&B I can see that purchase (or if you are a dedicated vaporist who hasn't smoked in ages, having one portable is fine depending on your tolerance/quality of the portable).

I agree with the others, I feel like it was somewhat wasted time/money getting to the point I'm at with vapes where I have a solid desktop (VXC Evo), a solo that runs ok but needs to be replaced in my lineup- I'm thinking a butane vape but i really don't want to start another thread about vape purchases. I was about to buy a lotus when they had their 420 sale (actually emailed them about it and posted it in the lotus thread before it went up :D) but found I didn't know enough about the butane vape scene and longevity of certain vapor caps.
 
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