Please recommend fast, efficient, consistent performer

[digger13]

I'm looking for a new vaporizer and was hoping to get some recommendations. I currently own an Arizer Extreme Q and an Ascent DaVinci. A friend owns a FireFly (2?), a Grasshopper and some other unit. None fit what I'm looking for. And I don't know if what I'm looking for even exists, so I'm here looking for recommendations.

I smoke very little, in short bursts. 3-4 hits to start, power it off and put it down for a while, take a hit, and continue to pace with occasional hits. That could mean 15-20 minutes between hits. Herb only - no waxes or oils. If that ever happens then I can always buy another unit. This unit will be used only by myself 90% of the time, with the other 10% with a friend or two.


My most important desires are:

I want a fast-heating unit. 5 seconds would be awesome, and 20 is acceptable. I don't want to wait 2 minutes every time I want to take a single hit.

I want one that doesn't waste herb. A quick cool-off and small chamber makes sense to me, but if the unit stops wasting herb once it's powered off then the neither is a concern.

I do not want a finicky, problematic unit. Once learned and configured it should be easy to use, and it must perform consistently.

Please let me decide if the price or value is acceptable. (Staying under $300 makes for a instant decision, twice that is fine for the perfect unit.)


Secondary desires, but not deal breakers:

I would like an easy draw, not a "sucking through a coffee stirrer" effort like the DaVinci or the Grasshopper (I've only used the standard tip, not the high-performance one).

Temperature control - and any other possible settings - are probably important to me. I don't believe in "one settings fits all" and I like to tweak until I eventually dial in the perfect settings.


Other less-important desires and comments:

A cool hit is preferred, though my vaping style means that a unit is less likely to ever get hot.

I don't care about the amount of vapor or odor produced as long as it has the desired effect.

For taste, I only wish to avoid crap or burnt taste. That is, I don't care about great flavor, just decent flavor.

I don't care about size or portability, within reason. A battery powered unit that fits in a shirt pocket is great, but size is not a deal breaker.

I have no concerns about stealth. This will generally be used in my home, or a friend's home.

I'm not concerned about a learning curve. But once learned and configured it should be easy to use.

I would prefer to avoid a smartphone app, since it's just another thing that can go wrong. But if the app works perfectly then it's not a deal breaker.

 

[invertedisdead]

The only vape that comes to my mind is the Newvape Flowerpot Showerhead. It definitely doesn't heat up in 5 seconds, more like 3 minutes, but once it is up to temp, it's good to go for as long as you could possibly need. IMO desktop all the way for what you're looking for, on demand portable vapes eat batteries in my experience to the point it becomes a juggling routine. The FP Showerhead is about as no fuss as it gets, least draw resistance of any vape I've ever used, capable of vaporizing any amount. All electronics are offboard so no concerns of inhaling anything strange.

 

[digger13]

A fast heat-up is one of the most important things I'm looking for. And I only need it to last a few minutes at first, and then a few seconds at a time after that. Given my vape style, I have very little concern for battery life.

 

[invertedisdead]

A fast heat-up is one of the most important things I'm looking for. And I only need it to last a few minutes at first, and then a few seconds at a time after that. Given my vape style, I have very little concern for battery life.

The style usage you are talking about is by far the hardest wear on battery life. Heating up to do one or two puffs, then cooling down completely, then heating all the way up again, it causes major battery drain.

You say you smoke very little but it sounds like you puff quite a lot if you are taking a hit every 20 minutes. How many hits/how much herb do you really go through in an evening?

 

[digger13]

Maybe you could elaborate on how you intend to use this vaporizer?

I'm not sure that I can elaborate more than I've said. "3-4 hits to start, power it off and put it down for a while, take a hit, and continue to pace with occasional hits." I guess that I don't consider a hit every 20 minutes to be puffing a lot. A battery only needs to last for 3 heat cycles an hour.

Also, "I don't care about size or portability, within reason." If it is battery-powered it can be plugged in between hits, if necessary. If it's not battery-powered then it will be plugged in at all times, of course.

 

[Seek]

E-Nano!

I smoke very little, in short bursts. 3-4 hits to start, power it off and put it down for a while, take a hit, and continue to pace with occasional hits. That could mean 15-20 minutes between hits.

Yes, E-Nano is absolutely perfect for this usage. One bowl gives you 2-4 hits, easy to load, reload and empty, you just keep in on all day, don't turn it on before vaping and don't turn it off after. So it's hot and ready all the time, and it's build to withstand that kind of usage.

Herb only - no waxes or oils.

Yes, E-Nano might not be so good with oil.

I want a fast-heating unit. 5 seconds would be awesome, and 20 is acceptable. I don't want to wait 2 minutes every time I want to take a single hit.

It takes about 1-2 minutes, but as I sad, you should just keep it on all the time, so it's practically zero seconds.

I want one that doesn't waste herb.

E-Nano has reputation of being exceptionally efficient.

A quick cool-off and small chamber makes sense to me, but if the unit stops wasting herb once it's powered off then the neither is a concern.

E-Nano is pure convection, it doesn't produce vapor if you are not hitting it. Probably a little bit if you use a stem and keep it on, but you can always disconnect it from the vape after the hit.

I do not want a finicky, problematic unit. Once learned and configured it should be easy to use, and it must perform consistently.

This is also very true for E-Nano. It's just a cylinder of wood with heating stick in the middle, no electronics, just watage regulator on the power cable.

I would like an easy draw, not a "sucking through a coffee stirrer"

E-Nano has very easy draw, so much that it can be hot on your throat if you are hitting a straight stem too fast.
It only gets hard if there is a lot of basically powdered herb loaded in.

Temperature control - and any other possible settings - are probably important to me.

It has wattage control. With a very wide range from 0-10. 0 is room temp, 10 is very hot. It's so wide, that your usable range fro weed is going to be 6-8. Under 6 is too cold (but great for other herbs etc), over 7.5 can combust if you draw too slowly.

A cool hit is preferred, though my vaping style means that a unit is less likely to ever get hot.

For this I would recommend a waterpiece. E-Nano goes very well with these. I use it 99% on the time with a bubbler. The hits are so smooth and cool. Dry hitting is always rough on my throat, especially with powerful convection vapes like this.

For taste, I only wish to avoid crap or burnt taste. That is, I don't care about great flavor, just decent flavor.

E-Nano tastes very good.

I don't care about size or portability, within reason. A battery powered unit that fits in a shirt pocket is great, but size is not a deal breaker.

E-Nano is very small desktop vape, but is is desktop, so it only runs on a cable.
I just have it 24/7 on my desk, so it's not an issue for me.

I have no concerns about stealth. This will generally be used in my home, or a friend's home.

Because of this I recommended the E-Nano instead of some portable. I don't think any portable would fit your need as well as E-Nano.

I'm not concerned about a learning curve. But once learned and configured it should be easy to use.

There is little learning curve with E-Nano. You just need to find your preferred wattage setting. And don't hit it way too slowly.

...
And if you wanted something battery powered, then i think probably a RBT Splinter might be the best fit.

 

[ginolicious]

Haze Square

 

[acstorfer]

If you’re willing to give up the batteries then go Dynavap. They have models from $60.00 to $190.00. As far as results, they are all even. Any heat source works, but a butane lighter is best. As long as you “respect the click” every hit is smooth. The first few hits are absolutely delicious. If you get one with a titanium tip you can put as little as .1 grams in there, or you can move the screen back to make it bigger.

It is worth a look. I have a couple $300 vapes and my $60.00 Dynavap M easily keeps up with them.

 

[Jill NYC]

Since you said you want to have temp control, two vapes I was going to recommend, Vapcap and L’il Bud are crossed out. Although, besides that, they are perfect for everything else on your list.

I think you should check out the Tubo as it may be perfect for your needs.

The Fury 2 may also be worth looking at. If you use it with a glass stem, you can take it out when you are done for a few minutes and it will stop cooking herbs. It checks most of your requirements.

 

[acstorfer]

Since you said you want to have temp control, two vapes I was going to recommend, Vapcap and L’il Bud are crossed out. Although, besides that, they are perfect for everything else on your list.

I think you should check out the Tubo as it may be perfect for your needs.

The Fury 2 may also be worth looking at. If you use it with a glass stem, you can take it out when you are done for a few minutes and it will stop cooking herbs. It checks most of your requirements.

Agreed. I almost hesitated with the Dynavap because of temp control, but pretty much everything else is ticked off so it’s a good compromise in my mind. Also, I get pretty good with the temp control, but it takes practice with the lighter.

 

[Vaporware]

You have a lot of good suggestions above, and for what you’re looking for at least at home I’d recommend a desktop you can leave on all day like the FlowerPot or a log vape (there are several good options there).

Agreed. I almost hesitated with the Dynavap because of temp control, but pretty much everything else is ticked off so it’s a good compromise in my mind. Also, I get pretty good with the temp control, but it takes practice with the lighter.

An induction heater can make VapCaps much more consistent for people who aren’t great with the lighter/spinning.

 

[invertedisdead]

I'm not sure that I can elaborate more than I've said. "3-4 hits to start, power it off and put it down for a while, take a hit, and continue to pace with occasional hits." I guess that I don't consider a hit every 20 minutes to be puffing a lot. A battery only needs to last for 3 heat cycles an hour.

Also, "I don't care about size or portability, within reason." If it is battery-powered it can be plugged in between hits, if necessary. If it's not battery-powered then it will be plugged in at all times, of course.

Realize that the vape has to heat the oven to temperature completely then cool off then heat back up every 20 minutes, that's a ton of use over time. Dry herb portables are very inefficient with battery consumption. Yeah you can leave it plugged in but it just causes more wear on the battery since most don't have a true bypass passthru charging. You might look at something like the Solo 2 but I can't imagine any battery powered vape working better in that scenario than a desktop plugin that just stays on.

 

[digger13]

Thanks for all the recommendations! I'm off to research each one. (Though I admit that I'm not so keen on using a lighter to get things going... Am I missing something here? I probably don't understand how such a unit really works so I'll check that out while I'm researching.)

And many thanks to Seek for such detailed answers to all my comments.

 

[KC2K]

@digger13 I had serious reservations about VapCap 's and the use of the butane torches but I was completely wrong. I'm a medical user with poor grip, poor feeling in my hands ECT and I can heat my M no problem. You basically heat until it clicks with a lighter, you then just put it to your mouth and inhale. When it clicks it's time to reheat. Rinse and repeat.

I would advise that you get a Woody or Omni VapCap. The M can be a little like sucking an egg through a straw if the right technique isn't used.

I also have a Mighty. Best thing ever but takes ages to heat up and not great for on demand which is what you want

 

[digger13]

Thanks KC2K. I watch part of a video on the VapCaps and I'm still not interested. Maybe I just like electricity...


I've watched some videos on each of the recommendations and so far I'm leaning towards the Haze Square. I like the on-demand aspects of the Haze. It looks like it meets all the important desires I have and has very few (1?) of the things I would prefer to avoid.

But I'm also a long-time eCig vaper (almost 10 years) and I have probably 30 mods that the RBT Splinter could be attached to. That makes it interesting since I'm very very knowledgeable about the power source. And it's inexpensive - but yet seems overpriced for what you get.

The Tubo also looks interesting for its uses above and beyond the Splinter, but it's so awkward... And I have much higher quality mods than the one it comes with. Besides the mod power unit, the Tubo looks like it's more versatile and has more options. I just don't know if I care about those options.


The videos have also been an education and I'm seeing things that I never thought about. For one, I often vape in a recliner watching a movie or something. The RBT Splinter doesn't seem like it would be the best choice for someone leaning back at a 45-degree angle. So a bent pipe and/or flexible tube might be good. The Haze Square handles this with ease though.

 

[arb]

E nano............it will do it all very well with minimal hassle.

 

[digger13]

I totally forgot about the E-Nano. Its almost my short list, but doesn't seem to be ideal for relaxing in a recliner. and I can't see the advantage over an RBT Splinter given that I have numerous mods for that.

Any comments on E-Nano vs the Splinter?

 

[sickmanfraud]

I totally forgot about the E-Nano. Its almost my short list, but doesn't seem to be ideal for relaxing in a recliner. and I can't see the advantage over an RBT Splinter given that I have numerous mods for that.

Any comments on E-Nano vs the Splinter?

As a long time e-cig user if you like to tinker around you should also look a Stempod from ModPodlabs.

 

[Vaporware]

The Tubo also looks interesting for its uses above and beyond the Splinter, but it's so awkward... And I have much higher quality mods than the one it comes with. Besides the mod power unit, the Tubo looks like it's more versatile and has more options. I just don't know if I care about those options.

The Tubo X can be attached to your existing mods. I don’t know if you’ll like the way that fits together either, but a lot of people like the Tubo’s performance.

 

[Jethro]

I know it's ruled out, but everything you describe is spot on perfect for a Vapcap. 5 seconds to unreal, lung busting clouds for sure.. super efficient.. a Omni would be perfect for a good draw.

 

[digger13]

After all the suggestions above I watched a ton of videos and learned a lot from both.

And I came to a few realizations:

1. My Arizer Extreme Q already does most of what I want. Mainly, by filling a bag and dealing with the cons of inhaling vapor from a bag whenever I want more. I haven't used it in so long that I kinda forgot what it can do, so I used it this afternoon. I also watched a couple videos on it and they reminded me how versatile it is and how good it is. So that (and the realizations listed below) kinda killed the idea of the E-Nano.

2. Watching the videos made me realize that I do want some portability, even if it means my deck where there aren't any outlets or my recliner when I don't want the Arizer set up. So I ordered a Haze Square since it really seems to perfectly match what I want and it's portable.

3. Watching the videos also made me realize that I probably care more about a finicky device and/or a learning curve like many of these devices require. I said that I don't mind a learning curve but I now realize that I don't mind a scientific learning curve - getting some of these devices to work perfectly seems to be more of an art form and I suck at that kind of learning curve. So I ordered a Crafty since that seems to be a device that always works, works well, and is consistent. (Also, I kinda got tired of trying to choose...)

4. I don't think I'm done yet. I'm still debating the E-Nano, for one. We'll see how these go, and what the new experiences teach me.

So thanks to all for the recommendations and the education that I got while researching all these devices. Thanks.

 

[elykpeace]

Cannot go wrong with a log..

 

[arb]

Love my logs!

 

[digger13]

How different is the E-Nano experience from an Arizer Extreme Q? I still haven't given up on that thought, and I might have ordered one if anyplace had the Haze and E-Nano in stock.

Edit: Watched a couple videos, read a couple threads, and I understand. The E-Nano is back on the table - as well as some type of water device. This hobby is expensive... :-)

 

[bossman]

I have all the contenders except for the Square and the desktops.

My recommendation after reading your helpful and detailed checklist is either the Omnivap XL with an induction heater or a Lil Bud.

I know you said you wanted temp control and neither of my recs has that but hear me out....

The omni xl will require you to learn how to mouth draw because the draw resistance isn't to our liking in its own. The hits, effectiveness and efficiency are great though. Better still the ritual is really chill and rewarding. I never fuck with butane or lighters anymore: just push the VapCap in the heater for about six seconds until the click and take one big hit as needed. With the induction heater it's a great solution for taking one or two hits and then putting it down.

The Lil Bud is on demand convection and the comfortably open draw and single button technique are a delight to use once you get the hang of it. I recommend a longer stem for home use. I got a 3.5" with a glass liner and love it. There's also a regulated Lil Bud coming out with a DNA board that you'd be used to with your ecig background.

I wouldn't recommend the Splinter unless the hype is real about the XL8R stem as a fifty dollar add on. The Splinter is a heavy hitter for sure. It's just too harsh for me without water. I mostly relegate my Tubo X to bubbler sessions too.

With your hefty budget I'd recommend adding a few new devices. I like switching up between conduction and convection depending on the occasion

Edit: I noticed you said fast, consistent performer and while both my suggestions are fast the VapCap with a heater is the more consistent. The LB is my favorite vape currently, it's just more like golf or tennis where every stroke is different in subtle ways and that's part of the charm.