Tim said:
I've also found that the AVB/ABV (I've seen it both ways on many different forums. Stoners, lol) from the EQ is very uniform and browned thoroughly. Instead of "stirring" the bowl, sometimes I'll pick up the cyclone bowl and give it a quick shake (like one would do with the MFLB). Because of the way the cyclone bowl is built, air only flows through the middle of the herb. I've even picked up the EQ and gently shook it during a pull and got GREAT results.. but I'm not going to make a practice of shaking around a sensitive piece of equipment, lol.
Just a few thoughts as you explore the flexibility of the Q . . .
As you probably already know, the idea with the cyclone bowl is that the air circulates inside the chamber even though the path is up thru the middle of the heat element. What makes this happen is the elbow screen's back pressure. When blowing a bag on Fan 3, I shake-n-bake (gently) several times; IME this works best with the bowl no more than half full. Even so, I also will stir once or twice, despite there being a wee bit of vapor loss when the bowl pressure is released mid-way upon lifting the glass elbow. (And don't make the mistake I have several times, forgetting to toggle the fan off before doing the stir - on Fan 3 your herb will come flying out!)
When you elbow-pack, this reduces the cyclone action but on the other hand the air flow is through a narrower channel of herb. Hence the typically greater concentration, although fewer hits. The method of elbow-pack plus herb in the cyclone works best for me combined with Fan 3 because its push compensates for the pack's constriction. Extra important to stir once or twice as the elbow-pack can cause a hot spot in the the center of the pack.
Finally, I find that all this works best if the herb is ground well but not too fine - when it's really fine, that tends to clog the elbow, whether using the bowl and even the pack. Especially so if Fan 3 is used because the higher air flow and associated rise in temp breaks down the herb much faster, i.e., it gets more fine just by itself.
Have fun.
Edit: Just saw your reply on the AV thread. You're right, probably better to respond here . . .
fwiw, I also went round-n-round re the glass. As have many others here, for sure
On the glass thread(s) you'll find a lot of great ideas and examples. I would just advise looking carefully at what kind of experience the user is going for and what kind of vape is being used (keeping in mind some like the Q provide more than one method), because that makes a huge difference. As a reference point, check out the "hydratube" glass being bundled with The Cloud (it has its own thread here, too). There you have the glass very close to the heat source and with a high degree of diffusion, great vapor-to-water surface contact - bottom line, this is about getting monster hits which are still very pleasant. The piece you're looking at is somewhat trying to do the same, what with a diffused down stem and 2 tree percs - I hope you have good lungs, looks like it will require some pull. And then there are other considerations such as drag.
Re bong vs bubbler, that's a hard one because there is so much overlap now. There are smaller bongs the size of bigger bubblers. If it's just about getting massively big hits, a typical bong has greater capacity. But if it's more about filtration, cooling, and smoothness/drag, then the type of diffusion and the circulation path is key. Personally, I'm not so much a fan of tree percs as in my (admittedly limited) experience they require more pull and more importantly can be more fragile at the joints. I dunno about domes, no experience with those. Shower heads provide great action (more, smaller bubbles), and also inlines have become very popular for the same reason. You can now get inlines or shower head down stems in a bong, or add an inline ash catcher. Others here know infinitely more about this than I. I learned a lot from the glass thread here, and also by browsing aqualabtechnologies.com which tends to offer very high quality glass; check out what the Wilson's are making and other top flight independents like Vertigo, Sovereignty, SGW, etc. Personally I ended up with that Headford bubbler because its inline diffuser coupled with the donut chamber provides great circulation (plus a splash guard) with as big a hit as I want (keeping in mind that the Q doesn't deliver quite as strong a punch as does the SSV et al), while having a shape that isn't bulky and is easy to handle safely (glass can get really expensive), and it doesn't cost a fortune. But, again, this is all very highly subjective - which is why IMHO it pays to spend time doing the research, lest one bleed from the wallet.
Good luck!