As a smoker, I was primarily a waterpipe/bong (ice cold water) guy but also dabbled in bowls for on the go or low maintenance, no frills usage.
Unlike a lot of new firefliers, I got my first vape around 13-14 years ago. When I used to grow a little, I picked up one of those crystal-ball-looking things with a soldering iron in the middle to try and sample flowers early to get as sense of what they’d be like. (yes, a great idea, like brewing green coffee is a great idea.) Either way, that crystal ball thing was trash.
Years later, I picked up a Volcano. My girlfriend (at the time) needed medication for chemo and we weren’t about to smoke regularly to get it. Absolute game-changing device. Love everything about it. Complete 180 on the inhaling experience. Some years later we wanted something portable and picked up an iolite. Still head-over-heals with the Volcano after 7 years. Married the GF. She no longer _requires_ the medication, but we still enjoy it.
We are health nuts and have zero desire to ever combust again. I only occasionally do it in social settings (ie tipsy) and always regret it the next morning.
The iolite never really did it for us and we mostly just skipped partaking when away from the home sans eatables. Last summer when I had problems sourcing butane for the iolite while in the Hamptons, I decided on looking for another portable.
I’ve mostly been eying the crafty, since the volcano is so strong. I came close to picking up a crafty a couple of times but kept dragging my feet. Once I heard the firefly 2 announcement, I decided it was the one for me. I was primarily drawn by the quick startup time (key for a portable, IMO), all glass path and convection, and general attention to detail. It looked like the perfect bowl to my bong (Volcano).
Now that my autobiography is out of the way, my FF2 experience…
I’ve had the black ‘fly for a week and it’s an exact match for what I wanted. The bowl analogy is so perfect. I can see it is much more than just a portable. It’s an alternative. A different experience than the Volcano. And I will use it as such.
The taste is incredible. Its better than the first bag from the volcano. The feeling is sneaky, because you are getting more out than you think. It can be a quick one-and-done or a 2-3 bowl session. So simple and so clean.
The first few days were variable as I tried different techniques. I landed on medium or medium-high heat, fully packed, level with top of bowl, using torn or rough-ground material. As long as it’s not too finely ground, you can’t really go wrong. Loooonnnng Sloowwwww Draw.
The LSD is the probably the most important thing. On my first night out with the FireFly2, the day after I got it, I ran into trouble. I had been drinking a little and pulled it out for our walk home. For whatever reason I went right to pulling really hard and got no satisfaction. Got home, reloaded and tried again. I hastily went after the second bowl with the same aggressive pull and got crap again. It left me feeling like the pull suddenly became too restrictive. I gave up and hit the Volcano.
The next night with a clear head I returned to what gave me success on the first day: LSD. Since then, its been nothing but great satisfaction and all about refining.
I have to say that I love that I can just pick pieces off and put them in this thing just like a bowl. Really all you need with you is your FF2, a toothpick and some flowers. For the record, I’m getting nice clouds on the first LSD. Actually, the green hit is easily my favorite.
This hasn’t been mentioned much, but I absolutely love the flat glass surface around the bowl. There is so much utility there. For on-the-go, its great to have a surface to crumble and pile up some flowers and then sweep into the bowl. Also, for stirring throughout the session, I pick the material out onto the surface with the toothpick, mix and sweep back in, green down.
The app feature doesn’t really bug me, but I get the turnoff for some. I think I’d be perfectly happy with just the default settings. I’ve tried temp surfing and stepping but it’s really not worth it for me. I’m still on the fence between medium and medium-high. The medium-high will definitely extract the most and provide more satisfying pulls but the medium is slightly less harsh and better flavor with less mixing. I’ve tried finishing on high, which will definitely get you an extra hit or two, but I don’t like roasting things quite that far. I’d just as soon pack a little extra flower to swap out and extract the last bits from the ABV with some oil or butter later as I’ve always done with the Volcano. Also, this thing has a strong propensity to over-extract or even seemingly char material, so upping the temps is not in my wheelhouse. Point is: I don't mind using a little extra material to use the FF2 where its strongest.
Where I’d appreciate some improvement in the device:
As I mentioned, it has a strong propensity to over extract parts of the material. This requires very regular stirring. Very regular. On medium-high, I am stirring, with a toothpick, after every LSD for maximum awesome and still getting plenty of black bits. My first LSD on med-high always produces some near-black ABV. In a way this contributes to the bowl-like style of the FF2, but it’s a negative.
Related: the resulting ABV is not evenly extracted. It’s not a huge deal, but coming from the Volcano which is about as even as it gets, its obvious. It still tastes great for 75% of hits and works very well overall. Like I said, I’m stirring after every LSD and it still pretty uneven.
It’s noticeably harsher on the throat than the Volcano. The ‘cano is about as smooth as possible. It’s like a big bong, filled with ice and water, sitting on a block of dry ice. Actually, its smoother than that. I do find the FF2 much more pleasant than the iolite or really anything else I’ve tried, but at the end of the night/next morning, I have a little sensation at the back of my tongue and throat. Very minor, but there.
The battery cover bugs me. It almost never seats right on the first try. I feel like they could have done better.
I, like most others, would have preferred an external battery charger and a usb port on the device. The dock is junk. It is obvious they went for style points over functionality. The firefly looks much cooler sitting angled on a dock on your desk than it does in a drawer or plugged into your computer.
Due to my technique and some early fine grind testing, I have material wedged around the outside of the bowl and in the bottom of the bowl. It doesn’t bug me that much, but I can’t ever get it 100% clean.
Back to crushing on the FF2… Its really such an awesome little device. I could see it being my one-and-only as unobtrusive-yet-powerful as it is, but it’s such a perfect companion to the Volcano. Most importantly its fun and brings some nostalgia back for this total nerd that left combustion years ago. Love that glow. For better or worse, I’ve had a bunch more sessions the last week than I normally would. This may be contributing to the throat discomfort I mentioned earlier. Having a no-fuss ready-to-go device is outstanding. Its quite discreet where it counts. Smell is low before, during and after usage. It would probably be entirely odorless with a spoof. It's also ready to go and ready to put away at any time. Sure, if its sitting on a table, someone would be able to identify the situation, but I don't feel like full camouflage is necessary to keep things on the DL.
I still, of course, worship the Volcano, but I can be up and pulling on the FF2 before the warmup and grind period are done on the ‘cano. Its also just cool as fuck to use the FF compared to sucking on a weird bag. (I totally love the volcano, but anyone’s first encounter is going to have them thinking you are a nut.)
So, yeah, its been a toasty week, but when I got my espresso machine I was a pretty intense guy for about a week. Boys and their toys, its just how it goes.
Quick tip for those with a partner in crime that gives two shits about the cool new tech: My wife really doesn’t care what we are using and is not a fan of the LSD. She’s used to sipping on the bag and likes that style. I start the pull for her, do about a 10-second slow-draw and then immediately pass to her with my fingers still on the buttons for her to take a 5-10 second slow-draw. She’s getting satisfaction that way. For her the volcano will continue to be her preference, but this is an acceptable alternative.
Anyone looking for a good usb wall charger: Anker, Anker, Anker
