I thought I'd tell you all a story about my Flower Kettle + Electropath that arrived this week.
I was just going to write a bit of an early thoughts review, but I'm very high right now. Which is a positive reflection. Generally the more I like something, the more I use it, the higher I get, and the more I'll write. Tldr - this thing is incredible. It's not perfect, but it's pretty amazing.
I ordered it just over a week ago. I'd been to the footy, so had been drinking as well as vaping; it was also my birthday week, and my postal tracking gave no indication that my VerdaVap would be here in time for my birthday. (I ended up arriving the next morning!) It was all enough for me to pull the trigger on it.
So the order was made late on a Wednesday night Australian-time, it was posted Wednesday afternoon US-time... it arrived to Australia in under a week, on the Wednesday morning. Incredible! I've had luggage supposedly on the same flight as me from the US that took longer to reach me. (Seriously!)
First impression is the carry case, which is bright orange, with a sticker that says "Custom Flower Hardware", is not built for discreetness at all! Not that I think it particularly matters - I don't think you're going to be carrying around a 2-piece coil-powered vape(s) and PID very often. Certainly I won't be, the case when straight in the back of a cupboard.
The second impression is that this think looks beautiful. And expensive! I think a lot of ball vapes are probably described visually as "just functional" - and that's fine. For example, at the Screwball's price point, I don't want them spending money beautifying it, let me decide if I want a heat shield or a wooden handle.
This isn't in that class though. This is in the "very premium" class. The wooden handles stand out, the hardware is thick and shiny, and it has some really nice-looking premium accessories.
So I started sorting out the coffee table, trying to arrange a Kettle, Electropath, Screwball and Ruby Twist in a manner that's not a mess of PIDs and cords. Thought I'd done an ok job, until I decided something needed moving. I decided that after I'd turned everything on. I have the meanest looking burn on my arm, from before I'd even used it! A perfect semi-circle from the top of the Electropath... There's a tinge of irony there, cos having watched Lee from TTBs videos, my clumsiness is what had been holding me back. This was inevitable, I just didn't expect it to happen before I'd even used the thing...
My first real complaint comes with the safety of the device. That's rightfully a concern for a lot of people with cords, pids and glass everywhere. I absolutely appreciate that Jerry had to order special 220v cords for international orders, and I don't know what US users are receiving - but the Electropath cord would only be about 40cm long, it's just not long enough, and it can become a hazard.
The second safety-related complaint comes down to the heat stands. Do they hold the Flower Kettle and the Electropath? Yes. If you screw around with hot devices for longer than you should have to when you're stoned. In reality? The Electropath is too heavy for the stand that it comes with. I'm glad that I had the Flowerpot heatpost to sub in. It doesn't fit perfectly, but it's a much, much better solution than the stand that it comes with. Two days in, I think this is my major piece of feedback - for a device that does such an incredible job of looking and feeling premium, the heat stands are just larger versions of the most basic stands on the market, and I think they let the device down from that look/feel standpoint, not to mention from a safety one.
Anyway, then I got to use it (with my table top bong), and the thickness and milkiness of the vapor is indescribable. It's like if a pre-soaked Screwball bowl with a macrodose is a 10, this is somehow an 11.5. I have this green stem with my table top bong, and it ends up being a really good indicator of how thick your vapor is - it's yet to meet it's match until coming up against the Kettle!
Pretty early on I did something really dumb, putting a freezing cold Ruby Twist in a 500 degree Electropath, and bugger me this thing grabbed on like a bear claw. Had to cool the whole thing down to get it apart. (I also took the heat shield off the twist, which is a pain in the dick to get back on... in the end I think the cooling had a greater effect.) I haven't tried it with a warm Ruby Twist yet, it kind of scared me off, and it doesn't seem to fit great.
While I'm on it, I also tried it with the Screwball, using the advice from this thread to just not leave the pieces together for too long - unfortunately it stuck. Again, I just had to cool everything down and it was fine. Not that I'm too fussed or concerned I guess - there was no discernible improvement over the Flower Kettle, which mates perfectly with it. I'd been considering a standalone Electropath, which I would've used with my Screwball and B1 injector (which I haven't tried it with yet.) I'm really glad I didn't end up doing that.
By Thursday I'd been experimenting with different temps, and I felt confident to finally pull out this awful tasting hybrid that I've had for a few weeks and not really wanted to vape. This thing will shine in that capacity - I was able to turn the bowl right up, turn the Kettle a fair way up, and by then you're hardly getting any of the taste at all. And it'll shine because of its versatility and variability. Being able to play with the temps of the Kettle and the bowl lets you try all manner of things, and I haven't even scratched the surface.
I'll mention my other criticism here - the screen doesn't stay in the Electropath, nor is it designed to. That's a pretty major annoyance to me, I don't want to have to be digging a hot screen out of my AVB every time I tip it out. I think I'll be experimenting with some larger screens and seeing whether I can find a combination of camber , size and pressure that keeps a screen in, cos that's something that will prevent me using it late at night if I'm super blasted... which is arguably exactly when I want to be using it.
Back on the positives, the other thing I've really been enjoying is concentrates using the head. This was what convinced me to get the whole Master Kit, was a new prescription for concentrates and the Kettle's ability to simply drop it on the top with some terp pearls and the carb cap (which is included, and is also beautiful.) I don't have a lot of experience with concentrates, nor much to compare it to - only the Core 2.1 and the Xmas Riggo that I'd been using the previous week - but this is such a great, easy way to consume concentrates. It extracts more flavor than the Core or Riggo, and I'm more confident that I'm getting the most out of the concentrates using the Kettle.
Weirdly, I used it Wednesday with no issues. I turned it on, it was fine. I played with some temps, I turned it off 8 hours later, all good. Did example the same thing on Thursday. Turned it on, played with some temps, all good. Then when I went to turn it off? One of the PID switches had failed. I have no idea what's wrong with it, but I had to unplug it to turn it off
Of course, I only mention that to feed into the other highlight of the experience, which has been Jerry's service. Dude answered my multitude of questions super quick. The shipping speed was unbelievable. He's answered more questions after it got here. I sent a video of the PID issue and he arranged to have another sent, no questions asked. Honestly some of the best customer service I've ever experienced in any industry, dude seems like a massive legend and someone I'd love to smoke a bowl with.
I really love these devices. Just an entirely different universe of cannabis extraction. I'll use them heaps, and I don't have a hint of buyer's remorse. For concentrates in particular, this is going to be my go-to. But I am harder on devices at this price point; the screen issue will likely piss me off forever (unless/until I find a solution), and the heat stand issue is just such a bummer given how premium everything else looks and feels.