Discontinued The Grasshopper

[Vapor_Eyes]

I got my long awaited leather sleeve today, 2 years and 3 months after my preorder. It’s seems to be about the same quality of leather as the original. It’s noticeably larger than the original Hopper Labs sleeve but smaller than the commonly used third party sleeve. The clicker protrudes a bit. It can be used with the PFE but then the temp dial sticks out a bit. That may change as it breaks in and loosens up with time.

That’s awesome you’re getting one for “free” @CarolKing.

 

[CarolKing]

@Vapor_Eyes to be honest I didn’t think I would be receiving one even though I changed the ownership of my first hopper because a fellow FCer gifted me the unit. I didn’t give money upfront like many of you did, 3 years ago.

I’m hoping the company does well in the future. That would be a win for all of us. Who wants a discontinued vaporizer because the company folds. The GH would turn into a throw away vaporizer. Nobody wants that.

It’s a healthy sign that they are giving out the sleeves.

I expect the company to do away with the lifetime warranty. Its unrealistic. They just need to make their units better. Maybe that will happen?

 

[johnnyCanuck]

Yep, YET! Hope they can stand cost pressure. >50% returns within the first year after sale (at least regarding the hoppers sold by VDNM) is way to much to deal economically. If they aren't going bancrupt atm it nothing means. ATM I wouldn't buy a new hopper bc of this realistic danger.

This is a realistic worry ... and I was kinda' worrying about the same thing ... with production stopped and no hoppers going out at all, I was starting to wonder about the future of HL, however, all of a sudden the leather sleeves are actually shipped! Why would they be shipping these if they were going bankrupt? So I choose to remain optimistic and am simply waiting for things to be back up and running so I can finally (maybe) get my SS hopper fixed (it's never worked right since day 1 ... I'd say less than 10% of ownership where it was usable at this point ... at least my Ti one is more like a 75% of ownership where it's working )

I remember reading that one of the philosophies of making the GH into a reality was to price it relatively low so that the vapor community can enjoy and prosper while Hopper Labs makes a small profit allowing the company to grow slowly.
Fast forward to today and looks like they’ve scrapped that plan as I think their retail pricing is on par with other “higher end” vapes.
My point being that Hopper Labs profit margin on each unit is probably much higher than they were originally going to set it at giving them a bigger cushion for anticipated warranty returns. I’m reaching for straws here but this might be why they’re still afloat.

Having said that, if they don’t improve reliability soon, it won’t be long until they go under. As much as I love their product despite reliability issues, I see less and less ppl recommending the Hopper and vehemently dissing the company on word of mouth alone.

I don’t care what ppl say, the Dynavap M is a great vape FOR ITS PRICE, but after using it daily for the past month, it doesn’t hold a candle to my GH (when it’s working). It’s stealthy only when packed in my pocket and probably takes at least 3Xs longer to get me the high that I want. I had also forgotten why I don’t like using butane outside of the house as I’m never that confident that the torch is going to work properly (the Achilles heel of a portable butane vaporizer).

 

[JoeMama]

From what I can tell, the newer units are pretty decent. A brand new unit will have all the latest hardware (sensors, PCB size, heater, back-end) and should work best. A warrantied unit will have older parts mixed with newer parts, for example mine has the older back-end with latest front end. I suspect they have seen occasional compatibility issues, and that could cause a lot of the repeat RMAs. Alternatively it seems lots of the older components were prone to failure, and so it's a matter of time until that component will require replacement, and it probably happens sequentially and not all at once.

I enjoyed reading your post, Molten... sensible and positive

So I just RMA'd my Ti, and I noticed a bit of a different response in the RMA acceptance from Caroline. I'd actually re-opened a claim since it was "similar" to a previous one. And again, it's about the thing just not heating up enough unless I do that "second click" thing and keep it near T5. The last time, the RMA response was "send it back for evaluation and if it needs repair blahblahblah"...

This time, the response was, "We will get all the internal electronics of your Grasshopper replaced for you."

So I'm hopeful a) this will happen fast, and b) that this new iteration is the winner for them.

Like many of us here, I still love this thing.

 

[MoltenTiger]

I enjoyed reading your post, Molten... sensible and positive

So I just RMA'd my Ti, and I noticed a bit of a different response in the RMA acceptance from Caroline. I'd actually re-opened a claim since it was "similar" to a previous one. And again, it's about the thing just not heating up enough unless I do that "second click" thing and keep it near T5. The last time, the RMA response was "send it back for evaluation and if it needs repair blahblahblah"...

This time, the response was, "We will get all the internal electronics of your Grasshopper replaced for you."

So I'm hopeful a) this will happen fast, and b) that this new iteration is the winner for them.

Like many of us here, I still love this thing.

Thanks JoeMama, same to you and most here. I still check Reddit every week, and rarely is it worthwhile ahaha. Much less irrational/emotional complaining here. It's all fair I guess, but there's a point where too much is too much.

I think what's going on at HL right now is a big overhaul of production. Apparently they're still waiting on components, so until they receive them there's not much they can do. Apparently they've received some equipment, as noted by our eyes on the street @slcbdco. So, once they get the rest of their stuff, they should be able to sort out the backlog pretty quickly.
It seems like they plan to replace a lot of hardware, and that even new devices are on hold whilst waiting for parts. It's likely arriving from China via sea, which can be very time consuming (there has been similar hold ups before). Maybe two containers were seperated in transit and they're still waiting on one, many normal things go wrong with postage.
This shipment most likely has the steel cases, battery chargers and components which is why there are delays across the board, yet leather slips and batteries are available. I assume they have everything shipping out from their main facility in China. Whatever the case, it's obvious it's a short term hold up. All hold ups are painful when it prevents instant convection hits though!

All I know for sure is my glass collection is missing my grasshoppers and I'm pretty eager to get them back. It's sounding like the wait will be worth it, again, too. It might be another month but this is a critical point in time for HL to get it done better than ever and everything apart from shipping ETAs is shaping up.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Here’s a few pics of the new leather sleeve. The new sleeve is in the middle, old sleeve is on the left and the Aston Leather sleeve is on the right:

Here’s the new sleeve with the Grasshopper inserted:

And here it is with the Grasshopper and PFE:

 

[MoltenTiger]

Here’s a few pics of the new leather sleeve. The new sleeve is in the middle, old sleeve is on the left and the Aston Leather sleeve is on the right:

Here’s the new sleeve with the Grasshopper inserted:

And here it is with the Grasshopper and PFE:

great share.


I wonder if I'll get mine
I got in a few weeks before the August cut-off, but I never got the case with my order 13 months later... no word about it either.
Did you purchase this one separately @Vapor_Eyes?

It'd be nice if they stamped their logo into the leather. HL's logo is great.

 

[vapviking]

great share.


I wonder if I'll get mine
I got in a few weeks before the August cut-off, but I never got the case with my order 13 months later... no word about it either.
Did you purchase this one separately @Vapor_Eyes?

I haven't gotten any notice yet, and I think my order date was Aug 4 '15. Over a year ago they confirmed that I am on the list!
Not that it's critical for me, since I'm still on forced break for 8 months now. With no end in sight.
It's the height of the absurd.
But I'll stIll be glad to close a chapter on the sleeve thing.

 

[Cheesequake]

So I'm hopeful a) this will happen fast

Don't hold your breath. Caroline said it would be at least a month when I opened a request a week or so ago for my regular stainless steel. Just going to hold on to it until things have caught back up at HL.

 

[almost there]

Don't hold your breath. Caroline said it would be at least a month when I opened a request a week or so ago for my regular stainless steel. Just going to hold on to it until things have caught back up at HL.

Let’s be realistic, a month to hopper labs mean what? Those guys don’t operate in the same concept of time as us humans

 

[Hawk]

I know some of you guys are optimistic about HL's latest announcement but I can't see this company being viable for much longer. Too many danger signs:

- Way too many failures. If you go by this thread we are looking at close to 75-80% failure rates. Remember not only has almost everyone had a failure but in high percentage of cases multiple failures. There is no excuse for someone returning an item 7-8 times. No business on earth can keep up with that kinda failure rate. I may even be conservative on my failure rate.
- Items like the ss case which was offered during the kickstarter 3-4 years ago still does not exist. They finally promised to be shipped out in November but of course another date missed. Who know if this will ever be shipped out.
- Taking close to two years to get a cheap leather case to owed customers. I can probably call China today and have a few hundred made and ready to go for next week
- Keep coming out with add-ons or other products for you to buy without first dealing with the main issue of the GH itself. This is obviously to generate money that they are losing big time.
- This is the third time that HL has announced that they are bringing more equipment and production in house and things will be much better and more reliable. This is getting old.

Sorry but my optimism for a possible reliable working GH is totally gone. My hopper has been dead for 3 months now (thank god for my Crafty). I have been waiting to hear of improvements before I send mine out since being in Canada it gets expensive to keep shipping it out to the States.

Its a total shame because I really enjoyed my hopper. But my money is that one day we will find their website taken down and never hear from them again.

I hope I'm wrong.

 

[JoeMama]

Don't hold your breath. Caroline said it would be at least a month when I opened a request a week or so ago for my regular stainless steel. Just going to hold on to it until things have caught back up at HL.

Yeah, I know you're probably right... that's why I own two.

 

[MoltenTiger]

This is the third time that HL has announced that they are bringing more equipment and production in house and things will be much better and more reliable. This is getting old.

This is the first time I recall warranty having a hold up beyond the stated 3-5 days, and so that is why I have any optimism about their current activities. Because necessary changes are happening, and I am completely un-shocked that it's taking longer than they anticipated and announced, that seems to be a trend. But it's a promising trend, as much needs changing. So, as long as they do it...
But they can only do so much. It sounds like they know what they're doing, they've done quite a bit already so I've no reason to doubt them. It's pretty clear they prioritise maintaining cash flow to make hoppers, so we'll see what happens.

that's why I own two

Lol, both mine are in RMA limbo. But even then it's all good, because both should arrive back re-spruced up.
Getting pretty sick of the M. So far I've managed to 'click' it off once, which is a nice reminder of how cool and user friendly the GH is as a vong.
I'll also say, it's great having a few friends with hoppers now, so I can still get my fix whilst I wait for limbo to resolve.

 

[johnnyCanuck]

This is the first time I recall warranty having a hold up beyond the stated 3-5 days, and so that is why I have any optimism about their current activities. Because necessary changes are happening, and I am completely un-shocked that it's taking longer than they anticipated and announced, that seems to be a trend. But it's a promising trend, as much needs changing. So, as long as they do it...
But they can only do so much. It sounds like they know what they're doing, they've done quite a bit already so I've no reason to doubt them. It's pretty clear they prioritise maintaining cash flow to make hoppers, so we'll see what happens.


Lol, both mine are in RMA limbo. But even then it's all good, because both should arrive back re-spruced up.
Getting pretty sick of the M. So far I've managed to 'click' it off once, which is a nice reminder of how cool and user friendly the GH is as a vong.
I'll also say, it's great having a few friends with hoppers now, so I can still get my fix whilst I wait for limbo to resolve.

So it’s not just me that’s not totally enthralled with the M? Phew.

 

[MoltenTiger]

So it’s not just me that’s not totally enthralled with the M? Phew.

well, you know it's a great vape.

But compared to a hopper?

I may as well elaborate, the downside is unpacking the GH is a little bit trickier. The GH uses more bud at once. The GH isn't as nice to use direct draw.
But the upside is, better flavour, better clouds, better efficacy, ease of use, better airflow, better stealth, general approach-ability - no one was into my M, until they were waiting for the Sublimator to heat up and had no choice now with my hoppers away, they were very impressed saying how they thought it would be shit, but it was decent. It got us through 20 mins.
The GH on the other hand, is like a gadget from the future. People don't know what to do with the thing initially, often too scared to even click it on properly. But after they taste it, and then they feel the true ability of vaping, and get suuuuper red eyes, they're like daaamn. If it was a third of the price I reckon many would buy one, but it's still like the Volcano back in the day, just a bit too much on top of a taboo illegal thing here. It definitely is an insanely great device.
The vapcap is also ingenious, but it can't keep up with the hopper.

 

[junny89]

thank you everyone for taking the time out to post, i think i will wait and see what happens in the coming weeks. i dont want to jump the gun and be waiting around with a faulty item etc. i want one so i will wait in case they bring a new one out soon! thanks for all the feedback also!!

 

[JoeMama]

Here’s a few pics of the new leather sleeve. The new sleeve is in the middle, old sleeve is on the left and the Aston Leather sleeve is on the right:

Here’s the new sleeve with the Grasshopper inserted:

And here it is with the Grasshopper and PFE:

The two pics missing are the ones showing the hopper (with each mouthpiece) in the Ashton case. IMO, it is the better napsack for PFE hoppers. It keeps the whole hopper covered.

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

@MoltenTiger: My new leather case was ordered and paid for in September 2015, my old leather case was ordered in June 2016 along with batteries and shipped immediately. It was for my SS Hopper which I ordered through Vaposhop after I got sick of waiting for my preorder Ti.

So to recap, I ordered my new case first, and my old case was purchased later than the first and arrived over a year and a half sooner. Boy, things sure get confusing in the Grasshopper multiverse.

The two pics missing are the ones showing the hopper (with each mouthpiece) in the Ashton case. IMO, it is the better napsack for PFE hoppers. It keeps the whole hopper covered.

No offense, but that would be a pretty boring set of pictures right? You would just see a full leather sleeve in both. But I could do that for you. I’ll make it a bit more interesting too.

On the left is the original Hopper Labs sleeve with a stock Grasshopper on the right is the Aston Leather sleeve with a Grasshopper and PFE.

This shows the reverse, PFE on left and stock hopper on the right.

 

[JoeMama]

@MoltenTiger: My new leather case was ordered and paid for in September 2015, my old leather case was ordered in June 2016 along with batteries and shipped immediately. It was for my SS Hopper which I ordered through Vaposhop after I got sick of waiting for my preorder Ti.

So to recap, I ordered my new case first, and my old case was purchased later than the first and arrived over a year and a half sooner. Boy, things sure get confusing in the Grasshopper multiverse.



No offense, but that would be a pretty boring set of pictures right? You would just see a full leather sleeve in both. But I could do that for you. I’ll make it a bit more interesting too.

On the left is the original Hopper Labs sleeve with a stock Grasshopper on the right is the Aston Leather sleeve with a Grasshopper and PFE.

This shows the reverse, PFE on left and stock hopper on the right.

Ah, but how do I know you put a real hopper in that Ashton sleeve? It could be empty!

 

[Vapor_Eyes]

Ah, but how do I know you put a real hopper in that Ashton sleeve? It could be empty!

The big bulge is a dead giveaway.

 

[JoeMama]

The big bulge is a dead giveaway.

LMAO.

...Well, after a few months of use, it does tend to hold that shape...

 

[manujoe]

Of course I'd end up buying more batteries too.
So that's not of concern to me but the hot mouth piece ?
And don't forget it is like $400 in the UK.
So will have a think about it and see.

Is there a new one out or coming out soon?

Vaposhop sell the "improved" titanium for €265 but I managed to talk them down to €230 as a valued customer and they offer a no questions asked 30day guarantee. Work it hard for four weeks and if for any reason you feel it's not the one for you just replace it. Customer service is brilliant also. My new one arrives Monday and I can't wait.

 

[moondog]

So I'm sitting and pondering this long burst of subzero temps we're experiencing and wondering how it all came on so suddenly and then I get a shipping confirmation for my leather sleeve from the lab!

Oh, I get it; hell has frozen over! I'll be glad to finally have it although truth be told, I haven't used a hopper in weeks. My Firewood has been my daily/nightly driver and I'm loving it. It's a good feeling to know my backups are the tremendous hoppers.

Just read backwards a little and saw the posts about the production hiatus at the lab. Interesting...

 

[vapviking]

So I'm sitting and pondering this long burst of subzero temps we're experiencing and wondering how it all came on so suddenly and then I get a shipping confirmation for my leather sleeve from the lab!

Oh, I get it; hell has frozen over! I'll be glad to finally have it although truth be told, I haven't used a hopper in weeks. My Firewood has been my daily/nightly driver and I'm loving it. It's a good feeling to know my backups are the tremendous hoppers.

Just read backwards a little and saw the posts about the production hiatus at the lab. Interesting...

Hi, 'dog,
Is your sleeve one you ordered a long time ago, did you recently order, or (like me) is it one that was supposed to come with a Ti from pre-order days? If the latter, do you remember your pre-order date? I'm trying to ascertain if I've been skipped over, since I just got the announcement that they are available for purchase on HL website. Thanks.

 

[MoltenTiger]

Hi, 'dog,
Is your sleeve one you ordered a long time ago, did you recently order, or (like me) is it one that was supposed to come with a Ti from pre-order days? If the latter, do you remember your pre-order date? I'm trying to ascertain if I've been skipped over, since I just got the announcement that they are available for purchase on HL website. Thanks.

I also haven't received any word on my leather sleeve and I did just receive an email saying they were now available.. although I pre-ordered July 24th before they were removed from the box, I ended up with 3 hoppers on that order, so I guess each owner is owed one..

From HLs FAQ:

Is the Leather Sleeve included with the Titanium and Color Grasshoppers?
The Leather Sleeve is not included with any Grasshoppers. It was previously included with backer and pre-ordered units before 8/24/15. Any units ordered after this time do not include the Leather Sleeve. This change was made due to the popularity of the metal cases.

I bought the metal case when I pre-ordered, but cashed it in when I figured it'd be a long wait for it.
I really like HLs newer case design, and the battery charger looks really neat. I just don't feel a need for them after handling the product. I'm more tempted by the BC, the USB-C set up would be nice and that magnetic lid would be cool to use. Looking forward to seeing some reviews.