So I’ve been away from this thread since I canceled my GH pre-order last fall, but glad to be back and great to see folks finally getting their long-awaited hoppers. Painful to read of some folks having continued failures, but from what I’ve gleaned from the last several pages it does seem to have evolved and the newest ones tend to have less failures - or at least I hope so ‘cuz I just got me one
Briefly here’s my story then will share some initial thoughts. I was originally a Feb 2015 pre-order, cancelled in October because it was obviously not up to snuff yet, spent the next 5 mos waiting for the Zion that never came, finally cancelled that and got an Underdog for home and pre-ordered a VapCap Ti for away, which I recently received. Love both, except that the VC which I thought would fulfill my portable needs, doesn’t work in the slightest wind - so forget using it for hiking. The silver lining to that was that I had never really gotten over my GH VAS… so this gave me the justification to finally get that hopper.
At first I was thinking I’d go for one of the overseas shops because no way in hell I was gonna wait for a pre-order again, but then I found a SS GH on eBay from an authorized GHL reseller that included lifetime warranty, extra batt & free shipping for $250. Basically $60 more than the same woulda cost via another pre-order wait hell, and a good deal less than the overseas shops. Emailed the seller to make sure it was the most recent iteration with all the latest updates before I bought, and it was. Ordered it Friday at 4 pm, had a tracking number within the hour and it was in my hands by 9:00 this morning (monday).
Looks & feels awesome. A bit larger than expected. Oh cool - my serial num ends in 420!!!
And….. it works!!!
![Clap :clap: :clap:](/i/s/clap.gif)
Quick empty run at first, love the lights.
First load only 0.05g of fine grind on temp 3, fairly cloudy but I see right away that I won’t be using it without the silicone extender. The solution some have suggested to put lips past the cone, gets my throat way too close to the hot air/vapor. Third & last hit with silicone mp was much more comfy. Second bowl on 3.5 but I filled it too full, esp considering the fine grind, so not much clouds on first hit but plenty by the third. Keep forgetting to turn it off before end of hit - guess I’m done for now
Later: bowl #3 on temp 4.0, half loaded. Much more flavorful hits & bigger clouds than my first 2 bowls, starting to like this quite well. And now I just tried it with my MFLB glass MP attached to the silicone extender, as was suggested here awhile back, and it’s the cat’s meow
OK I’m fully on board with this thing now. Need to spend a bunch more time with it to get to know it, and I don't ever expect to reach the levels of yumminess of my UD or VapCap, but so far it’s a bit more flavorful and less harsh than expected. Extraction abilities are certainly right up there. Back end is staying cool... the only part that gets hot is the MP and the silicone thing solves that. Love the no stirring and minimal cleaning. Love that it’s self-contained and will be so easy to carry along on hikes, kayaking etc. Fun and a no-brainer to use. Stealthy in a james bond-esque sort of way.. even the silicone mp looks just like those rubber thingies on the end of ergonomic pens.
Also just realized I’ve finished bowl 3 and the battery is still going strong with no flashing - whaddaya know, it’s the little hopper battery that could! I don't intend to use the included USB charger - I know it’s supposed to be upgraded and probably fine now, but I have far more trust in my Nitecore D4.
Speaking of batts, ordered 2 more spares from GHL for a total of 4, plus extra silicone mp. Emailed Caroline on Friday when I ordered those to make sure of no delay on those, just got her response that they will be shipped tomorrow.
So far I really dig this little self-contained stealthy cloud machine. Fingers crossed that it keeps working.
May your hoppers keep hopping happily.