Reading 265 pages of this forum is really no joke
Lots of good stuff.... did anyone ever start the "Best of Herbie" thread? It is sorely needed, with the best points/counterpoints and useful suggestions all in a couple pages.
I put down the herbie for a while, mainly due to my disappointment with the continual need for replacement of the bags, since I am a much bigger fan of the bags than the whip... Although, being without the bags definitely made me use and appreciate the whip. I find the bags to be much more convenient for me, and now that I have a newborn, I plan on blowing bags and walking out on the balcony, since there is no smoking/vaping in the house
Anyways, man it took some researching on here to figure out the "best" solution (for me, at least), in regards to cost effectiveness/ease of use with replacement bags. Lots of good points on every end, but here is what I seemed to get out of it, and why I made the choice that I did, for anyone coming into these boards late, and not wanting to do the back reading that it takes to make a sound decision (although, I do recommend that you do for anything and everything else regarding the Herbie).
Stock bags for a regular bag user just won't cut it. Whether it is leaking from the squeeze valve/bowl connection, or from the bag/squeeze valve, or just random other permeable areas on the bag with frequent use. After about a week of use, my bag fails. $10 a week on bags is not something to be taken lightly... and it honestly blows my mind that this hasn't been resolved by the company yet. (Carrie had sent me a few free replacements, and kept telling me they were developing new ones but she would send me replacements, since they just don't work, until the new ones arrive. After 2 or 3 times, I received a reply from someone else telling me they wouldn't send me any more. Which I partially get, but after spending $787 total on the machine, it was really hard to swallow being told to buy new defective bags for the price they are asking.
Anyway, it boils down to two options for replacement. You either keep your squeeze valve and replace the bag with a viable bag, or you get a volcano solid-valve and hold it down as the bag blows.
In terms of cost effectiveness, since you can replace the squeeze valve bags, it seems like the best option would be to keep the squeeze valve and replace the bags. The only problem I started reading with this, is the fact that the squeeze valve itself deteriorates and cracks over time, so it makes me worry that harsh chemicals can leak from the hot squeeze valve to my mouth.
You also would have to purchase the bag set again, which makes this not an actual permanent solution. Then again, I have seen an adapter on someone's previous post that holds the bat up on glass, which would eliminate the heat on the valve, and the need to buy bags just for the valve.
Buying the solid valve system from S&B is $100 one time, (93.00 shipped for free from a site I found), and no risk of the valve itself breaking down with time. You do have to hold the solid valve onto the bowl, so that is a small downside. Some people use the volcano bowl instead of the herbie so they don't have to hold the solid valve up while blowing, but this can warp the plastic around the heating element (some say insignificantly and it can be worked back into place, but I'm just not going to let a $700 + machine melt in any way).
So far, we are about equal in each option, but I think the deal breaker for me is the durability of the volcano bags. People seem to be quite pleased in this arena, as well as the custom sizes of the bags.
Well, I ordered the Solid Valve due to these considerations, and that came from the back and forth of the good folks on this forum.
Hope this helps anyone wondering their best option without back reading!
If I am off or anyone thinks anything needs to be added, please let me know!
Now, lets start a best of!
