Above you can see some photos i made this afternoon with the HI, and in the last one i put the MFLB for size reference and the WW to compare.
Now, onto the review of the HI.
Construction:
It came flawless, without a single visible defect and it has a great quality feel, both in the materials used and in the craftsmanship itself.
The design already proved useful since i was quickly able to determine the initial malfunction and quickly find a way to bypass it which was as easy to do as it was to come with a solution.
Another thing i noticed is that the center area is all wood and about a third of the overall length of the piece, this allows not only a perfectly position heat sink, as well as a great way to add weight needed to maintain a better stability to prevent from tipping.
Handling:
It is quite similar to the WW as they are both log vapes, but the ss tip allows for a more hands free experience than with the WW with the glass stem since mine does not have a deep enough bowl for it to be secure aqround the center stem.
It gets quite hot to touch, sometimes even unconfortably so, although that is because it accidentaly slided under my leg and the heat accumulates.
With water it is quite easy to use the turbo gong without the sstip and it is easy to handle all pieces - straight tube, downstem, gong stem and HI.
Taste:
Similar to the WW, can't really tell the difference in a blind test TBH, so pretty good. The only one that can best it in my collection is the Gn0me.
It is way easier to prematurelly brown/black your bowl though. I am used to employ a slower draw in my WW and my Solo, and i begun doing it in the DBV as well.. but in the HI, if you do that without stopping for more than 10 seconds or drawing fresh air, it is almost guaranteed to realize your bowl has the top surface dark brown.
The turbo gong improves taste compared to the ss tip, something to be expected of course.
Efficiency:
As most convection units out there nowadays, it is a very efficient unit. The emotional aspect of efficiency, related to bowl size, makes the ss tip + turbo gong my best stem so far, and the turbo gong alone my worst. So, i have the best of both worlds with logs, the ability for modestly big bowls (let's not compare this with an ELB or a DBV/SSV bowl) and for very small bowls as well.
Overall Experience:
As i mentioned in the two posts before, i love it. It was definitly worth waiting for.
In terms of vapor output, it is an awesome unit.
The high temperature it reaches allows for very quick sessions and one-hit-stems easy.
The WW is better to have a prolonged session especially now because i still have to learn the subtleties between both units in terms of draw technique.
With water, this is perhaps my best unit. DBV milks it better but has a higher learning curve to do that. WW does not reach as high of a temp as the HI, and the Solo has a close taste but worst handling. The gn0mes are good but not as pratical also.
I'm currently on my HI-neymoon so my usage will eventually find the best place for my HI but i foresee it becoming my main water vaporizer and the WW my main dry vaporizer, with the Solo continuing to fill the mobile needs that don't require stealth (friends and GF houses, vacations and change of the usual home vaporization venues.)
And once again, thank you Alan for your commitment to inovate and provide a new view on the log scene. It has been a pleasure!