Package arrived safely and unbroken!
I had to test it with some bowls in the name of science and got blasted first thing in the morning..
Tried it with small loads, big loads, high temp hits and low temp hits, they all give great taste but I couldn't sense any difference from the aluminum Lotus pipe at all.
It works great with water and better imo without! If you add water it also filters herb particles of course and that's not bad when you have a sensitive throat.
And guess what!!! It can stand on it's own thanks to the little blobs of glass at the bottom! It sits steadier in the first photo and when the Lotus is in it, it even stands upright, although not so steady. Small differences… The slightest bump will throw it down so I better be careful..
I added a cheap e-cig silicone mouthpiece for added comfort but removed it since… I like it better without.
Only think that bothered me a little but I guess I'll learn to live with it until I get another one is that the Lotus needs to be placed in a 18/14 LowPro adapter and that raises it to exactly eye level so the view I have when I draw is this:
Watching the centre of the hot plate on the Lotus is quite tricky with such a view and I have to implement my super depth perception powers to be accurate and don't burn the wood!
I hope a 18mm WA will eventually come out so I can lower it a bit or I might find another j-hook with a more acute angle at some time in the future. Not a big issue but it would be easier with a slightly different design.
It should become my home piece of choice of course from now on as I find it more joyful to use than my Ehle bong and I like to be able to also see the vapor when hitting the Lotus. Less diffusion or no diffusion means better taste! With this I can do smaller hits and keep vaporizing my load for longer it seems.
It also seems to match great with my Hot Pod and Solo as well and I hope to do some more testing today...
ALL WELL THEN! Thank you all so much for the input and let's keep this thread live!