OK, I'm on day five with the Mighty, and past due to pull my thoughts together about this device (which I've been using exclusively since Thursday afternoon). First, though, to get this out of the way, S&B did confirm that my SN is a "2015 model, but not our newest version". Randy at PIU has been awesome through this whole transaction, and offered to refund my money if I'm unsatisfied. Given that the only real differences seem to be cosmetic (reinforced fins at the top) and something I can work around (shut off time), and given that my Mighty is working great, I've decided to keep it...I'm sure something will go wrong with it anyway at some point, considering my luck with portables.
I went into this experience with both high and diminished expectations simultaneously....high because everyone has raved about the Mighty, and diminished because, well, I'm naturally skeptical, and any vape that immediately has an almost-cultish fanbase spring up as the Mighty has....let's just say my skepticism gets aroused. I expected the Mighty to be killer, and yet was ready for it to be....not so killer. I needn't have worried.
So yeah, it's a fantastic vape....powerful, extracts as close to 100% as any portable I've used, has ZERO learning curve, very little draw restriction, you don't need to stir (still haven't completely wrapped my brain around how that works...I know there's a bit of conduction happening, but you can hardly tell, and you certainly can't
taste it)....but what I didn't expect were the puzzling (but delightful) aspects of the Mighty that have me scratching my head a bit, but again, entirely in delight....
Extracts almost everything at low temps: I have no idea how it does this. But I get tons of vapor between 185 and 200C, and above 200, almost nothing. A few light hits, but very little. It seems to deplete the weed,
any strain, before you hit 205 or even 200. The abv looks maybe 70% cooked, tops...but when I put it in my Nano, cranked up to 10 (easily close to combustion temps), I
get nothing. Nada. ZIP. The goddamn Mighty is
extracting 100% of visible vapor at low temps. Like...WOW.
Vapor shuts off instead of taporing off: Again...WTF? I get to 200, maybe a few wispy hits left, but basically, when the Mighty delivers its last large hit, it's like 90% done. Most other vapes, you pull quite a few hits on the downward slope of vapor production (and this is where the "time sink" of vaporizing comes in....sitting there for 20 minutes trying to finish extraction). The FF gets me about 25 hits from .15ish g's. The Mighty extracts more completely than the FF in half the hits. (This is partly why the Mighty feels so "hard hitting"....it's a dosage issue.
) I can hit 205, draw a couple of dead hits, and know confidently that bowl is
spent. Bottom line....the Mighty is like the first vape I've used that seems to have respect for my time.
Flavor: right down the middle: The Mighty cannot compete with the FF for flavor, but it beats every other vape (that I've used) in that category. It delivers nice, natural flavor far cleaner than most vapes, and while it doesn't have the full sweetness you get with the FF, it also never tastes stale or bad...you never get the burnt popcorn smell or taste....the good flavor just kind of dims as you go. It goes from really good to neutral, but never bad. That's a first for me after years of vaping.
Weed hog: Not really. I can cram about .20 g's in the bowl, maybe a little bit more than I get in the FF. I would judge the extra-fast extraction and higher dosage hits are resulting in my using maybe an additional .2 g's a day so far.
Cleaning: I love how clean the visible areas stay, but that masks how easily residue builds up in the cooling unit. I personally will be cleaning those parts out every five or so bowls. (I haven't yet removed or cleaned any of the O rings, which looks fairly clean from what I can see....not looking forward to that little ritual.
)
Battery life: No complaints. Haven't let it get below three bars. Haven't experienced the fast bar drop others have mentioned.
Size/Form-factor: The size is fine...it's comfortable in my small hands, and it'll fit in a pocket thanks to the slim profile. The look takes some getting used to....(my wife tried it, loved it more than any vape she's used, but called it "ugly"...)...but with performance like this, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Shut-off timer: OK this drives me fucking nuts, but I'm working around it.
Overall....yeah, this is one badass-vape, and has immediately become the only vape I wanna use, thanks to its combo of speed, vapor quality, ease-of-use, and face-ripping potential. I can't even really think of any cons other than the shut-off timer (though when my inevitable warranty service-issue crops up, that goes right on the "con" list!)....maybe other than price, and, full circle, thanks to Randy I got an excellent deal.
I'm already contemplating another one, because, well, what am I gonna do when I have to send this one in for repair someday??
(Oh yeah and thanks again to
@Slow Draw McGraw for all his Mighty advice.
)