Hey everyone! We've had quite a few new purchases it seems recently with some new friendly faces so figure I'd throw together a little something something to help people get started ... because this thread has gotten quite long with a lot of missed information scattered throughout. I'll highlight a few different sections and try to make it simple. Anyways, here we go!
Batteries:
Lot's of battery info (and chargers) with price comparisons on Page 50, that is a good starting point. Batteries definitely make a difference when it comes to strength and duration. I've tried:
- Yellow LG HE4s. These are consistent but aren't the most powerful. Hold an average charge.
- Green Samsung 25R. These are probably my least favorite, not a ton of power, average charge.
- Green Sony VTC5. My all time favorite for power rips. Still good battery life, but the power spikes can be intense!
- Brown LG HG2. All around best batty to balance consistency, power, and battery life. Can't go wrong with these at all.
In the end, I will always choose the HG2 or the VTC5, both just amazing batteries.
Past Generations of Milaanas:
This can confuse some people so I'll clear it up.
The first batch of Milaanas, known as "OG Milaanas" were basically a rough draft of what we have today. Back then they look amazing, but are now a bit outdated looking compared to the new units. Glass was not recessed very far (or at all), the intake screen was just a pile of mesh, the wood was pale and lacked vitality, and the units functioned slightly cooler. Sometimes pieces would come apart because he hadn't nailed the glue perfectly yet.
The V1 came out next. This had a little better fit and finish, suffered less glue issues, had nearly fully recessed glass, and hit like a truck. Some of these units were pretty damn hot (which many liked), but it made him re-evaluate his QC when it comes to heater consistency. The mesh for the intake was replaced with a sexy screen (huge deal back in the day).
The V2 was next in line. Amazing quality, perfect fit and finish, super smooth with glowing wood, and very consistent heaters. This batch came with Spalted, Cherry, Walnut, and Maple, but the maple looked much better than the previous units. Don't think any of these had glue issues at all and more measures were in place to create a better all around unit. These units were also made a little bit large in order to compensate for the added QC and have all around more consistent units. These unit also came with choice of glass, Emerald, Cobalt, Amber. These units run a bit cooler than the V1s but nowhere near as cool as OGs.
The V3 is the final version. Not a ton of people have these unless you picked up a new batch. Seems overall best fit and finish, more glass options, cooler woods, and a built in turbulator to help even the load when vaped. These seem to run a tad hotter than the V2, which was tuned down a bit after those super hot V1s.
Techniques:
First off, I'm linking a post which holds a few different techniques given to me by some great members here in the Milaana thread. Reading these over will give you an idea of the versatility when it comes to Milaana's use.
The RBT Milaana (unregulated single 18650)
My little quick start guide when it comes to first getting your Milaana and
a few things to know:
- The heater retains heat well. When you let off the trigger, you will still be getting heat for up to 5-10 seconds, it can produce vapor for quite a while without being on the trigger.
- The first hit will be weaker. It's the nature of convection. Use this hit to taste your herb, heat up your unit, and dry out your herb to prep for your next hit.
- You can hold the trigger down and blow in the intake gently to feel the heat rise out the female end against your face. Gives you an idea of the battery life and how hot your unit is running.
- The heater doesn't rise at a perfectly consistent rate. When you first press the trigger, the heater will start off strong and slowly slow down the climb until it hits its tuned temperature, then slowly climb past that. It's not a constant uphill. I see it as a heavy curve to a point, then a small gradual uphill. Units vary. My V1 would feel like it's constantly going up, but my OG and V2 I can feel the peak.
- You don't need to feel a ton of heat to be getting vapor.
- Using unit as a session will require less time on the throttle, enhancing battery life and consistency.
- Slow, consistent draws will reduce hotspotting and provide a smoother, consistent user experience imo.
Okay, enough with the little tips, here's how I go about explaining to friends the best way to learn the Milaana.
- Start off with a fresh battery and a three second preheat. Slowly inhale until you feel the heat rising. Pay attention to how quickly it rises and where it feels like it peaks. When the heat hits a temperature you enjoy, let off the trigger and continue inhaling slowly for 5 seconds or so. Exhale.
- You'll notice even though you didn't go on the trigger very long, you used the residual heat to get most of your vapor.
- Continue this for three hits or so WITHOUT adjusting technique. You'll notice your hit gets bigger after the first hit because everything is warm. You may also notice the temperature climbs a little faster on your second and third hit. Adjust accordingly if necessary to avoid combustion and retain flavor.
- Continue this to finish your bowl. This will allow you to use a few constants to understand your unit - same preheat, same time on trigger, using heat feedback to let off the trigger, same inhalation rate, etc. Try to keep these consistent when first using your Milaana to get a feel of how the Milaana changes throughout a session and when to let off the trigger to keep flavor.
Alright, now that you've done a few seshes using the simplest of techniques, you can add a few more variables
- You can adjust your draw speed halfway through a hit as the heater rises in order to get vapor faster and prevent the heater from getting too hot. This will, as you will probably find out, add a bit more harshness as you are getting more hot air, faster.
- Instead of letting off the trigger and riding the residual heat, you can let off then start to pulse the trigger in order to continue your temperature. There is no set "1 second on 1 second off" technique to this. It is a constant adjustment. When you take a turn in a car, your steering wheel doesn't stay in the exact same spot, it is a constant left/right micro-movement as you feel out the road. Same thing.
- You can try different packs, adjust screen distance, flip the screen from basket style to dome style, etc. Basket style tends to produce thicker rips, dome style makes it feel more like a laid back log imo.
- Adjust grind. Finer grind = thicker but more hotspotting as the air tries to find the path of least resistance. When the herb is coarser (I still get thick rips, don't get me wrong) you can get a more even browning as the air has multiple gaps to travel through and seems to heat more evenly.
- Adjust heat up time based off how long the session has been running. First hit, 3-5 second preheat. Start off slow, feel out the unit as it gets hot, let off trigger, ride residual heat. Second hit, 2 second preheat, heater heats up faster so start your draw slow and increase speed as heater rises in temp. Let off the trigger for half a second, slow down draw, press trigger again, wait for heater to catch up after 1-2 seconds, speed up draw again, etc. Infinite ways to go about this, just an example of how you can shift draw / trigger mid hit.
- If using a fine grind and still trying to maintain consistent greening, hold a slower draw and don't let the heater spike too hard. Be as gradual on the climb as possible. You can get to high temp hits without hotspotting as long as you work with your herb. When you throw a steak on a too hot of a grill, the top will charr without cooking the inside. When you gradually heat, you get a nice all around cook. Think of herb this way too.
Mods
@DDave (In my opinion) makes the greatest mods for the Milaana, which improve the Milaana's already great performance.
- He has the OG cooling mod, which comes with the micro bubbler, stems, 14mm reducer and tiny 14mm screens. This seems to be the all around best mod. I don't use the bubbler much, but I use the 14mm reducer with the 14mm screen. Despite only loading about .04, the hits are insanely big because so much heat goes through such a tiny concentrated area and it really nukes the herb for an insanely flavorful thick cloudy hit. Your herb will stretch a long way with this one.
- He also has an all glass concentration chamber for herb and concentrates. This wedges your herb between two pieces of glass and requires no screen. The glass is further away from the heater with reduced airflow so it's harder to get huge clouds, but it'll give you the tastiest.
- He also recently released a case that holds 4 stems in it for your convenience. You can pre-load the stems he provides, cap them, and put them in the belt clip sorta like the Arizer Air / Solo 2. On the go, you can take out a new stem, pop it in the Milaana, and be vaping within seconds.
- If you are finding the wide 18mm stems RBT provides to be harsh or feeling a little teary-eyed using them, grab a DDave tapered stem. You have no idea how much it helps.
- Here's a video I made of the DDave mod when it was first released ... pardon the awful audio quality. I have loads of Milaana videos on my page so feel free to watch me take fat rip after fat rip.
I have officially run out of character count. Sorry
