Timber Elite vs Lil bud

Good morning,

I am considering both the mentioned vaporizers to meet my on-demand needs. I currently have a mighty, but as my family grows, spending time extracting from the mighty is becoming a nuisance and I am constantly try to suck all the vapor down and the experience is losing its enjoyment.

Is the elite worth the extra $100 over the lil bud? Does battery drain happen more quickly with the elite do to its performance management with the DNA chip? Is the learning curve high with the lil bud?

Your insights would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

edit: I have no experience with regulated/unregulated vapes of this type
 
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Sup_Burner_1,

GoldenBud

Well-Known Member
The Lil Bud will be just ok. It's an High Surfance Area heater, works perfectly fine also with wattage mode - just using the Lil Bud button, no need for TCR if you control it well. You can save the 100$.
Just remember to stir your bowl every 2-3 hits, and check battery level - if it's under 30% , use another fresh battery. use good batteries, like LG HG2.

Also, get a good charger for the batteries. like XTAR or NITECORE, or so. make sure it supports 18650 batteries, ofcourse.
 

bossman

Gentleman Of Leisure
Yeah the Mighty is bullshit for a sneak out to the garage for a minute vape. Vapwood makes good devices but there are other options to consider depending on your needs:
  • Milaana 2 or Milaana 3
  • Tinymight
  • Splinter or Splinter Z
  • Tetra P80
I've owned two Lil Buds, a dozen Splinters of various kinds, a Milaana 2 and a Milaana 3 that arrived a few weeks ago. I've also owned a Tubo X, which is a predecessor of the Tetra.

One of the reasons I recommend RBT vapes (Splinter and Milaana) is that they went through the growing pains of getting a Chinese manufacturing partner and right away sold the Chinese units for half the price. They're also readily available unlike the Tinymight, Tetra, and LB, which are all still handmade and only available in small matches every month or two.

What that means is that you can order a Splinter V2 or ZV2 for under a hundred dollars, screw it on to a forty dollar box mod, and have a fast, powerful on demand convection device with consistent performance and amazing flavor.

The downside to the Splinters is that there's some assembly required and at some point you'll want to learn to configure your box mod for temp control (as opposed to just setting a wattage, which is still a really satisfying experience).

I purchased the Lil Buds with the aspiration to just have a single button to worry about. I enjoyed them for a time and gave one to a friend. I now have the Milaanas in that role because the ground glass joint accepts the dimpled cooling stems I rely on for the big hits I prefer.

Something else to consider: the Splinter, Milaana, and Tetra P80 all use a ground glass joint so the devices aren't truly portable. You need to remove the stem before you put any of these devices in your pocket and they only stay inserted with a bit of friction.

The Tinymight is the smallest and the most pocket friendly of the devices I listed. My friends here on FC have been bugging me to get one and I will eventually. I mostly vape at home and don't really need the extra portability at a $250 price with a six week wait so I've held off so far.

The wooden stems of the Lil Bud never provided as much cooling as I wanted and the hits were never as even or consistent as I'd like. By all accounts the Timber has improved consistency considerably, as you'd expect for a regulated on demand vape with a fancy DNA75C board, which was a smart choice.

For my purposes the Splinter and more recently the Milaana 3 are the path of least resistance for regulated and unregulated on demand convection portables. Every vape I've mentioned here will work well with a bit of practice. I like the Splinters because they're the least expensive and the most readily available. I recommend the dimpled cooling stems if you go that route.

The other big plus for RBT is that without exception they have the best sales. The other companies are kinda stuck to their prices since hand assembly is time consuming and this is their craft. Conversely the Splinters are all boxed up and ship weekly on Mondays and I think the 30% off code from last month is still automatically added.
 
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Bossman,

thank you for the helpful suggestions. Taking a step out to the garage or taking the trash out has become my new vaping style haha. And with the mighty, as you describe, is terrible for those conditions.

I will give the splinter and milaaana more consideration. As good as the Tetra p80 and tinymight sound, I think I can rule those out considering I live in the US and want to avoid a potential international repair. I have unfortunately lost valuables with international shipping in the past so I try to avoid having to send anything overseas or across international lines.
 
Sup_Burner_1,
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bossman

Gentleman Of Leisure
Cool, yeah international customer service isn't ideal so it's handy that Vapwood and RBT are domestic.

If the current coupon is still added automatically the Milaana 3 is around $130, the custom Milaana 2 is around $185, and the Splinters are in the $60 to $90 range not including a box mod of some kind.

A shopping list would look like this:
  • Splinter V2 or ZV2
  • XL8R dimpled cooling stems
  • Wismec RX Gen3 Dual or something comparable
  • LG HG2 18650 cells from a trusted seller
  • Some sort of li-ion charger maybe
If you get a Milaana 2 or 3 you don't need the box mod but you do need the cells and charger.

The Milaana 2 is the most no-nonsense of the four RBT powerhouses, just because the Milaana 3 is a bit more scorch prone and the Splinters all come with the aforementioned assembly required. That said I have many Splinter and recommend them often. You can really savor the flavor hits and control how fast you extract with any of the Splinters. There's a bit of a learning curve to get the most out of them but it's mostly just the initial setup and not a matter of technique. And while the finished product isn't as classy looking as a Milaana the price is lower and the performance is great.
 

el sargantano

Well-Known Member
I've been enjoying a Lil Bud for 15 months or so, and the learning curve lasts between 10 days and two weeks to tame. Maybe a month to master it.
Aprox the same with a 1.5 Milaana.
The best thing on these two unregulated (or selfregulated if u prefer) devices is the lack of electronics to fall down. There are less components to rely on and the homework to align them is pretty clear.
I made my own oak tubes and put glass liners in and the cooling effect works nice for me. Smell fades out during first week of use.
Don't be afraid to dive in this unregulated style, some uncle said 'with great power, comes great responsibility'.
I prefer the Lil Bud over the RBT Mi 1.5 cuz it's more docile.
And with an external battery gauge you can check the bat life with no need to get the battery out in a second.
Another important difference is the glass joint of RBTs: it's glued to the wood body. If you spin your stem to ride the ring of fire, it can become loose and fall apart.
My two cents
 
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