So, as predicted... UPS left a box at my doorstep. Knew what it was as soon as I got out of the truck. 'Really is my lucky day', I say, as my trans build only ran up to $1800 from the original $1400. (PS: Even 1800 is cheap, trust me).
Open up the box... and see that Vestratto shipping wrapped TWO cones of bubble wrap around the contents. Of course, we as stoners know to open any / all cones of bubble wrap, as they probably contain part of what you bought. It'll be hard, but you can refrain from unwrapping these two. Promise.
Inside, I find... Tornado (yay!) a thank you note, a small slip of paper containing instructions on one side, and a warning on the other, re: heat lock and how to avoid. And, that's about it. No extra o-rings (not that I've ever had to really replace one in my young re-introduction to Herb. (yes, it's a right proper noun, in my house!).
Taking it apart, I start panicking that I can't get it fully apart. Had to consult YT for dissasembly / cleaning. YOO-HOO! John! Finish your fucking instructions. Signed, a loyal customer who also used technical writing in his career. Seriously.
Got it cleaned / dried. No, I wasn't about to take off any o-rings or even the Dyna screen, as there were no spares (yes, I have Dyna screens!) and again, I've never had to replace an o-ring on other devices, so...
Next, I take an admiring look at this past year's
ne plus ultra, (I know I offended someone... GFY. This is humor)
unscrewing the cap... oh, yeah... it's a cap loader. Back to the Anvil days... lol. I much prefer stab loading, but that's me. With caps, I tend to use a scoop (call me weird, no really--go ahead). So, not having that scoop at hand, I used my grubby little fingers to fill the cap from the freshly ground cup.
If you're used to avoiding heat lock, this device is really no different (and no more sensitive). Those little dimples at the bottom? Back off one dot, once the cap seats. Done. (there are 6 dots, for those who are anal-retentive, like me).
Finally, time to fire this thing up and really see if it's "all that and the bag of chips, too".
As I put it in my Ispire Wand, which I have down to algorithmic repeatability (no, seriously) with all my hot sticks, I vaguely remember something in the Vestratto instructions about 'Forge or Torch'. And then I see my Wand time out after about 20 clicks, saying "I no see nothing" (can't detect anything ferrous)
Try as I might (and I DID try, mightily)... I could not get a full heat cycle in 'auto', with the wand. I just realized as I write this that I didn't really try 'hold button down', but I normally don't do that for the first part of my heat-ups, as the button is eventually gonna go south (and so will your hand, if you have arthritis). But I'll retry that in 'manual' mode. (sorry).
Finally, I walk to my bedroom (where the cap loading spoon was, incidentally), and get... my kitchen torch. :: audience gasps ::
Normally, the only thing I light with a torch is incense. But it looks like that if I really, really like the Tornado... Imma be a torchin' fiend! Ugh.
Then I look at the Tornado. Hmm... little dimples near the bottom of the chamber. That's gotta be my roadmap!
Sure enough, after several seconds (I forget... fuckin' SUE me), I hear the sound all of us hot stick fiends live for... the Click. In this case, the first one, and I wasn't waiting any longer. Into the freshly cleaned Orb you go! I did note a small wisp of vapor eject from the Tornado, same as the Dani (& Anvil?) (also of note: This was my first Herb of the day, at about 3pm in the afternoon -- so, first high, outside of Rx)
Drawing was easy--certainly easier than most if not all of my other regulars in-use. And I did notice that the globe filled with thick, dense cloudage. Enough that I could not completely clear it (although that's not something I regularly do, either). Flavor (from what I remember some 30 minutes ago) was nice.
Final question from the peanut gallery: "Does it hit?" Oh, yes, children. Like a moving truck. Full of furniture. So hard that after I had finally emptied the hit (3-4 draws; about average for me), I didn't even bother with a reheat (and I know part of that was me not wanting to get pissed off at 2 fails, one while high). So I left it in the Orb. And sat down to write this, while waiting for the thing to cool (big drawback, but that's why leather exists). Sadly, it takes a loooooong time for the cool down click, especially to my current fave (and remember, I stopped at first click on the heatup. If there's a second one... that'd be even longer cool down, right?
About 2 minutes ago, I (finally remembered) to check the load. Surely, there must be another hit--or 2, maybe. One look at the inside showed me dark roast. Like coffee grounds. And I *will* heat it up again to see if anything's left. But I can already tell -- this has the goods. Free airflow and the hugest load yet out of a hot stick-type device--yields close to OHE for me, who wasn't even really trying for that (I normally get multiple heat-ups, no matter the device. The cap is larger than the Anvil XL; in fact, the Anvil cap will sleeve inside the Tornado's (opposite ends, for those that try).
Very First Impressions (and they'll change, over time)... Love how it hits, hate that I've got another learning curve... (cie la vie) If it's truly not compatible with a wand, that is a BIG issue for me. And that's all I'll say, for now (if you got this far, you really are gluttons for punishment... no, seriously -- thx for reading)
(2nd edit: ) So... there *was* a second hit in the Tornado. And it was good, sayeth this writer. Oh--and before I forget... the (apparent) wand incompatibility isn't due to lack of ferrous material (both the cap and device are magnetic, thank g*d)... it's due to lack of MASS. There's not enough material for the Wand to detect there's metal inside of it. Smooth, John... devious as hell, but I tip my cap to your engineering prowess. The careful eye will note on the cap end that it's six-sided. Besides making the cap non-roll (which is neat, truth be told), doing that takes a lot of mass out of the lip (which has to have some mass to house the heating discs, etc.
So... now to engineer my way back into using the Wand. You don't have me yet, John! Ahhaahahahhaaahaaaaaa!