Well, I promised Dave I would let him know what I thought of the Underdog, and it looks like I'm finally getting around to keep my promise.
On opening the box, my first impression was surprise... there were certainly a lot of goodies, and the device was much tinier than I was expecting! I pulled it out and caught a whiff of that deep and familiar finished maple smell. Did you know Ambrosia maple gets its patterns from an infestation of beetles boring tunnels in the wood? I think that adds a really cool dimension/story to the piece, and the pattern is absolutely gorgeous. Got some free stash jars and UnderButter from the coupon code, which has been very nice to keep the unit shiny. Shipping was great, it came less than a week after I ordered to the East Coast.
Anyway, the first run of the pup was about two hours later, after I had just gotten off a plane from Europe on about 48 hours of no sleep. At a party no less. 25 minutes after getting plugged in and set to 13.3, we were all disappointed. Surely this light browning was not all the vape had to offer. It took another 20 minutes to heat up fully, but by that time we were all sold, going through quite a few stems on the 1 foot silicone over the next six hours. I figured I would get the 1 foot and cut it down if it was too long, easier than regretting the hot vapor of too short a stem. My intuition was correct, and I cut the stem into two pieces: one ~8", one ~4". A good balance of warm and cool vapor options.
The real reason I bought the Underdog was for the glass on glass. In that area it shines, fogging up anything I throw at it. It's quite an enjoyable experience that can even be overwhelming at first. You don't expect one or two tiny stems to have such a sedating impact, but this is a powerful device, make no mistake.
One night I fell asleep in the middle of the day (jetlag) and woke up to see the VVPS running at 16.8V. It must have been like that for two hours and was very hot to the touch. I was super apprehensive about this... the manual claims that merely leaving the device at 14 for over 5 minutes may create permanent damage. I unplugged the device, let it cool and rest for a few hours, and started it back up at 12.6V. Performance since then has been fine, and I even feel like that accident "broke in" the device and eliminated a bunch of its quirks. Do not recommend though...
I got the classic core because I loved the look of the piece. Was not disappointed, I will not miss Nylon stems. I pretty much exclusively vape glass on glass, and the silicone and my other vapes will be fine when I have no access to glass.
The only flaws I can see are the heatup time (20-30 mins) and the fact that, for the first few days, the brand new dog let off a strong smell of toasty wood. Especially at 13V, it overpowered the vapor smell it produced (which is saying something as the vapor is dense). After my incident running at 16.8 this was strongly diminished. Weeks later, the smell is present but faint. It tingles my nostrils if I inhale near the heating element.
The VVPS is a great tool... temperature control is very flexible, from the low end (~12V) which can extend the lifespan of a bowl to the high end (~13.8V) which can really blacken bowls. My routine is 9V when idling, 12.9-13.4 vape temp, depending on mood.
If you have not cleaned your screen in a while and notice draw restriction, do it. As with all vapes that use this style stem this is the single best step you can take to increase efficiency, potency, and airflow. I say clean every week, it takes two minutes to swirl the screen in some iso and alternate iso soak with hot water draining through it over a sink. Two minutes, good as new.
And so that's how I've been passing the nights and days- in a haze of work and contented relaxation, getting to know my new dog and getting ready for Fall to come. I hope you guys have all had a good night, I'll show you some nice pics I took of the fellow. Cheers