A week with my HotShot
I received my HotShot about a week ago and have been using it regularly with a few of my favorite vapcaps. Here are my impressions to date.
First, I knew it was going to be small, but I was still surprised at just how compact it is! Despite its small size, it has enough mass so it doesn’t feel cheap or toyish. As others have mentioned, it’s about the size of a pack of cigarettes and, to me, it feels good in the hands; its size and shape lend to its ease of use. I also used my HotShot outside on my property and in my garage and shop so I got to use it indoors and outside as well as while I was relaxing and a bit more active.
Image of HotShot
Mine now is in its birthday suit without the stickers. I did it for Stealth.
I used the supplied USB cable to plug my Hot Shot into my desk’s handy
powered port (5V/4A; nothing “smart“ about it, just power). Although I didn’t keep a close watch, it seemed to get charged up surprisingly fast. I would say it was approximately 70-80 min. After the HotShot was charged up it was time to delve into the research.
I used a few of my most frequently used vapcaps: an Omni, NonaVong, and glass body, all set up with titanium tips. My goal was to test my HotShot out and compare its performance to my Apollo2 and trusty single-jet. Although I primarily carried out my research using the titanium tipped vapcaps, as they are my preferred, I also used a 2020 M with SS tip for a few bowls.
Image of HS, Apollo and torch
I set up my vapcap research lab to do my testing. I mostly focused on learning how the HotShot interacts with my vapcaps and how it was similar to — or not — to my user experience with the Apollo2 and my single-jet.
Image of Lab
First, what I really appreciated right off the bat was that using my new HotShot was about the same experience as using my AC-powered Apollo2 IH. That is, there was no “learning curve.” I didn’t have to change anything in how I use the IH. I didn’t have to count after the click, etc.
Of course the experience with a single-jet torch compared to the IH isn’t apples to apples, but I was pleased to see that it was very straightforward achieving something similar to heating the tip of the cap vs the midsection by using the HotShot’s advanced lighting system as a reference. Once you get the hang of how a torch or particular IH interact with your tip and cap combo, the light color can be your point of reference. Or, you can just ignore all that and go by the click.
During my first round of experiments I was able to achieve 17 bowls with 2-3, sometimes a fourth, cycle each. After the battery conditioning charges (first 3), I achieved 18-20 bowls on average per charge, then I decided I knew what I needed to know and haven’t bothered counting since then.
Over the course of the weekend I took the HotShot along with me as I did stuff. It was during that period that the magnet fell off. I didn’t have any epoxy, so I used (very judiciously) some Gorilla Glue. It’s been fine ever since.
I made a couple of observations which reaffirm Pipe’s specification for a charger. When I used the ports on my desktop power bank (link given above), it was clear when the HotShot was charging because the warm temperature was easily perceived when touching the unit on either side of the charging cable. When I used a typical USB power brick (in this case an Anker), I thought my HotShot was charged because of time and the cool feeling, but I only got about 5 bowls before it was out of power. I did a bit of “testing” and realized that if you have enough power, there’s no doubt the HotShot will be warm around the charging port while being charged. If, however, you use something under-powered, you’ll feel some warmth, but might not even feel sure it’s warm. So, if you’re not sure that it’s warm, your charger is likely an underpowered one.
I feel that the HotShot is a
portable IH worthy of your money, especially if portability, sufficient battery capacity to be practical, and ease of use are features you’d like in an IH. Other posters, like
@TommyDee, for example, have already attested to the intelligent choices Pipes made in designing and building it. I’ve opened just the battery door on mine to verify I could do it, and I have to say that to me, having a user-replaceable battery is an important feature. The number of bowls per charge, especially when considering its size, makes it a good choice for a taking along when you’re on the move, especially outside where torches sometimes have a hard time, but even in and around your home. It isn’t too bulky to put in your pocket. The Hot Shot really offers a lot to like!
On the ‘could be improved’ side of the ledger would be the door covering the heating chamber, which I have decided to close after each use whenever it’s not on a tabletop indoors. My main fear while using it when I wasn’t seated indoors was breaking the door off the hinges. That said, I have already thought of a possible solution should that happen — use an appropriately sized cork to seal the unit when not in use. And, come to think of it, my Aollo2 doesn’t have a cover, so it’s not the end of the world if the door breaks. Probably, however, having a cover is helpful in keeping the heating chamber free of debris if you pack your HotShot. Using the case it comes in would help, of course.
** NB - folks I had this written up in draft form a couple of days ago, but I munged things up and the draft got posted in error, but only a couple of the images appeared. This is a slightly updated version of that post. I hope it’s still relevant! **
I like keeping the base price as low as possible. Tends to set the bar for other manufacturers. 
But OTOH including would take the charger out of the initial troubleshooting. ![:\](/i/s/hmm.gif "Hmm :\")
The HS sitting on the table without a label and the flap door shut is completely uninteresting to passers-by in my house.
suggestion.
When leaving one cap in a bit longer (it hadnt clicked), a burning smell came up, and the limiter/spacer
The orange high-temperature-resistant rubber can withstand a fair temp but not high enough to use as the shield. 
