Some more thoughts:
Taste: I think this is the tastiest vapor I've had. The first hit really segregates the best flavor in a way I haven't experienced prior with vapor. While flavor is maintained throughout, the "volatiles" obviously diminish with time and temperature. I would guess that if a user started their session at a higher temperature that much of those intricacies would be lost from the onset.
Some vaporizers (or tubing) may have a slight "getting used to it until it becomes baseline" taste to start, I didn't notice this with the Cloud. Very flavorful vapor from the first hit and I felt I was tasting exactly what I was supposed to be (nah'mean?
).
Heat-up: I clocked just over five minutes and thirty seconds from cold (red) to ready (green) at noon position ("roughly 400F/204C"). That was a sample set of one measurement.
Performance: No stirring has been necessary for me, this method (or lack of) has yielded consistently evenly vaped material. It seems to me that extraction is good with the Cloud (i.e. the heat is obviously penetrating the sample thoroughly and evenly; by this I do not mean that the Cloud will turn your herbs black, I haven't cared to go past the vapor zone that I enjoy).
Air-flow is obviously great and a strong-suit for the cloud.
Aesthetics: I think the word industrial is fair. That said, the Cloud is slightly rough around the edges IMO (in some ways literally). The "chassis" encloses the "heater" nicely but the four screws on two sides of the enclosure stand out a bit. Also, these screws get hotter than the rest of the enclosure.
The green and red lighting in the tube is a great and functional touch.
The light begins flashing red:green after one hour of use ("the pattern [is] two red blinks followed by three green blinks.") indicating auto-shutoff.
In a good way there's not much to look at here (though there's probably some gawking in the very beginning). The "no frills" minimalism of the enclosure really brings the eye to the red or green lighting of the glass.
Misc: The Cloud's enclosure is warm to the touch after a good amount of use but not to the point of being uncomfortable to pick up and hold.
The unit makes a "clicking" sound, particularly in the beginning or when responding to a temperature change ("You may hear a slight clicking/buzzing sound when you turn on [the unit] --this is normal and is the unit smoothing out the electrical signal."). It's not that loud and not particularly annoying/noticeable to me (my better half really took note of this feature in the beginning). Either way, it quickly became a noise that I didn't wonder/care about. How loud is it? I dunno, not very.
The Cloud's bowls are a nice contraption IMO. I will mention, I've had a little strand of SS protruding once or twice that was easily removed (but it could prick the finger). I got a bunch of bowls so its fun packing them with different things. They're not very warm to the touch even immediately after removal from a hot unit.
Kief and bubble hash.
My unit is #9 (labeled "SN0009").
Hydratube: I can't say enough about this VX/Sov. collabo. Continually impressed by the structure/weight/thickness of the glass (seriously, I want more info. on TAFKAGM/company and your future plans with him/them
). The trees function superbly and of course its wonderful atop the unit it was made for (when using the HT I'm still in the habit of grabbing the unit ready to turn it upside down as is custom with other pieces). The bore reduction is right on point.
I'll put some more pics up if wanted and/or if others don't start posting them themselves.
*Comments in quotations in parentheses are from info. that came with the unit.
Edited to add more to the misc. section.
. When I got back I had some issues registering and was second guessing this opportunity. I sold my SSV a few weeks ago and realized how the Launch Box just wasn't cutting it lately so since I had been waiting this long for the Cloud, I figured I deserved it. Just pulled the trigger and placed my order! Can't wait for it to get here!
