Vapman

Elevapor

Well-Known Member
I weighed out how much herb I usually pack into a vapman bowl. It was .06 grams if anyone is interested.

With high quality herb and only vaping a few times a week, one bowl is enough to get me pretty darn high and two for getting me baked.
 

OF

Well-Known Member
I think there is a bigger size Vapman knockoff called the hookshot vape :)
Yep there is even a thread .. http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-hookshot-vape.3103/page-2#post-377892

Not any more......their link (first post) no longer works. Looks like they're now the scrap heap of broken vape dreams.......

Good riddance perhaps?

I weighed out how much herb I usually pack into a vapman bowl. It was .06 grams if anyone is interested.

That's about what I load, 1/16 gram. Half the standard 'trench' for MFLB which I weigh out in small vials 1/8 at a time (.120 to .129 grams). Each vial fills the Vapman twice.

Definitely a fun and useful gadget. I love the 'steampunk' aspect of it. And what else do you know make of pear wood?

OF
 

basement farmer

My face is melting...
I like this idea and volunteer to test pilot it.

I know, risky, but one that I'm willing to take because that's just the way I roll:rockon:
I like it. How about a revolving turret with several of the regular Vapmans that could rotate into position as the prior one was exhausted?

For Rock Stars and serious vapors there could be the cloud chaser special based on Gattling Gun technology...... You turn the crank the the turret revolves, spitting out the ABV in one, filling the next, heating the third, presenting the fourth for toking.......

For the big shows there's the chain gun version, complete with 220 Volt drive motor and natural gas feed.....not as portable any more......but it will make thick enough clouds for most.

OF
I like it. How about a revolving turret with several of the regular Vapmans that could rotate into position as the prior one was exhausted?

For Rock Stars and serious vapors there could be the cloud chaser special based on Gattling Gun technology...... You turn the crank the the turret revolves, spitting out the ABV in one, filling the next, heating the third, presenting the fourth for toking.......

For the big shows there's the chain gun version, complete with 220 Volt drive motor and natural gas feed.....not as portable any more......but it will make thick enough clouds for most.

OF
 

brez431

Enjoy the loss of gravity.
Just a note for those who are new to the vapman, the dryness or moisture in the herb affects the heating time. Really fresh uncured (moist) herb usually takes a 7-10 second initial blast of flame. Dry herb is more like a 5 second initial heat count.
(One-thousand one, one-thousand two... In a silent count)
Flame size is a factor as is the distance you hold the flame jet from the bowl.
The amount of herb that is in the bowl is a factor also.
I usually take 4 good hits from a little pinch of herb, then dump out and reload with another pinch. I'm using so little, so why not enjoy the flavor?
It's really just a matter of use to get the hang of using this little gem.
 

Seren

Away with the fairies
The moisture level and volume of the herb certainly make a difference, as does flame size :nod:
I also find room/outdoor temperature to have an influence. I'm definitely heating for longer now that winter is here, that's for sure.

The more I use the Vapman, the less I find I'm thinking about technique - its become more of a natural and intuitive process with time.

As you say @brez431 - the Vapman truly is a little gem :nod: :love: - I certainly wouldn't want to be without one!
 

Elevapor

Well-Known Member
My gf lost the white plastic mouthpiece in the snow. Here's the ebony one I bought as a replacement, pretty slick. If you look closely you can see the grain pattern. It's really hard, reminds me of plastic in a way.

.
v6GqdY7l.jpg


 
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M0J0

I am a leaf on the wind ~ watch how I soar...
this happend to me to its fine it is only for the first couple of uses you could just heat it and char the wood yourself to speed that process up.. it really isnt a big deal. and you arent getting SS bits stainless steel is prime for this. and as for the pear wood. have you ever inhaled campfire smoke and died?

Long time lurker, 1st time posting.

Thank you all for the great info you've posted here over the years.

I am waiting for my Vapman Pure to arrive and to kill the time I searched for a simple way to deal with the wood charring and I found this:

http://charredwood.com/how-does-charring-make-wood-fire-resistant/


The oldest way to make wood fire resistant is to char it! Talk about fighting fire with fire.

I'm pretty handy, so I plan to fine sand it, oil it and char the bottom, and the bottom of the mouth piece before I use it the first time.

I plan to char the whole bottom cone up to the edge and then fine sand it to make it look nice.

If I do this right, I'll post before and after pics on here.

Peace.

 
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M0J0

I am a leaf on the wind ~ watch how I soar...
Well, I took it apart, fine-sanded it and then gave it the fire-treatment with a small torch lighter. Oiled it after that.

This is NOT for the faint-hearted. I was pretty nervous during the whole process – taking it apart, charring the right spots and then putting it back together.

It was kinda like painting with an Air-Brush, and I like how it turned out.

Before:

28wch0m.jpg


aad3bk.jpg


Sanded, Charred and starting oil treatment:

255p5rb.jpg


Note how much smoother the bowl is now.

After:

I charred the middle section completely...

x544ci.jpg

116tnat.jpg
b55ds5.jpg


 
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Rubb

New Member
Hello FC, this is my first post here after some time of lurking and reading up on vaporizing. I recently bought a vapman and I'm writing this review in case someone might be interested.

Background story:
I began smoking weed some 5 years ago, together with my friends. We live in Europe, we always smoke tabbaco-weed joints (spliffs?). I was interested in buying a vaporizer for several reasons:
  • much healthier (all the docters I've ever met said never to smoke...),
  • much more efficient than smoking,
  • more stealthy (as in not so much smell).
I was doubting between the MFLB and the vapman, it was the vapman's closest competitor in it's price range. But after a while I choose the vapman because of:
  • it's extreme build-quality (made in swiss with only high-grade materials)
  • reportedly bigger hits and more efficient than mflb even though smaller trench
  • no electronic parts which can short or die
  • better quality trench than mflb. Apparantly the trench of the mflb is quite sensitive and needs very careful handling. This one is a nice copper gold plated plate, which is immediatly clean by blowing some air on it after vaping.
  • no hassle with batteries/electricity = good for festivals and such
  • I haven't read a single bad review of the vapman.
I live in Europe so I'd rather have a product that doesn't break than one (MFLB) with a lifetime warranty in the USA. There are too much posts on the mflb subreddit asking if their broken unit will be replaced by warranty. I don't see the bowl of the vapman breaking that easily.

Review:

First use:
So, I buy the vapman and I go to some friends to test it out together for the first time. We were blown away with the efficiency of this tiny thing. I only had a little bit of weed, less than a gram, enough for one or two joints, wouldn't be very effective for 3 people. At the end of the night we only used 4 bowls and maybe half the weed there was. It was so good my other 2 friends, without ever really considering buying a vaporizer, are going to buy one as soon as possible too.

Efficiency:
It always surprises me how high I get off one bowl, from so little weed. It does take a good bit of getting used to. After 5 years of combusting I started to like the taste of joints so it's a bit weird at first to have this smooth vapor. You see so little vapor en you feel it so little it's a bit hard to get consistent hits. But I'm learning it now, after about a week of use. At the end of every bowl though I'm high as balls and easily at an [8], as they say on reddit. The high also seems to take longer to fade than a smoke high. In our baddest dreams we never could've hoped there was so much 'higness' in so little weed.

Ease of use:
The vapman takes a little getting used to (maybe because it's my first vape) but there are a lot of factors which make up the vapor: Length of flame, duration of heating, how much you pull, the temperature around you, dryness of the herb and how fine it is grinded. Vaping outside is a bit different than inside. The bowl seems to cool off faster with wind and cold temperatures and need a bit more heating. The herbs have to be grinded as fine as possible, this is difficult without a decent grinder. (You can also use a pill bottle with a nickel inside, or a pill crusher).
I haven't vaped a single bowl which didn't get me high, it's pretty easy to use.

Parties:
My torchlighter only lasts me about 6 bowls before it needs a refill, but I can live with that. It's less of a hassle than batteries and because of this it's also more of a party piece. You do have to bring your can of butane. If you go to a party you have to explain really good how everything works to whoever uses it. None of my friends had a problem using it and getting as high as the rest. Because it's basically a one-man vape, it has such a small bowl. To get everyone high you need at least as much bowls as you have people, which can take quite some time. It basically means you'll have to constantly refill it and pass it around for an hour or more. I haven't tried out a third lung yet, but will do it as soon as I'm getting more consistent with it. I bought an mflb stem especially for that.

Combustion:
I combusted twice. The first time was the first night, and we didn't even notice. I only noticed afterwards when trying to clean my mouthpiece and bowl with Iso and some dirt not coming off. The second time was today, outside, I was almost at the end of my bowl and I heated a bit too long which caused me to inhale smoke. Now, however, I immediately noticed it was smoke I was getting, instead of vapor. I stopped inhaling and unscrewed the mouthpiece. No damage.

Cleaning:
After a bowl you can just empty it out in your ABV container, if something doens't come loose you can touch it with the little metal things of your mouthpiece. If some residue is still in the bowl, just blow on it and all comes off. If I didn't combust I wouldn't have needed any Iso yet.

The metal filter on the mouthpiece was pretty dirty by combusting one time. I couldn't get any of it off with Iso. I heated the metal part of the mouthpiece with my torchlighter and it cleaned out real well. The bowl has 2 darker spots on it I couldn't get off, no biggie.
Tip: if you heat the metal filter part of the mouthpiece, unscrew it. I didn't do it and my mouthpiece started smoking. It was a little blacker than normal, but nothing normal damage of use wouldn't have caused.

Stealth:
It's not incredibly stealthy as you have to use a torch lighter. The constant click of the torchlighter is a big give-away if somebody is in the room next to you. I still live with my parents who're very anti-weed and I have to be very careful if I'm vaping in my bedroom.

The vapman itself does have a very distinct smell, a bit sweet. When the vapman is in it's case, you don't smell a thing. I wonder if it's the normal smell of vapor or if there is some pear-wood smell also. When heating there is some vapor smell which may escape the unit, but a lot less than the vapor you exhale.

When I vape in my room I use a sploof and open my window for an hour or two afterwards. I pregrind all my herb and put it in a glass jar. This cuts down on the smell in my room when filling (and I think my not-completely dry weed cures a bit faster like that). I don't know about the smell at that moment, but the morning after everything is certainly gone.

Build quality:
Very nice, I got the Mica version, and after about 20 bowls I don't see any damage to the base of the unit. The mica starts to curl a bit, it'll probably flake off, but that should be normal. The mouth piece has the usual burn marks on the wood (and some extra because of my bad cleaning). The only thing I'm a bit afraid of is that the bowl is only supported by these 3 tiny hollow brass tubes. I fear that I'll accidently put too much pressure on the mouthpiece (which is supported by the bowl) when high and break it off.

Vaping other herbs:
I vaped some weed with thyme because I read that someone got higher of less weed if he added some thyme to the mix. It gives a nice clean taste in the mouth, but I didn't really notice much else of it.
I also vaped some dried lavender leaves from my garden, I think it relaxed me a bit but didn't feel very much.

Conclusion:
I'm very very happy with my first vape. I wish I had a more silent solution than the loud torchlighter to vape in my room, but that's the only negative.
It's so very tiny, everyone says it, but the pictures really don't give you an idea of how small it is. It's very easy to use, to get consistent hits you need practice, but it will get you high anyway. I'll be able to bring it to festivals this summer (which you can't possibly do with a battery-powered vape).
The efficiency is mind blowing, and to think about all the ABV I'll have makes me instantly happy.

This is the first review I've ever written, I hope it can be of some use to someone. It's nice to finally be part of the vaporizing community. I'll try to do a video review once to get some more vapman info out here on the web. During the wait for it's arrival I've scoured the internet read/watched everything vapman related I could find. Here are some pictures of my vapman after some 20 bowls :)


Happy vaping!
Rubb

 
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M0J0

I am a leaf on the wind ~ watch how I soar...
Kudos to you, it turned out better than I expected it to! Hmm, might have to try this.

Thanks Elevapor.

I'm tempted to char the rest to make it all look like the middle section... Maybe later.

I REALLY like the Vapman!
 
M0J0,

CentiZen

Evil Genius in Training
Accessory Maker
Had a chance to try one of these vapes for the first time yesterday. What a wonderful little contraption! It's such a well thought out product. Even though I don't generally like conduction vapes the taste and extraction out of it were wonderful. I might just have to get one to compliment my lotus. I just love the idea of having two butane powered vapes, one for convection and one for conduction in case, you know the world ends or something.

VAS is a terrible thing. Send help.

 
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OF

Well-Known Member
Had a chance to try one of these vapes for the first time yesterday. What a wonderful little contraption! It's such a well thought out product. Even though I don't generally like conduction vapes the taste and extraction out of it were wonderful.

I was afraid someday you might stumble on it, get tipped off or otherwise break the code.

OK, fine, just keep it to yourself, OK? If we can keep a lid on this.......

OF
 

Rubb

New Member
I was wondering, how long do you guys do to finish 1 bowl? I do about 20 minutes from first heat till it's done. I thought it to be pretty long, might be just my technique which isn't good. I thought it'd be more like 5-10 minutes.
 

HSIHP

Well-Known Member
I'm stuck between this vape and the lotus as my first ( and hopefully only) butane vape. Anyone who has both mind chiming in about the two?
 
HSIHP,
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Reactions: OF

OF

Well-Known Member
I was wondering, how long do you guys do to finish 1 bowl? I do about 20 minutes from first heat till it's done. I thought it to be pretty long, might be just my technique which isn't good. I thought it'd be more like 5-10 minutes.

It varies for me. Bowls in the garden take about twice as long as the ones inside? If I'm enjoying it, I have no problem with how long that part lasts. OTOH, once it's spent the load gets changed no matter how long it's been in there. If there's nothing left to extract, there's nothing left to extract?

I'm stuck between this vape and the lotus as my first ( and hopefully only) butane vape. Anyone who has both mind chiming in about the two?

I've got both. In fact, I bought a second Vapman (the cheaper, unfinished one). I'm not even sure exactly where the Lotus is.......

IMO not only is it easier to get solid production from the cute little guy, but he's a lot more fun to ponder as the session goes on.

For my money, Vapor Genie gets the nod over Lotus. You might consider one of those? I really like the Bronze one, it's my favorite VG by far. Vapman still gets taken to the garden far more often though......

OF
 

HSIHP

Well-Known Member
Thanks OF. The genie is off the table as I'm not to fond do breathing in butane, I feel it messes with the flavor.

The vapman looks awesome for what I want, easy portable flame based for camping and power outages, and while the lotus is getting great buzz in its thread I like to be a bit more discrete when I vape. I guess it will come down to which one I can get for the best deal.
 

stim

Member
I wanted to come back and extol the virtues of the Vapman. This little baby has stole my heart, and several friends are now on-board after trying it for themselves.

Some months back I bought a few vapes, including an Arizer and spent a good time testing and fiddling with them.

Initially I didn't gel with the Vapman. It really does take some practice to get the temperature consistent each time, and breathing needs to be adapted. I was a little frustrated at first TBH.

Since then I had to travel a lot around Europe and the Vapman was the logical choice for short hotel stays. No smell, no worries. Just fantastic.

The efficiency has already saved me money - I'm sure of it. Not only that, but it extracts well from even the crappiest herb.

And, importantly, I have dramatically reduced my dependence on tobacco and am definitely feeling the health benefits. I found that I was more psychologically addicted to the process of rolling joints. Vapman, with it's own little rituals, has provided a safer alternative.

More power to Vapman!

I'm off to buy a few more for friends. Cheers.
 

Egzoset

Banned
Salutations VapMan owners,

There's something about the VapMan which i seek a clarification for:


Are those 3 legs for support only or isn't this part of a heat-exchanger? I mean, if those actually are tiny hollow tubes guiding fresh inlet air inside its bowl, hence providing a combination of convection and conduction heat, then ain't this still a bit restrictive? Also, is it possible to see light from the bowl side through such a tubular leg? If so what about putting that feature in picture?...

:peace:

 
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OF

Well-Known Member
Yes, they support and are hollow. No, they are not part of the heat exchange. That is by conduction through the copper body of the bowl (the part you heat).

Convection is where the air is superheated and carries heat into the vaporization, not the case here. The first part of the first draw pulls all the useful heat out of the thin walled tube I think. Vaporizing heat comes from the copper block, heated by fire. Conduction.

They are simply vents, they let air in so you can suck the vapor out. Like other vents in other vapes, unlike say T1 or VG. There are also 3 small vent holes in the upper body, just below where the stem plugs in. They let cold air into the vapor path after the herb chamber and just before the stem. They do so without robbing heat and cooling the load and slowing vapor production. You can see down the tubes if you're careful, but the path is long and narrow, its easier to confirm with a piece of wire or similar. Feel free to try to photograph it, but I see no need or advantage.

You're welcome to try it and speculate on what's 'too restrictive'. And like guys that plug the vent holes to 'improve the vapor' (and end up removing it later) you can experiment there too. I think you'll find as we did that the designers seem to have thought of that too and optimized the design very well. IMO it's well thought out, built and tested. And an excellent value and quite frugal with your herb. Just what you'd expect of the Swiss.......

OF

 
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stim

Member
In the beginning, when I was trying to perfect a technique. I would initially heat-up the hollow legs as well.

But as OF has pointed-out, it's all about the copper bowl, and keeping it at an optimal temperature. I like to think of it as a little cooker. Initially, in my impatience I would heat-it up as quickly as possible. The problem is that there is a very fine line between the right temperature and going overboard.

So I've now graduated to a more relaxed method: applying shorter blasts of the lighter, letting the herb slowly bake and allowing the aromas to waft out. Fewer clouds, but still extracting all the goods.

Breathing is important - the faster you draw, the more cool air passes through the pot. I tried closing the vents but it only restricted my draw. Yet, no problems getting clouds if I want to.

Also to be considered is that there is no barrier between the bowl and your lungs. So overheating and taking a massive pull will send combustion products - including large particles - shooting straight into to your lungs. Not nice.

Finally, it may sound trite, but there is a lovely tactile experience that goes with it - the way it's held, how it warms-up and how it rolls in your hand. This is helping me quit the cigarettes, as I have something to do with my hands, even when there is nothing cooking.

Ultimately, after a little experimentation, all worries fade away.

 
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Egzoset

Banned
Salutations OF,
Salutations Stim,

Yes, they support and are hollow.

I would initially heat-up the hollow legs as well. But as OF has pointed-out, it's all about the copper bowl...

Perhaps this wasn't advertized when i 1st considered the VapMan 3 years ago but i found what i need to see, finally:


AIR NOZZLES

« The nozzle system especially developed for the vapman ensures the ideal mixture of air and active ingredients and makes the device particularly easy to use. The three nozzles with their extremely small holes are made of brass. They are held in a stepped bore and are flanged at the end. This allows them to be bound very securely to the pan. »

:tup:

No, they are not part of the heat exchange. ... Vaporizing heat comes from the copper block, heated by fire. Conduction.

Hummm... So it's still a conduction vaporizer, just like the initial impression i always had actually, except i'm now fully aware of those 3 tiny "air nozzles"...

...there is a lovely tactile experience that goes with it - the way it's held, how it warms-up and how it rolls in your hand. This is helping me quit the cigarettes, as I have something to do with my hands, even when there is nothing cooking.

The VapMan would be for a smoker who wishes to quit tobacco while he'd continue to enjoy cannabis. Knowing how ritual can make a difference i think this would be an excellent option to suggest for a Plan-B, since he may also find suitable to have a Plan-A for use at home.

Feel free to try to photograph it, but I see no need or advantage.

Google Images happens to be my prefered search tool, here and elsewhere, because the long reading sessions started to challenge my eyes quite significantly. As a matter of fact i figure i'm not the only guy around who's looking for visual clues and hence i promote the use of graphically obvious illustrations whenever possible.

:peace:

 
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