Hello all, I'm new to the forums, and also the new owner of a VB.
I have read all 20 pages of this discussion of the VB and have found some very helpful reviews and tips. As far as vape expertise goes, I used to own a Volcano Classic with the SS valve, and actually find myself preferring the VB to it. I know they are two different systems completely, but a few reasons are:
- way faster to heat up
- portable (still could do with some size reduction)
- seshes last longer, with less in between work (I actually love the stir rod and find it does a fantastic job at getting you evenly vaped herb every time, as long as your grind is fine enough)
- better flavour, less harsh
I do miss crushing bags with the Volcano (Mount Doom), but I find the long lasting seshes, with minimal input get me just as, if not more, medicated.
I won't do a huge long review on everything, but a more in depth one about the actual drags this unit produces, as I've seen from most comments that the main concern lies with the the density and intensity of the pulls.
I've had it for about 3 weeks, and it has seen little use up until this past weekend, because for me personally, my tolerance is so high that I feel like I need the power punch of a bong to get me to outer space. That's not saying the VB doesn't pack punch, just due to it's construction you can't take really huge, dense rips out of it.
The VB still can surprise you sometimes with some pretty sweet hits, but where it really shines is in longevity and bounce back. The vape lasts a very long time, getting you good bang for your buck. I am hearing complaints about how you have to pack it super full to get some actual drag in the device (and in turn, those dense pulls), but I have had success with varying amounts of tightness. By that, I mean I've packed the bowl, pushed down, packed, pushed down, packed, and this is the method I suggest for those looking to get really medicated, but I found it still worked with a much smaller amount (probably around .25) of gravity packed herb as well. Those with a higher tolerance however, probably won't get much effect from the smaller amount.
I usually hit the green light just before I start filling the herb chamber, and then once the light turns solid I immediately hit the turbo boost. I usually have the chamber filled and sealed before applying turbo boost. Now I actually stumbled upon this forum while searching for hit techniques for this vape because, like I said, I've had this vape for 3 weeks and it initially got very little use due to frustration. This vape does have a bit of a learning curve and you can waste a lot of herb by not knowing what you're doing. Little things, like it actually takes longer than the supposed 90 seconds to get your herb properly vaped before you can get some nice clouds, etc. That being said, like others before, I have tried out the MFLB nose drag technique and found that this is one of the only ways to really get this vape to work consistently well. Due to little actual drag in the system, you have to create the drag, so if you use this technique of inhaling through your nose with an open throat and just let the vapour enter your mouth, you can get much more satisfying pulls.
With the chamber gravity filled, I found it lasted about ten minutes, while taking constant drags. The bounce back for the system is very quick, and after only waiting 10 - 30 seconds, you are getting the same consistent hits for the whole sesh. With packing, I find myself unable to single handedly remember to finish the bowl. This thing can really take you to the moon and back.