I've been staring at the images on the S-B website of the insides of the Venty, with my focus on the cooling airpath, which feature is the reason I've already spent good money buying a Crafty and then a Crafty+. As a former cigarette and dope smoker of 50 plus years, my lungs are sensitive and need the vapor sent through a bubbler or cooling airpath. As far as my chronic research shows, the Craftys and Mightys have more cooling than any other vapes. By making the vapor path double back on itself, the Venty appears to have the most cooling of any portable vape currently on the market, only challenged by those other two S-B products. Leaving price aside, this makes the Venty the most attractive vape to people like me.
Another consideration, given the high price and the non-replaceable batteries: My og Crafty had the bluetooth fail after nearly two years of daily use. S-B replaced it for free in less than a week, without any hassle whatsoever, with the then current "20% more battery life" model. When the battery on that one started leading to fewer and fewer sessions after two years of daily use, S-B let me buy the Crafty + second(and still current) iteration for $120 bucks. How many companies are willing to stand behind their products like this?
RE: Plastic: Personally I love the way my Craftys looked. Though slow to heat up, from a design perspective, they are the BMW of vapes. Given that S-B products are the only medically certified vapes and that they are certified in the EU with its almost insane regulatory stringency, I am not worried in the least about the health impacts of using a plastic vape from S-B. In terms of questions people raise about the fragility of the plastic fins: I'm an active outdoors person who has brought his Craftys along on numerous bike, hike, ski, snowshoe adventures in the summers heat and the winters cold(I live in NH's White Mtns). They've fallen out of my pack and pockets into the snow and on to rocks without even a hint of damage.
The Crafty is the most appealing S&B product to me. It has the neatest, most practical design. It would have many great use cases, just not as my daily driver. Too slow, finnicky, no swapable battery. S&Bs other designs are far less neat, and actually are all rather quaint. The Plenty takes the cake. Although the performance is fine, the ergonomics and whole device is whacky. The Venty is too brutalist, not enough Bauhaus.
The Mighty actually had a design iteration due to the fins breaking. Seeing the exposed fins on the top of the Venty stood out to me as a potential repeat to their previous bad QA. It's quite a minor thing perhaps. But it speaks volumes to me. I see this as throwaway tech with a 36 month lifespan, that is the attitude that surrounds it.
The Volcano fittings had a redesign due to Al particulate being generated.
The medical certification is not indicative of personal safety of using their devices, beyond fairly boring metrics that normally wouldn't concern anyone in the real world, it is equivalent to IEC 60601 hardware testing. It is a multi-facated marketing ploy. It couldn't get FDA approval so you won't see those rebranded units outside of the EU. However you will hear about their achievement as the only medically approved vape products. Because no one else is playing their games. Should they?
Someome in such a position, instead of or increasingly acting anti-competitively, could substantiate a relative standard/code for the industry, instead of choosing one for clout and to have falsely represented. Something is needed to promote real health and safety for everyone, but plastic is cheap, their ~0.50 USD enclosures/cooling units cost would skyrocket and profits plummet to choose any other material, they couldn't afford ridiculous video production and wild promotions. I think that would be responsible, and is frankly needed. Either prove it is suitable material or use something that is, and don't hoodwink everyone like Tupperware pre 2010. It is the Wild West out here for real. Don't be a sucker for a savvy tycoon. They will lie to your face, lungs, any chance they get for a measly dollar.
I've heard mixed things about their warranty. But as you are buying at effectively multiple unit costs, it is good and expected that they have managed to look after you, and it makes very good business sense to do so, which to me is their priority over vape innovation and/or offering anything in a category I could use.
It's a smart play but they aren't making real waves just splashing about and taking up all the attention.
Glad I have the TM2 because otherwise portable vapes can be a headache!
That said I bet the Venty (more importantly some top shelf) would help wlth that. It's not going to be a bad unit. I just want someone to make a viable GH, that thing was not a dud despite the failure to deliver. It should have sold for these insane prices, but you have to play games to exist at this level, at any level I suppose. So the ones doing so, should unleash real power and a better standard. We'll see but I won't be surprised, not enough is built for an enthusiast like me.
But it's not a ball vape is it? It's almost definately a low mass heater, it needs to be otherwise they would get charge longevity complaints!
Contrary to popular opinion, mass is not everything. in fact it can be a negative if you want your heater to quickly respond to different conditions, like inhalation speed.
Hopper io was ~70W peak, it's insulation helped significantly. The laser sintered heater geometry allowed for same-as-target temps and super even extraction. Instant heat up, extreme power efficiency and exchange.
Put that tech in something this size and then you have something interesting for all the right reasons. However something this size is laughably useless, at least cumbersome. This thing has a coil wrapped around a cylinder, it's very uninspiring.
We’ll see what I can come up with once the Tempest is ready.
