Herbie is unique, for sure. But it's main selling points are instant heat up and temp control (at least in terms of what makes it unique. we already have whip/bag combos out there.) The Lotus is cheap, has instant heat up and can hit just as hard. The temp control is as precise as the user can make it. You're right that it is the weakest pairing in the sig, but it was the best I could do. I don't see anything else I have tried sitting in that spot. But a true Jedi wielding a Lotus can do just about anything!
MFLB. They have a great lifetime warranty (I've already broken mine once, totally my fault, and the company replaced it within a week). It can be a little tricky at first but it's nice & discreet once you get used to it. To be honest though, it's the only vaporizer I've ever owned, so I can't compare to other brands.
MFLB - portable, stealthy, hardly any smell (occasional burnt popcorn smell, not a weed smell though) does what it says, amazing warranty, fun to use.
All I rock is the portables.. Aint no cords going to hold me back! Jk- If i get a desktop it will be the lsv. Smoothness, efficiency and taste are important. My portable collection consists of: MFLB, Pax, Solo, Mighty and the MiniVap. My favorite of those would have to be the Mighty. The digital temp dial allows you to choose a temperature down to the single degree, something I really appreciate. The bowl is just the right size imo. Not too big or small, I find myself filling it about .15-.2 max. And It uses a combo of conduction and convection. Very pleased with my Mighty. 2nd place would go to my MFLB just because of its practicality of use. When the batteries are charged I can have vapor ready to be inhaled in leas than 5 seconds. I still use my MFLB from time to time.
Hey Crony, you ever get the MiniVap humming along real good? I find there are two types of users for this thing...those that don't like it and those that pushed through and figured out how to best use it for them. The second group rarely looks back.
And the MV is not the only vape that fits into that category. I wonder how many people tried to make the transition from smoking to vaporizing but totally gave up on it after just a few tries.
My fave is the flowermate v5.0s. Why? Over 2 hr battery life. Very portable fits in any pocket. Ceramic chamber and glass pyrex mouth piece. Draw is not to tight. You can load the chamber then cover it with a sliding door cover no spilling to worry about. Has safe secure mouth piece storage on bottom with sliding doot cover. Looks lika a ipod... 3 temp settings. It defines portable with options and stelthy with max battery life. Even has a chamber light for loading in the dark. Yet to see one with all that in a portable package and on board.
I bought a Haze and I'm quite impressed, but still, I have questions. Mostly about vaping in general. I'll talk about just the crushed herb part first, since that's what the thread is about and I'll try not to hijack it in the second sentence. To prepare the goods I have a simple grinder, nothing fancy, then one or two times through and it's the consistency of tiny little lint balls. Not nearly as powdered like one might get if it were smashed through a kitchen sieve like we used to do in days gone by for rolling joints. Not sure what the consensus is on that whole fine versus coarse thing? Having been strictly a pipe smoker (primarily - bongs were so stinky, weren't they?), it seems as though I'm not getting "a hit" - until it hits me 20 minutes later. At first, I thought, wow, what a waste of weed - but then it sunk in that I was getting plenty high and not destroying my lungs. I suppose that's why I spent $250 on it... I acknowledge that one must keep their tools clean and in the case of the cannabis consumption craft, its doubly true, but I've already overcome the dreaded stuck straw. Aside from cleaning it with a dab of alcohol once a week, I sometimes just yank it entirely out and pretend it's a stogy that I can smoke without putting any red hot ashes out the window. I do love the thing, but I never know quite when to toss the contents because, obviously, it's not been obliterated to ashes. It must depend a lot on how you pack it, which in my case, I believe per directions, is only packed down somewhat lightly. Can you tell from the discoloration or the taste? I'm having some trouble with that part, so hope I'm not wasting weed, but I think not. The dual bowls can last quite awhile for me, but I generally am going it alone. Finally, now that it's a legitimate concern in WA, I could definitely switch over to oils, but the buzz per dollar math is pretty fuzzy in my mind. Maybe someone else has already worked that out? What I love about grinding up the weed is that it's like a complement to my coffee. It has sort of a "mountain grown" taste to it out of the Haze.
Regarding the grind, you want it on the fine side so that more surface area is exposed to the heat. In regards as to when to toss the contents, I wouldn't ever toss it. Ok, here's the deal. You want to continue to vape it until it starts to taste like burnt popcorn. This should be pretty obvious. At that point, your vaped bud is typically a uniform dark brown. But don't toss it. Just dump it into a container because you can use it later to make some nice edibles that can still get you pretty wasted.
I am of Welsh-Irish-Scotch heritage, so I was just kidding when I said I "toss it". I was actually tossing it in the bowl of a glass pipe and smoking it! To some degree that's how I was judging whether it was fully used or not,and it did in fact taste like burnt popcorn! I had thought about saving it up and making some kind of a new age analog-style cigarette without all the carcinogenics. Second Time Round Cigarettes or something along those lines. But that's all that bad smoking part again, so I like your idea of saving for edibles. I made it well into my 50's having never had a pot brownie, so I took that to task last year and that's sort of when the light came on. The body high and the floating feeling, plus the staying power of those brownies, it took my breath away and didn't require a lighter.. Thanks for your insight, I like to learn new things.
YUCK !!! I did that once. Tasted awful. I just toss mine (about 2 grams) into some steel cut oatmeal made with milk, banana's, blackberries, walnuts and cinnamon. Tastes great, healthy and it kept me high for over 6 hours.
It's gotta be the SSV for me. I like the feel of bong hits, and I feel that the SSV produces sizable clouds and has that "oomph". I prefer the whip style as well. The glass is a nice touch too. The vape is functional and has personality.