First Impressions and Unboxing Alrighty! So its a rather exciting day. The Hammer has arrived at my house and I was home at lunch to unbox it, purge it, and refill it with the PureTane. When I got it I was surprised to see that it was packaged up in such a small box. It all fit in my mailbox; for some reason I was expecting a larger box. Everything was packed nicely into the Hammer's storage case, minus the 2 extra lock-on stems and the GonG connector. Here's a pic of it all laid out: View attachment 143238 The case was very cool and classy and fit the "heavy-duty tool" motif. While it was different than the stylish tin I got with my MFLB, the case for The Hammer definitely reminds me of a tool box. It fits the Hammer, the holder for 2 lock-on stems, and the nail very nicely. I really have to hand it to them for making this thing feel like a tool, as obviously thats what it is. I only wish the tool box was a tad bit thicker and resembled a Pelican case, but hey, might as well get a Pelican for it if thats what I want. For now, the Hammer's toolbox will work just fine. I didn't test it out when I was at home for lunch as much as I wanted to. I don't mind being vaped up at work but I really like to relax when I'm testing out a vape. So instead I just gave it a little inspection. Holding The Hammer felt natural and not awkward, however none of my other portables felt awkward either (Maybe the MFLB, but that was my first vape). The Hammer isn't very heavy and the trigger for the lighter can naturally be operated with my thumb. I did test out putting the lock-on stems in, and it was nice that they pre-installed the retaining clip and silicone gasket. They also pre-installed the screens into the stems which I thought was nice too. The stem locks on with a small twist, and pops off with a small twist when engaging it to the Hammer. Its nice to know that while this IS a manual vape, I can still take the stem off and prevent the load from contacting the heat. Not sure why I'd want to do this, as I typically finish off my loads in one sitting, but still nice to know. The stems are fairly basic, but I can definitely see myself picking up 2 custom glass stems from The Hammer manufacturer. They weren't as thick as I thought they would be, but they aren't super thin either. They'll get the job done for now until I grab a couple of the custom stems. The bowls in the stems also surprised me as they were larger than I thought they'd be. In comparison to my Firewood's capsules, they probably hold about the same amount. Looks like .2g will do just fine in there. In all the excitement, I went ahead and purged all the butane that was pre-loaded into The Hammer. I've never done this before but it was easy as hell to do. Just make sure you wear a glove if you're sensitive to a nice cold spray hitting your hand. It startled me, but I just kept doing it until it was completely empty. I filled it with my PureTane, purged one more time, and filled it again. After that, lunch was basically over and I was still at home lol. I put the Hammer away and its already to go for tonights funfest testing it out. One thing that I like about The Hammer so far is even though I'm all about my wooden vapes because to me, the represent a simplicity of design, The Hammer itself while it looks high tech, is rather simple itself. I really like that about the vape. Well, those are my first impressions. I'll be testing it out over tonight and tomorrow, and by Saturday I'll have a review up for everyone to read.
Subbed. Been looking into getting one for a while, your review thus far may have convinced me to make the purchase.
Well, v8pe.com is having a nice little sale right now. 20% off herb vapes! You can grab one for around 79$ shipped. I'll toss up my actual review soon
Good luck my friend. Definitely look in to a custom stem or getting more stems because like you said they are kind of thin. I broke both of mine with in the first couple months but my custom stem seems to be thicker glass to me. Just a tip, for the first couple uses you might want to use some kind of stop watch to make sure you dont heat it for to long or to short. It becomes pretty natural after the first couple times you use it but 30 seconds can go away in a flash some times and can seem to take an eternity other times.
Thanks @[member="POTatato Head"]! Custom stem more than likely next week. I do wear a watch (just started doing that again this summer), as I've started to despise staring at my smart phone for small stuff, so thats not a problem. I'm going to test it out default, then tweak it a little bit as needed but I think 30 seconds will be fine for now while I'm tackling the learning curve. Doesn't seem to bad really. I could almost relate this to the Firewood as it has an initial heat up time of about 25-30 seconds, but you start your draw a lot sooner compared to what I've seen with The Hammer.
First Session SitRep Ok, so I just got done with the first session using The Hammer. I'm pretty baked right now so hopefully I'm coming off coherent. I don't know if I got a little butane fumes with the high but I'm definitely right where I need to be, and off of .1g I believe. The lock-on stem could definitely hold more, but I didn't want to get too many crumbs into the heating chamber. Also, I was of course, testing efficiency. Please understand there's New Vape Syndrome (NVS) in full effect here so its going to be biased as hell. All I have to say so far is WOW. I got about 6 hits off .1g or so and pumped out some nice clouds doing it. Spending the money on the butane was a smart idea as my wife couldn't smell any fumes, but we did have a candle burning so its not a true test. She also couldn't smell the vapor that bad, despite the thick clouds. The efficiency and vapor production are everything I expected it to be. The taste is a little different than my Firewood and MFLB. I haven't quite figured out whats different with the taste, but I do like it; that being said hopefully its not fuel lol. Now I'm curious about using the GonG with my water pipe. Yes, smack me around, I haven't vaporbonged yet so what better occasion than now yeah? I did buy a new Syn water pipe this passed February with my tax return and only used it for a month. I guess its time to clean it up and test out the GonG. More on that this weekend. Oh yeah, the learning curve... Well, since I'm used to the MFLB and Firewood, and all I've ever really known so far in my vape experience are manual vapes, it wasn't a big deal. I do have to tweak the lighter as I have to kick it to 100% to get a decent flame, but I heard I can adjust it further. But, 30 seconds or so to heat up, put the stem on and twist, then take a slow hit and release the trigger. After that, I just held down the trigger for 3-5 seconds while hitting it then releasing. A familiar workflow to me so if you're used to that, its easy to use. I just wanted to share with you guys my first session with it. I'll have a full review on Saturday Oh yeah, I had to use it with this song playing in the background. EDIT: Found how to adjust the flame!
My Initial Review Hello everyone! I've spent a total of 48 hours so far with The Hammer after it got here on Thursday. I probably still have NVS pumping through my veins but I figured I'd leave an initial review of the vape. I will tell you this, I've been religious about using my Firewood 2.1 since I got it, but I haven't really touched it since this has come in. Again, probably NVS but this thing is extremely effective. Here are some pics of the vape up close and personal: View attachment 143396 View attachment 143393 View attachment 143392 View attachment 143391 View attachment 143390 As you can see, the vape isn't too big and has a smaller form factor than the Firewood in my opinion. The MFLB kicks both their butts when it comes to size and stealth, but thats how that vape is. Its a very portable vape, but its definitely not very stealthy. Discreet in size, but not in sound and smell; more on this later. So its perfect for using when you go camping and you're not around a lot of people or just with friends, perfect for using out on the porch or in your private smoke spot. It would definitely draw attention out in public for all you "out in public" vaporer's, but for me, I didn't buy it for stealth. My only beef are the supplied lock-on stems; they're thin and a bit flimsy. I'm definitely getting a custom stem within the next week or so. So watch out if you buy one! I picked this vape because I was curious about butane and I've heard some stories about its efficiency and flavor. So let me get down to it: Usage This thing isn't that hard to use if you're used to manual vapes. In general its a fairly straight forward vape. Heat it for 30 seconds holding down the thumb trigger, connect the lock-on stem (per the instructions), take a slow draw while still holding the trigger, release the trigger, continue to draw, done. Repeated tokes only require a few seconds of holding the trigger, maybe less depending on how you have it tuned. And that's where this vape might be little discouraging for some. Compared to my battery operated vapes, granted they have learning curves, they're fairly easy for a new vaporer to pick up on. This one seems a bit more intermediate, especially if you're anal about caring for your vapes. Its a good idea to purge out the butane when you first get it and do fill it with something high quality. As I said before, I'm using PureTane in the vape and its paid off. I did fill it with PureTane and purged it, then filled it again. I recommend using the vape how its adjusted out of the box first before you start messing with the flame settings. This will give you a feel on what you have to adjust if the flame isn't performing how you want it to. You want a good steady hiss coming from the vape when you hit the trigger. I found that I had to turn it up past 50% before I got this close to where I wanted it. Once I got it tuned to my liking, it really performed better than my expectations! Fuel Consumption Let me get this one out of the way first. 1 full tank in The Hammer will last me about 10-12 or so sessions before I have to refill it. You can tell when its time to purge the air out when it starts not performing optimally, similar to when you're using a low charged battery on an electric vape. Make sure when you fill it you see that there's a decent amount of fuel in the tank. I wish they would have put a better window so you can see the amount of fuel in the torch, but there's just a little window at the top of the tank so you can see if its full at least. After I do my first 3-5 second fill, I tip it around and see how much fuel is in the tank. I repeat as necessary until I don't have to tip it over very far to see that there's fuel in the tank. Initially I was following the instructions given with The Hammer; it says that the Hammer should be full in 3-5 seconds so I would give it a 3-5 second fill. The tank didn't look like it was full so I just had faith in it. It wasn't until the last night that I decided to see how full was full with the tank. Since I've had it on Thursday I've refilled it 3 times. I thought that might be a little much but I have been using the hell out of it. Obviously I'm still learning its in's and out's so more on this later. Efficiency It performed as I expected. I put .1 into the lock-on stem and I got 6 or so tasty hits out of it. If you get it hotter you'll get less hits out of your load. But either way, more hits or less hits, I got more vaped after each it. The high was incredibly strong, and I found that I didn't have to use nearly as much compared to my battery operated vapes. <span style="font-size:18px;">Flavor</span> The flavor was better than I expected it to be. And surprisingly there wasn't a butane taste. The taste was very comparable to my Firewood 2.1, so I'd say it was a pleasant surprise. It tasted a bit cleaner as well. And it tasted VERY clean when I ran it through my SYN water pipe. <span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Speed of Usage</span></span></span> Sessions with The Hammer are as short or as long as you want them to be. I usually sit for about 5 - 10 minutes per session with this thing so its nice. Its about as comparable to my other vapes, but I definitely see that its easier to get this vape to cruising speed than my Firewood. Thats simply because of the butane. Depending on how you have it tuned, you can get it up to temp in as little as 20 seconds. Any faster and you'll probably combust if you're not careful. Smell This is probably everyone's biggest question. As far as actual herb smell, my wife said it is a bit smellier than the Firewood or MFLB, but its not that strong and it dissipates within seconds. She also said she noticed another "chemical" like smell, but she didn't think it was butane.That chemical smell actually was the butane but since its super clean stuff, it gives off a very little smell. I did notice the occasional butane waft, but it wasn't anything big or noticeable and it didn't detract from the vape experience. The vape was also smellier when I vapor bonged with the Glass on Glass connector and my Syn water pipe. Nothing huge and it went away after a few seconds. <span style="font-size:18px;">Cloud Production</span> The website talks about "no more wispy hits" and they're completely right about that. This vape will give you a thick cloud right off the bat; given that you've tuned it to your liking and know when its hit its temperature. I have yet to get a wispy hit off it. When I used it with my Syn, it really filled the tube up with some great vapor. It was my first time doing that and it was very surreal to get a bong hit that was vapor. The last time I used that water pipe I combusted, so doing it this way was completely new and awesome! View attachment 143394 View attachment 143395 <span style="font-size:18px;">Stealth, Portability, Discreetness</span> Again, this thing isn't very stealthy and maybe semi discreet. I was using it out on my front porch this morning, and my neighbor asked what it was. Its all good, as my neighbor smokes too, and I showed him what it was and let him have a few hits. When the stem is in, the thing is kind of conspicuous especially with a custom glass stem. I'm sure there are ways to make it more discreet but I can't think of any ways right off the bat. Its a little noisy with the butane torch but its not all that bad. Its very portable and I'd bring it with me on trips where I knew I could use it in a private location, like my pop-up camper, visiting my folks; those sorts of trips. That being said this thing does get HOT. So be aware of that; I wouldn't advice dropping it into your pocket after you're done vaping. How's the ABV? Every load that I've vaped has come out very evenly cooked. This shows the air path is letting through enough air to pull the heat straight through the load. Granted you should stir up the load with the appropriately supplied nail, it will cook your stuff evenly. Bottom Line This vape is one I'm going to enjoy for a very long time. I knew I would like the butane vapes but I didn't think I would enjoy it this much. The Hammer is very versatile vape but it isn't very discreet. You should really buy this thing if you able to vape in a private place or smoke spot. With its portability it can be packed up nicely, but since it gets pretty hot, carrying it in your pocket isn't advised until you've let it cool down for a few minutes. It produces some nice thick clouds, has a great flavor, packs a lot of heating power, and cooks your herb evenly and efficiently. You can't ask for much more than that. For me there was a minor hint of fuel smell, and the vape itself had a bit more herb smell to it compared to my battery vapes, but it went away after a few seconds and wasn't a factor. Using it with my water pipe was a new and exciting experience, and knowing I can do this whenever is awesome. Now, there are options in my vape experience. Anyone looking to buy this one isn't going to make a mistake. Like the Firewood and MFLB, there isn't much to think about if you're wanting a really great manual control vape. The butane however, takes this to a different level, and I think I like it A LOT. I'll post more as time goes on, but its going to be all positive. Want one for yourself? The Hammer Vaporizer kit - $119.99 from the manufacturer. Check for deals at v8pe.com Premium Accessory kit - $39.99 - Adds more screens, 2 more lock on stems, the Glass on Glass connector, and lock on kit.
Thanks! While it isn't the perfect vape, given the right scenario it almost is. I can see what you meant by this being as close to a desktop as you can get given its vapor production and the temps its able to hit. Granted I haven't really tried a desktop yet, but my expectations/priorities of a desktop are thick clouds, and given the right model, efficiency. Thanks again also for the recommendation on this vape. Really glad you recommended it to me.
Great review my friend. You sound like you've fallen in love with butane vapes like me The hammer sounds like a great vape. Now I just need you to get another bought of the VAS and get a lotus as well. I'd really like to know what you think of it too..lol
LOL I might pick up a lotus for shits and giggles. But the next one on my radar is a log vape. I've heard legendary efficiency out of them and curious to try them. But, thats a few months away, right now the Hammer and Firewood combo is really satisfying my needs. I'm going to post up another piece on Battery vs Butane in my blog later on.
Yeah I guess you could say that. I know it'll take at least a month for the NVS to wear off, but I'm really enjoying the quality of vapor coming out of this one. Its very stony, very tasty and I didn't think that changing up heating method was going to make that much of a difference. The power it has to get itself to temperature and maintain it is phenomenal imo. And the thick clouds that come off it have damn near made me a cloud chaser. But so stony!! Gotta love it.
I added a section on fuel consumption. I'm still learning how to get this thing full. I think I've got it now though.
I both love and hate your posts about these vapes! Love them because they are so detailed and informative, but hate them because now I'm really interested in getting one haha! Through my use with the firewood I have developed a great love for vapor (combustion is gross now IMO and the firewood has such great taste), but I realized I am definitely a bit of a cloud chaser. Well at least for when I'm sitting around on the porch as opposed to out and about. A one or two big hit and done experience is the one thing I miss about combustion. That being said, great review, it's definitely spiked up my interest in butane vapes. Subbed to hear more as you use it longer!
Hey @[member="foppinanrockin"]! Glad to hear you're still loving and rockin' and rolling with your Firewood vape. Also great to hear that you've given up combustion all together and you're vaping. Even greater that the Firewood is the one that turned you to it. I know what you mean as far as hating my posts lol. I've heard that a few times. If you're finding you're a cloud chaser then The Hammer will quell that for the most part. It does give some nice thick cloudy hits and part of this is because it maintains its temperature much better than a battery operated vape. The heat that the butane is able to produce is phenomenal and you won't get anything better than it in a portable imo. You have to be willing to sacrifice a few things for that power, but if the sacrifices aren't a big deal you'll be OK. That being said, you can pull some great clouds out of the Firewood 2.1, ALMOST on par with The Hammer, but still a little wispy. I'll give another portion of the review Wednesday night or Thursday morning because I would have had the Hammer for almost a week. But for all intents and purposes, I haven't touched my Firewood 2.1 since I got The Hammer. Thats because I have "New Vape Syndrome" big time when it comes to this thing. I'll also be doing another blog post on Butane vs. Battery, and outlining the purposes for both. While I haven't touched either of my battery vapes in a few days, that doesn't mean I'm getting rid of them. Just means I have to figure out what their purpose is now. MFLB is pretty easy as its my traveller, but between the Firewood and The Hammer, there's an interesting comparison there. While the Hammer may seem like the superior vape, the Firewood does have its place in my collection; a rather big place.
A Week Later .... I've had The Hammer for about a week; tomorrow will be the one week marker. Since I'm leaving for a trip tonight I figured I'd let you guys know my thoughts after some extended time with the new vape. Everything is completely positive, and VAS patients, you may not want to read further. Loving the Butane! As it states, I'm loving the butane! At first I thought I might not enjoy the butane since its different from my battery vapes. And, I thought I was getting fumes while I was inhaling. I'm actually not getting any fumes and I haven't really identified any butane taste going on (during the inhale process). What I did notice is during the initial heat up, if I just put the lock-on stem on, and start doing the initial heat up with it attached. I'll start inhaling halfway through the initial heat up, and here I catch the faintest hint of butane. I don't think the butane is getting into the vapor stream but from the way the Hammer was designed I might catch the smell in my nose during the longer initial heat up. So, I've just been giving it 30 seconds to initially heat up with nothing attached, then when I put the stem on, its 5-10 second bursts while I inhale; I usually take a 20-25 second draw. Gives me a nice thick hit on the first hit each time. I've only had a few times where I got a wispy initial hit but thats when I wasn't following procedures. Even then, every hit after that is nice and thick. So there's no question when it comes to the power of butane fuel for a portable vape. Its definitely worth it, and if you've never tried it you'll be pleasantly surprised. Is this the end of my battery vapes? The short answer is no. I do plan on keeping my battery vapes around. I do love my Firewood 2.1 and my MFLB. Both of them are very reliable and great vapes. I guess with NVS still kicking around for the most part and enjoying the heat up time of The Hammer, I can see myself using this as a daily driver for awhile. But there's always a catch. Like I said before, while The Hammer completely kicks some serious ass in the efficiency, initial heat up time, flavor and smell departments, it is a rather noisy vape. Not super noisy, but its just the standard run of the mill sounds of a butane torch. The click of the lighter followed by the hiss of the butane and flame. This does cause some issues when I want to vape just before going to sleep while sitting in bed, or when we're trying to keep things a little quieter for whatever reason. Since I'm really enjoying using this vape, what I'll do is just vape up before I go upstairs. But in the future I can see myself bringing either the Firewood or MFLB with me upstairs for those quieter sessions. Again, The Hammer isn't going to replace my battery vapes, but its a great addition to the big picture known as my vape collection. More Usage reports! So over the last week I've really mastered how to use this vape. Sessions with it aren't very long, and resemble when I used to combust. I can get a stem loaded and have the Hammer ready to go in about 2 minutes. Thats also including the initial heat up time. After that, about 5-8 minutes later I'm good to go. The Hammer does maintain its temp rather well, so if you let it sit for 30 seconds or a minute or two between hits, its not tough to get it back to temp. I put about .1g - .2g in the stem, I never get it so full that the herb is almost touching the heat chamber. I can see where it can fall in accidentally and combust but I haven't had that happen. I just love that I get 5-6 tasty hits off such a small amount, and get a thick vapor cloud with each it. I know I'm a big believer in what I exhale is wasted, but damn! Sure is nice to see a thick cloud again! I have been vaporbonging a bit too since I got it. The Glass on Glass connector is a dream to use with my Syn water pipe, While it doesn't promote any efficiency, I can get the water pipe thick with vapor in about 20 seconds, and pull a nice smooth hit out of it. It gets me vaped rather quickly so 2-3 bingers and I'm good. The only sacrifice is I had to use a bit more herb than normal. Bottom Line.... Loving it. Love the butane power, love the form factor, love the priorities it hits right on the head for me (efficiency and flavor). I'll definitely be using this one for awhile and given how it is, it'll probably be one of the main ones I reach for along with the Firewood. But for now, its new and shiny (ok matte finish but you understand what I mean), and I'm using it all the time. If you've been curious about butane vapes, this is definitely one to try out.
After a 5 day trip.... Hello again folks! Just adding to this post as I further review The Hammer, and start to enter the time where I update the thread based on longevity. I thought I would share my experience traveling with The Hammer. It wasn't as inconvenient as I thought it would be... I took a trip to visit my folks again to let the family play and hang out with them. Normally when I go up there I grab my Firewood 2.1 and my MFLB. What accompanies the packing process for those vapes is usually a mad dash to find the battery case for the MFLB (which holds all 4 of the batteries), and the chargers; one charger for the MFLB batteries, the Firewood 2.1 charger, and the Firewood 2.1 power adapter. These items do take up some decent space in my bag since they're, well, chargers (big wall warts or power bricks and coiled up cords). That is to be expected from an electric portable so no surprises there. This time around, since I got The Hammer and have been using it quite a bit for almost 2 weeks now, I thought I would take it up with me for the 5 day trip. I used my Pelican case which holds my Firewood 2.1 when I travel with it. The Pelican case held everything I needed; The Hammer, the nail, 2 glass stems in their holder, and 2 tools I use to stir and pop out the screens. I also took my MFLB, which has its own travel case. I only had to grab the MFLB's batteries and charger this time which made packing a bit quicker. After I got The Hammer packed up, all I really had to grab was my can of butane. Using it up at my folks place was simple and effective. Sessions didn't take that long as it gets up to vape temp quickly, and I actually experimented with smoking half a stem, setting it aside and coming back to it later. That worked out very nicely. I would even use what was left in my MFLB trenches, when I got back from going out, in The Hammer. Again it worked out nicely. There were no real problems with it, and it worked like it has been working for the last almost 2 weeks. Again, don't put the thing in your pocket when you're done as it burns the heck out of you (yes I made that mistake twice), and you might want to carry one of the stems holding cases with you to put the stem in after you're done. Here's a list of pro's and con's when traveling with The Hammer: Pro's It's a light traveler. The Hammer and some butane is all you need to take with you. It can fit in a relatively small case (Pelican 1030 works great for me). With its efficiency you only need to take a small amount of herb depending on how long you're gong away for. Sessions take a short amount of time. No batteries to worry about (probably the biggest pro here) Con's Its not very discreet. You can keep it hidden, but everyone will know you're using it when you use it. It gets super hot after you're done so you'll have to keep your case or whatever you're using to house it with you. If you're flying, the butane may cause you some issues. But you can always get a can of butane where you land. Just make sure they have what you want there if you're picky about butane like me. Secure those glass stems or you run the risk of breaking them. I plan on modifying some pick and pull foam for my Pelican 1030 case to hold all 4 stems of the Hammer. It should work out nicely. But, successful travel with The Hammer for me, and in my case it worked out just fine. As I've been saying in this review thread, make sure you have a private place to use it. Its perfect for camping, and anywhere you have a spot where you can vape privately. I'll probably be traveling with The Hammer more. It was just way too convenient to simply grab butane and fill it up when its empty.
Wow. Vaping through a bong. I don't understand why that would be nessasary. The vapor itself is not harsh at all.