The latest? Vapor Kryptonite personal vaporizer/e-cig
What is it, dude? A stealth miniature vaporizer.I've always been a one-hitter kind of guy when it came to stealth cannabis consumption. Taking a hit of herb, then "ghosting" it by holding the smoke until nothing more came out was about as incognito as it got. But now, with a marketplace filled with different miniature vaporizers, there are options out there for people wanting to toke on the down low. This week, we check out the Vapor portable vaporizer.How much coin will it run me? $100 for the one we reviewed, but there are a few other cheaper models out as well.
Where can I get one? Check the Vapor website at www.mjvapor.com for the skinny on that 411, bro-brah.
The Omicron (which we reviewed a few months ago) uses common BHO oil you can find in dispensaries. In contrast, the Vapor vaporizer uses pre-mixed cartridges containing cannabis oil diluted in a liquid that allows it to be instantly vaporized when it comes in contact with the micro heating element inside. On the plus side, this means your vaporizer starts working from second you push down the button, whereas the Omicron took a while to get warmed up.
All of the cartridges for the Vapor are pre-made and you really have no idea about the quality of the ganja that was used. But the company touts the 1500 milligram cartridge as holding up to 400 "doses." That means about four hits is recommended to do the job right each time.The matte-black-and-chrome device looks like a stealth surgical tool or one of those do-it-yourself breathalyzer pens. But beneath the slick exterior, things are pretty simple. If you've ever played around with one of these e-cigarette-based cannabis vaporizers, you've pretty much got the hang of the Vapor. There's three parts to the device: the battery, the THC cartridge and a protective sheath that goes over the cartridge to protect it. The battery end charges via a USB plug that comes with the Vapor, and cartridges can be picked up at dispensaries like Colorado Care Facility, Denver Kush Club, Root Organic and Organix in Breck. (I'm not 100 percent sure on this, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Vapor battery end would work for other types of cartridges as well.)
And though it's futuristically cool looking, it isn't the most unique design out there. Frankly, the thing looks like Vapor bought the units wholesale from a distributor, then slapped a vinyl "Vapor" sticker on the battery end of things and marked up the price to between $80 and $100 depending on which model you choose out of the five types Vapor sells.
There's a single button that acts as an on-off switch, as well as the power button to charge up your hit. Pushing the button five times in a row shuts down or turns on the unit. Holding the button down engages the heating element and delivers about a five-second hit of cannabis vapor. A small LCD screen at the bottom keeps track of your battery life as well as the total number of hits you've smoked off of that cartridge. Other Vapor designs pretty much follow the same format but can run you as much as $50 less than the high-end Kryptonite.
Page down for the results of our testing of the Vapor Kryptonite. For this week's Completely Unscientific test, I sat down in my office and puffed tough on it for a good hour or so. My Vapor came loaded with a cartridge of Hawaiian, a sativa-strong strain that I normally would smoke to relieve stomach motility slowdowns and to bring on appetite.
Right off the bat: The thing delivers a surprisingly large blast of vapor without any warm up. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a strike against the Vapor vaporizer, but each hit delivered leaves a very light caramelized-sugar aftertaste coated over your tongue and throat, along with a generic hash aftertaste that reminded me of doing a dry pull on an oil rig coated in reclaim oil. Honestly, It's not the most natural aftertaste if you've been smoking bud your whole life; it takes some getting used to. You definitely know you're smoking something ganja-related, but this isn't anywhere near the full flavor that buds, hash or even BHO can put out. I didn't reach the contacts provided to find out the mixture, but most e-cig liquids are glycerine based, which explains the sweetness.But it's a fair tradeoff for how stealth this device is. I was able to puff a hit in the Westword office without stinking up the entire place like skunk farts. I imagine that if you're the type of patient who needs to lightly medicate through the day but work a job that doesn't really approve, this would be a great alternative to sneaking one-hits and then pounding breath mints to hide it from your boss. You can easily sneak off to a private area and puff four or five hits to feel better. Shit, I've even heard of people using these to get through movies in the theater -- not that I'm suggesting such behavior or anything like that.
Now, by comparison, four hits of Hawaiian bud out of a pipe would have been more than enough to get things going in the morning, whereas it took about six or seven hits out of the Vapor to get enough cannabinoids flowing in my system. The buzz is also very vaporize-y. Any of you who have gone from combusting your herb to vaporizing it know what I'm talking about: It's a much more heady buzz than the overall body high burning buds or hash can give, and because of the subtlety it's easy to think the Vapor isn't working.
Basically, I wouldn't buy a Vapor and expect to smoke it and get rip-roaring stoned off the thing. But that's not what it's for to begin with. Where the Vapor really has its niche is for easy medicating at low levels in an inconspicuous manner, and it's great to get you to where you need to be without overdoing it. But for those of you who do just fine with a one-hitters, this probably won't be replacing your glass any time soon.
We can't guarantee all products sent in will be reviewed here at Stoner MacGyver, but if you've got something you think is the greatest invention since sliced pot-bread, send us an e-mail at [email protected]
