Category: Recent News
VAPE THE RAINBOW & FLAVOR FLUSH
A PBusardo Review – Vape The Rainbow & Flavor Flush – Texas Select Vapor
Vendor Link:
Texas Select Vapor
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE BOGE CARTOS?
I would say I began using Boge cartos two years ago if not longer. Since then, my experience with them has always been stellar. I’ve NEVER received a bad one. They have always been consistent, providing me with a terrific vape experience in VTF.
Now I’ve been hearing some grumblings. A lot actually. I’m hearing and reading people are having problems with them. I watched Grimm’s video on the Fusion cartos and even HE appears to be having some recent issues with the Boges.
One very nice person, William W. even sent me his cartos to have a look at after he was disappointed with their performance (all short condoms). I plan on tearing these apart and vaping them side by side with the older “long condom” version.
Since I’ve received my new batch (with the shorter condoms) I’ve had 2 of them fail. Burnt flavor on the first fire on a fully loaded carto. I also noticed some other inconsistencies as well.
People are contacting me on a daily basis now with their issues on them. Although I’m a huge Boge carto fan folks, I have nothing to do with them. Nor do I have any information on what’s going on.
So what’s going on? Has something changed? Why would something change?
Well the last question is an easy one with several potential answers:
1) New production lines to meet demand.
2) Change in materials sources.
3) Cheaper materials/sources to increase profit margins.
4) Cheaper production methods to increase profit margins.
I don’t really know the answer, but I do know that I’ve contacted them in an attempt to find out. Several emails have gone out along with some Skype texts, but no response yet.
Perhaps it was just a bad batch that went out and it will clear itself up… or perhaps something worse… (see the four bullets above).
Am I continuing to use them? Yes.
Let’s see how this plays out.
In the meantime if anyone has any additional or inside information on this that they’d like share and have me post here, please contact me.
THE ECAB + FRUIT NINJA CONTEST RESULTS
A PBusardo Review – eCab from Ovale USA + Fruit Ninja Contest Results
Vendor Link:
Ovale USA
Gallery:
THE TRAP TANK
5 FROM KALAMAZOO VAPOR SHOP
A PBusardo Review – 5 from Kalamazoo Vapor Shop
- Buttery Nipple
- Firefly
- Apple Jax Tobacco
- Chocolate Covered Cherry
- Blueberry Vanilla Custard Tobacco
Vendor Link:
Kalamazoo Vapor Shop
REV3 MULTI-VOLT FRUIT NINJA
A PBusardo Review & Contest – REV3 Multi-Volt – 310 Vapers
Vendor Link:
310Vapers
Follow-up:
Other than the on/off feature, this fruit ninja has no built-in protection.
The top separated from the main body in long term testing. Heard this from others as well.
Photos:
AKSTON HUGHES SL
Although I certainly appreciate receiving the Akston Hughes SL pre-market, I may not jump on the bandwagon and provide you with a full blown video review on it (but then again, I still may). Why?
- You can’t buy it. Who knows what the final version will be. I’d rather provide you with a detailed review of the version you can actually purchase. Better and less confusing for you and less time for me. If what I have does become what you can have, you can bet you’ll see a video!
Note that this is no longer being made by LoongTotem/Akston Hughes, but still being manufactured in China. Please note that I’m not saying that in a negative way at all.
I have the device, I’ve done some vaping and testing, and I’ve provided some feedback to Daniel. In a nutshell:
THUMBS UP:
- Looks – It’s a damn handsome PV. The finish is nice. Molybdenum finish (huh? well this is Daniel we’re talking about) resists finger prints.
- Grips – The grips also act as the vents in the event of battery gas expansion AND they pad the batteries so no battery rattling.
- Center pin – it floats. No more post pulling? Bummer, I enjoyed that at times 😉 Danial and I talked about a “spring loaded” center pin back in the early SVR pre-market days. It’s nice to see the idea come to fruition.
- It’s light but tough – Copper plated aerospace aluminum (did I mention that this is Daniel we’re talking about?)
- Quick on/off with a mechanical power button on bottom of the unit.
- Cone threading.
- Power – It’s powerful. The numbers are good. Tech stuff – Cyclically Adaptive blah blah blah 🙂 It basically means that the Vavg reading on my scope is the closest thing to an accurate flat DC signal as any device I’ve measured that uses PWM and across different resistance cartos/attys. The claim is : 8% more efficient and 4% more powerful at each setting – not sure I have the ability to measure that.
THUMBS DOWN:
- The cap, the expansion cap, and where do you put them? The SL has lost the SVR’s ability to screw the cap onto the base when not in use. So you may not use them as much.
- The expansion cap is an interesting idea but I’m not sure I fully understand it. I’ve heard some call it a sort of drip shield. That’s just silly. A carto or tank shouldn’t need one and it’s too tall for an atty. Also too tall for a carto, but it works well with a mega. I haven’t been able to get a tank to fit in it, but see others have. I may need to dig through my tank drawer again. When it does correctly fit the device you’re using it does give a more clean and finished look, but makes it look very long (do I need to say it… ok I will, insert joke here). Back in the SVR days, Daniel and I talked about a retracting connection so that tanks would sit flush on the body. This may be the result of those discussions.
- The battery warnings and the + – battery orientation indications on the device itself. Ok, look, in a world where my Jeep manual says not to operate the vehicle while your body is outside of the sunroof, I get it, I just don’t want to see it. I personally feel it detracts from it’s looks.
- Power button isn’t recessed enough to allow the unit to stand up straight (I’m not saying it this time). This is being addressed. Never mind, it’s been addressed, I received a new bottom cap and it stand up straight as an arrow now.
- No drip well… also being addressed with an add-on (I think).
- Only works with 1.6Ohm and higher so you can’t use a 1.5 dually on it. You’ll get a white flashing light and the unit won’t fire. This will be a deal breaker for some.
- Too Much Power? – Once again, due to the PWM, the “feel” doesn’t match the numbers. Even though the Vavg looks true to the 4, 4.5, and 5.0 settings, the feel of the vape does not. The 4V setting feels more like a 5V (and potentially even higher) setting on the ProVari, 5.2V to be exact. The problem with this… even 2.0Ohm cartos may be pushed too hard by this device requiring you to be at 3.0Ohms or higher at all times. I feel it may even be pushing my 3Ohm higher than my liking. This is not a big deal on a device like the V-Max since you can set it all the way down to 3V, but on this, there is nothing lower than it’s 4V setting.
- Air flow issues – After some long term testing, I’ve found some air flow issues when using the SL with some tanks. Smoktech standard tanks without the expansion cap, Smoktech slim tanks when using the expansion cap.
- Leaking through the center pin – I’ve found juice on my batteries which means there is e-liquid leaking through the floating head and through the control unit. Not a good thing!!
OVERALL:
Can’t say. Don’t know what the final version will look and behave like. Don’t know what the final price point will be.
But again, I do thank Daniel very much for the initial look. He’s put a lot of work and effort into this (as seen by the PAGES of information he sends me!!) and it’s taking shape nicely. I hope to be able to review a full market version for you soon!
SOME HOUSE KEEPING
- Hope everyone had a terrific and safe 4th Of July!!
- Sponsor banner rotation has been added. New sponsors will no longer always appear on the bottom of the list.
- Traffic Lights have been added to the Review Queue:
- Green = accepting and fast turnaround!
- Yellow = accepting and it will be a while!
- Red = not currently accepting… need to catch up!
Thanks everyone!!