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Brass Knuckles Lawsuit: Class Action Includes Xzibit, SC Labs

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brass knuckles owners

.The Brass Knuckles lawsuit comes down to issues with pesticides in their THC vape cartridges causing illness. Added to the lawsuit are Xzibit and SC Labs. Here we go through the case claims and provide insight. Be sure to also check out our Brass Knuckles vape cartridge review and our vape pen pesticides list.

Update 10/29/2018: Uncovered further information showing the other owner of Brass Knuckles.

Dirty Vape Cartridges Makes Brass Knuckles Customers Mad, Sick, and Pursuing a Lawsuit

We first saw the Ignacio Lee lawsuit reported on TMZ. Brass Knuckles contacted TMZ and on May 11, 2018, TMZ updated the post with a statement from Brass Knuckles spokesperson that they were in compliance and that their oils were clean. Then comes Datdude4150 on Instagram cartridge strength and cleanliness de-bunker extraordinaire with a recently posted test showing Brass Knuckles as dirty again.

brass knuckles cartridge review
Here are some real Brass Knuckles cartridges

Who really owns Brass Knuckles? Not just Xzibit

Below are pages from the original letter complaint regarding Brass Knuckles non-compliance with California’s all encompassing Proposition 65. This is not the lawsuit filing, but a “NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 25249.6” based on Prop 65. These letters are sent out to build up a lawsuit for later.

brass knuckles prop 65 complaint page 1

brass knuckles prop 65 complaint page 2

Most noticeable is that the lawsuit is addressed to Regina Herer in Tecopa, CA. A further search finds that she is also known as Jeannie Herer, the wife of the late Jack Herer. She is sent this letter because she is listed as the registered agent. She does not appear to operate a professional registered agent service. Therefore, it is safe to assume Jeannie Herer is one of the owners, if not the main owner of Brass Knuckles.

Dragged into the lawsuit… is Xzibit!

Named as a defendant in the Brass Knuckles lawsuit is Xzibit. He is a part owner of the company and its celebrity spokesperson, but the manufacturing process is not managed by Xzibit. He is responsible for helping sell the product. This is how the American legal system works, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Plaintiffs end up with nothing if attorneys cannot go after deep pockets. For consumers this is a good thing.

Plaintiffs do not want $0 if the company goes bankrupt

For example, Brass Knuckles is probably a corporation or LLC that can go bust if the lawsuit is too big. They do not use a trademark logo on most of their items and it is a federally illegal product so it is likely there is no trademark or anything really besides Xzibit endorsing it and a bunch of ads that keep it going.

By suing Xzibit, they can try to collect on an individual should the company not be able to pay out the lawsuit judgment. Maybe that would make us feel a little better, since we remember him as the guy from Pimp My Ride who fixed up people’s cars for free.

Statement by Xzibit on the Brass Knuckles lawsuit and clean oil

His real name is Alvin Nathaniel Joiner. As spokesman for the company, he responded to the lawsuit’s claims via his Instagram account, stating: “Our oil is clean” in one post and in another that the product is “COMPLETELY pesticide AND contaminate FREE.”

This statement proved not to be true as Brass Knuckles tested dirty after he made that statement. It may have been uninentional, as I doubt Xzibit has much to do directly with the manufacturing process.

SC Labs also named as a defendant in lawsuit

SC Labs is included in the lawsuit as well.  The company claims that the dirty cartridges are fakes. There are a lot of fakes out there. However, so many bad tests have come back of real cartridges as well. It makes Brass Knuckles and SC Labs both hard to trust. Steep Hill is the lab used by Plaintiffs in that case that showed the vape carts as dirty.

fake brass knuckles
Fakes are all over the place.

Brass Knuckles and Heavy Hitters have similar issues

Just like Heavy Hitters testing dirty just recently. They used the same claim that Brass Knuckles now uses to say their oil is clean. It might be, but how can we trust them after so many issues? In their defense, fake Heavy Hitters is a problem too.

Legal allegations and claims against Brass Knuckles, Xzibit, and SC Labs

Allegations directly from the complaint sum up the basis of the suit:

“Defendants prominently advertise and label the Products as being ‘Lab Tested, Contaminant Free’ … when in fact they are contaminated by harmful pesticides. Defendants also prominently advertise and label the Products as being the ‘Most Potent THC Cartridge Available.’ However, the THC content of the Products is actually substantially lower than that of many competing vape cartridges. Defendants are able to charge substantially more for the Products than they would otherwise if consumers knew that the Products were contaminated with pesticides and not as potent as promised.”

The legal claims brought by the defendants asserts causes of action for negligent failure to warn and violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL, codified at Business & Professions Code sections 17200 and 17500 et seq.), breach of express and implied warranties, and California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA, codified at Civil Code section 1750).

Pesticides exceed California limits

They claim that the pesticide levels found in Brass Knuckles vape cartridges exceed the maximum allowed by California law. The pesticides found on the test by Steep Hill labs were: bifenazate, etoxazole, myclobutanil, trifloxystrobin, permethrin, bifenthrin and carbaryl.

More than just regular damages

The types of causes of action included in the suit are important because they allow for collection of additional monies from the defendant’s if they win. These causes of action include recovery for: restitution, attorney’s fees, legal costs, disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief, and punitive damages.

Attorney’s fees and punitive damages

These are both very important parts of damages in a case. Attorney’s fees being recoverable is important because it means there is no cost to the Plaintiffs to litigate. Most cases of this type the attorney or law firm will take the case with no actual out of pocket cost to the client, and recover fees upon winning the suit. This can make litigation much more expensive for the other side.

Punitive damages are important. They punish the defendant for participating in a bad activity. See a full explanation on punitive damages here. This means at the end of this case, if they win, the Plaintiffs will get a larger verdict against the Defendants. The point of punitive damages is to discourage the same activity in the future. For example, Heavy Hitters might see this lawsuit and make a better effort to keep their vape cartridges clean.

Perspectives from a litigation lawyer

According to litigation attorney Ian A. Stewart, this is the start of a new wave of multiple lawsuits that will be filed. In his analysis of the Brass Knuckles lawsuit, he also stated that insurance carriers are denying and will continue to deny claims related to pesticides (and probably residual solvents too) in vape cartridges. This leaves companies with no other choice to go bankrupt at the end.

In conclusion, the Brass Knuckles lawsuit is only the start of keeping THC vape cartridges clean. The easiest solution is for California to get serious about regulating the industry. Tests are coming back dirty from various companies even after the July 1, 2018 deadline. California needs to commit to consistent batch testing procedures like those followed in Nevada. For now, we can hit cleaner (and often better quality) stuff in Las Vegas than in Los Angeles. Who would have thought that would be the case 10 years ago?

Have you gotten sick from Brass Knuckles or other dirty vape carts? Post your comments below or discuss in our forum!

CannaClear THC Carts : Unclear Origins

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Cannaclear_fake

CannaClear is a THC vape cart brand which has been kicking around for years. It’s been so long that we can’t believe we haven’t covered it before, but consider the name is composed of two of the most generic prefixes and suffixes in cannabis carts, “canna” and “clear.” We found at least three other companies under the same name.

CannaClear is not to be confused with…

The Delta 8 brand. That’s a completely different outfit, albeit there’s bound to be confusion which could lead to crossover packaging. The Delta 8 CannaClear is a registered LLC, licensed, and reviewed by one of our staff.

There’s also a “cannaclear.de” which is described as cannabis product certification platform, ironically enough.

And there’s an industrial hemp cosmetics line in China by the same name.

alternative_CannaClear

Beyond that, we have tracked down other variations of the CannaClear name / logo / packaging that might have been counterfeit attempts or products set out to have the same name. One “official” Twitter account for CannaClearExtracts (in northern Cali, established 2016) links only to the Facebook page with the alternative logo / brand on that page. Note that the Facebook profile lists CannaClear as a “janitorial service.” Just one more detail we have to let go unexplained.

We believe CannaClear started out affiliated with a hiphop artist

We’ll cut to the closest thing we have to an answer right now: By the time we got to Instagram, we noticed many posts tagged “CannaClear” mentioned “AllBay.” They seem quite chummy.

AllBay_top_model_contest

That’s from April 2016. This AllBay outfit is all about plugging Cannaclear for awhile.

AllBayMusic+Cannaclear

AllBayMusic+Cannaclear2

AllBayMusic+Cannaclear3

Still plugging them as late as 2017. So OK, we dig up All Bay Music and lo and behold: scroll to the bottom right corner and they list their affiliates, starting with “CannaClearExtracts.com.” It actually links to a “.net” domain, but anyway they both seem long dead. Whois says the “.com” was registered in October of 2015 and renewed as late as June 2019. There never was a “.net.”

We’ve seen this before with hiphop artists and cannabis brands. Xzibit has owned Brass Knuckles, for instance. The infamous Runtz was supposed to be started by an artist of the same name. There seems to be an epidemic of musicians who launch vape cart brands with no license, regulation, or brand control, and then the bootlegs just pass around forever.

That’s our CannaClear theory. We also can’t find any trace of the packaging being sold on any of the usual packaging sites, despite the carts being rampant on the street. Since the carts don’t grow on trees, the only other possible explanation is a private distributor here in the states, maybe passing it around through underground sesh channels. All Bay Music is in San Francisco, naturally, so we’d assume the CannaClear carts would stay in north Cali. Yet this Reddit thread pegs them in Chicago, popular there for awhile. So they’re getting shipped around somehow.

ultrarefined_CannaClear

Further clues to CannaClear’s origins

We just may have found the graphic artist who did the logo, or at least an artist who worked on package design for an edible edition of CannaClear, which we have not seen anywhere else. It’s been nothing but carts as far as we find.

Behance_CannaClear_artist

We can top that: This listing is on a banana-republic-tier freelance job site (In freelancing, if it isn’t UpWork right now, it’s a rip-off). The patron is trying to get a copywriter for CannaClear back in 2016.

LocalSolo_CannaClear

You see the predominant CannaClear logo in the upper left? The green and blue one, most common form of the logo. Wait, let’s zoom in on that product box shot…

backwards_logo_CannaClear

They got it BACKWARDS! The graphic part in the circle is backwards and also a different color scheme. We know it isn’t a mirror-shot because the text “satisfaction 100% guaranteed” is running forwards. The text font of the name is different on the boxes too. The same person who put up the logo on the left put up the product photo on the right.

Is everybody associated with this brand as mad as a March hare???

CannaClear floods the streets with no license in sight

We hardly have space to scratch the surface with all the CannaClear dealers we’ve found. Starting with the LeafedOut plugs:

LeafedOut_CannaClear1

There’s a Chicago plug.

LeafedOut_CannaClear2

A Maryland CannaClear dealer.

LeafedOut_CannaClear3

Another in Illinois.

Facebook_CannaClear

The rarely-spotted Facebook plug.

Twitter_Sacramento_CannaClear

Twitter plug offering in Sacramento, California. We’re going with some screenshots here because when we post direct links, the accounts tend to vanish within hours for _some_ _strange_ _reason_.

We of course find the usual Instagram flood of copycat “official” Cannaclear vendors. We’ll spare the usual list to highlight a few oddballs.

Instagram_CannaClear_TM

With an uncommon amount of chutzpah, this user deigned to put the trademark symbol next to the CannaClear brand name (that is impossible in several dimensions at once), despite going private and linking to nothing but a revolting YouTube prank video. The video even has him doing this speech addressing concerns people have with CannaClear’s legitimacy, so he reassures us that these are good because “I know that my source is good” and “I’ve been puffing on this for about three weeks yo.”

MrTHC_CannaClear

Gosh, with reassurances like that, why do we even need lab tests? When my health is on the line, I’ll bet my lungs on the guy wearing his COVID-19 mask on his chin. /s

We’re going to designate “MrTHC” the new “iSmokeUnlicensedCarts,” since the latter YouTube channel has been inactive for a year now.

Back to Instagram:

Momma_CannaClearExtracts

The self-proclaimed “momma” of CannaClear also claims to be its founder and CEO. She also links back to the “janitorial” Facebook account. Uses the standard logo on Instagram, Facebook has the alternative. I’m telling you, “mad as March hares,” you can quote me.

Instagram_CannaClear

This account sports yet another variation on the standard CannaClear logo. We’ve seen a green one and a brown one mostly, and here somebody runs a Photoshop metal filter on it. You may have also noticed that sometimes there’s writing around the outside of the logo saying “established in” and a date. The dates range from 2000 to 2015 so far, or sometimes there is no date.

Instagram_CannaClearOfficial

Look who got “CannaClearOfficial”! No posts, one follower, the sixth version of the logo we’ve seen now.

Everybody is looking for CannaClear info and finding nothing

We’re reaching epic length for this blog post, so we’ll try to make this short and sweet. Suffice to say, thousands of Reddit vapers have found these cartridges and posted to ask if they’re fake. At this point, we’ve blown apart any possibility of the product being centrally produced, or else they’d be able to get the logo right. Even on the same page. So the answer would be a resounding “duh, yes, fake!”

  • 11 days ago: Redditor in Chicago we mentioned earlier
  • 24 days ago: Video shows that these cartridges are engraved on the bottom
  • 7 months ago: Sharp-eye Redditor did their own investigation, noted the different origin dates in different logos, also this is a “water clear” variation
  • 1 year ago: Notes fake lab tests alleged to be from SC Labs
  • 1 year ago: This user reports chest pain after hitting a CannaClear
  • 8 months ago: Readers suspect synthetics
  • 6 months ago: Different package, 2.2 grams?
  • 5 months ago: User reports “perfume” taste
  • 5 months ago: User reports new packaging with SC Labs stickers

About those SC Labs tests: We see these stickers on a lot of CannaClear boxes, but not all of them. However, the test itself is bogus. We scanned that QR Code on the Reddit post video of a CannaClear box and this is what we get:

SC_Labs_fake

In the first place, that’s not a CannaClear cartridge in the photo. They might as well have been testing rocks from Mars for all the relevancy this has to what you’re vaping. In the second place, it says right at the top of the lab test sheet:

“QUALITY ASSURANCE TEST ONLY – Not for retail sale”

So if you see a cart with a QR Code that leads to this page, that’s fraud right there.

We repeat this again and again around here, there is no information provided in a R&D / QA lab test that relates to the product in front of you. If it’s not a California COA, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.

I, for one, am fed up with this problem, and now call on all cannabis labs to STOP doing QA or R&D tests at all until they can stamp it in bigger letters across the entire sheet: NOT A VALID TEST. “If you see this test on a commercial retail product for sale, the vendor has committed fraud.” It is too easy for the general public to assume all lab tests mean the product is safe. They can’t read this fine print on a phone screen.

Conclusion: Fake fake fake!

I started out assuming this brand was a single-source black market product, not licensed and regulated, but better than a Chinese boof box brand. However, the clumsy parade of stupidity, ineptitude, and outright fraud have convinced me that CannaClear is not better than the worst of the faked brands. Stay away, avoid it like the plague, treat it like the Grim Reaper is trying to sell you Danks.

Oh, but look. They have their own coffee mug.

coffeemug_CannaClear

You know what they could have spent that money on instead? A LICENSE SO PEOPLE DON’T DIE FROM VAPING BOOF!

Readers, is this the most ridiculous fake cart saga you’re read yet? Why is it always the musicians’ brands that crash and burn so hard? Share your wisdom in the comments below or in our merry forums.

 

Brass Knuckles Owner: Who Really Owns The Vape Cartridge Company?

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brass knuckles owners

Through several hours of research, we have come to the conclusion that the main owners of Brass Knuckles are Jeannie Herer (aka Regina Herer) and Alvin Joiner (aka Xzibit). We found this information by inspecting a Proposition 65 warning letter that was addressed to Jeannie Herer.

Since Jeannie Herer is not a professional registered agent, it’s safe to assume she is one of the owners, if not the primary owner.

Who is Jeannie Herer, owner of the Brass Knuckles vape cartridge company?

brass knuckles owner
Is she the real owner of Brass Knuckles?

She is the wife of the late Jack Herer, who passed away in 2010. It makes sense she would be still be in the cannabis industry. We hoped it would just be with a better quality product. Not a brand that has consistently failed vape pen pesticides and solvents tests.

Xzibit is a part owner of Brass Knuckles too

Alvin Joiner has been publicly stated as an owner of Brass Knuckles. It is interesting that in all the information we did find, we could not find any official corporate or LLC name for Brass Knuckles. We will officially order the class action documents soon and see the entity listed there.

Based on the Prop 65 letter, this company might be in fact a sole proprietorship. If that is the case, then technically there is only one owner and any other owner does not have official ownership of Brass Knuckles.

Dr. Dre is an alleged secret part owner

Dr. Dre is listed as a defendant and part owner of Brass Knuckles alleges another lawsuit filed claiming the Plaintiffs were screwed out of their investment. We do not have any solid evidence on Dr. Dre’s ownership.

In conclusion, Brass Knuckles has that has been poisoning many of us for a while. See our breakdown of the Brass Knuckles lawsuit and our Brass Knuckles vape review for more information.

Fake Brass Knuckles Cartridges: Updated June, 2019

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fake brass knuckles
Fake Brass Knuckles are all over the place.

Fake Brass Knuckles vape cartridges are everywhere. Shady vendors across the country sell them all the time. Here we show how to identify them and name the companies making fake Brass Knuckles cartridges.

Update 10/10/2018: Hologram picture and information added

Update 01/16/2019: Added video guide comparing fake vs real

Update 02/02/2019: Companies producing fake Brass Knuckles

Update 5/2/2019: CA! symbol information

Update 5/3/2019: Strain specific packaging  not matching strain stickers

Update 6/24/2019: Fake Connected carts information

Brass Knuckles fake cartridges are here for a while

As long as some states have legal marijuana dispensaries and others do not, fake Brass Knuckles cartridges are here to stay. The most common place to find these fake vape carts is in illegal states. They also might be at some legitimate operations as well, particularly in California where regulations are lax. See our multi-brand post on fake cartridges for information on other brands that have counterfeits out there.

See our video guide to spotting fake Brass Knuckles below. Keep reading for the more in depth explanation.

Easiest way to spot most fakes

Real Brass Knuckles have a hologram on the side. Most fake Brass Knuckles cartridges do not. This is the first thing to look for and if there is no hologram you instantly know you have a fake. Take a look at the picture below, the hologram is in the top right left corner.

brass knuckles hologram
The lack of a hologram is the easiest way to identify Fake Brass Knuckles cartridges.

If you have the hologram most likely you are using a legit cartridge. No hologram and you instantly know you are using a fake. Photo grabbed from Reddit user throwaway725199.

Strain label and package mismatch, the second easiest way to spot fake Brass Knuckles

fake brass knuckles cart
Napalm OG strain packaging, Do Si Dos sticker?

The fake BK cart pictured above was recently sent to us by email from one of our readers. It’s an obvious fake because we previously reviewed Napalm OG from a legit dispensary in Las Vegas. Napalm OG is the strain too, so there is no way this is a legitimate Do Si Dos cartridge. It has to be fake if the packaging does not match the strain. Most BK carts are not strain-specific packaging, but there are a few that are.

Strain specific packaging not matching the sticker = fake.

What is a fake Brass Knuckles cartridge?

A Brass Knuckles cartridge is considered a fake when it contains oil that was not made by the actual company, Brass Knuckles. In China, companies make cartridges with Brass Knuckles branding, logos, and packaging. We are not sure if the real company is able to pursue any of the Chinese makers legally, because there might not be a trademark since technically Brass Knuckles is a federally illegal product.

Real Brass Knuckles has had issues anyway

The think about Brass Knuckles vape cartridges is even the real ones have problems. Most recently they have tested clean. However, it is hard to trust them after multiple failures for pesticides. There is even a lawsuit against Brass Knuckles currently ongoing for somebdy that got sick from their carts. See our vape pen pesticides and solvents test page for Brass Knuckles testing information, current and past.

THC vape cartridges better than Brass Knuckles

There are several brands better than Brass Knuckles. In California: Stiiizy Pen, Justdab, Select Oil and stick e vape are all available and better than Brass Knuckles. In Nevada: Select Oil, Kabunky, and BaM pods are all better than Brass Knuckles. Next time you are at any dispensary and thinking of picking up Brass Knuckles, ask the budtender what they think is better. I have never had any budtender at any shop say Brass Knuckles was the best they had.

Advertising plays a role

Some brands pay a lot for advertising and celebrity endorsements. This does not ensure a good product nor are we stating that advertising means it is a bad product. G Pen products are not good but they got Snoop Dogg. Brass Knuckles strength is actually pretty good, but the pesticides issue makes it lack some trust, and they got Xzibit. Nike had Tiger, and Nike golf clubs were never considered good. The point is try the stuff yourself and read reviews that are not paid for. You will be surprised at the quality some of these unadvertised brands are delivering.

Key things to look for to identify fake Brass Knuckles vape carts

Misspelling

All the lettering should be worded correctly. China is notorious for misspelling things and this is an easy thing to spot. Also, it’s an easy thing for them to fix, so this might not last forever. This reminds me of the odd English formats you would see in Japanese made video games back in the NES days.

No strain information on bottom of packaging

Real Brass Knuckles cartridges have strain information on the bottom. When that information is lacking, you can be sure it is a fake cartridge.

Brass Knuckles should make a list of verified vendors

We hope in the future Brass Knuckles puts up a list of verified vendors. This would be the most efficient way to buy real cartridges. Unfortunately, their system of determining fakes is actually less effective than this page. Not the best organized company, hence the previous pesticide issues.

CA! symbol does not always mean real or fake

We read elsewhere that some claim if there is now CA! symbol, then the Brass Knuckles cartridge is fake. That’s not the case. If it is being sold in California, it should have a CA! symbol on it. However, Brass Knuckles is also sold in Nevada, where there is no CA! symbol on the packaging.

Likewise, having a CA! symbol in California does not always mean it is real. Make sure to check other indicators for authenticity as well.

Fake Connected Cannabis Co cartridges

Connected Cannabis Co. is a cannabis company from Sacramento, CA. They make collaboration cartridges with vape brands and recently had one made for Brass Knuckles and Friendly Farms. This sub-category of fake Brass Knuckles is widely distributed. Take a look at the pictures below.

fake connected cartriges
They even got the side sticker.
fake connected cannabis
The hardware is really close to the real thing here.

Fake Connected carts are one of the harder ones to determine as real or fake. However, they are one of the more widely faked Brass Knuckles cartridges. If you see a Connected vape cart and it’s not at a legit dispensary, I would assume it is fake.

Here are the companies in China making fake Brass Knuckles cartridges

For ones that had a picture I am including a picture so you can identify fakes better. The picture of each company’s fake will be below their information. Please add any data you may have in the comments section or discuss fake brass knuckles here on our forum. This page will be updated as new fakes are found.

Companies producing fake Brass Knuckles:

Nuwelltek Technology Limited
Contact Person: Jason
Phone: +86 135 0148 0623
Email: jasonnuwell@qq.com

Address:

RM313, Chuangxin Building
Gongye Rd. No.73
Longhua, Shenzhen

brass knuckles fakes
They even got Abracadabra!

Shenzhen Eboat Times Technology Co.,Ltd

Contact Person: Mandy
Phone: 0086-0755-82593782
Email: sales02@eboattimes.com
Website: http://eboattimes.en.alibaba.com

fake brass knuckles
Strains on the bottom makes it look closer to real ones.

Summer Vapor

Contact Person: Eric
WhatsApp: 0086-18938044377
Email:
Skype: zeusmile8@163.com
Website: summervapor.com

fake brass knuckles vape cartridges
No strain at the bottom, that’s a flag for fake.
fake brass knuckles thc cartridge
Fake Brass Knuckles

 

Shenzhen Cigfly Technology Co., Ltd

Contact Person: Judy
Whatsapp: 0086-18927450451
Email: yufainternational@gmail.com
Skype: yufainternational
Website: www.cigfly.en.alibaba.com

fake brass knuckles vape
No strain here either on the bottom. Red flag for a fake.

It really is not even a good cartridge to copy, but they still do. Below are some out of the box fakes from Cigfly.

brass knuckles fake
Those little holes are not that good anyway.

Boerxin Technology Co., Ltd

Contact Person: Nicolas Tse
Whatsapp/Tel:+8613377489055
Website: www.mokecig.com

china company fake brass knuckles
This company makes strain stickers to make it look authentic.

 

china company fake brass knuckles
They know the product line.

As we get more information we will keep updating this post. If you have information you would like to add, please comment below, post in our forum, or email us at community@3.220.195.53.

Brass Knuckles Vape Pen Review : Old Hardware, OK Oil

brass knuckles cartridge review 2017

Brass Knuckles vape pens prefilled THC cartridges could use some improvements. We have now tested Brass Knuckles vapes in two states and over multiple cartridges. The hardware is dated and needs an upgrade. Learn why this has become a cartridge we are not a big fan of in this in-depth Brass Knuckles vape review.

UPDATES

UPDATE August 9, 2017: Based on testing performed by @clean_meds_cali, Brass Knuckles may contain some toxic materials. See report picture below.

UPDATE February 25, 2018: Recent results for Brass Knuckles products show them as clean. See results at SC Labs.

UPDATE September 24, 2018: See our related post on identifying fake Brass Knuckles.

UPDATE October 12, 2018: Information on Brass Knuckles updates on new cartridges and comparison to other currently popular brands in beginning of review. Information related to other Brass Knuckles issues including lawsuits are added at the end of the review. This review covers almost two years of Brass Knuckles use. Updates by Bert Blaze.

UPDATE May 11, 2019: Brass Knuckles oil is put into better hardware and we test it out.

Brass Knuckles testing
Brass Knuckles testing shows it might contain harmful chemicals.

At this time in 2019, Brass Knuckles has had a lot of issues. They have consistently failed pesticides tests.  See our vape cartridge pesticides test page for the most up to date information on Brass Knuckles vape pen carts and other brands. They are currently being sued as are their promoters. It has been a tough year for Brass Knuckles. They also are no where near close to the best vape pen cartridge anymore. 

Recently Brass Knuckles has posted up clean results, such as the one pictured below for their Banana OG strain.

Brass Knuckles strength and residual solvents test
Not a great THC percentage.

We find it interesting that they have switched labs. SC Labs is also named in one of the Brass Knuckles lawsuits which is discussed further below at the end of this review.

brass knuckles pesticides test
Brass Knuckles has this lab showing a pass, I hope all the carts pass.

We recently reviewed the Napalm OG cartridge and found it to be underwhelming, but it was from a Nevada dispensary and so it is very likely that came out clean.

Many vape cartridges are now better than Brass Knuckles

There are now hundreds of THC vape cartridge brands out there. Many of these cartridges are better than Brass Knuckles. To keep it easy, here are some of the more well known brands that are common to  be found in the same areas as Brass Knuckles, but are better: Select Oil, Justdab, Kabunky, and W Vapes. This list could go on and on. Brass Knuckles just cannot live up to the other fire that is now out there. The point is Brass Knuckles advertises a lot but does not deliver on quality.

Design Quality of Brass Knuckles Vape Pen

The packaging is very nice, its nicer than any other I’ve seen. Brass Knuckle’s offers top of the line quality. The mouthpiece was designed to allow the perfect amount of air flow for a very pleasant hit and major clouds. Compared to other traditional mouthpieces this one seems to have better airflow. The Brass Knuckles vape pen logo on the mouth piece looks great, but it might take away from discretion. You get pure flavor with these cartridges. I learned during this Brass Knuckles vape pen review that this company does in fact focus on creating a better product than any other on the market. This cart did have its flaws which we will go through below.

 

brass knuckles vape pen
Brass Knuckles vape pens are the prefill you want to buy, you can vape ever drip unlike other disposable vape pens like the Bumblebee which wastes a lot of concentrate.

Bert: We can not say that Brass Knuckles is of that high quality anymore. They use an old style cartridge and CCELL currently blows it out of the water, especially when paired with a CCELL Palm. Other systems like the ALD vFire used on the Plug and Play vape and the Stiiizy Pen are also better. They both use the same heating element. Brass Knuckles is stuck in the past with their cartridge technology. They could use an update or go to CCELL like many other manufacturers have.

Trying out Brass Knuckles vape oil in CCELL hardware

Convinced Brass Knuckles had poor quality hardware and having the Napalm OG cartridge fail on me, I wanted to try the oil in a CCELL TH2 cart. Check out the video below.

Ease of Use on the Brass Knuckles Vape Pen

Throw on standard 510 threaded battery and it’s ready to go. Open the Brass Knuckles vape pen package and screw on the cart to get started, that’s it. I am hitting this with a variable voltage battery that allows me to go as high as 4.7 volts. I am using this cart at 3.0 volts for smooth refreshing big clouds. These carts can go as high as 5 volts. Go too high and you might burn it out! Be careful if you are running these on a mod battery. Make sure you have the correct settings.

Bert: Brass Knuckles is still easy to use.

Strength – Brass Knuckles Is Not as Potent As Others

la kush brass knuckles cartridge review

As of right now, these are some of the strongest prefilled cartridges available with a minimum of 80 percent THC. These feel more potent than other prefilled cartridges that claim they are 80.00% THC content. Jack Herer turned out to be the strongest among the three strains I tried in my personal experience. I purchased Jack Herer twice thats how much I enjoyed this strain.

Bert: Brass Knuckles is no where near the strongest anymore. Even on their own tests as shown above THC is at 68%. Select Oil’s Casino Kush is 91% and they have another vape cart that is 94%. The hardware in the Stiiizy, Plug and Play, and any new generation CCELL cartridge also will make a comparable oil hit harder than the Brass Knuckles cartridges with their mediocre oil.

Efficiency – Some Failures Before, But Now More Reliable

Malfunction

I had 1 of the 4 carts malfunction, so Brass knuckles vape pens are not perfect. It started crackling and sizzling and gave me the most bitter burnt taste. The dispensary I purchased this cart from gave me a free replacement right away. Even after one of these carts not working correctly I can still highly recommend these after going through three different strains.

Bert: There are a lot less malfunctions than before with these carts and with other brands. In the past couple years vape cartridge reliability has improved substantially.

Lots of Hits, Some Stickiness

I can say with confidences that each 1 gram of Brass Knuckle will give you a minimum of 200 hits. I always took big hits from the beginning to the end which is why I highly recommend this cart for its consistency. Oil stuck to the top of one of the prefilled cartridges and I could not vape it. This might have been a bad batch. I had to put a lighter underneath the stuck oil to melt it down. Other prefilled carts more consistently had this problem compared to the Brass Knuckles vape pens. One-third isn’t too bad, nothing major to be upset about but just a little inconvenient. One critical discovery in this Brass Knuckles vape pen review is it’s easier to vape every last drop of concentrate, while others made it difficult and even wasted a lot. I did not get as much of a crap taste towards the end of this prefill cartridge either.

Bert: Other cartridges get more hits now. The ones that get less hits like CCELL or Stiiizy hit a lot harder so it is worth it to get less out of it.

Portability

brass knuckles cartridge with source vape battery
Very sleek and small makes this cart is easy to take with you anywhere. The packaging it comes with makes it easy to travel with in case you need to store it away for later. Portability here is also going to tie into what battery you use. Use a mod battery and it’s a little less portable. Use a small 510 battery and its ultra portable.

Bert: Portability remains the same. Still easy to get these vape carts around.

Taste

The taste is very flavorful and enjoyable. There is a hint of artificial flavoring, but the flavor of the strain is also noticeable. My absolute favorite is the Grape Ape! If you like the taste of sweet grape kool-aid, then the Grape Ape Brass Knuckles vape pen prefilled cartridge will be your next favorite vape. I approve of their almost perfect cocktail of THC with added natural terpenes. It has a more pleasant taste than every other prefilled cart I’ve tried. I have yet to try the Moxie cartridges, but have heard those have excellent taste as well.

Bert: The THC carts from Brass Knuckles still shine on taste for the most part. Whoever is handling the terpenes is doing a great job. We need that same effort on the rest of the vape pen cartridge. Taste issues with Brass Knuckles can arise if the cart gets burned  though.

Brass Knuckles Strains

Brass Knuckles vape cartridges now come in a wide variety of strains, each with a different taste. Below are all the Brass Knuckles vape pen cart strains. We have sorted them into Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid.

Sativa cartridges:

  • Blue Dream
  • Jack Herer
  • Maui
  • Sour Apple
  • Sour Diesel
  • Strawberry Cough
  • Tangie

Indica strain selection:

  • Blueberry
  • SFV OG
  • Tahoe OG
  • Grape God (replacement for Grand Daddy Purple)
  • Napalm OG
  • Do-Si-Dos
  • Glue
  • Tahoe OG

Hybrid Strains:

  • Gorilla Glue #4
  • Banana OG
  • Gelato
  • Girl Scout Cookies
  • Gushers by Connected
  • Forbidden Fruit
  • Abracadabra

Brass Knuckles is coming out with new strains here and there, so look for updates on that.

Value: Just Not There

I paid $55.00 each for a gram of Jack Herer, Girl Scout Cookies, and Grape Ape from my local dispensary in California. All the cartridges lasted me five days and provided over 200 hits each. That’s only eleven dollars a day to stay medicated all day and night. I praise the Brass Knuckles for making a great tasting a product that is more economical and very high quality than their competitors.

Bert: Brass Knuckles is no longer a good value. I would rather buy a half gram of select and pay almost the same price as a full gram of Brass Knuckles.

Current Brass Knuckles Issues: Fakes and Lawsuits

The main issue we have with Brass Knuckles is continuously deceiving customers that they had clean products. We hope now that the cartridges they are producing are clean, but it is hard to trust a company that has lied so many times. The lab testing industry in California is not really reliable. We might trust a BK cart in Nevada where there is strict batch testing, but why go with an untrusted brand when there are so many better ones already out there?

Fake Brass Knuckles vape cartridges are everywhere

We did an extensive post on fake Brass Knuckles. The company does not post an authorized retailer list. They post their own less informative guide on how to spot fakes, but really what we need is a list of authorized retailers. Take a look below at the fakes made by Summer Vapor.

The Summer Vapor fakes are easy to spot because there is no strain information on the bottom. That’s great for the easy to spot Brass Knuckles fake cartridges.

fake brass knuckles
These cartridges are really good fakes. Even using the Brass Knuckles guide one could not tell it from a real cart.

The above fakes are from Shenzhen eBoat. They are very convincing. In fact, if you relied on Brass Knuckles’ own guide those would pass for real. If they really cared about their customers, Brass Knuckles

Nevada residents are probably safe due to strict batch testing, but California is a lot more people. If Brass Knuckles cared about consumers they would get a better grip on these fakes by making a comprehensive, updated list authorized retailers. Plain and simple.

Brass Knuckles Lawsuits: Yes, There Is More Than One

The Class Action Lawsuit: Ignacio Lee vs. Brass Knuckles

Many people search for Brass Knuckles lawsuit, but there is actually a big class action lawsuit going on. The first reported legal issue was the lawsuit filed by Ignacio Lee. He claims he got sick from the pesticides that were present in Brass Knuckles vape pen cartridges. The particular strains he complained about were Candy Apple and Sour Diesel.

The Brass Knuckles company, which has been linked to Jeannie Herer was sued in this case as well as Xzibit himself. His real name is Alvin Nathaniel Joiner. As spokesman for the company, he responded to the lawsuit’s claims via his Instagram account, stating: “Our oil is clean” in one post and in another that the product is “COMPLETELY pesticide AND contaminate FREE.”

SC Labs also included in the lawsuit

SC Labs is included in this one to make it more interesting. They were including the stickers on Brass Knuckles cartridges that were sold. The company claims that the dirty cartridges are fakes. SC Labs is included in the suit. Their stickers are on the cartridge. Makes the fake oil claim hard to believe. I do not trust them either anymore. Steep Hill is the lab used by Plaintiffs in that case that showed the vape carts as dirty.

If you are familiar with their testing stickers, you can look up the batch online (unless the company blocks it from being public). Making fakes would be difficult considering these unique identification codes are linked to certain batches.

I have never seen a fake Brass Knuckles vape pen cartridge ever have an SC Labs sticker on it. Someone would have to go to extraordinary lengths to make that all match up. They are not adding them in China.

First, I should state as of May, 2018, that Brass Knuckles claims they are now 100% compliant due to California’s new testing requirements. Second, Xzibit was probably wrong when he made his clean oil statements, but it may not have been intentional. I doubt he has much to do with the manufacturing process. California’s testing requirements are not getting implemented like they are supposed to even now in 2018.

Just like Heavy Hitters testing dirty just recently. They used the same claim that Brass Knuckles now uses to say their oil is clean. It might be, but how can we trust them after so many issues? In their defense, fake Heavy Hitters is a problem too.

Overall: I Would No Longer Recommend a Brass Knuckles Vape Pen

The improved features this prefilled cart has over others had me extremely satisfied. Xzibit, the founder of this product, has stated on the Youtube channel Between Two Strains, “Everything that we disliked about all the other carts on the market we improved on and put it into Brass Knuckles.” This statement is accurate which I learned after trying this out for myself. I highly encourage others to try this cart out as will. Brass Knuckles does indeed solve many of the problems of previous carts from other companies.

Bert: There are better cartridge brands with more reliable reputations. They also produce stronger oil in better hardware. Don’t buy into the hype on Brass Knuckles vape pen cartridges.