This Amber Industries vape cartridge is one of the strongest I have ever experienced. It lab tested at 80-90% THC.
Although this may be one of the strongest THC cartridges on the market, it is very wasteful and once it gets to this amount of oil left it can’t vape anymore.
Amber Industries offers some of the highest concentrated active THC and Cannabinoids
I really like Amber Industries THC cartridges. Their products are extremely potent and deliver amazing taste. I enjoyed trying the strawberry banana cartridge. Within a few puffs I was stoned. There may not be many Amber Industries reviews available online, however, they truly deserve one with their high-quality products.
Design Quality: This vape cartridge has one flaw. It fails to vape all the oil it holds.
The design is similar yet unique to every other cartridge out their for extracted oils. The difference with this cartridge is its shape inside the actual cart itself. The inside has a large bottom base and becomes thin on top. There is a ceramic disc within that which vapes the oil. The inefficient design wastes oil. There may be a way to recover it if you take it apart though.
Ingredients: Amber Industries uses fractional distillation to make its vape cartridges
Their website states they enhance already potent THC wax and shatter. Fractional distillation for THC is a complex separation process. They state a high amount of chemistry and refining knowledge is required to enhance already potent THC material. Additional information about their organic lab tested solvent free carts can be found on their website here. There isn’t any propylene glycol and zero diluents which really gives this hash oil cart a lot of points.
Strength: Amber Industries has created extremely high THC cartridges
After I tried this wax cartridge out recently I fell in love with it and it has become now honestly one of my favorite cartridges because of how strong it is. At the moment the only other cartridge I can compare its strength with is the Brass Knuckles vape. This cartridge feels just as strong as Brass knuckles if not stronger, but with the recent development of Brass Knuckles possibly having chemicals in it, I would stick pick Amber Industries.
Efficiency: Unfortunately good experience ends here because it leaves behind oil
Before I get to the bad part, I want to first start off by saying I really like how this cartridge performed hitting. I have not seen many prefill vape cartridges make this big of clouds and I have tried a lot of them. Now this problem prevents it from being ranked as the best vape cartridge of 2017. I couldn’t believe how much oil this cartridge leaves behind. It’s not able to vape all of the oil which is wasteful and sad. Usually, with other glass carts, I use a lighter to melt any thick oil stuck to vape it but that doesn’t work with this cart. This company needs to improve their vape cartridges performance or it’s not going to last long. It doesn’t feel good to lose almost 10 percent of highly potent cannabis concentrate and be paying for a full cartridge.
Portability: The average size of your 510 cartridge
The small size of this cartridge is that of your typical 510 cartridges that will fit most standard eCig batteries.
Taste: Infusion with natural terpenes makes this very tasteful and enjoyable
I welcome the infusion of natural terpenes because it really improves the taste of wax cartridges. The strawberry banana cartridge did not give me the taste of strawberries or banana but it still tasted good. The taste was like sweet like candy and goes down smooth.
Value: At $30.00 a half gram its a great price for such a high-quality cart
I tried a couple of different amber industries cartridges, including one with 90% THC and these carts are very powerful! Other cartridges have much less THC content and a higher price, making it a bargain. These carts taste clean up there with the best I have ever experienced and the quality is on point. The oil is clear and solvent-free for those who are conscious about their health. This is why this cart is my favor cart to buy because of how potent and clean they are.
Overall: Amber Industries has separated itself from the competition with its potent extracted oil
I couldn’t believe the strength of this wax cartridge. Amber Industries has impressively high THC cartridges. Its price is affordable and offers a lot of value with its clean potent extract. I really believe Amber Industries cartridges have the potential to go far in the vaping industry if they improve their current carts they are putting their amazing CO2 extract in. You can learn more about their products on their website.
This Thing Rips ReMIX – Better Than The Roil, But Not Great
This Thing Rips – ReMIX Vape Pen
Design & Quality of ReMIX
The This Thing Rips ReMIX is the newest edition to This Thing Rips’ “normal” vape pen line, and the best of them all, so far.
This Thing Rips vape pens pretty much have the same style: a 650mAh battery, an atomizer, see-through colored plastic chamber and a “pen cover” to mask your vape pen. Each model is defined by what atomizer is included, and is represented by a different color:
This Thing Rips Vape Pens; Roil, R Series 2, ReMIX, OG Four 2.0
Roil – Blue – Ceramic donut.
R2 Series – Green – Coils with ceramic rods and ceramic cup.
ReMIX – Red – Ceramic plate.
OG Four 2.0 – Orange – Coils with quartz rods and “lava” quartz cup.
This means that the ReMIX includes 2 ceramic plate atomizers and has a bright red plastic chamber.
What’s Included with the ReMIX?
1 x Set It & Forget It Smart Battery
1 x Discreet Pen Cap
2 x Ceramic Thermal Cup Atomizers
1 x XL Polycarbonate Visual Reaction Chamber
1 x Mouthpiece
2 x Cleaning Wipes
1 x XXL Patented SURE-GRIP Silicone Jar
1 x Hypercharge USB Cable
2 x Silicone Heat Rings
1 x Stainless Steel Tool
1 x Instructions For Use
The ReMIX includes a pen cap, silicone jar, and ceramic atomizers.
Ceramic Plate Atomizer
We have to make a point of explaining this atomizer – they call it a “Ceramic Thermal Cup.” I have to point out that the way they word things uses a lot of hyperbole. This term makes you think that the cup itself gets hot, but it’s just the ceramic plate at the bottom that heats up. This atomizer uses the exact same cup as the other atomizers, so there’s no improvement or change in the cup.
The ceramic plate does not completely cover the bottom and should really be much lower. Wax melts and slides down under it due to the high placement. Some will be lost and wasted.
Settings
Along with the atomizers, it includes a 650mAh battery and has 3 settings. Like the This Thing Rips R2 Series, the ReMIX charges through a regular micro USB cable.
The 3 settings are: Blue – Low, Orange – Medium, and Red – High. Don’t be surprised when the colors don’t follow in the regular order though (Low -> Medium -> High), because they go backwards (High/Red -> Medium/Orange -> Low/Blue).
Our other gripes with the ReMIX are just the same ones as all the This Thing Rips normal pens. In order to load it up, you have to unscrew the red plastic chamber multiple times – every time. The other is a complaint that all coil-less vape pens have to deal with – they get super hot on the outside.
Ease of Use
The This Thing Rips ReMIX works exactly like most vape pens: fill coil with material, select temperature, press button, inhale. The annoying part is the threading on the plastic. You have to unscrew a very long thread every time you need to reload.
The USB charging attachment on the bottom is quite useful though.
The bottom of the ReMIX connects to a Hypercharge USB Cable
Strength: Tricky To Get Right
This Thing Rips ReMIX is a low temp vape pen. So, to get a strong hit you need to put A LOT of wax in there. If you just put a little, it will melt down to the sides, and you’ll get weak, wispy hits.
Efficiency
This Thing Rips ReMIX comes with ceramic plate atomizers – some wax gets lost underneath
The This Thing Rips ReMIX is an improvement over the Roil, because instead of having a donut, you get a full ceramic plate.
The problem with this, is the plate is too high above the ceramic cup. This means that when you turn the heat up, your wax melts and runs from the heat and down to the cup. If you try to take a small dab, you might wonder where it disappeared to!
Versatility / Atomizer Options
The This Thing Rips ReMIX works with the other 3 This Thing Rips “normal” pens, R2 Series, OG Four 2.0 and the Roil. You can get the ceramic donut Roil or either of the coiled vape pens, R2 Series or OG Four 2.0. However we recommend avoiding the coiled ones. Also avoid anything with lava quartz.
This Thing Rips is one of the few companies to offer you all the options.
This model also works with the larger Rig editions, R2 and OG Four 2.0, though they look very weird with a thin battery.
Portability: OK
ReMIX comes with a ‘pen cap’ to mask your vape pen on the go!
The ReMIX is the same as the rest of the This Thing Rips standard line. It is the standard 12mm wide, but it’s actually taller than the OG Four 2.0 Rig Edition and the Roil. The ReMIX and the R2 Series use a taller battery by a about .3 inches because of the micro USB charging ability.
The This Thing Rips ReMIX won’t fit in your shirt pen pocket with the pen cap on. It’s still a perfect fit for your pocket or handbag.
Discretion: Bright Red Is Not That Discreet
The pen cap makes the pen discreet when stored away. With the cap on, the pen is oddly long and clearly has a button and lights up.
When in use, the bright red visual chamber fills up with smoke and is extremely obvious. Just like the orange chamber of the OG Four 2.0, the blue chamber of the Roil, and the green chamber of the R Series 2. These see-through bright colors, are definitely not discreet in any way.
Taste: Good Taste, But Can Lose Wax
Taste is pretty good with the ReMIX. When you run it at lower temperatures, you can get really good terpene flavors from your dabs.
Value: Worth It Compared To Roil
The This Thing Rips reMIX will only cost you $10 more than the Roil, and goes for $87.10. (I know, 710…)
Compared to the Roil, it’s worth the extra $10 for sure.
At $87.10 the This Thing Rips ReMIX isn’t a bad deal
The battery and pen finish could be much better, but it’s the best atomizer value out of all their models.
Like the Roil though, the ReMIX vaporizer kit is a worse deal than just getting the replacements by themselves and a battery. Forget the concentrate container and save yourself $40+. The warranty for the battery sucks anyway.
The other problem is the Warranty is only 90-days – even for the battery, which is a quarter of the standard 1-year warranty. These batteries tend to die, so keep it safe after the 3 months are up! Be careful of their warranty registration too, for some reason they request your credit card information and then make you sign so they can charge your card without needing your input any more…
Why would CC details be needed for a warranty? We don’t know why they would charge you, maybe they don’t – but this is the first and ONLY company who asks to store your CC info and a CC authorization. It’s always better not to leave CC info with companies.
Replacements
This Thing Rips ReMIX replacements are a fair price, charging $43.99 for an attachment with 2 ceramic plate atomizers. Compared to competing models, $17 for each atomizer isn’t bad.
We hope you like to walk to your smoke shop or trust other retailers online, because you also can’t purchase any of these products directly from This Thing Rips.
Conclusion on This Thing Rips ReMIX
The ReMIX is better tasting than most of the This Thing Rips vape pens thanks to the ceramic plate. It suffers on efficiency as wax can be lost underneath the plate. This vape pen is not discreet with a bright red plastic chamber or glowing hash tag.
The 90-day warranty makes the battery not worth the cost. We recommend getting the attachment and an unbranded variable voltage battery. Overall, this is a big improvement of the other offerings from This Thing Rips, but still not a vape pen I would buy.
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 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 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.
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 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 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
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 dispensaryI 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
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.
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.
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.
Puffco’s motto is “The New Standard.” While their original Puffco Pro and Puffco Pro 2 were basically the same as other vape pens already out, their Puffco Plus is original from top to bottom. Is this $99 vape pen “the New Standard” in vaping? Or are features like Puffco Dart and Sesh Mode nothing more than hyped up marketing as we found out with our ThisThingRips review?
UPDATE 4/18/2019: Puffco is now facing a lawsuit over the Peak dab rig.
Puffco Plus is a pretty efficient wax pen setup.
Design & Build Quality were good on the Puffco Plus
The Puffco Plus has a beautiful gunmetal curvy design that looks like a vape pen designed by Apple. The Puffco Pro 2 is a bit smaller. The mouthpiece design blends perfectly to the battery with only 4 small slits for airflow.
The mouthpiece has a short thread that takes a half twist to remove quickly. Inside the mouthpiece you see their new ceramic Puffco Dart tucked away to use easily. This Dart comes in handy later. The Puffco Plus atomizer is a sub-ohm ceramic cup with 4 air holes in the middle. The heating element is a ceramic plate. Unlike many cheaper quality ceramic plate vaporizers, the ceramic cup fits very snug. It looks like its lined up almost perfect. If good wraps are what we want in coils, good line ups on the ceramic plate are important for this type of atomizer. Otherwise you get major leakage. It’s not their original sealed cup design like they first teased and some vapers may have been expecting, but it’s pretty close.
The Puffco Plus battery’s design is well thought out. It features a very subtle cloud light on the bottom of the battery. The power button is made of silicone rubber. It’s a nice contrast to the typical hard plastic button found on most vape pens. The battery has 3 standard heat settings. It features an additional option called “Sesh Mode.” It activates the battery for 12 seconds. You get it heating up to a nice temp without having to touch the button. You can select one of the three heat settings for Sesh Mode.
Once its on hold and go for Sesh Mode.
Like Apple though, the Puffco Plus puts form over function, sometimes to a fault. To keep the short form factor they sacrificed power capacity. The result is a 530mah battery operating sub-ohm. This leads to the small capacity battery getting drained quickly. if you like to use Sesh Mode on High, you’ll be charging within 30 minutes. They also decided to use a weird eGo-style 510 connection that prevents you from using other batteries. Unlike the Puffco Pro 2 that uses a standard 510 connection, the Puffco Plus looks like an eGo connection. Really it’s just an extended 510 connection that no other battery uses. For the vapers who want to stick to their own high powered mod, the Puffco Plus is a no go.
The sub-ohm atomizer produces a lot of heat like most coil-less atomizers. Let it cool down when you use it a few times. The outside of the chamber will get really hot after 2 back to back Sesh Modes on High.
The airflow also feels restricted at times. Although it builds clouds easily, with more use it’s evident how much better this would be with a wider carb hole.
Puffco Plus is very easy to use
The Puffco Plus is so ridiculously easy to use we had to edit the Ease of Use rating for every previously reviewed vape pen. Everything from loading to using is easier. So far this vape pen wins the overall award for easiness. To load your Puffco Plus twist the mouthpiece off quickly with its half turn thread then with the Puffco Dart inside the mouthpiece grab your material with the ceramic tip. Then replace the mouthpiece and lock with a half-twist. That’s it!
The Puffco Dart is the perfect length to place your wax right on the heating element when you screw it on.
If you’re a heavy user, then this is where it gets even easier. “Sesh Mode” really shines with the Puffco Plus. On the Puffco Pro 2, Sesh Mode was useless after 6+ seconds because it just kept burning your wax by getting the coil too hot. Puffco Plus’s coil-less atomizer on the other hand needs a few seconds to warm to begin with. The 12 seconds of Sesh Mode works well.
Sesh mode is fun. But you won’t be passing it around that much with 530mah.
You just load up with the Dart, press the button twice, lean back, and puff away your hit.
Does Sesh Mode work in groups? Yes…. But, you have to be quick on the transfer, because you will lose some vapor from the mouthpiece during transfer.
The battery will kill your fun, though.
Strength
The Puffco Plus gives some strong hits, but flavor is what this was built for, not strength. A Sesh Mode on White will still not leave you coughing up a lung.
Efficiency
The Puffco Plus is one of the most efficient vape pens we’ve reviewed. Unlike other ceramic plate atomizers, the Puffco Plus’s atomizer was with almost surgical precision to be as snug as possible. This means that almost no wax is lost on the edges of the ceramic plate and down the inside of the atomizer to the battery.
You will still get wax on the walls. This can be easily recovered especially since no coil/rods are present. The Puffco Dart also adds to the efficiency. Less likely to lose any wax going from dab tool to vape pen when the dab tool is part of the vape pen.
Versatility / Atomizer Options
The Puffco Plus works with the Puffco Pro 2 atomizer. Screw in the Puffco Pro 2 Fulltop attachment to the inside 510 thread of the battery. This way you can enjoy your ceramic coilless Puffco Plus and a coiled Puffco Pro 2.
It will look a bit weird because of the eGo-looking battery connection. Also the Puffco Pro 2 atomizer is less than fulfilling. Its a coiled atomizer that has pretty bad airflow. You are bettter off skipping the Pro 2 and getting the Plus if you want something easy.
Portability
The Puffco Plus is not as small as the Puffco Pro 2, but redefines the meaning of portability with its new Puffco Dart. The Puffco Pro 2 might be smaller, but you either had very stable wax or you had to carry a dab tool. With the Puffco Plus you just take the Plus with you and your wax and that’s it! The Dart acts as the dab tool and it is built right into the vape pen.
The new designed caps for atomizers not in use is great for pre-loading an extra atomizer for later, instead of bringing a small container.
The battery life kills a few points on portability. If you’re a light user you might not notice, but a heavy user might not make it through half a concert. Especially if you are trying to get down in Sesh Mode. The annoying threading also means you can’t use another battery except for buying another $50 battery from Puffco. Quite expensive considering it is 530mah.
The grip helps you not slip on the go.
Discretion
The Puffco Plus is as discreet as they come. It’s sleek gunmetal color and small profile let’s you sip on a hit on Low Power with few noticing. The light on the bottom of the battery is faint (unlike the Kandypens Elite) and you can easily cover with your pinky finger at night. It gives the optimal discretion of a standard eCig.
Taste
Taste on the Puffco Plus is incredible. The lowest setting provides the low temp hits desired for all the terpenes to shine. Even the White / High Setting still leaves you with a great taste in your mouth.
Those looking to savor their wax are in for a treat. You are not going to get a burny wax taste on this vape. The downside for some would be no super hard rips.
Value
The Puffco Plus was originally $99.99 when it was released, but then raised their price another $20 to $119.99. It recently has just been lowered back to $99.99 on sale for summer. We could not find any good coupons online for Puffco’s site.
The kit includes the Puffco Plus, an extra chamber atomizer with a cap, a charger, a pack of 4 cotton swabs, and a Puffco Grip sleeve.
The Puffco Grip is a great little silicone sleeve they added later that makes it easier to hold your Puffco Plus, and also stops it from rolling around.
Count the extra chamber for its retail $25 and you’re paying around $75 just for the Puffco Plus. It comes with a 1 Year Warranty that covers the sub ohm battery and charger.
It’s an incredible self-contained vape pen you can’t find elsewhere, but you’ll pay a hefty price compared to what else is out there.
Replacements are a bit expensive on the Plus vape
Puffco Plus replacements come in at $24.95 a piece. You can also get 5 of them for $100. Coupons are rarely available.
It’s on par with other atomizers, but also includes a cap when you purchase separately. It’s like an extra container.
Just don’t lose your battery, or you’re paying $50 for a battery replacement.
Conclusion: Puffco Plus is Smooth
The Puffco Plus is one of the best vape pens out for those that are looking for ease of use and smooth hits. Ridiculously easy to use with the Puffco Dart and Sesh Mode, giving you rich flavorful hits every time. Be wary of the battery life when you go out. Bring a charger and you will be good.
The best priced Puffco Plus we could find is here on eBay.
As the last remnants of oil dissipate from your cartridge, you realize it’s time to get a refill. So you head down to your local dispensary, or perhaps you call for delivery instead. Once again you go for the type of strain you like, Indica. Just like always, the cartridge that’s available makes no mention of exact strain. It just states “Indica”. But what if you favor a certain strain of Indica? That’s where an Absolute Xtracts cartridge (aka ABX) comes in. Chances are that ABX has your favorite flavor because they offer 18 specific strains in disposable vape cartridges. Wondering about the quality? Keep reading for all the answers!
The Absolute Xtracts Cartridge With 18 Specific Strains
Quality Is The Standard With Absolute Xtracts Vape Pen Cartridges.
Product: Absolute Xtracts Strain Specific Disposable Vape Pen Cartridges.
Overall Ranking: 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Price: Average Range. Typically $35 to $65 depending on the source and the strain.
Choose From 18 Different Strain Specific Cartridges From Absolute Xtracts.
Absolute Extracts is a company grown out of Northern California that brings safe, potent, and pure cannabis concentrates to the general public. For now, Absolute Xtracts distributes only to medical dispensaries. That will all change soon enough with the passing of Prop 64 in California. ABX makes all sorts of cannabis concentrate products like sprays, soft gels, honey straws, and more. Part of that more category includes strain specific cartridges which our focus of attention turns to.
Strains, Specifications, & Features Of The Absolute Xtracts Cartridge
ABX Cartridges – Specific Strains By Name
Absolute Xtracts currently offers 18 different strains of marijuana in disposable vape pen cartridges. Check the names of each strain below to find your cherished one:
• CandyLand Hybrid • Durban Lime Hybrid • Emerald Cup OG Hybrid
• Blackberry Kush Hybrid • Blue Dream Hybrid • Cherry Pie Hybrid
• Blue Jay Way CBD-Rich Hybrid • Chem Dog Hybrid
• Girl Scout Cookies Hybrid • Gorilla Glue Hybrid
• Grape Stomper Hybrid • Green Dragon Hybrid • OG Kush Hybrid
• Royal Kush Hybrid • Sour Diesel Sativa
Specifications Of Absolute Xtracts Cartridges
The main concerns that arise from different styles of vape pen cartridges trace to a couple issues. The design of the cartridge itself is a problem on some models. While there is the occasional manufacturing defect, reports of Absolute Xtract cartridge issues are rare. Another problem area is the oil itself. Some companies blend oil and it can separate inside the cartridge. Others have a poor extraction technique resulting in oil that’s too thick or thin. It either burns right up or hardens and won’t burn at all. Take a look at Absolute Xtract Cartridge details:
Metal Mouth Piece – A durable metal draw piece sits securely on top of the cartridge. It’s comfortable on your lips and easy to wipe and clean.
Absolute Xtracts Old Cartridge Design With A Fiber Wick And Plastic Mouth Piece.
Hard Quality Plastic Container – The plastic tube container is extremely tough. You’d probably have to hit it with a hammer to break it. Very few customers report any kind of leaking.
Metal Tube Wick – Unlike the old style Absolute Xtracts Cartridge, these models have metal pull wicks. You may still see an occasional old model that uses a fiber wick and plastic draw piece.
Compatible With Nearly All Pen Size Vaporizers – The threads on the cartridge that screw into your vape pen battery are universal. They fit most brands of pen vaporizers.
Features Of Absolute Xtracts Cartridge Refills
Example Chem Dawg Cartridge. Cartridges Come With A Quality Design.
What is it that gives Absolute Xtract Cartridges such high marks and raving reviews? Why should you buy one of these cartridges over any other brand? Some of the reasons are already apparent. Others show through in a deeper look at cartridge features.
100% Cannabis Oil – All cartridges are full of 100% cannabis concentrate. ABX does not use coconut oil or any other filler in their cartridges.
70% THC – Absolute Xtracts has their process down to a science. By testing and refining their technique, each strain of oil comes out to 70% THC.
Perfect Consistency – The oil burns perfectly because it is neither to thick nor thin of a consistency.
18 Different Strains – With this kind of selection, customers have no problem finding a strain that suits their need.
Cannabis Terpene Infusion – Absolute Xtracts infuses their oil with terpenes from each strain, giving them the effect and taste you desire.
Pros & Cons Of Absolute Xtracts Cartridges
Pros
There’s a long list of benefits that come along with ABX brand cartridges, which explains why they have such high marks. The cartridges are sturdy and rarely ever leak. They also fit most brands of pen style vaporizers. The upgrade from their old style cartridge is also a bonus.
Sour Diesel Sativa Cartridge With Example Packaging.
The oil is potent and Absolute Xtracts tests every batch. You can be sure of not only the quality, but also the fact that no contaminants are present in your CBD oil. Finally, you have the big feature of 18 different strain specific cartridges to choose from. No blend of buds makes up their oil. Absolute Xtracts grows their strains in high tech greenhouses or family farms in Northern California.
Cons
ABX cartridges come close to hitting all 5 stars, but they do have a couple areas where they are lacking. One disappointment customers find is the 1 size .5 gram cartridge. That’s the small size and if you vape regularly, the cartridge doesn’t last long.
The other drawback is the lack of pure Indica and Sativa strains. They do have Sour Diesel which is a fine Sativa, but only that one. A couple of hybrids are Indica heavy, but not straight strains. It’s not a huge complaint, but why not add more strains or make the selection a bit more even?
Who Would Most Appreciate ABX Cartridges?
Customers that are alright with the .5 gram size cartridge and prefer a specific strain will enjoy Absolute Xtracts oil. If you like that flavor to come through in the taste, these cartridges are also right for you. The large choice of Hybrid strains creates a playground for people with that preference.
Absolute Xtracts Customer Support
Absolute Xtracts’ Logo
You can jump to the ABX website and subscribe to their mailing list to get new updates. A search function on their site allows to visitors to search for a local dispensary that carries their products. Furthermore, you can use the ABX website to send them an email with a specific message. A great way to file a complaint, ask a question, or request service in your area.
Concluding our Absolute Xtracts Cartridge review
You Get Quality, Safety, Certainty, And A Wide Selection Of Strains With Absolute Xtracts Cartridges.
Whether you go out of your way to find an Absolute Xtracts cartridge or this is your first time hearing about them, they are worth your purchase. With 18 strains to choose from, it’s tough to imagine there’s not at least one or two for everybody. The tastes with the infusion of terpenes are delicious and the oil is potent to say the least. You’ll be emailing Absolute Xtracts before too long, asking them for those 1 gram cartridge sizes.
How do you feel about the Absolute Xtract cartridge selection? Do you find they offer a good mix of strains, or would you like to see more? Let us know by leaving your comment below.
KandyPens Elite Review: It’s Leak Proof Because of Glue
UPDATE 11/14/2018: Kandypens has recently committed to removing all glue from vaporizers. This is a great development and we hope in the future they produce better quality vape pens like they did with the Prism and Prism+.
Kandypens releases their KandyPens Elite for concentrate enthusiasts. With new “Leak Proof Technology™”, this $140 vape pen vies for top spot in Vape Pen Guides. Does it build upon earlier Kandypens models? Or is it a new coat of paint on the same old vape?
Design & Quality
The KandyPens Elite is a standard size pen at 14mm in diameter. It has a 650mah battery with 4 voltage settings. It comes in different combinations of metallic gold colors, or white with gold accents. The button is a K that lights up to show the voltage setting as well another K underneath that also lights up depending on voltage color.
On the attachment itself the air carb is situated nicely near the middle of the attachment. Your index finger naturally lands on it if screwed on the right way. This was a good part of the design.
The quartz chamber has 4 raised airflow holes near the top of the cup, to prevent from wax of leaking out when filling the chamber. There are then two 1mm air vents on the side of the vent. The top part of the mouthpiece has a 2mm air carb you can cover for bigger clouds. The carb hole works very well, but suffers from the same problem as the KandyPens Mini. A small annoying whistle that happens every so often.
It comes with 2 atomizers. A quartz double coil and a coil-less ceramic plate atomizer. Same atomizers as their Kandypens Gravity, both of which KandyPens brands as containing “Leak Proof Technology.™”
We opened up the atomizers and found that the quartz double coil had a green mucus-colored blob of glue under the quartz cup inside the atomizer. This should not be the case on future Kandypens models. The ceramic plate also has a white blog of sealant under the heater. The coil according to the website is titanium. Their product site also says “No Wicks, Glues, or Dyes” and the statement was later removed. With their recent statements that claim may come back legitimately.
Type of metal in coil
Real Titanium has a very low resistance, so a double coil would typically require a sub-ohm battery, so this might be a Titanium Alloy coil at best.
Below you can see the glue on the back of the atomizer bowl of the KandyPens Elite quartz atomizer. These are for the old atomizer, we will update pictures when they official release glue free atomizers, which is coming soon.
Below you will see the ceramic coilless atomizer also has glue on the back of its bowl.
KandyPens failed on quality due to the use of glue. However, they have fixed this issue and it should not effect new pens coming out.
Ease of Use
The Kandypens Elite is ridiculously easy to use. In this category it shines. Simply turn the power on by pressing 5 times. Press 3 times to cycle through the 4 different power settings. Power up, inhale, and breathe. The air carb is situated nicely near the middle of the attachment. Your index finger naturally lands on it if screwed on the right way.
Power settings are Pink for Very Low, Red for Low, Green for Medium, and Blue for High. These are easy to see with the bright power button and K under the battery. If you’d like to switch atomizers simply unscrew one. Then replace it with the other one.
The airflow is open. With the air carb you easily can attain fat clouds. Even with the coil-less atomizer.
The only downside is the battery needs to be unscrewed from the attachment to charge. In 2017 this can be easily fixed by a USB port on the side.
Strength
KandyPens clearly designed the Elite for strength and it delivers. The “titanium” coil lights up red hot in 3-5 seconds. It completely devours your wax. You get big vape clouds. Especially hard hits come when paired with the air carb.
The coilless ceramic plate delivers smoother low temp hits, but at highest Blue setting, the Elite can still deliver a strong hit.
Efficiency
The double coils’ rods are close together very low in the chamber. This makes it less likely you’ll miss them and your wax drips down the sides, never to be vaped again. You get some wax dripping down the sides of the coils, but as long as you don’t miss the coils, the red-hot coils gobble most up.
The coilless atomizer is much less efficient. The ceramic plate is separate to the ceramic chamber that houses it, so you have a small crevice in between the ceramic plate and the chamber walls. When you heat up the atomizer, some wax “runs” away from the heating center towards the walls, which means you lose some wax down that crevice. You’ll notice it because there’s always a consistent dark ring of wax around the ceramic plate. The lack of power from the battery may be the issue. This does appear to be a standard eCig style battery.
Versatility / Atomizer Options
The Kandypens Elite includes 2 different atomizers. Though not advertised extensively (probably due to the color mis-match) it also works with the low temp KandyPens Donuts ceramic donut atomizers and Galaxy Tornado atomizers with variable airflow.
No new atomizers have been announced, and though the 2 atomizers cover the bases on low temp and cloud production, we’d like to see more options in the future.
Portability
The Kandypens Elite fits comfortably in the palm of your hand, and the included case makes it simple and a breeze to throw it in your backpack, purse, or bag. The square shape makes it an awkward shape to carry in your pocket, but you can take the battery without even noticing in your pocket.
Discretion
The small size of the Kandypens Elite makes it very discreet, but the light both on the button and especially underneath, shines so bright, that even covering with your hand completely, still has lets some light escape. Neither can be turned off, so if you’re looking to vape at night or in the dark in a room, look elsewhere.
Remember that air carb sometimes whistles when open? Well, just like the Kandypens Mini, the annoying whistling sound will turn some heads. If they made the air carb 1mm larger, this could easily be solved.
Taste
The coilless atomizer on the KandyPens Elite excels at giving you great flavor out of your concentrates. The low temp atomizer compliments the strength of the double coil atomizer very well. If you like to sip on terpenes this will be one of your favorite atomizers.
The main problem in taste here and we got a dock a couple of points is the double coil atomizer. It’s so harsh to burn your wax at the very end. It also leaves a faint taste of “vape pen” metal. Once you rip through about half of the wax in the chamber, the coils get hot so fast it kills the taste. And at one point, I just get headaches if I used the coiled atomizer.
I should note that I could not taste the glue. I did not get any glue or odd type taste, besides the vape pen metal taste. It is likely that the glue is not melting at the temperature that the eGo battery puts out.
Value
The Kandypens Elite includes 1 double coil atomizer, 1 coilless ceramic plate atomizer, 1 small dabber, a charger, and a case. Kandypens also offers a very rare Lifetime Warranty on the battery, which means that you’re guaranteed a working battery no matter what.
At $139.95 though, it’s an expensive vape pen. No free shipping either. They do have 20% off coupons floating around the Internet which makes the price much more palatable. The Lifetime Warranty is excellent. But really it only covers a variable voltage eGo battery which does not have a high value on its own. If you take off the shiny finish, this is the same type of battery you would get in a cheaper eCig kit.
If you do purchase online you end up paying $9.95 shipping, so you lose a little of the savings.
Replacements
Both the quartz double coil and the coilless ceramic atomizer are $24.95 for the KandyPens Elite. Even after you use one of their available coupons, you’re still looking at around $20 a pop, before shipping and handling, so be very careful with your atomizers, or this will get very pricey very quick. Their shipping and handling is a minimum of $9.95, so purchase in bulk if you plan to use a coupon or purchase in store for the most affordable price.
The coilless atomizer’s price is a better option considering the prices and qualities of each.
The Elite looks sleek in gold.
Conclusion
The KandyPens Elite is sleek looking and very easy to use. Price wise its quite much at effectively almost $150 with shipping for only having a very basic eGo threaded battery. It did work consistently with no issues. The coilless atomizer delivered good flavor. The double coil quartz delivered big hits, but lacked in the flavor department. We are curious to see how the new pens without glue turn out. The Prism and Prism+ turned out good.
Boundless Technology releases their first wax pen with the Boundless CF 710. It follows the “electric” Nectar Collector form factor. How will this $130 vape pen compare against other premium models?
Note: The review unit was purchased independently to provide an unbiased honest review.
Design & Quality was good on the CF710
The Boundless CF 710 stands at a chunky 20mm diameter. It resembles more a large highlighter marker than a pen. It feels solid. Most of its weight coming from the battery on the top. The CF 710 uses an atomizer system. You can chose between a Quartz hollow rod or a Ceramic hollow rod. The atomizer screws into the main body that contains the battery and the vapor path. The battery compartment can be screwed off, but the battery itself is not replaceable. It is sealed within the compartment mouthpiece.
The CF 710 works by heating up a NiChrome coil wrapped around a tube. You then press the hot coil directly on the wax to vaporize. The vapor travels through four air vents under the coil and tube and inside the atomizer. From the atomizer it travels up through the outside of the battery chamber, aided by four air holes on the sides for ventilation. Then inside two holes above the battery and out the mouthpiece.
Includes:
1 Boundless CF 710
900mah battery (Internal)
1 Power Setting
1 Single Coil Ceramic Rod Dabbing Tip
NiChrome Coil (Confirmed by Co. / No Documentation)
1 Single Coil Quartz Rod Dabbing Tip
NiChrome Coil (Confirmed by Co. / No Documentation)
Dab Tool
Glass Container
Micro USB Cable
It has only one heat setting, but also has a “Burn Off” you can activate by pressing the power button three times and it will turn on for 15 seconds straight. This is great if you’re trying to vacuum up 15 seconds worth of huge dabs. In reality it will mostly be used to clean off the coil.
The Quartz gets hotter faster than the Ceramic atomizer. Other than that, there’s not much discernible difference.
The light in the back changes color depending on the charge left on the battery when you activate it. Green for full, Blue for half-full, and Red for almost empty.
The airflow of the Boundless CF 710 is incredible. It delivers sneaky huge hits. Emphasis on the sneaky. Since the CF 710 is the digital version of a Honey Straw or Nectar Collector. You have to press the hot coil into the wax like a straw. The problem is the CF 710 blocks your view of the concentrate with its wide body. and the vapor path running through the black body. This means you don’t really know how much you inhaled until you blow it all out.
You may be wondering if wax gets all over the inside. We did too. It surprisingly doesn’t. If you unscrew the atomizer most of the wax that blows in during inhales pools there. This makes it easy to clean. The inside of the battery chamber does feel a bit sticky after a few grams of use, but cleaning is a breeze.
Ease of Use
The CF 710 deceives you into being an incredibly simple product to use. Unscrew the cap, hover your coil over a wax container. Put your lips over the mouthpiece. Press the power button and inhale. You get big rips within seconds. Simple enough, right?
The deception starts seeping the longer you use it, mostly inherent problems on this type of Nectar Collector vape. The Boundless CF 710 makes it very hard to see if your coil is touching the wax. Its also hard to see how much you are consuming or if you’re even touching the wax. Unlike glass Nectar Collectors, you can’t see the vapor running through the air path. The wax also has to be transferred to the included glass container. This is because the hot coil will touch whatever the wax is resting on. If your shatter comes on parchment paper or a plastic container, make sure you have an incredibly steady hand, or you’ll be melting plastic and adding some fumes to your dabs.
The Boundless CF 710 succeeds when it vacuums up wax indiscriminately. Which means to properly dose or save your wax you have to transfer the amount you want to dab into the glass container. Unless you want to slowly place a hot coil over all your wax and slowly start melting and heating it up. This really just kills the simplicity with long-term usage.
One thing to also point out is that you basically have a very hot exposed coil afterwards, so make sure to keep it away from yourself or anything else, because it will burn you.
The CF710 might be the strongest electronic nectar collector
The Boundless CF 710 delivers in strength, in a big way. The NiChrome coil heats up in seconds, and the air path allows you to deliver big clouds with very little work. How the big a hit is only held back by the size of your lungs. Take a look at the guy below taking a big hit.
Efficiency
The CF 710 excels in vacuuming all the wax in a surface, but not all of it vaporizes. After use the cap is put back on. Then the next time you grab your CF 710 you might see a blob of wax that dripped out from the air vents under the coil. If you unscrew the atomizer you’ll see more wax pooled at the very bottom.
Because you’re inhaling non-stop under the coil this means plenty of now liquid wax gets swept up in the air before the coil has a chance to vaporize it. This is no different than a regular coiled vape pen. Except it gets inhaled down rather than melted down during use.
Versatility / Atomizer Options
Boundless offers currently 2 atomizer options for the CF 710.: A NiChrome coil wrapped around either a Quartz tube or a Ceramic tube. Both offer basically the same experience since the coil is what touches the wax, rather than the tube. A quality grade titanium would have delivered better flavor here.
Close up of the CF 710 atomizer fired up
Portability
The CF 710 is easy to take with you by itself. Since you have to vacuum up the wax from a surface this means you have to have a glass container with you. Which you then have to take out to take a dab. This kills the overall portability for on the go use.
The thick size also makes it feel more like carrying a large pipe.
Discretion
The large size, the way it’s used, and the fact using it with a container makes using the CF 710 a two-hand operation. This means discretion is out the window compared to a traditional vape pen. The exposed coil vacuuming wax openly means if your boss catches you inhaling this around the corner there is no disguising what you’re doing.
Large size compared to her hand.
Taste
One heat setting with a NiChrome coil means you either have hot or hotter dab. This delivers big cloud-heavy dabs, but kills flavor. If you’re looking to enjoy the terpenes from your wax you will be disappointed. This is clearly designed for big clouds. The NiChrome coil used by Boundless is surprisingly smooth and doesn’t give you a headache or that “vape pen taste” from other cheaper wire products.
Value
Boundless priced the CF 710 at $129.99, placing it at the highest end of vaporizer pens. It includes a glass container, a nice dab tool with a black plastic handle, a charging cable, and a Quartz and Ceramic atomizer. The built-in 900mah battery is also covered under a very generous 3-Year Warranty. That’s compared to the usual 1-Year for most vape pens.
With a generous warranty and a very unique product, the value in the CF 710 delivers. Still at almost 30% higher than premium vape pens some might think twice before purchasing.
Replacement Cost
Replacements for the 2 included atomizers in the Boundless CF 710 are only $9.99 each, which last you for at least a month or two, maybe more with solid cleaning.
Conclusion
The CF 710 offers a unique way to hit a vape pen. The hits are strong. The build quality is good. The downside is on the go it is not discreet and if you aren’t careful, you might be hitting plastic or paper in addition to your wax. The CF 710 can be found here. You can also see how it stacks up against the rest in our Electronic Nectar Collector Roundup.
PuffCo Pro 2 doesn't have great airflow, but you can feel the quality.
PuffCo Pro 2 Review: Small & Sleek, but Falls Short
PuffCo’s third vaporizer the PuffCo Pro 2 is their smallest yet. It’s a fancy looking, solid feeling little pen. It features a stainless steel body and an easy to access single coil chamber. PuffCo claims to be “the New Standard.” So let’s see how this $90 pen measures up! We do expect a lot at that price point!
Note: The review unit was purchased independently to provide an unbiased honest review.
UPDATE 4/18/2019: Puffco is now facing a lawsuit over the Peak dab rig.
After testing other Puffco products, we found the Puffco Plus to be their best dab pen.
Design & Quality
Includes:
1 430mah battery (Internal)
510 Threaded
3 Power Settings
1 Single Coil Ceramic Rod atomizer
Kanthal Coil (Confirmed by Co. / No Documentation)
Mouthpiece
1 PuffCo Flat Dab Tool
1 Shock-Proof Travel Case
1 Charger
The PuffCo Pro 2 sits in between a ‘thin’ 11mm and a ‘standard’ 14mm pen at 12.5mm wide. It feels very solid thanks to its stainless steel construction. They’ve placed a shock-absorbing silicone cap on the bottom in case of drops, a nice touch for durability’s sake. A silicone splash guard has been placed inside the mouthpiece, and to power the Pro 2, a squishy cloud-shaped button is used to activate the vaporizer and cycle through three heat settings:
Green for low, Blue for medium, and White deliver high power hits; double click to activate “Sesh” mode at any power setting. Sesh mode sends power for twelve seconds straight. Press four times to get to the next heat level. Five presses to turn the battery on and off, all explained on the enclosed instruction card.
The heater and battery thread together easily. The chamber’s been hiding this whole time – keep twisting once the atomizer seats, and the mouthpiece easily twists off clockwise. There’s a high level of precision in the fitment of the mouthpiece to the atomizer chamber. The fitment allows each part to be as small as possible with minimal to no tolerances. This means frequent cleaning of the atomizer and mouthpiece walls is needed.
Heating element
The most important part of an oil vaporizer is its heating element.
The PuffCo Pro 2 employs a single white ceramic rod with an “Iron/chromium/aluminum alloy” wire wrapped around it four times. PuffCo support confirmed they specify Kanthal heating wire, and join their heating wire to non-resistance leads with crimps, but couldn’t satisfactorily answer why our heating wire had a large blob of unknown material inside the ceramic cup.
Top view of the PuffCo Pro 2’s heating element
White ceramic is fairly non-porous, it doesn’t have the capacity to absorb or wick oil. For that reason, the white rod the wire is wrapped around serves mostly to hold the wire in place. A bit of oil adheres to it when initially loaded. Once the oil gets hot it tends to run away from the hot wire as well as that non-wick. The thin wire wrapped only four times doesn’t provide much surface area for heat transfer, and locally hotter temperatures are thus needed for the oils loaded in the chamber to reach vaporization temperature. The air inlets have been moved for better airflow across the heater (a positive improvement), and the vape needs a bit of cool-down draw to prevent clogging.
Ease of Use
The PuffCo Pro 2 comes in a small plastic case that holds the battery side by side with the atomizer and mouthpiece, a flat, wide loading tool, and a thread-on USB charger. The carrying case unfortunately can’t accommodate the assembled Pro 2. It requires unthreading the atomizer off the battery each time you put the pen in the case. The Pro 2’s brushed stainless body holds up well in a pocket, even against keys, so the inconvenience of the carrying case wasn’t a big factor for me.
The threaded charger requires you to unthread the atomizer for each charge. Having to thread and unthread the atomizer so often is an unnecessary hassle. So is having to remember to bring that special charger along in the first place. A micro USB port could’ve made this a much easier vape to use. Instead, PuffCo spent time on a “Sesh mode” that holds the button down 12 seconds for you, so that you don’t have to pulse the button twice. If you use this mode on Blue or White, buckle your lungs up, there’s a lot of vapor coming your way. I only enjoyed it on Green (and honestly, I prefer just pulsing the button twice).
Pushing the button, cycling through settings, and taking a draw are all simple steps that PuffCo keeps easy. The one surprise I found was how hard it is to inhale through the Pro 2’s atomizer. Even before the first load, the Pro 2 had a very restricted airflow, similar to sipping through two coffee stirrers, and almost as restrictive as that of a typical pre-fill cartridge. The airflow on the PuffCo Pro 2 disappoints compared to other pens. Once I began using it, I noticed each time how much effort I had to put into each draw.
Strength
Strong hits are one of the PuffCo Pro 2’s strengths. Despite the restricted airflow (and perhaps partly in thanks to it) the Pro 2 effortlessly delivers clouds. Even the lowest setting churns out visible vapor hits, medium creates a hazy clouds and White is hot enough to choke me out. Have no fear of weak hits here. The Pro 2 packs a lot of power in a small package. However, the single wick coil doesn’t have the same quality of vapor or vapor production at a given heat level compared to a dual coil atomizer. A dual coil could put out the same amount of vapor with less peak heat, and better flavor.
Efficiency
The PuffCo Pro 2’s high powered heating wire ensures efficient use of your oils, so long as they’re loaded sparingly. 2-3 hits worth works well. More than this and you’ll end up splattering unvaped oil on the chamber walls and inside of the splatter guard. The guard is effective at preventing splatter from reaching your mouth, but it’s also really effective at collecting a lot of unvaporized oil and reclaim of vaporized oil. Its shape makes it fairly difficult to recover the oil off of. I ended up taking it out and leaving it that way.
The airflow seems to be under the ceramic rod for more airflow across the heater. I’m not sure if this contributes to the restricted airflow, but it helps with vapor production. Without a real wick to feed oils into the heater, a little oil pooling is unavoidable.
Here you can see how the glob of wax can get spread out, pooling on the sides.
Versatility / Atomizer Options
The Puffco Pro 2 supports only one style of heating element, their single white ceramic rod with four wraps of a thin gauge unknown alloy wire, fit to the Pro 2’s mouthpiece. Their other vaporizer, the PuffCo Plus also has a single type of atomizer, a ceramic plate coil-less atomizer. PuffCo Pro “1” owners were already upset at the need to purchase a complete new vaporizer with a very similar form factor to experience the new heating chamber. PuffCo explained that the Plus’ battery is more powerful than the Pro, so it was required.
Now the story repeats itself with a twist, because there’s no way the PuffCo Pro 2’s heater requires more power. Why the new PuffCo Pro 2 atomizer could not work on the Plus doesn’t make sense. Today’s vaporists like flexibility in the vaporizers they use. PuffCo’s decision to require complete units to try different heating elements seems out of touch.
It baffles us that you can’t use their own PuffCo Plus atomizer with this model. In 2017 when most vape pens have at least a coiled and coil-less option available for a vape pen, the Pro 2 feels very 2015.
Portability
The PuffCo Pro 2 is one of the smallest wax pens I’ve ever used and is very portable on its own. If you’ll need to charge it you’ll have to bring along its special USB thread on charger. Without a micro USB port you can’t simply use an existing charging cable. If you have a shatter or pull & snap, you may want to use a different loading tool, but if you bring the case along you’ll have their included flat tool, too.
PuffCo Pro 2 comes with a battery, atomizer, charger, and dab tool.
Discretion
The small size of the PuffCo Pro 2 allows you to pocket it and bust it out anywhere you see the need. It’s pretty shiny and it would be nice to see it available in a darker color scheme for those who really prefer discretion. Other than that, there isn’t much that could be improved upon here.
Taste
With PuffCo Pro 2’s emphasis on ease of use and cloud production, there’s no surprise that flavor isn’t a big factor here. The first hit of a load on a freshly cleaned chamber tastes great, and after that the flavor degrades pretty quickly; even with very small loads (2-3 hits per load). The small heater must heat up quite hot in order to vaporize a given load. This is evident by test firing the heating element when totally clean, even on Green a glow may be seen on the wire on the third pulse. On higher heat settings cloud production goes up, and flavor goes down.
When kept on Green (low heat) the taste stays decent for some time, and the first hit or two taste nice, and fresh. After those first few hits I never get the same level of flavor until I do a full on deep clean. One accidental high power blast on White is all it takes for a flavor chaser to require a full clean. Even after trying PuffCo’s suggested high temp burn off suggestion and going back to a fresh load on Green, the taste could not be restored. If you are looking for a vaporizer to deliver fantastic flavor from terpene rich oils, keep looking, this one’s meant for heavy hitters.
Value
Priced at $89.99 the PuffCo Pro 2 is positioned at the top end of the wax pen market. Its packaging and looks certainly give an impression of quality, as does its solid build quality and precision fitment of parts.
However, the four-wrap Kanthal wire around a single ceramic rod heating element and chamber seems quite dated compared to many other of todays pens which employ dual coil heating elements, porous black ceramic wicks, quartz walls & rods. Not to mention wireless, donut style heaters, and the next gen of sealed chambers like PuffCo’s own Plus model, Kandypens Galaxy, or Source Nail & Terra 2)- the flavor and performance of the Pro 2 reflect the technology its heater contains.
The high costs of high class for a restricted draw with low flavor potential and one atomizer don’t seem worth the price of admission.
The best price on the Puffco Pro 2 as of July 12, 2017 we could find is at Puff Avenue. After using coupon code “SUMMER” the total comes to $62.99.
Puff Avenue had the cheapest Puffco Pro 2 we could find.
With the discount, when you can get it, the Puffco Pro 2 is much more reasonably priced.
Replacement Costs
The Puffco Pro 2 replacements for its white ceramic single coil are $19.99. That is more than a fifth of the cost of the complete kit. They don’t tend to have coupons to get them cheaper, so you’re stuck paying the full $20 for replacements. That’s a real high price for a low-tech heater of the white ceramic single coil with four wraps of aluminum-alloyed metal. It’s not offered with any savings if purchased in bulk.
Take good care of your coil and keep your metal tools away, these will get expensive to replace over time.
Final Thoughts
If a slim, polished look is most important to you, the Pro 2 might be just what you’re looking for. If tons of taste or cost-affordable vaping options matter more. Than this is probably not the pen for you. If you do like the sleek design of Puffco, but want an overall better vape pen, check out our Puffco Plus review.
The current lowest Puffco Pro 2 price from an authorized reseller we could find is $75.99 at GotVape.
Welcome to the world of rosin. The easy to make the solventless extract. No longer required concentrate extraction through chemical processing or water. Farewell to wasted time waiting for impure solvents to clear your finished product. Heat and pressure have taken over and truly present rosin connoisseurs with a better method of drawing out that treasured substance.
With outdated practices behind us, burning questions remain. Questions like “Where can I get an affordable rosin press?” and “How does a modern rosin press work?” DabConnection is here to provide those answers.
Modern rosin presses work wonders and do it in very little time. They can be affordable, or run a high price tag. Rosin extraction can be as easy as grabbing your jar of kief and a hair straightener. We’ll start by explaining the home hair straightener extraction technique, then roll our way over to modern rosin presses.
Easy Home Rosin Extraction With A Hair Straightener
It sounds kinda crazy when you first hear about it, but making rosin with a hair straightener (also known as a flat iron) proves safer and quicker than solvent-based extraction techniques. Get started by gathering the necessary equipment and supplies. Let’s run through them now.
Hair Straightener A.K.A Flat Iron – You’ll want a model with very good temperature control to get the best results
Parchment Paper – It doesn’t take much with a flat iron but will go quickly with extended use. Grab yourself a roll if you don’t already have some.
Cannabis – The hair straightener will work with buds, kief, and it will even refine hash. Adding a coffee filter when using keif will keep any plant particles from passing through.
Dab Tool – Most dab collection tools will do but you will need some small tool to gather the finished rosin.
Getting Busy With Dab Extraction
Start by turning on the flat iron and setting it to a low temperature. Take a small bud (kief or hash) and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Fold the paper over so it completely covers the bud. Place the parchment paper and bud on the hair straightener and squeeze down hard. Apply pressure for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times for maximum extraction.
As heat and pressure do their trick you should hear the rosin sizzling out of the bud. Too high of a temperature will burn off terpenes that give the dab a sweet taste and aromatic smell. High temps also liquefy the rosin to the extent that it fuses with parchment paper making it impossible to collect.
Pros
The obvious benefit of the hair straightener technique comes down to speed. Dab lovers can quickly turn herb into pure form and enjoy it within minutes. It’s also much safer than solvent techniques, doesn’t require professional training, and you won’t have to worry about burning down your house.
Consumed buds can still be used for cooking or ground and rolled into joints. Small speckles of dab typically remain behind. Shake and low-end buds can be turned into some grade of smoke. The finished extract can’t be left out of the benefits list. Dab lovers can agree that one puff of magic concentrate will send you to an alternate universe!
Cons
Finding the right heat setting can sometimes be a chore. You might waste a few nugs trying to get it just right. Flat irons won’t provide the same pressure that a press can give which results in slightly less output.
A typical rosin yield lands around 7% which means a 1 gram bud will give less than .1 gram of dab. It does take a decent amount of herb to get a respectable yield. Other than that, there’s no reason to wait around.
Making Rosin With A Modern Rosin Press
Though the process of extraction through heat pressing just recently became widely recognized, modern rosin presses have already made their way into legal markets. Dispensaries now invest in large production scale presses which produce a ton of rosin.
Smaller scale presses like the Ricoma and the Mpress offer more affordable personal options. The process of extraction remains the same with a small “owner’s manual” learning curve, depending on the press you choose. Press benefits and disadvantages shift compared to the hair straightener, so let’s check those out.
Pros
Hair straighteners work great for grabbing yourself a quick taste, but if you really love concentration a press is the way to go. Even small home-sized rosin presses deliver more product for the time you put in.
Save your hands and feet and leave hard work to the press. Even an altered manual t-shirt press will make it easier on your joints. The added pressure can also provide a bit more yield, though the difference is minimal in small amounts.
Most presses have better temperature control making it easier to find the suggested low setting (between 280-330 degrees Fahrenheit).
Cons
A press performs better than a hair straightener in every way, the only drawback being a higher price. We’ll leave it to you dab aficionados to decide which one better suits your needs.
Final Thoughts – Wrapping It Up On Rosin
Heat pressed extraction has to light up the eyes of any dab lovers not yet aware of the technique. Old methods that require professional treatment can now be dismissed for a faster, safer, and purer result. The potency of heat press rosin comes close to solvent-treated herb-based concentrate without leaving any trace of chemical residue behind. Grab your flat iron or press, gather your killer green buds, and let’s get to dabbin’. Make sure rosin is legal in your area!
Below you will see the ceramic coilless atomizer also has glue on the back of its bowl.
It sounds kinda crazy when you first hear about it, but making rosin with a hair straightener (also known as a flat iron) proves safer and quicker than solvent-based extraction techniques. Get started by gathering the necessary equipment and supplies. Let’s run through them now.
Start by turning on the flat iron and setting it to a low temperature. Take a small bud (kief or hash) and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Fold the paper over so it completely covers the bud. Place the parchment paper and bud on the hair straightener and squeeze down hard. Apply pressure for 3-5 seconds. Repeat this process 2 or 3 times for maximum extraction.
Consumed buds can still be used for cooking or ground and rolled into joints. Small speckles of dab typically remain behind. Shake and low-end buds can be turned into some grade of smoke. The finished extract can’t be left out of the benefits list. Dab lovers can agree that one puff of magic concentrate will send you to an alternate universe!
Save your hands and feet and leave hard work to the press. Even an altered manual t-shirt press will make it easier on your joints. The added pressure can also provide a bit more yield, though the difference is minimal in small amounts.
Heat pressed extraction has to light up the eyes of any dab lovers not yet aware of the technique. Old methods that require professional treatment can now be dismissed for a faster, safer, and purer result. The potency of heat press rosin comes close to solvent-treated herb-based concentrate without leaving any trace of chemical residue behind. Grab your flat iron or press, gather your killer green buds, and let’s get to dabbin’. Make sure rosin is legal in your area!