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5drive

There's a new portable on the market. It's the butane powered Vapman. Made in Switzerland, it has limited availability at this point, and is sold only by Vaporstore.com in the US. It's a cool looking little vape with a case that sort of looks like an egg with a squared off bottom. It'll fit in your pocket but it better be a big pocket-not much stealth in the summer unless you're wearing baggy clothes. It comes with a filled butane torch (I thought it was illegal to ship a filled torch?). You don't hit this little guy while you're applying the torch, so they say to only use a torch, not a regular lighter. Although it may be possible to use a lighter, it would take a lot longer to heat up and you'd have a big soot problem. A torch is a lot hotter and cleaner burning, so it's best to think of the Vapman as torch only.

This vape may use a combination of conduction and convection. It's hard to tell from the video (see below), but since you're heating and then hitting, it looks like there's conduction involved. They claim high efficiency, which doesn't happen with conduction only (think hot plate, where only the part that contacts the hot surface gets heated to vaporization), so that leads me to think there's convection at work as well (convection is passing heated air through the herb).

This little sucker is pricey ($139 including torch and free shipping), so I don't see it becoming a big seller, although with the Volcano such a success at $539, I could be wrong. It is hand made, and watching the 'making of' video shows why it's priced high. That's an interesting video, and if you decide you want one, it shows that you're getting a top quality, hand crafted vape. And if you don't like the music on the build video, just mute the sound-it's video only. There are instructions on the "vapman vaporizer at work" vid, so do listen to that one.

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tokinGLX

"one more thing, always brush your teeth before going to bed, goodbye!"
hahaha, that was good.

its unique, looks like this thing has some potential, im sure a crafty person would be able to come up with some sort of heating device to take away the torch usage. im a bit skeptical at the "most efficient vape on the planet" remark, but you gotta expect a little braggage from a manufacturer of a new product.

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united we toke, divided we choke.

SuperTorch

Looks to complex and just doesn't strike me as well thought out from a ease of use stand point. Pricey for a flame based vaporizer. I always like to see whats new so thanks for the post. I guess we'll see in time if its a nice unit. Nothing about it strikes me as anything special since I can think of a lot that I'd rather own for the price. Having to always have a torch is not extremly functional either. Not being negitive at all it just not hiting me as one I'd want to mess witth. A VaporStar or VaporGenie to me seems like it'd do the same at 1/3rd the cost. Maybe its a really nice unit I guess we'll see in time. Again thanks for the informitive post.

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I only smoke legal herbs, when I come to these forums and discuss things like smoking and the high one gets I'm referring to the feeling I get from legal herbs and have no information on what others are smokeing or reffering to. I don't smoke marijuana but do enjoy discussing and talking about legal herbs and the high from different legal smoking methods and all my post should be viewed in that light.

ChimChim

Well, one major difference I've noticed in the Vapman is that it addresses the potential "butane" inhalation problem.

I really love the look of the thing, but the price is a tad bit on the extreme side *edit* Yea, the "Making of" video is pretty fascinating. You get the feeling they're assembling a time piece with all the precision and care of a clockmaker. Almost justifies the price point...almost. A solid review or more technical explanation of the heating element would have been persuasive enough to make it worth considering.

In the "Making of", you notice that the heating element is hollow and suspended below the herb dish. There's maybe 2 cubic cm of space in that little chamber. I think 5drive is right, there's a combination conduction (to heat the element) and convection (to draw air through the heated element and herb. I think with any whipstyle vape there's a certain amount of skill involved, no matter whether there's digital temp readout or not. The only difference in vapes is the amount of skill required to produce a good hit. Better vapes make it easier, bad vapes make it harder, but all vapes are capable of producing good hits. I'm just curious about how much this design increases the probability that I wouldn't screw up.

Heat times, according to the manual, are under 10 seconds to sustain a minute or so of vape temps. That's pretty impressive, if true.

Any reviews or more technical explanations anywhere?

DaDornta

Reminds me of my Supreme Vaporizer:






Got this one about 2 years ago. Works great if you dont want batteries or a cord.

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SuperTorch

I think the Supreme Vaporizer would get my cash far before the Vapman. I've never used either one but just from what I've read and seen I like the optional use of the SV and that it can be used with a bong and that the ehat exchanger really makes some large hits.

5drive

The Supreme is nice, but it takes a while to heat up, and you have both the heating element and locked-on torch as potential burn hazards. I just couldn't get into using mine on a regular basis. I do look forward to checking out Ed's new vape design. It'll have the same patented heating element, but I'm pretty sure it'll be AC powered instead of butane.

DaDornta

Nan man, first to address the burn hazards...

I use this nifty thing I found in the kitchen section at my local Fred Meyers (think higher-end walmart). It's made of Nomex and can withstand up to 400-somthing without any melting/burning. It's made to pull stuff out of ovens.



After im done heating and hitting, I set the SV down on the palm of this to cool off. I also store my SV inside it LOL. I love my 'ove glove.

As far as lighters go...I got rid of the gas station el cheapo torch.

I ended up getting one of these that can be stood up alone on it's own, and be on without me having to hold any damn fuel button down. It lasts at least 10 sessions between refills, and butane is hella cheap.

As far as initial heating time, i've timed it at about 1:30 to get up to vape temps. Once achieved, you hardly have to use the torch at all.


I have yet to burn myself or anything/one...

I like that the temp is digitally displayed, and after a hit you can really see how the initial air rushing through the heating block actually increases the temp, then sharply drops it off. Additional 3-5 second bursts of flame put it right back at peak every 2-4 hits.

It delivers hits as potent and tasty as my old Vapolution unit, even more flavorful than my Volcano. It's built well, and the guy that makes them is very friendly over email. I didn't feel bad throwing down $140-ish for it at the time (considering I can direct hit it, use a whip, or fit it into a 14.4 bong)

I bought this BECAUSE I wanted a non battery/electrical powered vape unit...I can't always rely on batteries for a weekend trip, or always be near an electrical outlet or 12v car lighter outlet. This Vape is very nice for what it does and the niche it fits.

Just like with bongs and pipes, different situations call for different tools. This is just ONE of my vapes in my "arsenal" that I think was a good solid buy. It definatley fits a certain specific niche user though.

Great for when the power goes out, camping, or in the car.

5drive

The Glove's a good idea. 1:30 huh? I never timed it. Seemed longer. I've got one of those stand-up torches too. The included mini torch almost got hot enough to need a glove.

DaDornta

I hear you on that!

The slider mechanism to make the torch stay "on" without holding the fuel button down seemed "cheap" to me. I didn't trust it. I went to Lowes right away and bought the above torch the next day.

The Glove was...well, an after thought. I was high as hell and saw it for sale and went, "Dooode! YES!" lol...it's worked flawlessly since.

Like I said--this vape isn't for everyone, it fits a specific user-profile for specific user situations. . . And it does so very well.