After 15 months of vaping, I noticed today that my signature counter thingy says I've saved over $4,300 by not smoking. I've only spent about a quarter of that on vaping so far, and the monthly amount I spend has been getting smaller and smaller since the beginning. The largest part of that was spent at the beginning of my vaping journey, when I had some extra scratch in the bank and wanted to try one of everything. I bought a few eGo's to begin with, but quickly added an SVD and some nice batteries to the arsenal. Pretty soon I had a couple mechanicals and some RDA's, and eventually found my vaping grail with the Kayfun Lite.
My SVD died within a month, so I dismissed regulated devices altogether, thinking of them as expensive and ridiculously fragile pieces of junk. The money started running out, and mech clones were so much cheaper and sturdier that I stuck with them for the next year.
Recently, though, I decided to give regulated devices another try. After much research on youtube and elsewhere, I decided to get an IPV Mini. I loved the way it looked, and the price was pretty close to how much I felt a regulated device should cost. I just wanted to be able to use my 18650 batteries, and get a more consistent experience with the Kayfun. I found an IPV Mini on sale at 101Vape, but it was out of stock. I emailed them and asked when they'd get another, but they replied that they were only going to be carrying the new IPV 70 watt from now on, so I was out of luck. Then the new Sigelei Mini 30W caught my eye, and I found one on sale for less than 40 bucks, even cheaper than the IPV Mini.
I was a little wary of the Sigelei Mini, since it was actually smaller than the IPV, but it looked cool and sleek and kinda classy.
Sigelei has a good reputation for quality, so I pulled the trigger and got one. The threads are a bit soft and my toppers chewed them up a bit when screwing them down the first time, but once that was done and I realized that putting a little pressure down on the atty while screwing it onto the mod compensated for the pressure from the very tight 510 pin, I saved the threads from total annihilation.
Beyond that one little issue, it's been an absolutely stellar device. If you get one, there are a couple things you should know. Mainly, that it works best in PWM mode. DC-DC fires way too hot. But PWM is perfect, and extends the battery life considerably. As I said, be gentle with the threads. Also, the silicone sleeve is almost necessary since the finish of the mod itself is quite slick. However, the size of the device fits in my hand so well. I also learned a neat little trick while using it. I was trying out different ways of holding it and couldn't quite find the one that worked best. At one point I was doing something on my computer and absentmindedly holding the Mini in my left hand for some ten minutes while taking occasional puffs. When I looked down at the device, I had twisted it around to the perfect 'sweet spot' without even thinking about it. I had found the best way to hold it with zero effort.
The silicone sleeve has stretched out a bit over time, and while it doesn't seem to be getting any worse than it is now, which really isn't too bad, I looked around on youtube and discovered that silicone phone sleeves often stretch out and that there's an easy fix for when they get too big for their device. Take the sleeve and put it in boiling water for 30 seconds or so, then take it out with prongs and dunk it in ice water. When it's nice and cold, take it out and dry it off gently with a towel, then put it back on your device. It will now fit as snugly as it did when it was new. I haven't tried this yet since it still fits fine, but I thought I'd share in case anyone else encounters this problem.
A regulated device is a wonderful thing. Besides the safety features, it provides a very consistent vape. The battery lasts longer than in a mechanical, and is overall a much easier and more customizable experience. I still use my mechs and RDA's every day, and love them, but for the Kayfun the Sigelei Mini is the perfect balance between size, ease of use, and adjustability. For the price, it can't be beat.
My SVD died within a month, so I dismissed regulated devices altogether, thinking of them as expensive and ridiculously fragile pieces of junk. The money started running out, and mech clones were so much cheaper and sturdier that I stuck with them for the next year.
Recently, though, I decided to give regulated devices another try. After much research on youtube and elsewhere, I decided to get an IPV Mini. I loved the way it looked, and the price was pretty close to how much I felt a regulated device should cost. I just wanted to be able to use my 18650 batteries, and get a more consistent experience with the Kayfun. I found an IPV Mini on sale at 101Vape, but it was out of stock. I emailed them and asked when they'd get another, but they replied that they were only going to be carrying the new IPV 70 watt from now on, so I was out of luck. Then the new Sigelei Mini 30W caught my eye, and I found one on sale for less than 40 bucks, even cheaper than the IPV Mini.
I was a little wary of the Sigelei Mini, since it was actually smaller than the IPV, but it looked cool and sleek and kinda classy.
Sigelei has a good reputation for quality, so I pulled the trigger and got one. The threads are a bit soft and my toppers chewed them up a bit when screwing them down the first time, but once that was done and I realized that putting a little pressure down on the atty while screwing it onto the mod compensated for the pressure from the very tight 510 pin, I saved the threads from total annihilation.
Beyond that one little issue, it's been an absolutely stellar device. If you get one, there are a couple things you should know. Mainly, that it works best in PWM mode. DC-DC fires way too hot. But PWM is perfect, and extends the battery life considerably. As I said, be gentle with the threads. Also, the silicone sleeve is almost necessary since the finish of the mod itself is quite slick. However, the size of the device fits in my hand so well. I also learned a neat little trick while using it. I was trying out different ways of holding it and couldn't quite find the one that worked best. At one point I was doing something on my computer and absentmindedly holding the Mini in my left hand for some ten minutes while taking occasional puffs. When I looked down at the device, I had twisted it around to the perfect 'sweet spot' without even thinking about it. I had found the best way to hold it with zero effort.
The silicone sleeve has stretched out a bit over time, and while it doesn't seem to be getting any worse than it is now, which really isn't too bad, I looked around on youtube and discovered that silicone phone sleeves often stretch out and that there's an easy fix for when they get too big for their device. Take the sleeve and put it in boiling water for 30 seconds or so, then take it out with prongs and dunk it in ice water. When it's nice and cold, take it out and dry it off gently with a towel, then put it back on your device. It will now fit as snugly as it did when it was new. I haven't tried this yet since it still fits fine, but I thought I'd share in case anyone else encounters this problem.
A regulated device is a wonderful thing. Besides the safety features, it provides a very consistent vape. The battery lasts longer than in a mechanical, and is overall a much easier and more customizable experience. I still use my mechs and RDA's every day, and love them, but for the Kayfun the Sigelei Mini is the perfect balance between size, ease of use, and adjustability. For the price, it can't be beat.
