Leaford's New(est) Five Favorites!

[leaford]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwLh3DdDgR0

Sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve posted new reviews. I am recommiting myself to doing them more often, and am going to try to establish a habit of doing daily blog posts from now on. Well, daily meaning weekdays, anyway.

I decided to begin again with a new 5 Favorites countdown. Those have always been among my most popular videos, and people start asking for an update almost as soon as one goes up. But as I started to think through my choices, I decided there are so many good e-cigs out there I could almost go up to ten. But that would have been stretching the definition of “favorites”, so today I’m going to do my 5 personal favorites, and tomorrow I will do runners-up and honorable mentions.

#5) The Dura (510, Titan, etc.): This is another great beginner’s e-cig, and many people may choose it for their regular e-cig. It delivers good vapor, up to a 4 on my one to five scale, fairly good battery life for the mini category, and with the manual switch performance is always reliable. It’s available in a variety of colors, and from a variety of retailers.

#4) The Janty Stick: This is a great vest pocket e-cigarette. It is basically a battery box with a manual switch and mini-USB power plug. It fits an 801 atomizer, but there is an optional 901 adaptor as well. The battery is a 3.7V, AAA size rechargeable battery, the same as used in e-cigars, so it is relatively cheap and easy to replace. Unfortunately, it doesn’t function as a true USB passthrough; the USB plug charges the battery, and the battery powers the atomizer, so you can’t use it with a drained battery even if it’s plugged in. Vapor depends on the atomizer you use, with perhaps a small performance boost over regular 801 batteries.

#3) The Vapor King (KR808D/D1): This is my second favorite of the disposable cartomizer models, but is better than my number one, the E9 type, in a couple of ways, so many of you may like it better. The vapor and cartridge life are better than penstyles, but not as good as the E9, and battery life is about equal to a penstyle. Where they really shine, though, is in the flavor and throat kick, which are, IMO, the strongest out there, and certainly stronger than any other retailer’s KR808D/D1 cartomizers. And I’ve tried several. And another bonus, the batteries are 901 compatible. So if you’re low on cartomizers, pop on a 901 atomizer for a while instead.

#2) The Prodigy: These Made-in-the-USA beauties have really captured my heart, more than I thought it would due to its size. It is an ungodly huge monstrosity, but the performance, battery duration, and versatility, along with the promise of long-term reliability, quickly won me over. Like the Janty stick, and the Screwdriver and GG that preceded it, it is basically a battery box with a manual switch.

It holds two approximately C-sized rechargeables, and where it goes its predecessors one better is in upping the voltage from the typical 3.7V to 5V, resulting in clearly higher vapor performance from all atomizers. The other terrific innovation was making the atomizer connector a removable adaptor, so the same body can accommodate any of the 801, 901, 510, or 401 atomizers. Despite my misgivings, I find myself using it very nearly as much as my number one pick:

#1) The E9 (aka LTv9, aka “old style”) cartomizers: There are actually several manufacturers of this model, beginning with the original, Loong Totem, followed by Kanger and E-Cig.com, and probably one more at least. I use the model E9 for them all, it’s easiest. I love this one the most because it is the biggest vapor maker out there, bar none. With a fresh cartridge and fresh battery, nothing else even comes close.

I used to complain about the batteries being the worst part of this model, but they have improved. The last few compatable batteries I’ve tried, from GreenSmoke.com, from Bloog, and from Smoke 51 were all nearly perfect. Medium draw, responsive switch, full 5-second draws, etc. And e-Puffer has an E9 compatible battery (actually a KR808D/D1 battery with E9 threading) which is penstyle length and duration.

The remaining flaw are the weak flavors, and lack of throat kick. Many people, myself for one, like smooth vapor, but I don’t think anyone really wants less flavor. So that’s a weakness. But still, I’m a vapor hog, and nothing else out there delivers the vapor like this can.

Watch tomorrow for my 5 Runners-Up (Runner-Ups?) and homorable mentions!

[PTJD]

Dang, it has been a long time Leaford!

[Zofryer]

Welcome Back

[Crash]

welcome back leaford, i know how you feel with the whole depression thing i'm in the same boat, sometimes im on could 9 and other well meh. Anyway will be waiting for your video tomorrow.

[JustJulie]

You've been missed.

Thanks for another set of great reviews.

[leaford]

Thanks, everyone! I'll be back on the forums more, soon, too. But right now I'm concentrating on rebuilding the habit of doing the videos.

Meantime, here's a video response to a few of the questions from the new video's Youtube comments:

YouTube - Viewer Mail- Flavor & throat kick on the 510, & how do I carry my e-cigs?

[TheVapSter]

happy to see ya Leaford!! Welcome back!

[Tyler2.0]

sweet thanks for the video's

[Nthstar]

I thought that bird was going to go flying when he sat down that first time....

[Flitzanu]

everyone loves leaford!