Bunch O' clone mechs - thoughts?

[Asmo6]

Ok thinking of pulling the trigger on a FT order.

I'm pretty well taken care of, I have 2 mechs, 2 VV3's and a spinner and a small assortment of RDA's RTA's.

Their prices are pretty stupid low. So instead of just getting the atom I was looking at, I searched 'mech' and went through them all looking for some different stuff.

I have an hcigar nemesis clone and origin.

I paid $40/ea and the quality of the origin just was not there. Internally it was a crazy hot mess where a cutter galled out and nearly destroyed it. It is married to the aqua in hybrid mode and hits like a freight train. I do not love it's dangerously spinny and perma-fire your mod adjustable firing pin. I see almost no point in paying $40-50 for a clone when the same thing is on FT for $17. The nemesis is great, but the switch is not. If there is a huge quality increase from FT to hcigar - I am not really seeing it.

Maybe the FT ones are even worse. But I think I'm willing to play the clone lottery on a few.

Here's the list of things that caught my eye. And I would get ALL of them. I narrowed down a few from the original 8-9 I picked.

Atom in SS.
Astro in SS
Vapefly VP-007 in SS
JM mod kit in SS
69 in SS

As well as a small assemblage of extra o-rings, wick, parts, and other misc stuff.


I've seen some reviews on the Astro and Atom clone and as far as I've seen are GTG. I REALLY don't love brass or copper mods - I realize there is some performance bonuses. But, generally - I prefer no maintenance SS.

Are there any known - glaring issues with any of the mods I have chosen?
Keep in mind I'm fairly handy and can work out minor bugs. But if there is a known - oh yeah, this pin falls apart in 20 uses and it perma-fires your mod in your pocket - type of things. I'd like to know.


The point here is mainly to create a little clone army. Have a couple for myself, a few for the lady. Marry certain atomizers to them, and battery configurations. Instead of constantly swapping stuff around, adjusting, finding the right battery tube. Etc. Have dedicated kick mod. Etc.


Anything stick out on the list as a known turd bucket?

I know the 69'er is missing a second o-ring on the switch after watching the safer vapers review. But that should be an easy fix.


Any input about these mech's is welcome. If you don't like clones, I'm sorry. I'm not at the point in this yet to know what I like SO well, as to invest mega coin in a single mod. This is also an attempt to experience a lot more variety and have tons of backups.

 

[Submaniac]

I don't have a problem with clones. I do have a problem with people selling clones claiming that they're real (yeah I got burned that way). But anyways, I have the atom and atom clone and wrote about that. (The fasttech version of the atom is very good functionally, but aesthetically is not very close to the actual atom). The others I don't have so I can't really comment on how well the Fasttech version is.

I can say is that I have bought HCigar versions and fasttech versions, and my opinion is I think HCigar has a higher quality than fasttech and for some things I will pay a premium for HCigar version (if it is something that I really want a high quality version of). You may have problems with the HCigar version of the nemmy but having examined/owned real nemmy's, fasttech nemmy's, and HCigar nemmy's I do believe the HCigar is worth the premium because of the attention to detail. Not to say the fasttech is a heaping pile of crap or anything, but the HCigar is SCARY close to the actual nemesis and has alot of detail (logo, serial numbers, threading) that the fasttech version does not.

 

[Plinkk]

I have an astro from ft it is awesome the carvela is a nice one if you use the same type battery all the time. Also I have about 15 of the president clones from them that are great only had two center post go bad and it was prob my fault for over tightening. Most things I ha e got from ft just need a link thread cleaning and a nice long alcohol bath.

 

[Bad Ninja]

FT has several Nemmy clones.
They are not all from the same manufacturer.
The Tobeco and Hot Technologies Nemmy clones are spot on.
My FT king clone (Hot Technologies) is incredible.

Read the reviews AND Comments on the product before pulling the trigger.
The FT comments are from customers and thy will direct you to the better products.

 

[suspectK]

I just got a tobeco turtleship.. seems like v1 with normal threaded lock ring, not reverse threaded. Figured I can just drill out vent holes on lock ring.. Figured I'd support the local shop that is starting to accommodate more advanced vapers.

I am thinking about buying an authentic already after one night of use. 18650 is just a touch longer than magneto in 18350.. I want a v2 for the other enscription and floating pin.. Probably will get a replacement floating pin for my v1 clone..might get two tone and ss.

 

[Asmo6]

Cool, yeah I've been trying to pick the better ones if I can manage to. Already have a nemesis. Not sure what a turtle ship is. But I guess I'll look at that as well?

Or you bought that locally.

I'm confused.

I added the caravela originally. But I dont dig the ship motif.

 

[VaPreis]

I bought a 69SS from FT for my wife. Nice looking piece and the threads are smooth. Keeping it adjusted so it will fire consistantly is a pain. My wife had a lot of problems with it and finally ditched it. I don't mind the tinkering, but she has no interest or tolerance for it.

I agree with everything you've said about the Origin clone. I have a FT Origin, and it's only redeeming quality is the fact that the FT Aqua screws on to it. Being that it does, I tolerate the ridiculous switch, as it's probably my favorite setup at the moment. If it wasn't for the Aqua, I'd have ditched it rather quickly.

 

[Bosco]

I've been waiting on a ft nemi for a while now - I guess delay due to Chinese holiday. I bought the sentinel clone from FT and, while I guess I'd have to say it was a piece of junk, I enjoyed using it and feel it was well worth the $20-ish bucks I paid for it. It had a really wonky switch/locking ring that I had to constantly re-tighten and it ended up rolling off a 3 foot table and cracking in half. While it was alive, though, it performed admirably. I can still use it even though one of the outer tubes cracked in half - but only in 18500 mode. It's badly tarnished and pretty much reminds me of The Walking Dead - but it still works pretty good.

 

[Bad Ninja]

All clones (well except the VTR ).

Funny, cloners and FT are awesome regarding customer service, questions etc.
Surefire wouldn't return an email.
Who you think earned my money?

I will never support bad business practices.
Lots of Options in the vape world

 

[VaPreis]

I thought I'd also mention that I did a switch magnet upgrade in my FT Origin clone which smoothed it out tremendously, and I also added a small piece of dental floss to the bottom of the threads on the center firing pin. It still makes good contact, and now isn't prone to adjusting itself.

 

[suspectK]

Cool, yeah I've been trying to pick the better ones if I can manage to. Already have a nemesis. Not sure what a turtle ship is. But I guess I'll look at that as well?

Or you bought that locally.

I'm confused.

I added the caravela originally. But I dont dig the ship motif.

I bought it locally, but it is the tobeco version. I would check, but fasttech usually has tobeco versions of everything. I'm going to make a thread. I'll have a magneto to compare size to.