I change hardware at a glacial pace. When I find something that works I just stick with it. I was dripping on Joye 306s for a long time until the Kanger Sub, which for me was one of those revolutionary hardware releases that changed everything about how I vaped.
I think I stuck with that Kanger for less than a year though, because I wanted dual coils and more airflow and the ability to push more watts. I think I used .5 builds at around 28w in the Sub. The Cthulhu was my tank after trying several that were around at the time. I used the Cthulhu for a looooong time. It had a tiny deck, you had to wick it just so and less was more with wick in the channels, it had a ridiculous capacity so you were always filling it, and the top fill was easy to cross thread, but man the flavor was on point. The Cthulhu was good to about 47.5w with .25 ohm builds. There are still 6 Cthulhus in my vape cabinet. It was so good that I put up with its deficiencies until the OBS Crius came out.
I literally just retired the Crius this week if that tells you how long I hang on to hardware. I had the v1, knocked it over on the desk and shattered the glass, got a v2 with the velocity style deck, and I've vaped it ever since. The Crius was nice to build on, a little tricky getting the wick balance right between leaking through the airholes and not wicking but you got the feel for it and would only occasionally mess your build up. It had better capacity, an easy top side fill, flowed more air but was still good shut off for restricted lung hits, and the flavor was almost as good as the Cthulhu. The Crius was most comfortable for me around 55w with .25 ohm builds.
It's not that I didn't try to adopt new tanks along the way. Got the original Aromamizer and gave it a chance but hated it and ended up giving it to a friend. Picked up the Wotofo Troll RTA when it came out, but was disappointed and stuck to the Crius. To be fair to the Troll, it's a better tank than I thought. Last week I pulled it out of the vape cabinet, cleaned it up and threw a fresh build on it. Still not crazy about this compared to the Crius, let's try something different. Pushed the power to 65w on a .25 ohm build and ok, this thing is not so bad after all. It needs more wick than I'm used to, because both the Cthulhu and Crius wanted as little as you could manage without ending up with a leaky tank. The Troll wants you to stuff those holes or it leaks on fill, and it seems to wick just fine with more cotton than I'm used to using. So now I think I will actually get my money's worth out of the Troll all these years later.
I just got a Advken Manta in the mail after watching about a hundred hours of Youtube videos to see what new-ish tank I wanted to try lol. Decent sized deck to build on so I used twisted even though I've been a 26ga Kanthal guy all these years. Used more wick than I am used to, and immediately dismantled and rewicked because it leaked like crazy on first fill. Went back in with even more wick and it was better, but still leaks on fill. I find that if I turn the tank upside down once I've got the top threaded on, and then immediately hit it 4-5 times it doesn't leak. Next build I will use even more wick so I don't have to play games when I refill the tank.
I'm a restricted lung hit guy through and through, so I run this Manta about 80% of one hole open. It's a little whistle-y, but it vapes great at 70w on a .25 ohm build, wicks really well, and has better capacity than the Troll. Or it just uses less juice than the Troll, whatever, I fill it less. The tank feels good, everything is machined well and screws in buttery smooth. The deck is nice to build on and feels good. It wants more wick than you'd think, but maybe that's me coming from years on tanks where less was more. The drip tip is pleasant and I probably won't change it. Best of all the flavor. The Manta has flavor that is the best I've had since Cthulhu days, and that is the most important thing for me in a tank.
Most won't have any idea who I am, some will remember. This is Dr. Vapenstein signing off, see you in another 5 years or so when I'm done with this Manta lol
I think I stuck with that Kanger for less than a year though, because I wanted dual coils and more airflow and the ability to push more watts. I think I used .5 builds at around 28w in the Sub. The Cthulhu was my tank after trying several that were around at the time. I used the Cthulhu for a looooong time. It had a tiny deck, you had to wick it just so and less was more with wick in the channels, it had a ridiculous capacity so you were always filling it, and the top fill was easy to cross thread, but man the flavor was on point. The Cthulhu was good to about 47.5w with .25 ohm builds. There are still 6 Cthulhus in my vape cabinet. It was so good that I put up with its deficiencies until the OBS Crius came out.
I literally just retired the Crius this week if that tells you how long I hang on to hardware. I had the v1, knocked it over on the desk and shattered the glass, got a v2 with the velocity style deck, and I've vaped it ever since. The Crius was nice to build on, a little tricky getting the wick balance right between leaking through the airholes and not wicking but you got the feel for it and would only occasionally mess your build up. It had better capacity, an easy top side fill, flowed more air but was still good shut off for restricted lung hits, and the flavor was almost as good as the Cthulhu. The Crius was most comfortable for me around 55w with .25 ohm builds.
It's not that I didn't try to adopt new tanks along the way. Got the original Aromamizer and gave it a chance but hated it and ended up giving it to a friend. Picked up the Wotofo Troll RTA when it came out, but was disappointed and stuck to the Crius. To be fair to the Troll, it's a better tank than I thought. Last week I pulled it out of the vape cabinet, cleaned it up and threw a fresh build on it. Still not crazy about this compared to the Crius, let's try something different. Pushed the power to 65w on a .25 ohm build and ok, this thing is not so bad after all. It needs more wick than I'm used to, because both the Cthulhu and Crius wanted as little as you could manage without ending up with a leaky tank. The Troll wants you to stuff those holes or it leaks on fill, and it seems to wick just fine with more cotton than I'm used to using. So now I think I will actually get my money's worth out of the Troll all these years later.
I just got a Advken Manta in the mail after watching about a hundred hours of Youtube videos to see what new-ish tank I wanted to try lol. Decent sized deck to build on so I used twisted even though I've been a 26ga Kanthal guy all these years. Used more wick than I am used to, and immediately dismantled and rewicked because it leaked like crazy on first fill. Went back in with even more wick and it was better, but still leaks on fill. I find that if I turn the tank upside down once I've got the top threaded on, and then immediately hit it 4-5 times it doesn't leak. Next build I will use even more wick so I don't have to play games when I refill the tank.
I'm a restricted lung hit guy through and through, so I run this Manta about 80% of one hole open. It's a little whistle-y, but it vapes great at 70w on a .25 ohm build, wicks really well, and has better capacity than the Troll. Or it just uses less juice than the Troll, whatever, I fill it less. The tank feels good, everything is machined well and screws in buttery smooth. The deck is nice to build on and feels good. It wants more wick than you'd think, but maybe that's me coming from years on tanks where less was more. The drip tip is pleasant and I probably won't change it. Best of all the flavor. The Manta has flavor that is the best I've had since Cthulhu days, and that is the most important thing for me in a tank.
Most won't have any idea who I am, some will remember. This is Dr. Vapenstein signing off, see you in another 5 years or so when I'm done with this Manta lol
