Better than Lavatube for the price?

[walkerknapek]

Does anyone know any mods that are better then the Lavatube for the price it costs. I bought my Lavatube from Apollo. (60$), returned after the stainless was released and refered a friend and got the stainless for virtually 60$ also because I earned refering money. I've heard good about the Darwin, also about the Silver Bullet with the "Kick" (chip) that you put inbetween the device and battery to make it more like a Darwin experience. Any Suggestions. Btw, when my SS Lavatube arrives my set up will be looking like this

SS Lavatube, Mom & P0Ps Mini Sub tank or Regular Sub tank (Highly reccomend for the side plug refill and the fact that the carty never slides around in it cause it doesnt have plugs on it, it has 2 Large "o" rings.) and lastly, a Knuckle Head Rotatable drip tip. Wish they had it in stainless steel. :/

 

[Mainspring]

Does anyone know any mods that are better then the Lavatube for the price it costs. I bought my Lavatube from Apollo. (60$), returned after the stainless was released and refered a friend and got the stainless for virtually 60$ also because I earned refering money. I've heard good about the Darwin, also about the Silver Bullet with the "Kick" (chip) that you put inbetween the device and battery to make it more like a Darwin experience. Any Suggestions. Btw, when my SS Lavatube arrives my set up will be looking like this

SS Lavatube, Mom & P0Ps Mini Sub tank or Regular Sub tank (Highly reccomend for the side plug refill and the fact that the carty never slides around in it cause it doesnt have plugs on it, it has 2 Large "o" rings.) and lastly, a Knuckle Head Rotatable drip tip. Wish they had it in stainless steel. :/

you are probably not going to find any mod in the $60 price range(kit no less) that can match the LT in capability and features.

Darwin is way up there in price and SB with kick will run you around $160 or so. (not including extension)

if you can spend the extra cash I'd go with the SB with kick.

I'm on my third LT. Just got back from my local vape shop with the replacement.

I was all excited to add a SS to the collection to go with my black one but not sure now...

I still like the LT. it's a nice size, feels good in hand, easy to use, works well when it works, and at a great price.

perhaps my third one is the one. as they say, third times the charm.

anyway, another option would be a bolt with kick. they just came out with chrome over aluminum(including button) bolt.

little more money then LT for it. $45 for bolt with battery, (think) $8-9 for the extension, and $45-50 for the kick?
and if you need a charger, TR-001 is $13.

so that's another option...

 

[sailorman]

For the money, you really won't find an equal VV to the LT. Once you have a good one, they really are a good value. I was lucky and my first one was fine and hasn't given me any trouble. I have to wonder about the luck of people like Mainspring. I bet he's been hit by lightning twice, LOL!!
More seriously, I wonder if he's been getting knockoffs instead of the genuine L-Riders.

A kicked Silver Bullet would be a fantastic PV, but nowhere near a LT price. Dialing in wattage makes much more sense than dialing in voltage and there is no other PV on the market made any better than the Bullet.

You can get a Bolt and kick it, but the Bolt is really a shabby knockoff of the Bullet and, with few exceptions, doesn't cost all that much less than the real thing, just about $35 or so. If you can get a Bolt with the extension for less than $45, it might be worth looking at. Otherwise, spring for the Bullet or just get a LT and save your pennies for something better. The new Smoketech VV looks promising and the price should be dropping in a few months or so. When the kit price gets to $99, or the tube price is $75, look out.

 

[MrWarspite]

Only thing i can think of is the madvapes vv box mod. I just recently picked one up an i like it. Its only 35 bucks. I have a volt meter and was able to to mark the dial with notches where 3,4,5,6 volts are so i can move around easily. It doesnt display voltage and wont tell you when your batteries are low. You need a volt meter for that. There have been some issues with the grey ultrafire's in it so i would go with the trustfire flames they sell, which is what i went with.



Variable Voltage Box Mod

Kicks are cool, but i dont like having to take apart my mod to fiddle with a screw. Every juice and every carto/atty type has a different sweet spot. This fact makes the kick extremely fidgety. Every time you change a carto/juice you could end up pulling the kick out several times to change it and find that sweet spot.

 

[Nomoreash]

If you want to go with a box mod there are options with better performance, higher amp limit and the regulator works like it should, if interested look for those that use switching regulators with at least a 3 amp limit. In a tube the Lavatube is about it at the price point.

Others I'd recommend is the Kick if you're lucky enough to get one mated with the Bolt or Indulgence V3. The Bolt has extensions that would give different 18... length options and with the Indulgence V3 would be a 18490/500. The Infinity Pro would also be a better option, all of these will cost a bit more than the Lavatube but not that much.

 

[sailorman]

...
Kicks are cool, but i dont like having to take apart my mod to fiddle with a screw. Every juice and every carto/atty type has a different sweet spot. This fact makes the kick extremely fidgety. Every time you change a carto/juice you could end up pulling the kick out several times to change it and find that sweet spot.

I don't think that's the case. From what I understand, the kick adjusts the voltage to whatever carto you're using so that the watts you dial in are held constant. That's the difference between a variable voltage and a variable wattage device and, IMO, that makes a variable wattage device superior. You're not fishing around to find the right voltage to produce the power you want. You don't need to change the voltage with the resistance of your carto.

The only time you'll need to adjust the kick is if you change to a juice that you like to vape at a different wattage setting. Every carto has a different sweet spot, but the sweet spot is watts and with a normal VV PV, you are adjusting the voltage to achieve a particular wattage, given the resistance of the carto you're using. With the kick, if you know that the sweet spot for your juice is 9 watts, you dial that in and the kick will adjust the voltage to stay at 9 watts, regardless if the resistance varies from 1.8 to 2.1ohms within a particular batch of cartos. If you suddenly throw a 3ohm carto on it, it will automatically re-adjust the voltage so you still get the same 9 watts.

If you are the type that likes to vape everything at, say, 10 watts, you could adjust it to 10 watts and never adjust it again, regardless of what carto you used or what the battery condition was.

Also, some mods are more hassle to take apart than others. With a Bullet, the strong, buttery threads make it a snap to take apart and when you do, the kick will be sitting right there on top. You don't have to dig it out like you might have to on a mod where the battery is less exposed when the device is taken apart, like the tubes with only a bottom cap.

 

[MrWarspite]

Thats right sailor, its adjusts everything to a specified wattage. What i'm trying to illustrate is that every juice has a different sweet spot. Some of my juices are great at 7 and some i like at 11, some are in between.

There is a difference amongst carto's as well. I can put the same juice in a boge 2.0 and a gotvapes fluxomizer on the same mod. The boge needs 11 watts for this juice and the fluxo only needs ~8.

The kick will nail your wattage to the wall, but that heat output will give you different performance depending on the juice and the carto.

 

[sailorman]

I see your point, but I still contend that a variable wattage is far preferable to variable voltage. Even in your illustration, the voltage you'd have to dial in for each juice/carto combination will vary depending on the fluctuations in resistance as your carto ages as well as the carto itself. Unless you want to check your resistance all the time, you never really know if that juice you like at 7 watts is vaporizing at 7 watts or something different because your carto isn't the same resistance as it was yesterday, or it isn't the same as the carto you used last week.

Put it this way, I'd rather have a device that I have to unscrew to change wattage, than one that I have to take apart or use a screwdriver to adjust the voltage, after I check the resistance and do the math.

I can see how it might be inconvenient if you are the type who uses a million different cartos and attys. I think one of the reasons you use a VV in the first place is so that you don't have to stock 5 different resistances. If you settle on a couple of different carto types, regardless of their resistance, I don't see how it is exceedingly fidgety. I know I usually don't change cartos or juices more than once or twice on a charge, at which point I have to take the battery out anyway. If you're sitting around testing juices and cartos at the same time then, yeah, I can see how it would be inconvenient.

I'll challenge you to a duel. You put a boge 2.0 on your box mod and I'll put one in my kicked SB. We'll both set them for 10 watts. Then, we'll see who can switch to a fluxo at an accurate 8 watts the fastest.

 

[MrWarspite]

Oh i agree completely that variable wattage is prefered. It takes all the guess work out, no more noodling in your head. I'd like to see a cheaper darwin style mod. Or hell, the darwin to even be available for sale. The kick is great, its just the adjustability that is its drawback. I have a infinity pro, 2 lavatubes, and a madvapes vv box mod w/external potentometer. I would hate them as well if i had to take them apart to change the voltage. Well, not hate, but you know what i mean.

Oh and thank you again for pointing out the panasonic 18650's. F'ing love those batteries man!

 

[sailorman]

Did you see that Russian Mod in the thread about the Nivel chip on the main VV forum? That thing is badass. It's VV AND VW. By the time you figured out how to order it, and it got here, it would still probably make it into your hands faster than a Darwin.

Both of those tube mods have a bottom cap, don't they? That would be a pain to use a kick. The way the Bullet unscrews in the middle though, it really wouldn't be a big deal to adjust. Three flicks of the wrist on and three flicks off. A little more accurate marking system on the kick would be nice though.

 

[MrWarspite]

yeah, all those tube mods are bottom cap. I didnt realize the bullet unscrews at the top. That would be far easier to mess with the kick.

Yeah, ive been following that thread, looks promising. This industry is exploding with new technology now, its exciting.

 

[Mainspring]

I have to wonder about the luck of people like Mainspring. I bet he's been hit by lightning twice, LOL!!

buddy, was that really necessary?

I'm just sharing my experience.

mass produced Chinese VV mod made on the cheap. not really surprised by all the problems I've had.

let me ask you... when yours battery gets low, does it flash and turn off like it's suppose to? do you know if all your safety features really work?

you've had no problems with your unit, yet... or don't know of any problems that you know of, yet.

I've gone through 3 of them and each and everytime it seems like I'm trading one problem for another.

don't be so fast to judge. these are cheap, mass produced chinese VV mods. you just never know... yours might be next.

anyway, another option, if you have a charger and batteries, is the Infinity pro. less then $100, VV mod, made in US with better quality parts... or at the very least, better quality control.

 

[sailorman]

Hey.. Lighten up. I was just ribbin' ya. No offense intended. Of course you're going to get more problems with mass produced Chinese stuff. I was just surprised anyone could be so unlucky as to have multiple problems. And you're right. Mine could give out any time. That's why I have a BB for a backup. Can't kill that thing. Also why I chose Apollo. At least it has a year warranty.

My LV shutoff works at 3.3V. I swap at 3.7 or 3.8, but I let the battery get that low once, just to test it. As far as the other "safety features", I don't know. Let me try to put the battery in backwards..........

BOOM!!

Haha.. Nothing happened, except I had to reset the voltage.

Other safety features? It doesn't work with a 1.5ohm DC worth a darn. I haven't forced a battery short, so I don't know what else I could do really.

Anyway, this is holding up so far o.k.. My only complaint is the LCD screen is mounted slightly uneven and protrudes above the body about 1/64". As long as it doesn't chip, I'll let it slide. It's not worth sending it back for a replacement that could be worse. Don't want to press my luck. It was $60 after all. If I had been an "early adopter" at $100, I might be more critical. I paid almost $150 for my BB with a 5V passthrough kit, so this isn't a big deal.

I figure by the time this thing dies and is out of warranty, the Vmax should be down to <$90, or the Provari will be going for $120. Maybe I'll pick up a Reo Woodvil. So, I'll make do for now with this cheap Chinese LT.

 

[Mainspring]

snip

we cool!

my first one had the screen on little off... actually the screen was fine but it looked like they didn't cut one of the corners of cleanly and had a small tiny piece sticking out. wasn't too bad but just looked like it might get caught in the pocket or something and rip the screen off.

if it didn't have more, major problems I would have kept it regardless.

latest Apollo's price on the SS model is going to push alot of folks to Provapes I think, unless they seriously rethink their price strategy.

anyway, good luck with the Reo. if I was into bottom feeders I'd be all over them. those are some sweet mods!