I don't know, it's not uncommon to mod smokes; I packed the living crap out of mine and tore off the excess paper. I also always kept them in a cigarette case not the pack they came in. You would have rarely seen me without a nice lighter of some sort.
As for vape gear, I think it's a melding of aesthetic and function. I'm a guy who likes something to appear very simple yet on closer inspection you can see complexity. The Nemesis does this rather well, very fine threading and the top 510 bit with airflow control are enjoyable to look at in that dorky I like metal stuff sort of way. Similarly I like the Genesis atty design, the Senisis, and ZAU are beautiful in their simplicity (I have a GkmF22 on the way which I think is also very attractive and offers a high degree of functionality), and like cigarettes (pre FSC) they all work (assuming you know how to set them up).
So yes, functionality is important, but vape gear serves more functions than just vaporizing e-liquids. If it were all about performance of the vape itself the battery holding device would be a much different critter than it is today. We are in an age where the battery should be the only limiting factor in terms of mechanical mods go, voltage drop is not that hard to avoid if that is the only functional criteria for a design, but it isn't.
You can cobble together a really effective mod out of copper plumbing for a little bit of nothing, and it may very well out perform most mods in the voltage drop tests. I also don't doubt that an outstanding dripper could be made with an assortment of bits of random stuff, (I like to make soda can alcohol stoves, its a totally useless bit of tinkering that gets way more complicated than it needs to be), so having logos and numbers or grooves and flashy stuff is really not required, sure, I get that.
What I don't get is that, while you can make a functioning device that can easily out perform most manufactured devices, and do so for a fraction of the cost of a clone; why do people still argue its about cost? If cost is the main factor, use the lowest quantity of money possible to achieve the desired functionality, clones aren't the lowest cost option.
That leaves us with knowing functionality and cost aren't the primary motivation for buying clones; drippers almost always perform better than anything else and it's kind of hard to get any more simple than a dripper. But they don't have a tank, and ... yep, that's pretty much it, no tank. But a tank allows you to do other stuff and not have to cart around a bottle of juice and stop to drip every few draws. Yes, but, that's not needed to have a wonderful vape.
All I'm getting at here is that an argument that cost and functionality are reason enough to buy into intellectual property theft are empty because you can get better performance at a lower price point crafting your own vape gear with minimal skills. It isn't just performance and price point that drives clone sales, it is the unfortunate belief that it's okay to copy someone's work and if it saves me money it's okay to support that thief.
As for the question about no logo, no serial numbers, would I buy a mod of such design? The design itself is logo enough, however I believe serial numbers have a place, they are both useful to the person making the device and the end user; if a problem comes up a aerial number helps identify the device if the manufacturer keeps track of what materials go into certain serial numbered items. For example if insulators are melting on a certain lot of devices but not others it would be fairly easy to correct the issue, same goes for small design changes or upgrades. An order number is easily lost over time or transfer from person to person.
I'd really like a stainless steel Damascus mechanical mod and Genesis atomizer with gold Damascus details, sleeved in an alloy of silver and gold, I somewhat doubt that would be cloned.
Maurice
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