In this case 500, 400, 325, etc...probably wouldn't make much difference, this was just the old 500 wick out of my ZAG (sold the ZAG, cut up the wick for a higher purpose
). You're not "really" relying on the meshes capillary action here, more on the fact that it's just porous, there's only about 3 or 4 wraps of mesh on the bamboo. I've tried using just mesh, both "U" shaped and straight on various angles and although it works you have to squonk quite a bit, and if you forget, the dry hit can be sudden and harsh...the bamboo acts as a buffer (I squonk the ERA like Cyrus, squeeze till a bead of juice appears at the air hole then release, bottle sucks back any unabsorbed juice)...I've also done this with 3.5mm silica instead of bamboo and it also works quite well, in fact, because the silica isn't in direct contact with the coil, probably less spalling of silica fibers and no bad silica taste. I just use the Lydia's bamboo because nothing beats it in wicking, capacity of absorbtion and heat tolerance except maybe rolled cotton, but that can be a bit of a pain to size and roll...plus I have about 8000' of Lydia's kicking around
One more thing, this is a great way to get into the mesh set-up as far as no hassle...because you can literally drown the mesh/coil at will, and the bamboo provides all the juice you could need, shorts and hotspots are rare and easily fixed when compared to a straight genny build...so for you out there that have had a belly-full of trying to get a genny to work and have a bunch of failed attempts at wicks, this is where you can use them, chop one up and give this a try, you don't need to be a "genny elitist" to get this to work, it's a piece of cake and the taste is as bright and clean as any genny
Trippy tips are all I use on my Reos
