Huge Pilot Fan (M401)

[Spikey]

I LOVE my Pilot! It has plenty of vapor, but does NOT typically have a good "throat hit", but that is not a major selling factor for me. Feels like a cig and has a great size. Cart and battery last quite some time and it is very reliable and consistent! Each model is subjectively viewed depending on your needs.. I suggest watching plenty of video reviews on the model you want before buying it to see if it has what is important to you.

 

[lee929]

I agree Spikey! Went from Npro to the Pilot. Thanks for the video review of the Pilot as it help me decide on purchasing it!

 

[mu.zeitgeist]

Went from a DSE901 to Intellicig EVO. The 4 series is good.

 

[JSRLKelly]

Hi Spikey!

I went from the NPRO to the Dura.... what I like is the larger cartridge size, but I've been watching the pilot / m401, as well.

A few questions:

1) How's the battery life? I'm vaping CONSTANTLY and I ended up having to get a 3rd battery to be able to keep up for the NPRO.
2) Do you have a comparison on the size of the cartridges on the M401 compared to the Dura? I went to direct dripping in the NPRO because the cartridges were so small it seemed more effort to refill than to just drip.
3) Have you dripped directly with the Pilot? Does the juice leak into the battery causing the switch to stick?

 

[Spikey]

Hi Spikey!

I went from the NPRO to the Dura.... what I like is the larger cartridge size, but I've been watching the pilot / m401, as well.

A few questions:

1) How's the battery life? I'm vaping CONSTANTLY and I ended up having to get a 3rd battery to be able to keep up for the NPRO.
2) Do you have a comparison on the size of the cartridges on the M401 compared to the Dura? I went to direct dripping in the NPRO because the cartridges were so small it seemed more effort to refill than to just drip.
3) Have you dripped directly with the Pilot? Does the juice leak into the battery causing the switch to stick?

I have not tried the Dura yet.. so I am not sure.. but I think someone did a comparison review with the Pilot (check video reviews)

-Battery life on the Pilot... 4-8 hours... depends if I am vaping heavy or not. Sometimes I think... "Dead already?" Then I realize I have been puffing away for 4 or 5 hours lol! I do use 3 batteries tho and rotate because I am often out and about for 20-24 hours at a time and cannot be bothered with car charging. 401 does not have a passthru yet.
-cartridge lasts an awfully long time for such a tiny cart. It is very efficient. I dare to say it lasts almost as long as my 901 and that cart is TWICE the size. It seems to use nearly ALL the juice.. instead of leaving juice at the bottom that goes unused like in the 901.
-I DO drip with the 401, but with the exposed atomizers it must be done carefully. I read that someone uses a "dipping pot" and just dips the coil into it instead of trying to drip and risking leakage into the battery. I am too klutzy for that.. I would knock all the nic juice all over and make a huge mess! When I drip it does not last long enough for me... I have no patience. I prefer the carts on this but nearly always put a drop on the atomizer just to prime it up (even if it is already wet).

To be less biased.. the negatives about the Pilot?
-there has been a "noise" and "wind" issue with it. Seems to turn the batt on when there is VERY loud noise/vibration or with heavy winds. Look for that thread in the main section of the boards.
-not hard to drip with or refill.. but you need to be careful doing it (not easy to do in the car while driving.. so I pre-fill carts before I go for a drive)
-filling with the syringe (or holding a paperclip into the cart all the way to the bottom for the nic juice to drip down) seems to make the carts last literally twice as long as just topping them off because they vape so dry and use up nearly all of the juice. Terr just did a video on how to fill these with your own stuffing... check it out.
Hope all that helps.

 

[tpboles]

I have to agree with spikey's assesment of the Pilot. I absolutely love it compared to my 901's. I have been using it a couple weeks now with no drop in vapor or battery performance. I work from home, so I tend to push the cart to the top with a paper clip and refill it that way. When refilling I also drip atleast 1 drop on the atomizer.

The biggest difference that I see with 901 v/s Pilot (401) is the battery life. I usually get atleast 5 hours from both batt's with the 401. That is 5 hours of great vapor. With the 901 batt's the vapor decreases from the first puff till the last while the 401's are consistent until they die. I guess what I'm trying to say is while the 901 batt's would last me for 3 to 4 hours, for my use the vapor was just not enough after a hour or two.

Oh - and like spikey said I was constantly having to top off the carts from the 901's becasue they would simply not use the juice out of the cart. That is not the case with the 401. It will use almost every drop from the cart.

Damnit - I'm rambling here!

 

[quaa]

I have not tried the Dura yet.. so I am not sure.. but I think someone did a comparison review with the Pilot (check video reviews)

-Battery life on the Pilot... 4-8 hours... depends if I am vaping heavy or not. Sometimes I think... "Dead already?" Then I realize I have been puffing away for 4 or 5 hours lol! I do use 3 batteries tho and rotate because I am often out and about for 20-24 hours at a time and cannot be bothered with car charging. 401 does not have a passthru yet.
-cartridge lasts an awfully long time for such a tiny cart. It is very efficient. I dare to say it lasts almost as long as my 901 and that cart is TWICE the size. It seems to use nearly ALL the juice.. instead of leaving juice at the bottom that goes unused like in the 901.
-I DO drip with the 401, but with the exposed atomizers it must be done carefully. I read that someone uses a "dipping pot" and just dips the coil into it instead of trying to drip and risking leakage into the battery. I am too klutzy for that.. I would knock all the nic juice all over and make a huge mess! When I drip it does not last long enough for me... I have no patience. I prefer the carts on this but nearly always put a drop on the atomizer just to prime it up (even if it is already wet).

To be less biased.. the negatives about the Pilot?
-there has been a "noise" and "wind" issue with it. Seems to turn the batt on when there is VERY loud noise/vibration or with heavy winds. Look for that thread in the main section of the boards.
-not hard to drip with or refill.. but you need to be careful doing it (not easy to do in the car while driving.. so I pre-fill carts before I go for a drive)
-filling with the syringe (or holding a paperclip into the cart all the way to the bottom for the nic juice to drip down) seems to make the carts last literally twice as long as just topping them off because they vape so dry and use up nearly all of the juice. Terr just did a video on how to fill these with your own stuffing... check it out.
Hope all that helps.

can you elaborate more on your experience with wind/music? also elaborate more on the paper clip to top off? what?
I just purchased a pilot today from steve, think i got one of the only ones he had left so i am trying to get all my info before i get it! this will be my first e-cig =D

 

[Terraphon]

There's a pretty big thread related to the wind / noise issue. Basically a strong wind or loud music can cause the switch to active and turn on the battery. If the atomizer is hooked up it will start it cooking

Now, with the EVO, there's a 5 second cut off which is designed to save the atomizer from being burnt out by hitting it for too long. This will, of course, also protect it from the music / wind issue.

With the pilot, the cutoff is 7 seconds.

This also, of course, means that your batteries will drain much faster when you're around these things.

As for the paperclip, the reference is to holding a paper-clip in the cart (past the stuffing) to let the juice run into the bottom of the cartridge. This does pretty much the same thing as the method in my video but is likely less messy...less chance of causing an overflow and getting juice all over the place.

 

[providence]

I LOVE my Pilot! It has plenty of vapor, but does NOT typically have a good "throat hit", but that is not a major selling factor for me.

I will say that initially I was disappointed with the throat hit. For me, that's a huge factor. However, after 2 days I discovered it. I don't know if the atomizer needed to be "broken in" or if the fluid in the carts just wasn't doing it. But after 2 days and running through my carts, I started filling them with janty juice and *boom* throat hit.
Is every throat hit always perfect? No, but it not on any of my devices. Its good enough most of the time that I am impressed.
I only have 2 batteries for it and that's been fine for me. Whereas with my 901 I needed to rotate through 3.

 

[Cuando]

My EVO could never, ever compete with my penstyle. This thing kicks out so much vapor it's ridiculous. I've yet to feel and EVO vape in my throat at all, and my pen gives my trachea a nice little nudge every single time.

Glad you like your ecig, but don't brush off the older tech, that's all I'm going to say.

 

[Spikey]

My EVO could never, ever compete with my penstyle. This thing kicks out so much vapor it's ridiculous. I've yet to feel and EVO vape in my throat at all, and my pen gives my trachea a nice little nudge every single time.

Glad you like your ecig, but don't brush off the older tech, that's all I'm going to say.

Thinking of getting a penstyle for my partner. Not sure the 901 is right for him. Will post when I am ready for that and see what everyone's fave penstyle is.

 

[snf]

There's a pretty big thread related to the wind / noise issue. Basically a strong wind or loud music can cause the switch to active and turn on the battery. If the atomizer is hooked up it will start it cooking

the automatic switch is the only reason i hate my pilot, no idea why they have that....

 

[mu.zeitgeist]

Thinking of getting a penstyle for my partner. Not sure the 901 is right for him. Will post when I am ready for that and see what everyone's fave penstyle is.

I will start with the 901 review. It's a gettho super-champ. With the USB pass it has the ability to kick some major ... but that just kills it's portability unless you have a porta-USB battery pack. Even then you would be rocking a wire to your mouth. The standard batteries are utter POS (at least all of mine were) that aren't worth the small space they occupy. Battery operated it can barely puff out a few decent hits without going into limp mode which gives you nothing satisfying. It also doesn't need an auto switch, timers, or any other complication. That kind of stuff doesn't belong on the cheapo that already has issues. If I can compare, it is the equivalent of adding power seats and windows to a Geo Metro made of plastic. It's bound to break and it just doesn't make sense. Unless you're strapped for cash or don't have modding abilities, I say just forget the 901.

The KB in many ways reminds me of the same 2nd gen. e-cig refinement that can be expected from the 4 series.

It's a whole different beast though. Hard to explain but here are a few examples;

1. On the KB the carts literally last all day with hard vaping. If you pull the fluff out the cart you will see exactly why. Basically you can vape all day and not worry about dripping, changing cartridges every hour. KB is a very straight forward, basic, vape-when-you-want unit.

2. The smoke on KB is definitely smoother than from 4 series but not as thick. For some reason the vapes from the 4 just has a lingering thick-azz cloud. This seems to be totally unique quality of the 4s.

3. Feel: The carts on the 4s are ciggy sized, the draw strength is pretty similar. It's truly made to mimic and replace a cig directly. On the KB, you have a mouthpiece that's nothing like a cig. For the most part it's pretty heavy so you hold it with one hand while drawing (which is not a bad thing because you'd rock the manual switch anyway)

Some of the similarities is;

1. You can hit them both so hard you can almost taste the rainbow.

2. It has it's own strong flavor... I don't know what it is but they both have a certain taste that reminds me of ciggs. It tastes different from cigs but equally good to have in your constant aftertaste.

3. Both the 4s and KB are workhorses until the batteries are completely out. Batteries life is GOOD, and quick to charge.

4. Sentimental value. Both of them are satisfying to hold, vape, and cherish til atomizer or battery sickness do you apart. If it craps out you do feel like its not going to be the same.

5. Bada$$ factor. BA for short. Your friends may think you are going to start jogging and go pick flowers while you e-smoke. You know you can't turn back to analogs now.

In the end I picked KB for one reason. It's RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP. It's $96 from Janty and that comes with 3mo guarantee on batts, 6mo on switches and atomizers. $17 for extra batt (which comes with 3mo guarantee) so a total of $113 for 6mo of hassle-free vaping action. That's $18/month for the unit, cheaper if it lasts beyond 6mo. That's A LOT coming from an a$$hole vapor-nazi like me.

The 4 series could easily cost a lot more (hundreds/mo) if you had to continuously replace parts (which my EVO blew an atomizer in 2-3 weeks) so it ends up costing quite a lot more than Analogs.

However with all that said if the 4 series had an on/off switch, no control circuits, ditched that tip LED, and came with a 6mo guarantee I wouldn't get the KB. I'd love to try the Dura-C. If it's anything like the 4 series with the above mentioned qualities, I know it's something very, very, special.

Hope that helps? I'm no master reviewer or anything but I know a deal when I see one. And I am a die-hard purist when it comes to my nicotine. I want no BS and I want it cheap.

MuZG

 

[Spikey]

Did you post this in the general section for reviews? You should!

I will start with the 901 review. It's a gettho super-champ. With the USB pass it has the ability to kick some major ... but that just kills it's portability unless you have a porta-USB battery pack. Even then you would be rocking a wire to your mouth. The standard batteries are utter POS (at least all of mine were) that aren't worth the small space they occupy. Battery operated it can barely puff out a few decent hits without going into limp mode which gives you nothing satisfying. It also doesn't need an auto switch, timers, or any other complication. That kind of stuff doesn't belong on the cheapo that already has issues. If I can compare, it is the equivalent of adding power seats and windows to a Geo Metro made of plastic. It's bound to break and it just doesn't make sense. Unless you're strapped for cash or don't have modding abilities, I say just forget the 901.

The KB in many ways reminds me of the same 2nd gen. e-cig refinement that can be expected from the 4 series.

It's a whole different beast though. Hard to explain but here are a few examples;

1. On the KB the carts literally last all day with hard vaping. If you pull the fluff out the cart you will see exactly why. Basically you can vape all day and not worry about dripping, changing cartridges every hour. KB is a very straight forward, basic, vape-when-you-want unit.

2. The smoke on KB is definitely smoother than from 4 series but not as thick. For some reason the vapes from the 4 just has a lingering thick-azz cloud. This seems to be totally unique quality of the 4s.

3. Feel: The carts on the 4s are ciggy sized, the draw strength is pretty similar. It's truly made to mimic and replace a cig directly. On the KB, you have a mouthpiece that's nothing like a cig. For the most part it's pretty heavy so you hold it with one hand while drawing (which is not a bad thing because you'd rock the manual switch anyway)

Some of the similarities is;

1. You can hit them both so hard you can almost taste the rainbow.

2. It has it's own strong flavor... I don't know what it is but they both have a certain taste that reminds me of ciggs. It tastes different from cigs but equally good to have in your constant aftertaste.

3. Both the 4s and KB are workhorses until the batteries are completely out. Batteries life is GOOD, and quick to charge.

4. Sentimental value. Both of them are satisfying to hold, vape, and cherish til atomizer or battery sickness do you apart. If it craps out you do feel like its not going to be the same.

5. Bada$$ factor. BA for short. Your friends may think you are going to start jogging and go pick flowers while you e-smoke. You know you can't turn back to analogs now.

In the end I picked KB for one reason. It's RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP. It's $96 from Janty and that comes with 3mo guarantee on batts, 6mo on switches and atomizers. $17 for extra batt (which comes with 3mo guarantee) so a total of $113 for 6mo of hassle-free vaping action. That's $18/month for the unit, cheaper if it lasts beyond 6mo. That's A LOT coming from an a$$hole vapor-nazi like me.

The 4 series could easily cost a lot more (hundreds/mo) if you had to continuously replace parts (which my EVO blew an atomizer in 2-3 weeks) so it ends up costing quite a lot more than Analogs.

However with all that said if the 4 series had an on/off switch, no control circuits, ditched that tip LED, and came with a 6mo guarantee I wouldn't get the KB. I'd love to try the Dura-C. If it's anything like the 4 series with the above mentioned qualities, I know it's something very, very, special.

Hope that helps? I'm no master reviewer or anything but I know a deal when I see one. And I am a die-hard purist when it comes to my nicotine. I want no BS and I want it cheap.

MuZG

 

[Doostin]

I hope my Pilot isn't gonna get stuck at customs

 

[Terraphon]

Just go give the customs guys some beer and back-bacon.

They'll let it pass.

 

[ZombieKiller79]

Hey all,
I am new to the forum and I am thinking about buying my first ecig. It looks like the Pilot hybrid from puresmoker. com is the way to go, but they dont sell car chargers and I was just wondering if anyone knows if there is any place that does have them? Also, it says there is a 1-2 minute wait after the cutoff time? That seems like an awfully long wait, is that accurate? I was wondering if it is indeed the Pilot Hybrid m401/m402 you have Spikey?
Thanks guys I look forward to talking to you all after I get it.
Amaya

 

[rsngfrce]

Hey all,
I am new to the forum and I am thinking about buying my first ecig. It looks like the Pilot hybrid from puresmoker. com is the way to go, but they dont sell car chargers and I was just wondering if anyone knows if there is any place that does have them? Also, it says there is a 1-2 minute wait after the cutoff time? That seems like an awfully long wait, is that accurate? I was wondering if it is indeed the Pilot Hybrid m401/m402 you have Spikey?
Thanks guys I look forward to talking to you all after I get it.
Amaya

In my experience, 1-2 minutes is NOT accurate... 2 minutes is accurate. The 2 minute cooldown is really not a problem for vaping because you don't really exceed the 8 seconds to get to the cooldown, its more a problem when the battery turns itself on due to loud music or wind... but in my opinion, if it had less that a 2 minute cooldown then a lot of atomizers would be melting.

There is a car charger available at this site: M-Series e-Cigarettes Quality Above the Rest but I don't know anything about it... been considering purchasing one though...

 

[Spikey]

Hey all,
I am new to the forum and I am thinking about buying my first ecig. It looks like the Pilot hybrid from puresmoker. com is the way to go, but they dont sell car chargers and I was just wondering if anyone knows if there is any place that does have them? Also, it says there is a 1-2 minute wait after the cutoff time? That seems like an awfully long wait, is that accurate? I was wondering if it is indeed the Pilot Hybrid m401/m402 you have Spikey?
Thanks guys I look forward to talking to you all after I get it.
Amaya

I have the original Hybrid (M401.. 2 long batteries instead of one long and one short) but I got one for a family member (a hybrid) and the short battery only seems to last 2-3 hours. Steve will change it to 2 longs or 2 shorts if you send him an email though.

As rsng said.. the 2 minute cutoff is only relevant when it is very windy or very loud because the 401 will turn itself on due to wind/vibration.. but just by inhaling it is pretty hard to reach the cutoff without making yourself dizzy (especialy as an ex-smoker).

I solved the wind/noise problem for the most part by putting the rubber stopper from inside a 901 cartridge (cartridge condom) over the LED light on the Pilot. Seems to solve the problem under most conditions.

As far as the car charger goes.. most people have more than one device.. so I say just get an adapter so you can plug a regular charger into a box that converts a car charger outlet to a regular 2 prong plug. Then you can charge all your devices in the car.

 

[Chuffer]

I'm not big on the M401/EVO/Pilot. On the plus side, I find the auto switch is responsive, and the battery wears like iron. On the minus side, however: the carts are too small and fiddly to top off, you get too much juice-in-the-mouth, the battery cut-off is annoying, and the throat hit goes in and out. It's a big advance in mini e-cig engineering, but it's not for me.