Great review! I have had one of these units for a few weeks but still liked reading what you had to say about it!
So far I am pleased with my Joye 18560 mod, it's big, yes, but that is petty much unavoidable if you want the battery capacity. I have a spare eGo-T 650 mAh battery laying around in case I need to have a smaller, or more conveniently carried, unit for whatever reason. But so far this has been what I have been using exclusively.
I carry mine around (unloaded, with my carto/tank in a separate pocket/case) using a 4sevens flashlight holster on my belt that I got with one of my flashlights a while back, the holster itself is a bit too small (since it was designed for a 4sevens Quark 123, which is a very small flashlight) but I have added some adhesive hook-and-loop to extend the reach of the top Velcro flap.
It worked great for a little while, but now the adhesive for the hook-and-loop came off and makes the holster much less convenient to use. I am thinking about getting a spare 4sevens Quark 123x2 holster, as those are longer but have the same diameter dimensions as the Quark 123 holster (which I know fits the diameter eGo 18650 mod). In case you are interested, here is the holster that shoudl fit perfectly
Quark 123² Holster 4Sevens.Com I'm sure there is much better holsters out there (like ones that can be removed from the belt without having to completely remove the belt) but it would get the job done, and for $8 with free shipping, it's a decent deal. It's a slightly tight fit, but it does fit thanks to the elastic band that is in the 4sevens holster.
Either way, if you search for a flashlight holster, you will be much more likely to find something that fits this 18650 mod, as the size is pretty much identical to the size of most flashlights.
As for the issue of not having a vent, I have to admit this had got me worried, then I remembered that every flashlight out there that uses Li-ion cells (such as 18650's) are all completely water-tight sealed with no vents, and they draw a lot of current as well.
Now of course you aren't holding the flashlight in your mouth (at least not all the time
) but based on that I am now much more confident that there is no reason to worry
too much about having no vents (as long as you are using good batteries that is!). But even then, you just never know if a battery, even a good high quality one, will go haywire. But I guess that's just life, you take risks and you accept or deny them based on how risky the situation is. In this case, and because flashlights have been doing this for who knows how long with limited 'pipe bomb' occurrences in regards to li-ion batteries (I'm sure it has happened, but probably very rare), I feel a little better that there is no vent on this thing. And even safer because I am using AW protected batteries.
As for current draw, well just use ohms law to figure that one out. If this device is known to be regulated 3.3v, than all you have to do is measure the carto's resistance and do a bit of math. For example, my carto measures at 2.4ohms, so because of the DMM's variances, its likely about 2.3ohms. I = V/R, so 3.3v/2.3ohm = 1.43A
Using a DMM to measure a cartos resistance is easy too.
Now with that said, I did some of my own measuring. The atty in my carto is sucking down 1.43A when in use, now how does this compare to other high-drain devices such as a flashlight? Well I just grabbed my Zebralight SC600w, set it on it's highest mode and did a tail-cap current draw test with my DMM. My flashlight in its highest mode is drawing a whopping
2.89A @ 4.0V! 
So that's 11.56 watts.
Compared to the 1.43A the atty in my carto is drawing @ 3.3V (4.72W), I feel much safer using it now, as my flashlight consumes 2.89A @ 11.56W on a AW 18650 protected 2900mAh battery without issue, so my eGo drawing 1.43A @ 4.72W on the same would be almost nill in comparison in terms of over-driving amperage from the battery (safety wise).
I believe protected batteries are generally rated at a 2C max discharge rate (at least AW's are), so my AW 2900mAh is rated to safely discharge at a maximum of 5.8A, which is
well within the safe range of what attys are drawing (at least with my LR Boge cartos @ 3.3v). Heck, I have actually been using two 17670's in my eGo 18650 mod exclusively, and those are rated at 1600mAh. So with my carto drawing 1.43A it's still below a 1C discharge (which is actually a nice decent and safe discharge rate).
Really the only other thing I worry about with this device is the circuitry, I have no idea what is going on in there and can only hope it is doing things in a safe manner. But this is also the other benefit of using protected high quality batteries, as the protection circuit will trip if a short occurs (among other things), so this adds an additional layer of safety in case something goes horribly wrong or malfunctions. Using an IMR, while it does use 'safer' chemistry, doesn't have the advantage of a separate protection circuit (although they do have thermal protection). So you have to rely 100% on the device for that.
I personally wouldn't want to use a unprotected IMR in this eGo 18650 mod, just in case. However due to all the insane safety that's in the Provari, I would have no issues at all using a unprotected IMR AW on that kind of setup, because the device itself is designed to be very smart and something you can trust and rely on.
But still, at a 2C discharge rate with protected batteries, you would be hard pressed to exceed 6.2A using AW's 3100mAh 18650 in a Provari. Even ramping the Provari voltage to 6V and using a LR carto (lets say are at 2ohm) that is still just 3A. AW's IMR's can handle an
8C discharge rate, which is absolutely insane. If you are trying to push 12.8A (1600mAh x 8) through a carto/atty, then you have other things to worry about!
But I suppose I have gotten a tad off topic in regards to the eGo 18650 mod.
Aside from all that, the unit works very well for me, and once I get a better holster it should be very easy to lug around with me when I am away from the home. I have been using it for a few weeks now, and the switch seems to have actually gotten better! Battery life is amazing, even using 1600mAh 17670's I can get two days use out of it with pretty much solid vapign when I am home. Although I like to charge at the days end because li-ions like small top-off charges rather than draining them completely then charging.
Anywho, here is a pic of my eGo 18650 mod with a Smoktech shorty cone, and a J-tank (got some Halo Malibu in there, not too bad!). And also my Zebralight SC600w (645 lumen LED 18650 flashlight in neutral white = awesome!)
Hope somebody enjoys reading all that, cause it took a while to write it!
Stay safe and keep vaping!
