This is a review of the Red Sky Cutlass Mark 5.1 variable voltage mod. This device was built by Capt’ Brian and I believe the name comes from the old sailor’s saying, ‘Red Sky in the morning, sailor’s take warning. Red Sky at night, sailor’s Delight’. Well, I think Capt’ Brian was focusing more on the Delight portion of that saying when he developed this mod. I’m gonna start out by saying that I recommend this mod to anyone that enjoys bottom feeding and variable voltage. Here is why:
One feature I really like is the dual battery mode. You can switch from direct battery mode (3.7v vaping generally) to regulated mode (vv vaping) with a simple click. One bonus of this feature? Say I have my voltage set to 6v while in regulated mode, well how do I know when my batteries are getting low? I don’t have to test them externally or wait til I lose vaping power I can simply loosen my atty (very important to do this), click over to direct batt mode and test the voltage. When I reach 6.6v - 7v (~3.3v -~3.5v for each batt) I like to recharge (personal preference).
Battery life is gonna be dependent on your voltage setting and atty resistance. For reference, I’m running my RSM with 2 18350’s AW IMR 700mAh batteries @ 6v with 3.1ohm resistance. I get through 4-5 ml of juice and then need to change batteries, though this is not really empirical data… YMMV
There is plenty of room in the battery compartment for a variety of batteries. My longest 18650 is 68mm and I need to use a magnet spacer to achieve a satisfactory snugness. When I use 2 AW IMR 18350’s w/one battery spacer the total length is 71mm and I have no battery movement with that configuration.
Changing voltage, while not instant and should not be attempted while driving
, is very simple. Grab the screwdriver from inside the door cubbyhole, loosen your atty to break the connection to the battery, press the fire button to see your selected voltage and either turn the screw clockwise to increase voltage or counterclockwise to decrease voltage. You can adjust in .1 increments up to the total stacked voltage of your batteries (8.4 max to my knowledge) or down to 4.4v. You can further adjust in .01 increments from 4.40v to 2.72v which is the lowest I could get it to go and still light the display. I’m not sure why you’d want to go that low, but the option is there…
The voltage display and both the on/off switch and battery mode switch are both built into the base of the device. It’s very clean looking and there is no exposed wiring to these three features. This ‘built-in’ does add more depth to the base than height to the top, so if symmetry in that regard is important to you then try to think of it as the keel of the ship; keeping the boat steady and in control
.
Another well thought out feature, in my opinion, the electronics are all as far removed from the juice as possible. While I have NOT had ANY leaking issues, the facts that the electronics are well out of reach of the juice makes me feel better; less chance of damage to my device.
I like that there are two bottom feeding options: upright tube-feeding and Inverted/Tilt feeding. I tried it with both and both worked fine. I prefer the tube fed/upright method; I find it the easier method to use. The tube extends to the bottom of the bottle and I was able to empty the bottle with the tube and some minor tilting to reach all the juice. I should add that firing feeding is possible, but I find it a very awkward hold due to the position of my squonk hole and the width of the mod. For reference, my juice contains ~60%VG and feeds easily with both methods. I LOVE that I have had ZERO LEAKING with this bottle feeder. There is not even a hint of moisture anywhere inside the RSM and really not much going into the catch cup either. I opted for the larger catch cup, but the smaller one would have been fine because I get plenty of juice in my atty before it really starts to enter the catch cup.
Overall, the RSM vv device does everything it promised. The wood box is very well made and finished beautifully. The overall size is a little large for me in width (across the body) and prevents me from firing feeding easily when using the tilt method – this is not my preferred method anyway I’ve always found it awkward. However, I’m a woman and my hands may be smaller than many others. This would not prevent me from purchasing another RSM, but I would choose to have the squonk hole on the other side (I Like to hold my PV's in my left hand). Otherwise it is very comfortable to hold and the finish is extremely soft and smooth. Another item to note is that the voltage display makes this mod slightly blinky and not stealthy. You can choose to have it built without the display if that is your preference. I wanted the display and have other mods I can use in a movie theatre if for some reason I can’t make it 2 hours without vaping…
Lastly, I have only had this mod for a week and cannot empirically comment to its durability, but Capt’ Brian offers excellent customer service and any problems are addressed immediately.
(Yes - I know it's long, just trying to be thorough;-))
One last item is refilling the bottle, check it out:
Here's a great method to refill the bottle without the tube
