Followup:
So at 8 days in, I just wasn't getting as much vapor and warmth as I had at first, and it seemed I was going
through
batteries faster, so I pulled the atty and checked it on the box-meter. (I know, I know, better to check on the REO, but that's where the original 1.7 reading came from, and I wanted consistency)
What started at @ 1.7 had increased to over
5 ohms!
No detectable burning of the silica wick, and not a lot (visually) of buildup on the coil. I did
no dry burning during the 8 day test.
So, I built another coil (came out to 1.4), took around 5 minutes, and original vapor and flavor are back. I may try some dry burns 3 or 4 days into this one, but it's "longevity" seems to be exceptional (I
vape around 4-6ml per day, so about 40ml through the first one).
I'm trying hard not to gush too much over this atty, but I'm glad I got a 2nd one before they all sold out

I've found my goto atty, without doubt.