silica vs mesh is something that can never be decided on because like Phreaky said, taste is subjective. Silca gets a bad rap, and its not without a foundation. Priming a piece of silica is far easier than mesh for many like me. Plain silica from most vendors is sub par. All silica needs to be prepped to get any off taste. SOme dont prep and are perfectly happy, me, when I get new silica it goes in a pan of distilled water for 30 mins of boiling, then throw out the water and add more distilled water and boil again. I put it in a small toaster oven for a while till dry, cause im inpatient. Then as I use it, I torch the hell out of it, not with a lighter but some sort of high temp butane or propane flame, doenst need to be giant work torch, even those butane lighters from 711, blue flame is the need. Just torch it up and down, let it get sort of orange and then you will have a clean taste experience. This also lets you know that the silica you got is safe. If it cant handle torching it should not be used for vaping.
I found all this from trial and error and reading all the threads on ECF. I have tried ss mesh and for me it was not something worth the extra work. Im not into TH and real hot vape, so it was too much for me. SS genesis types changed my favorite juices too much. I like the way a good silica RB tank works for me. There are a few to choose from; Vivi Nova ( some say its not a true RB) or Stardust Kanger types, then you have the high end silica RAs like Svoemestros, Odysseus, its a high jump though as silica types are at the moment not as popular as the genesis types. Nothing wrong with genesis, but it entails much more trial and error for some.
The Svoemestro and Odysseus are very expensive and Ody is almost impossible unless bought in the classifieds, but again its a lot of money to see if it works for you. GG now has the Ithaca , the new and improved atty ( almost 200.00) Fortunately now there is the Terminator, a clone of the Odysseus. Its a great way to see if that is for you. It is extremely well made and easier than Vivi Novas to work with a build. No leaks if set up correctly. Like all things , there is a learning curve, but relatively not much more than a carto tank set up.
THe penelope and the Odysseus are superior atomizers, will last forever , built with the best stainless steel etc, The terminator will last a long long time, its quality is close to the GG products. The performance equal. Look around, there are a lot of choices, ask questions and ask for specifics so you get the whole picture with no surprises after you get the item.
