anyone know where to source a Bolt with the metal button that looks like the silver bullets? I don't think the new anodized versions with the thicker wires have ever been sold with the metal button, but I know a few shops had the old bolts with the metal button. I'd love to get one so I can finally push that damn Silver Bullet button.
I have the "slate" anodized Bolt so I will add to this conversation. Its a great mod and I really have no complaints for it. The button isn't exactly "CLICKLY" but it does make a clicky noise and it is pretty easy to know when its pressed far enough to fire. The button itself is a hard, shiny black plastic. The button's housing, which protrudes out of the machined button hole, is a matte hard plastic. There is NO soft malleable plastic used in the newer Bolt's button. This is not a cheap horn switch. Its a nice button. VERY similar in aesthetics to the BB from alt smoke's button imho. Although the Bolt's button is not flat. It is rounded with a flat cut through the middle which feels nice when running your finger over it.
The machining around the button is great. It never stops amazing me how well the hole for the button is machined. In a smoktech mod no less? Unbelievable! lol. I really do like the machining as far as that goes. The machining where the head meets the bottom battery housing could be better on my model. Its not perfect, but its not shabby either. I can feel where the two tubes separate and I can see where they separate pretty easily with it held a foot or so away from my eyes. Further away it does disappear for the most part but you can still see it in the right lighting conditions. You can feel where the two tubes separate on my Bolt, but this may be different for everyone. I say that because with my extender ring, the two tubes fit together perfectly flush. With the extender tube you cannot SEE or FEEL the separation of either side of the ring at all. The two tubes basically disappear with the extender ring installed.
However, the extender ring does stick out in that it is not the same exact shade of "slate" as my battery housing tube and my switch housing tube. It is a bit lighter than the two and I have noticed that the extender ring almost feels like it's outside is made out of plastic, despite the fact that it clearly has aluminum threading. I run my fingers over the extender ring and it just feels like something is strangely different about it's texture and feel. If I tap it with my fingernail it almost feels plastic in nature which is weird to me. The extender rings may be plastic OR the one I got may be plastic on the outside, fitted w/metal threads.
It's size is considerably smaller than other mods in its category. It is considerably smaller in girth and in length when compared to the Silver Bullet, which is another tube mod that closely resembles and is in direct competition with, the Bolt mod. I truly like the length and girth of the Bolt, where-as the length and girth of the Silver Bullet makes it, in my opinion, almost a novelty device in the time of increasingly shrinking mods with the same functions in the Silver Bullet's class. While the silver bullet does seem to be the heavier of the two mods, (with the SB having thicker walls and a metal button) I think the Bolt shines in its compact size and damn-good finish durability due to it's anodized finish. How many Silver Bullets with chipped paint and hair line scratches have I seen, you might ask? Too many to count. Where-as the Bolt has an anodized finish that will protect itself from small scratches more effectively than a painted or coated mod. I do not think the Bolt would stand up to a drop to the hard nooks and crannies of asphalt as well as the Silver Bullet's walls would. But, I do think the anodized finish of the Bolt would protect it from small scratches more effectively than the painted finish of the Silver Bullet. (However, the "silver vein" finished SB is probably on-par or better at hiding and resisting hair-line scratches when compared to the anodized aluminum finish of the Bolt)
Versatility wise, the Bolt wins against mods in it's class. With its small stature and figure, it takes an 18500 battery stock, or an 18650 battery with the extension ring. This allows you to use a Kick with the Bolt in many different configurations. You can use the kick in the Bolt without an extension ring with an 18350 battery, effectively giving you one of the smallest kicked tube mods available today. Alternatively you can use the extension ring to use an 18500 battery with the Kick. OR: You could also use two extension rings and use an 18650 battery with a Kick. This is opposed to the Silver Bullet, which comes stock with an 18650 sized tube, cutting out it's ability to use the Kick with the 18350 battery. (although you could get the SB's extension ring and use the SB with an 18650 battery & the Kick) The Bolt is a VERY, very small Variable Wattage device when using the 18350 battery with the kick, and for that reason I like the bolt's versatility a lot more than the Silver Bullet's. If you really want to get funny, you could always buy up a few Bolt extension rings and use then to make yourself a wide variety of ridiculously long configurations.
All in all I cannot complain about the New- "Anodized Bolt E-cig Mod" Model. It seems a fair bit higher quality than what I have heard about the older model(s) of the Bolt and its definitely a good upgrade. I like mine a lot. I can go to the Altsmoke website and look at the Silver Bullets, but with my Bolt in hand, I can never seem to justify buying a SB, even though it has always been my dream to own one. If I were working and had no expenses I'm sure I'd own a Silver Bullet but the Bolt is a great mod in it's own right, and in it's own category for that matter. As far as the whole picture- The Bolt is a fantastic mod.
