Griffin Conquered!

Finally! No leaks and wicking fine with single coil! After over a dozen attempts and numerous YouTube videos and forum threads, I got it! So, what I ended up having to do is fool myself. I fluffed up the ends of the wick and just eased it over the holes. I didn't try to actively get any in the juice holes and some just went in there naturally without choking. When I tried not getting it into the holes, it leaked. When I tried to get some in the holes, it choked. So, I just put them over the holes without thinking about it and left them fluffy and what went in, went in. Works perfectly!

I'll say, getting this was the toughest wick I've come across. I didn't even have this much issue when I was rolling stainless steel mesh wicks for the old genesis mods. And they took a torch! I still can't believe my very first attempt worked and it took this long to reproduce. Now that I paid attention, hopefully I will be able to repeat this at will...

Now I can't wait until I get the Avocado 24 and the Serpent! Woohoo!

Toys! Coil Master 521 Tab, DIY Kit, GeekVape Griffin 25 and Wismec Theorem Atomizer!

Interesting time for us. Our choice of a much less harmful alternative to smoking may soon be squashed by our all about common FDA. Even the UK's version of the FDA said it is 95% safer than tobacco. Sad puppy and 'nuff said by me. I don't like to get political, but I just want to start out with their decision is bullshit...

Now on to other things. Let's start with the Coil Master 521 Tab and the DIY Kit. I have nothing bad to say. As usual, I won't go into full reviews. You can get those all over the web. These are just my impressions.

I have no issue with either of these. I like them both and think they are worth the money. Both were everything I expected. Do you NEED to get these? No. Is it super cool? Yes! One thing to mention is, when I was looking at reviews for the 521 before I purchased this, one of the complaints was the feet were part of the molded plastic on the bottom of the unit and it slid all over the place. The one I received had rubber feet. This shows that Coil Master payed attention to the earlier, critical reviews to their product. I also have V2 of the DIY Kit, so all is good there. This one is simple to talk about. They are everything I expected...

Next up was the GeekVape Griffin 25. I watched a LOT of reviews trying to pick out a few new RTA/RBTA's. I decided on this and oh boy, I'm still trying to get it working well. I know that the wicking can be challenging and I haven't had much issue with coils and wicks before, but I just can't get this balanced out. It either leaks or dry hits. My very, very first build worked fine, but stupid me wanted to wick it again, just to play around. I've wicked this thing 10 times and can't get it right. I've tried every technique I've found (and there's quite a few), but just can't get it. Would I recommend this? If you understand that it's a great RTA IF you wick it right, but if not, well, keep trying. The very first wick I put in this was fantastic and it was definitely a keeper, but after that, nope. If I think of it, I'll update the blog, if I every figure it out.

The Wismec Theorem. To be quite honest, I got this because it looked cool and it was a Genesis styled tank, despite the mixed reviews. So after getting it, I will quote Todd that it's "shit, just shit". The things that bother me the most is having to have fingernails to get the top off to fill and NONE of my DIY bottles with needle tips are long enough to reach the fill hole. Everything else, I can live with and don't really have too much issue with. I guess, long story short, this atomizer is a pain in the ass. Looks cool as heck though! I don't recommend this unless you like to fiddle and don't mind the shortcomings.

I also got some Notch coils and pre-made Claptons. The Notch coils are okay. I honestly don't notice that they are awesome enough or at all to justify paying extra for them. I will probably just keep using Clapton's or regular wire builds.

Another order will be coming at some point. A bunch of kantal and SS wire. The fun stuff will be a Wotofo Serpent RTA, which looks to have MUCH more forgiving wicking and a GeekVape Avocado 24 RDTA which I'm really looking forward to. I'll probably put something up after I play with those for a while.

E-juice mixing for the first time

Dove in today and made some e-juice and the obligatory cup of coffee, of course!

First bottle was Pina Colada at 30/70, PG/VG. It was a lot thicker than the stuff I normally buy at the supposed same ratio. Decided to make 40/60 for the rest of the batch. Test vape was GREAT! Shake and vape for sure.

Next up was Key Lime Pie. Another GREAT vape right after shaking! Both of these were beyond what I expected to get. I've tried these from every vendor I could find and never liked them. To me, these taste pretty near perfect...

Third was Rhodonite. A kind of strange concoction that I haven't tried to vape yet and by far the highest number of ingredients. Almond, Bavarian Cream, Yellow Cake, Cookie, Cream Fresh, Apple Fuji, Meringue, Rasberry and Torrone. Smells good. This is up next to vape test!

Haven't tried the rest yet either, but they smell just like they sound. I made one mistake with Absinthe Strawberry and put the wrong strawberry in it. Oh well, we'll see if I need a do over...

Also made Orange Creamsicle and a Strawberry Cream. Can't express how much better these seem to be than the store bought stuff. The flavors and base liquids I got are top tier and I do believe it makes a hell of a difference. Decided to use my kids stickers to tell the difference between the bottles, LOL!

Phase 1 of DiY E-Juice

Flavorings and measuring tools arrived. Still waiting for the base liquids, nicotine solution and bottles. I have over half dozen juice recipes picked out for the first wave. I've accumulated about 30 that I've saved for later. Pretty stoked to try this out!

Over all, it seems pretty simple to do. A bit intimidating, but I think if I stay meticulous, I won't screw things up too much. Once I get all the pieces and parts, I'll throw up some updates and record what it's like to do and the results.

Do I have to upgrade now, too?

My video and sound work fine. I do have a bad USB port though. The specs on Sheldon's new one sound really good! Hmm... NAH!

Bye bye, Mr. Volvo

It's been a good time, but toward the end, it got a little rocky. Time to go. Next step, find another car! It will be a few more years before I can get a cool car back, so for now, looking for something easy to work on and cheap.

What a week!

I'm not usually one to post bitches and gripes, this week has been so ridiculously dumb, I have the need to share this marvelous memory.

It started out last week. I found I had a hole on my pocket that I put my vaping mod in. Yes, I forgot about it twice during the day. Ended up with two broken tanks and a broken mod.

A few days later, I was talking to my son and he mentioned there was a big oil spot in the driveway where I park. I was at work and checked. Not only was there a couple quarts of oil under the car, but there was a trail of oil leading up to it! Blown gasket. Now I'm looking to scrap it and buy a beater.

Somewhere in there, I managed to do something to my neck and can't move it. It's giving me a major headache and I can't sleep.

Today, as I sat In a chair on our porch with my messed up neck, the back of the chair decided to give way and I ended up hanging upside down being jabbed by various broken, jagged pieces of chair. After making sure my kidneys were not still attached to the chair and helping me out of the death trap, my wife couldn't stop giggling. Gotta love her!