Puffco Proxy First Impressions Review A different take on a familiar shape - a portable modular concentrate vaporizer shaped like a classic pipe.

Hey guys, it’s Sneaky Pete here, and today I want to show you a first look at the new Puffco Proxy. As soon as I saw the Proxy I was intrigued, it has the timeless look of a smoking pipe, but instead of being used to smoke tobacco it’s rather a modern and modular portable concentrate vaporizer. Like most Puffco products it’s not inexpensive, but it is very innovative and something I’ve really enjoyed using in the 2 weeks I’ve had mine. I will be doing a full review on the Puffco Proxy, but today I want to go over the device info, details and share my initial impressions of it with you.

Device Overview

Let’s start right at the beginning - what is the Puffco Proxy?  This is how Puffco describes it: The Puffco Proxy is a portable, modular vaporizer that provides broad flexibility for your cannabis consumption experience. Cannabis tradition meets innovation with an elegant, ergonomic glass pipe that cradles the Proxy’s unique removable base, allowing you to customize your experience with an ecosystem of compatible Puffco accessories and third-party artist glass. Powered by our cutting-edge 3D Chamber technology, the Proxy has four precision heated temperatures settings for the most flavourful experience and vapor production. Another way to think about it is it is a much-improved take on a vape pen; it is a very portable way to use concentrate without needing to run it through water. We will talk about this in detail later, but a component of the system that can't be understated is the modular aspect. Essentially, the Proxy is this little removable vaporizer, that sits in this glass pipe, which can be alternatively inserted into any number of other configurations to switch it up.

When we look at the base of the Proxy itself, it features a carb cap that closes over the bowl tight which makes it great for pre-loading, and underneath the cap sits Puffco’s 3D chamber, and here’s what they say about that: The Puffco 3D Chamber is an innovative breakthrough in heating technology. Embedded with heating tracers in the ceramic bowl, the oil vaporizes on the side walls instead of the bottom only when inhaling to preserve the quality of the oil. This creates a consistently smooth hit while amplifying the flavour.

We’re looking at a device that is highly efficient, holds a consistent temperature, and conserves quality of flavour. The floor and wall of the 3D chamber consist of glazed ceramic bowl for easy cleaning, and I find it swabs up well with a Q-tip.

As small as it is grand, the Proxy is highly portable making it the perfect device for when you’re on the go. The Proxy also comes with a sturdy carrying case and extra storage for easy all-in-one convenience, and we’ll talk about that next. It comes with 4 pre-set temperatures which represent quite a range of vapour profiles, you get: Blue (Low) - Most flavour, lowest vapor production, Green (Medium) - Balanced flavour and vapor, Red (High) - High vapor with good flavour, White (Peak) - Highest vapor, for bigger dabs. It doesn’t say the actual temperatures, but my favourite is either Green or Red, and I use Green more than anything as I’m using this natively which means dry, so I don’t want to go too hot.

What’s in the box?

Let's look at exactly what you receive when you purchase the Puffco Proxy. The first thing is this carrying case, and they did a great job with it. It feels like it has a quality zipper and is made from good materials, rather than being something cheap you would throw away or never use. On the outside, it has this elastic sleeve which I'm not sure exactly what you would use that for, and when you open it up you will see the Proxy in the middle and it is nice and protected by moulded foam; in this case, the device should handle a fall without any problem. It features a chamber storage area if you want to remove your chamber from the base when you travel for some reason or if you wanted to carry an extra one.

The next section has this nice magnetic cover, and inside it features a long USB-C cable to charge the base, and a segment that is intended to be a stash pocket where you can store your concentrate on the go. It's good to see that they built this into the case as it only makes sense. On the top part of the lid, it has another small storage pocket that holds the instruction manual. The manual is good, it tells you everything that you need to know and is quite a visual guide so it's good to just quickly breeze through before you start using your Proxy. On the front side of that storage pocket, you will find a loading tool, as well as 5 x Dual Tools. These are nice handy tools, and the Q-tips end works well to clean the chamber, but I think regular Q-tips worked just fine.

Looking at the glass piece you with the Proxy, it feels a lot thinner once you take the Base out. With the Base in it feels quite substantial in your hand, but with the Base removed the thinness of the glass is more obvious, which surprised me. As you'll see, the pipe has a nice gradient finish that gives it a way cooler look, and I think one of the reasons they did this is otherwise you would start to see who your glass become dirty very quickly and it would be visually less appealing.

They do have a note about the glass coating: The Proxy & Indiglow glass coating has been designed with your complete safety in mind. The coating was tested and complies with the required limits of ISO 10993-5:2009 for In Vitro Cytotoxicity and ISO 10993-10:2010 for Irritation and Skin Sensitization. These are the FDA-recommended tests for a medical device with limited contact duration with intact skin or mucosal membranes (surface device). For me it's not something that I'm worried about, but if that really rubs you the wrong way then I would advise using any of the huge variety of third-party glass pieces available for this.

Finally, you have the Proxy itself, which is this base unit. This is the battery, the brains, everything. It's just crazy that this little thing here is essentially the vaporizer. I mean if you so desired you can put your mouth on this outtake hole you can hit it just like that. On top of the base, you have the removable 3-D chamber, and you can clean this entire chamber by submerging it in isopropyl alcohol which makes it super easy.

How it works

In terms of using the Proxy, this is not only an incredibly familiar, but also an incredibly easy product to use. I think that's part of the appeal about this; everyone knows what a pipe is and how to use it, so there’s just an instant familiarity with it. First, you want to charge the device via the USB-C cable until the light goes out - that indicates you are at a full battery charge. Next, you're going to load your concentrate in the chamber, and I would recommend cold loading the device, so that during its heat up cycle it can warm the concentrate for vaporization.

There was a period where I didn't think I was getting much vapour on Green, but then I realized I just wasn't loading enough concentrate in the Proxy. Make sure you put enough in if you want to have a big hit, but it also works fantastic for microdosing if you'd like to put it in a small amount. It doesn't have an on and off per se, but rather a lock and unlock, which is achieved by holding the button for three seconds. I'm not sure if the lock is intended to save battery or just prevent you from accidentally using it, but it seems to handle standby without impacting the battery life. If you want to check your battery level, triple click it and you will either flash green, orange, or red, depending on your battery level. Click the button one time to switch between the four temperatures, and it will vibrate and change the light colour depending on what setting you are at. Make sure to close the carb cap, and double click it to initiate the heat up. It says it takes around 30 seconds to heat up, it doesn't feel like that long to me, but it takes a little bit.

The light will pulse as it heats up, and when it is at temperature the light will flash and the Proxy will vibrate, then go ahead and inhale. It has quite a long heating cycle, I would estimate it's around 30 seconds, and when it is done it will vibrate and the light will fade out.

Open your carb cap, and take a Q-tip to your chamber, to make sure to get any residue. There was always going to be a little bit left over but do your job best job to clean it out. I wish the light was a bit brighter; I’d be delighted to see double this brightness so you could see it easier in bright lighting. If you need to turn it up to 11 so to speak, when the device is already heated up you can double click it to initiate Boost Mode. This will extend your session time as well as raise the device’s temperature, and it says you can continue the boost as needed but don't do it more than four times consecutively.

It works way better when you inhale gently than if you inhale super hard, but you don't have to inhale weirdly soft, just do it on the lighter rather than the heavier side. I like to use this one with the cigar puffs, as I find it emulates using a pipe which leads to an enjoyable and relaxing session, but a steady inhale works fine as well. The vapour is super tasty, and if you are using it on green, I find it pretty smooth now that I am used to it, though the first few hits made me cough. If I use it on the higher temperatures, it can make me cough, but then it spits out way heavier clouds so it’s a trade-off.

First Impressions

Overall, after spending a couple weeks and running a few grams of concentrate through it, I have come to really like the Puffco Proxy. At first, I thought it was going to be really harsh without running it through water, but if you keep it on Green or below, the glass pipe does a sufficient job of cooling it down, but we are working on a few ideas of our own as I want to get to improve the experience even further.

I think the familiar shape and usage style ads ton of appeal to the device, and it helps make it and enjoyable device to kick back with, it feels whimsical was without being gimmicky. One thing I am not a huge fan of is the button. It has got a bit better, but it just feels a cheap and clicky compared to everything else. It was really stiff at first and I kind of wondered if it would cause problems over time, but it just takes away from the premium feel they are after. It's sort of reminds me of a dynavap tip but for concentrate, essentially, they created this small engine to vaporize a substance, which can then be utilized in any number of different devices and form factors.

Some of the third-party glass I have seen for the Proxy is crazy, not just in the artistic beauty, but people have already thought of different ways to utilize this. For example, I saw a pipe where you could use two proxies, and people have made silicone accessories that interface with it for maximum portability, I’m excited to see how people utilize this Base unit.

I like to do my dabs on the smaller side, and I find something like this is ideal for me. If you like to do massive dabs on high temperatures, or just massive dabs in general, I think you're probably going be better served with something on the heavier duty side. That being said, this can put out some solid clouds even on Green, and for me between Green and Red it’s totally adequate for dry usage.

In terms of the price, you are paying to be an early adopter with the Proxy. I imagine they must have big research and development costs, but $300USD feels on the high side for this. I think $250USD would be a more palatable price, but honestly, I don't feel like I got ripped off or regret spending the money on it, if you want to get something that is new and innovative it seldom tends to be cheap, especially from Puffco. I would like to see a thicker glass piece for this money though, I mean it's nicely done and all, but it feels thinner than it should be for this price once you take the Base out.

I have been reaching for it often as it makes concentrates so accessible and easy to use anywhere, including while on the go, and it’s surprising how tasty and comfortable it is when used dry which makes it a way more viable travel concentrate setup, and I’ll have a full review on it coming soon. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and check out vapenorth.ca and sneakypetestore.com where you can find all the different products and accessories you see me using in my videos.

Thanks so much for watching guys, I really appreciate it.

KIG KIS