Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for stopping by for this special Christmas edition of Vape Talk. I hope Santa brought you a brand new vape, if he did then heat that sucker up for a nice holiday session with us as we go over some common questions.

What is a really heavy hitting vape?

    Well, there are several that come to mind for heavy hitters and often the reason they hit so hard is how fast and complete extraction is, and a lot of times the real beasts use convection for heating. For portables, I recommend a Dynavap, a Sticky Brick, or the Ghost MV1. That being said, a lot of people overlook desktops in the “heavy hitter” discussion, which is crazy because these are some of the hardest hitting pieces around. Since they plug directly into the wall, they have tremendous power potential and can be hit back to back to back so they’re great for sessions. If you want a really heavy hitter, consider getting yourself a Ditanium, a VapeXhale, or a Volcano.

Which water piece should I get for my vape?

    This is an excellent question. Essentially, I see three tiers of water cooling for a vape. As size increases surface area and water volume also increase, meaning more cooling and filtration. You’ll also lose a bit more flavour and potency, it’s not a huge difference but it is there. Tier 1 is smaller pieces like our bubble straws, which are basically stems and water pieces all built into one. You just load it up and then it attaches directly to the vape and works like a regular stem would. This is the most portable and least costly solution. Tier 2 would be a water pipe adapter with a portable piece like the Micro Bandit or Sceptre. The Sceptre is quite a bit bigger than the bubble straw so it will cool your vapour more. Tier 3 is how I typically vape, with a water pipe adapter and a full-size water piece. If you like to hit your vapes a few good rips at a time, cooling that vapour off with a big water piece like this will make the experience much better.

Are you going to do a “Vape Awards” this year?

    Yes, definitely! It will be just before the end of the year, so make sure you're subscribed to my YouTube channel. The vape awards are only for pieces tested in that year, but we’ve tested a lot of different ones in 2018 so it should be a good show. What categories do you all want to see this year? What do you want a vape award for? Let us know in the comments, we will be filming the Vape Awards episode in just a couple of days.

What are you currently vaping with?

    We are still putting in a lot of use with the new Healthy Rips Fierce. It’s a brand new vape from the makers of the Fury 2, which was rightfully one of the most popular vapes of the year, so it’ll be a tough act to follow. The Fierce is quite a bit larger. It’s made from that same alloy body that is really strong. Not only was it dropped a couple times with no damage, but we even threw it off the top of a 200-metre tall skyscraper in downtown Vancouver just to see what would happen... and not one single scratch!!! (just kidding, we didn’t do that last part)

    We ran it for several cycles at 420F for a thorough burn off. It seems like previous issues have been fixed. The Fierce has a removable Li-ion battery which is huge and gives a lot of sessions before needing a recharge. It has a screen for info, but like the Odin 2, there’s not much adjusting that can happen. It has an automatic turn off at 240 seconds, which is usually about right. It has very free airflow, which is a huge plus. The heater is strong and produces lots of vapour over and over. It is a tough call between the Fierce and Fury 2. The Fury 2 costs quite a bit less, but really either one is a solid vape so a lot of the decision comes down to your preference on physical size and how important that larger and removable battery is.

    Also, The Palm by CCell hasn’t left my pocket since I got it. Although now its little brother is fighting for a spot in the starting lineup as The Silo is another amazing vape by CCell. These are essentially batteries that power your cartridges, like the CCell TH2. The Palm and Silo have no buttons or settings. You just screw on the magnetic adapter to the bottom of your cartridge, it locks in place with the strong magnet on the battery/vape. All you do now is inhale and enjoy the vapour. The Silo has a little window built into it so you can see how much oil you have left in your cartridge, and it is very small, like Bic lighter size. The battery lasts for tons and tons of hits. Overall, my most used cartridge is the red Cedar 0.5ml. I like that mouthpiece the best and I prefer how the 0.5ml sticks out of the vape compared to the other sizes.

    Finally, check out my new Simrell vape stem. It’s made by a woodworking artist that goes by “The Simrell Collection”. He makes amazing custom pieces for the Dynavap line. He made it to my specs and there are all kinds of custom options available. The one I got is an XL stem in stabilized red ample burl with segmented ebony and mother of pearl inlay. It features an integrated titanium condenser with a brass insert, and I put the Dynavap Shadow M tip on it taking the whole piece to next-level badassery. It also included a nice ebony block with an axial magnet so you can stand the piece between uses, kind of like a Launch Pad. I expected it to be nice, but in person, it is absolutely gorgeous. It really classes up the whole Dynavap experience and I feel really fancy using it. Check out his work on Instagram at @simrellcollection.

    We have a sale going on now on both sites. Check out both sneakypetestore.com and vapenorth.ca. The sales will run until the end of the year, so if you have a little extra Christmas money left over, treat yourself... you’ve earned it😉 You can find my reviews on the websites right on the item’s page, so be sure to watch those as you’re deciding on which vape you’re after.

    Have an awesome rest of your Christmas and thanks so much for spending some time vaping with me. Be sure to check back for The Vape Awards before the end of the year. 2019 is going to be crazy with new vapes coming in fast and furious!