Vaporizer Information Database

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Links to online stores which sell the vaporizers reviewes on this website

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I really don't want to hear it, but if you must...

Last updated 12/21//04.

	=	Reccomended

	=	Not Reccomended

	=	I have personally tried these vaporizers and I was very satisfied with them, or I have heard a great deal of good things about them online.

	=	I either do not know how reliable the vaporizer is, do not know how well it vaporizes, or have heard concerns over its reliability or performance online. This does not necessiarly mean this is a mediocre or bad vaporizer, I might just not know enough about it.

	=	Either I have personally tried this vaporizer and I know it is a piece of shit, have heard a lot of bitching and moaning online about this vaporizer, or this vaporizer works the same as a piece of shit vaporizer I have tried. Stay away.

There are three basic types of vaporizers: Direct Heating, Indirect Heating (Convection) , and Heat Gun.

Direct heating vaporizers are piles of crap. Do not waste your money on them. The ‘dome’ vaporizers (ex: BC Vaporizer, AromaMed) are examples of direct heating vaporizers. These models usually have a glass bulb with a heating plate inside where you place your herb. Not only are these models very cheaply made, they also vaporize very poorly and often burn whatever you are trying to vaporize. I speak from experience on the direct heating vaporizers. The BC Vaporizer was the worst $65 I ever spent.
Direct heating vaporizers work by heating the material in a metal bowl until the active ingredients vaporize. They then rely on diffusion for the active ingredients to move through the glass jar to an area where you can inhale them. This is highly inefficient. It is likely most of the vapor condenses before it can be inhaled. The heating plate will also burn the material which it touches, while not heating the rest enough in order
to vaporize.

	BC Vaporizer (Definitely Shit) Cost: $69.80 CDN (Original), $79.80 CDN (Deluxe) Warm Up Time: 3 – 10 minutes Cons: Gives terrible hits, doesn’t vaporize well, burns substance Style: Plastic base with glass jar screwed on top, 3.5” x 3.5” x 7” (Original), 4” x 5” x 7” (Deluxe) I bought one of these, by far the worst investment I ever made. The hits were terrible - they didn't do anything for me or the 5 friends who used it. You never know if you are actually inhaling anything, or if it is working. The thing was also pretty awkward to hold. It said it could only be plugged in for like 15 minutes at a time or it would overheat. It is also impossible to clean - you better hope nothing falls into the base. I used it like twice then put it away, eventually throwing it out 6 months later. Why are they still making these things??? Bad times.
	Vapie (Probably Shit) Cost: $129 Warm Up Time: not listed Pros: Temperature electronically controlled Cons: It’s a direct heating vaporizer, it is probably a piece of shit (uses a brass bowl heating tray just Cons: like the BC Vaporizer) Style: Clear acrylic cylinder wrapped with a holographic sticker, 6” high, 3” diameter Very little known about this vaporizer I received this email detailing some additional problems with the Vapie: `1. The plexiglass it's made from eventually developed huge cracks in it from being heated & cooled. They don't go all the way through & don't let extra air in, but they certainly don't inspire confidence in the product.2. The "specialized circuit board to control the temperature" that they brag about on the website must be some kind of joke. It doesn't seem to matter where you set the dial. It gets hot and stays hot.`
	Fosheezee (Probably Shit) Cost: $54.99 (Basic), $74.99 (Deluxe), $94.99 (Super Deluxe) Warm Up Time: 10 minutes Pros: On/Off Switch, temperature control (only on Deluxe and Super Deluxe), available car adapter kit Cons: It’s a direct heating vaporizer, it is probably a piece of shit (uses a brass bowl heating tray Cons: just like the BC Vaporizer) Style: Glass jar on carpeted base Very little known about this vaporizer

Indirect heating (Convection) vaporizers seem to be the best of all worlds. With about a week of practice, they will vaporize very well and provide very good hits. They are also compact, silent (except for the Volcano and Vapir, which have a small, quiet fan), and easy to use. The VaporBrothers, VaporDoc, VaporVisions, and Vaporade are almost identical in the way the work. The Vapolution and VaporTech are also very similar to each other as are the Eterra, Aromazap, HappyVappy, and Inavap. Note: Two websites have claimed the longer the hose of a vaporizer, the more the vapor condenses and the less vapor you inhale. I don’t know if this is true, or if the amount of vapor inhaled actually changes dramatically. People have sworn by the VaporBrothers, which has a hose that is several feet long. The Volcano claims inhaling from their balloon within 5 – 10 minutes results in almost no loss of vapor.

There are some things which need to be said about indirect heating vaporizers. 1) Failure rates are probably made up. 2) After using my vaporbrothers for several months now, I do not believe the 'hands free' models from VaporDoc and Vaporade should be used. They probably will start burning the 'tobacco or herbal product' after a short time. The wand of my VaporBrothers gets almost too hot to hold, and it only touches the heating element when you're taking hits. The wand of the 'hands free' models is always touching the heating element. 3) Several manufacturers have emailed me saying not having a temperature control is a good thing. I don't believe so, but they say that since it is always set to the correct temperature, it is a lot easier to use. Personally, I think a temperature control is a must since everone takes hits differently and should set the temperature accordingly (slower hit = lower temperature, faster hit = higher temperature). 4) When I say 'awkward to use', I am referring to the fact that in order to use the vaporizer, you have to hold the enitre vaporizer instead of just a hose (see Eterra, Happy Vappy, etc). It just seems to me that holding the vaporizer itself would be awkward.

	VaporBrothers Cost: $150 - $200 (Original), $175 - $225 (Double), (Try eBay) Warm Up Time: ~5 minutes Pros: Very reliable (0.5% claimed failure rate) Style: Light or dark colored plywood, 3.5” x 5” x 6” (Single), ~5” x 5” x 6” (Double), green lighted bottom I myself purchased one of these on Haight Street (San Francisco) for $130. It looks great and is smaller than I thought it would be. It is also built very solid. Mine only needs like 2 or 3 minutes to heat up and it gives excelent hits. I got used to the differences of vaporizing after only one use. It tastes great, isn't hot at all, and is wonderful for your lungs. One thing I noticed about my VaporBrothers - although it doesn't have an independent on/off switch, you can turn the temperature control to off, so you can leave your VaporBrothers plugged in.
	VaporDoc/VaporWarez/VaporCannon Cost: $119 (Standard), $149 (Ceramic Heater), + $20 hands free, (Try eBay) Warm Up Time: 3 – 10 minutes Pros: On/Off switch, available hands free model, one year manufacturer’s warranty (five year manfacturer's Pros: warranty on ceramic model), ceramic heater model supposedly has zero failure rate Cons: Standard model supposedly very unreliable Style: Darker colored plywood, ~3.5” x ~5” x ~6”, ‘fit and finish’ not as good as VaporBrothers In the past, there have been many complaints about the relibility of the standard VaporDoc model. According to the manufacturer, the new ceramic heating element has a zero failure rate, however, several sites have said that the new heater core is in fact the cause of the unreliability. Whatever, you decide for yourselves.
	VaporVisions Apparently no longer in buisness Cost: $140 (SSC), $170 (STH - not currently available) Warm Up Time: 2 – 3 minutes (SSC), ‘seconds’ (STH) Pros: Heating element claimed to be durable and fast (claimed failure rates: 5% (SSC), 0.5% (STH)) Style: White or black plastic with choice of one of five different colored lights, 4.5” x 5.75” x 7” Ok, I got major beef with these fuckers. They are unreliable and untrustworthy. Here's why: I recently tried to buy one of these, but they went on backorder. But the backorder really isn't why I had a problem with VaporVisions, backorders are normal. The problem was I ordered it a day before the backorder went into effect, and was told my vaporizer would be shipped by the end of the week. The next week, I was told the same thing. The next week, I was told the same thing again. At the begining of the fourth week, I requested a refund. They called me back, but the guy talked very quitely and all I could understand was that my refund could not be shipped for another week, and for some reason they insisted on sending a cashier's check instead of an electronic refund. I gave the refund three weeks, but it never came, so I started calling them and sending them emails. At first, they would respond with 'we sent the refund' and would actually pick up their phone, but after a week, they stoped responding to emails or answering phone messages, and stopped answering their phone. I had to end up calling my credit card fraud department (you can do this, people, if a merchant doesn't send you the product, or sends you a broken/different product. Look into the Fair Credit Billing Act.), which is currently looking into my claim - wish me luck. Burn in hell, VaporVisions. I'm out $180 if my credit card company doesn't come through. Last week I got an email from another unfortunarte individual who dealt witht these people - he said he sent in the check but never recieved the product, and VaporVisions isn't returning his calls/emails anymore.
	Silver Surfer Vaporizer Cost: $169.95, + $20 for better whip and mouth piece, + $80 for even better custom whip and mouthpiece Warm Up Time: ~3 minutes Pros: Wand is angled up rather than down like VaporBrothers, e.t.c, so loosly packed herbal products will not Pros: fall out when vaporizing Style: 1/5" aluminum casing with 1/4" green (not red like pictures) acryllic base, custom colored glass Style: temperature dial, heater cover, and (if you pay extra for it) wand and mouth piece Note: Each Silver Surfer is unique. No two mouthpieces, wands, heater covers, or temperature knobs are the Note: same. Mouthpiece, wand, and heater covers are replaceable with ones of different colors and styles. Note: Available Aromatop allows users to vaporize essential oils into the air while vaporizing herbs Reliability Unknown a
	Vaporade Cost: $155 (Single), $235 (Double) Warm Up Time: est. 5 – 7 minutes Pros: Great looking hand piece and mouth piece, hands free operation Style: Finished red oak wooden box, 3.5” x 4” x 7” Reliability Unknown
	Vapolution Cost: $125 Warm Up Time: 4 - 5 minutes Pros: free car cigarette lighter adapter, on/off switch, two different sized bowls Style: Green shell Reliability Unknown
	VaporTech Cost: $150 Warm Up Time: 4 - 5 minutes Pros: On/off switch Cons: no temperature control Style (or lack of): White shell, 4.75” high, 4.5” diameter Reliability Unknown
	Vapureyes Cost: £99.99 (Single), £249.99 (Double) Warm Up Time: 'moments' Pros: Temperature is controlable by screwing bowl closer and further away from heat source, available car Pros: adapter and portable power supply, available in 110 and 240 volt models (double available only in 240), Pros: can probably be left on indefinately (since it's heat source is a halogen bulb, you should be able to leave Pros: it on just like a lamp and not worry about burning out a heating element), bulb should last 3,000 hours Style: Wooden base with glass jar screwed on top Note: This is in fact an indirect heating vaporizer. I was fooled by its appearance at first, but after a lengthy Note: debate with its manufacturer, I was convinced that the Vapureyes uses convection technology just like Note: the rest of the vaporizers in this section. Note: This is actually a very interesting vaporizer with a totally unique heat source. Fresh air passes by a Note: halogen bulb to heat up to the proper temperature, then flows through the herb to vaporize. The vapor Note: then flows into the jar and out through the hose Note:
	Eterra Cost: $122 (Tulip), $180 (Classic) Warm Up Time: 10 minutes (Tulip), 15 minutes (Classic) Pros: Can be left on indefinitely (?) Cons: Slow to heat up, awkward to use, no temperature control Style: Wooden cylinder (Classic), weird metal mesh and black plastic tulip shaped thing (Tulip)
	Aromazap Cost: $100 Warm Up Time: ~30 minutes Pros: Can be left on 24/7, free aromatherapy diffuser, available car adapter Cons: Slow to heat up, awkward to use, no temperature control Style: Wooden rectangular box with rounded corners, four different wood finishes
	Inavap Cost: $124 Warm Up Time: 30 minutes Pros: Claimed 30,000 hour life span, can be left on 24/7, available car adapter Cons: Slow to heat up, awkward to use, no temperature control Style: Plastic base with screw on Teflon top. Five color combinations. 11” high, 3” diameter
	Happy Vappy Cost: $199 Warm Up Time: 'minutes' Cons: Awkward to use, no temperature control Style: Blue plastic, 7 ” high, 3” diameter Very little known about this vaporizer
	Vapir Cost: $200 (Corded), $300 (Cordless) Warm Up Time: 15 – 20 minutes Pros: Idiot-proof (even you!), portable, digital temperature readout in fahrenheit or celsius, comes with small Pros: custom fit case, world adapter (100 - 240 volt) Cons: Gives weak hits Style: Plastic, orange or black (cordless), orange and black (corded), 11.75” high, 3” diameter Note: Cordless model lasts 25 minutes between charges
	Vapir One Cost: $129.99, +$29.99 Bag Attachment Warm Up Time: unspecified Pros: Idiot-proof (even you!), three fan speeds, Key lock for 'authorized usage only' (why?), optional bag (like Pros: the one with the Volcano), digital back lit temperature readout in fahrenheit or celsius, world adapter Pros: (100 - 240 volt) Style: Just look at the picture, that's all I know about it. Only available in black/silver Note: Only available in corded model, uses different heating element than the original Vapir which heats up Note: faster. Be cautious with this one, it might suck like the original Vapir h
	Volcano Cost: $500 - $700 Warm Up Time: Up to 6 minutes Pros: Supposedly the very best, ridiculously high tech for a smoking device, three year warranty, uses a Pros: balloon so you have complete control over how big and how long your hit is, probably the best built and Pros: most reliable, and, it’s German! Cons: Ridiculously high tech for a smoking device, so it is somewhat more complex than the others. Style: Metal cone with a black plastic base and a giant balloon on top

	Inspector Vapors Cost: $39.99 - $49.99 (Bowl), $99.99 (with heat gun), $169.99 (with waterpipe), $299.99 (kit with case) Warm Up Time: seconds Pros: everything you need in a handy, durable carrying case (Kit), provides some of the best hits Cons: requires assembly, lots of stuff to carry around Style: A waterpipe with an industrial hairdryer sticking out of it
	Vriptech Cost: $49.99 (Bowl), $129.99 (Valloon), $499.99 (kit with case) Warm Up Time: seconds Pros: everything you need in a handy, durable carrying case (Kit) , provides some of the best hits Cons: requires assembly, lots of stuff to carry around Style: A waterpipe with an industrial hairdryer sticking out of it Note: the Valloon is an adapter that attaches to a heat gun and inflates a Volcano type balloon with vapor
	Volatizer Cost: $229.95 (M1), $199.95 (M2), $50 (flask assembly) Warm Up Time: 10 – 20 seconds Pros: Small handy carrying case (not for flask) Cons: many parts, lots of assembly required, looks like something from chemistry class, no temp control Style: Erlenmeyer Flask with a custom made heat gun Note: In order to work, you need to buy the M1 or the M2 and the flask assembly. You should be able to Note: substitute the flask assembly for your own waterpipe. Very little known about this vaporizer
	Ultimate Vaporizer Cost: $85 (vaporizer), +$15 bag attachment, +$10 hemp hose, +$100 heat gun Warm Up Time: seconds Pros: very attractive, good value Style: a waterpipe with an industrial hairdryer sticking out of it Note: the ‘vaporizer’ is a mid-sized water pipe with a heat gun attachment and hose. The bag attachment is Note: like the Volcano's Very little known about this vaporizer