Steampugs
Vendor
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2016
- Messages
- 716
Vapor Storm Trip TC Mod
And here we are.....my final review before I go on my jolly-bobs to immerse myself in overcrowded pools, screaming children, sunbed wars, 3am football chants keeping me awake and Steve & Tracy (whoever they are) deciding that 4 o'clock in the morning is a perfectly acceptable time to discuss their relationship problems in a loud and incoherent manner in the room next door, just before they get down to some angry and tumultuous drunken monkey hate sex....
Can't wait.
But in the meantime, I have some jobs to do in preparation, one of which is right up there on the list of highly important things you simply can't afford to forget, just below 'don't forget to trim your testicular sideburns', and just above 'don't leave your kids in the car in the airport car park' .......and that is of course, curating the perfect travel vape kit....although my other half may disagree with my priorities...
Regardless, if you read my last review where I chose the all important stealth kit for those moments when I absolutely will not be vaping Mrs Airline Stewardess....then you will know that this is the final choice to make...is it a gamble?...Yes - absolutely, you simply cannot make these choices lightly, get it wrong and you’re thousands of miles away from the safety of your vape arsenal. But the secret to this risky endeavor?.... Simple....take a few spares.....
But this can of course run its own risks - raise an eyebrow at check in and you could well find yourself on the wrong end of Mr Jobsworth the aviation security officer, and his unrelenting need to ruin your life, your holiday, your vape collection....and if you're really lucky....your anal virginity...
SO.....the final piece to my puzzle, the lightweight device to carry around with me on my jaunts through the streets of Oludeniz, or indeed one of the many planned excursions to places that would never pass any kind of safety inspection in countries that care whether or not your children actually survive....needs to be small, lightweight, powerful and robust. Not only that, you also need to not care too much about it should you lose it, break it, or throw it at some kind of wasp/rottweiler hybrid during an unnecessarily vicious and unprovoked death attack..
And I think this device just might fit the bill. Shall we?
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Welcome once again my juicy jet-setting gents and gentesses.....back again so soon with more of the same, part 2 nonetheless in my search for the perfect travel vape arsenal. All choices have indeed been made and THIS....is the final piece in my juicy jolly-bobs jigsaw - the lightweight, pocket friendly travel companion.
Now, this is more of a gamble than usual, purely because it's from such a little known company and is thus far quite untested in terms of longevity and durability. However....I have been using this thing for close to a month now and believe me I have not been kind, in fact...where I would usually treat my daily 'near and dear' rotation with utter respect, almost as much as my own children.....this one would likely be taken off me by social services...the ginger stepchild so to speak...
It's harsh and tough love, yet no less necessary. I need to know that this thing will not let me down, especially in a country where every man, woman, child, family domestic pet, and more than likely one or two house plants.....smoke like a chimney. I'm not saying I'd be tempted, but I do know what a weak ass feeble mind I have after a skin full of all-inclusive lager, and after all, it was Turkey that made me fall off the bandwagon 5 years ago when that evil voice in my head perked it's sadistic ears up, whilst sat on the balcony.....drunk.....again...
Maybe it's the drinking that's the problem....I've literally just realised that....hmmm.
So, let's get into it because...well....it's about fucking time I did, let's face it. So, let me introduce you to something that I have no doubt...the vast majority of you have never even clapped eyes on, courtesy of my long time sponsors/sufferers Heavengifts , I give to you...the Vapor Storm Trip TC Mod....
Is it the color Gray or the colour Grey....hmm..it's a thinker...but then, am I looking for mods to put in my suitcase...or a mod that looks like a suitcase....OR...am I taking this mod just in case, or am I taking it in my pocket......what the fuck am I even talking about...?
The Lowdown
Okay, before I start... you may or may not have heard of Vapor Storm before. They made their name either last year or the year before (I can't quite remember) with the ultra lightweight plastic 'Puma' mod. This thing was surprisingly popular, partly due to the fact that it weighed less than a midges fart, and partly due to the quite frankly ridiculous amount of bizarre colour schemes it came in, let me jog your memory...
Nowww you remember it! I'll give them this much though, these guys have a very vivid imagination, and the same can be said this time around too, seeing as the Trip mod itself....is actually designed to look like a suitcase. Random maybe, but as I was looking for a mod to take on holiday, it almost seemed to choose itself.
The Vapor Storm Trip is a 200w device that is powered by two 18650's and is all kept in check by their own proprietary chip, which displays all its information in a very 'DNA'esque fashion on a front facing 0.91" OLED screen.
It has all the usual buttons in all the usual places and a micro USB for firmware updates and on-board charging - not that I recommend you do that. All buttons are alloy, have no rattle, and are satisfyingly clicky.
It has modes for VW, Temp control (TCR values adjustable) for Ti, Ni & SS, Bypass mode, Curve mode and two memory settings. Incidentally, they claim that Bypass mode can give 220w.....but then...they claim a lot of things...we'll come to that.
Up on the top we have a nicely bolted down and centered 510 plate complete with spring loaded pin which will take up to a 25mm top, anything more will start to overhang.
It is constructed completely out of a solid frame of lightweight aviation alloy, sandwiched between two side plates of the same material...
One of which is obviously the battery door, which is held in place by some impressively chunky magnets...
And all nice and tidy it is in there too.
That's pretty much the Trip in a nutshell. As you can see, on the surface it's a very generic alloy box mod, it does what many box mods have done before it and it does it in a very simple and easy to navigate fashion; 5 clicks on and off, up and down buttons together to enter the menu, and up and down to...do your upping and downing...(?)....which, slightly oddly, it does in 0.1w increments up to 80w, and 1w increments thereafter. Thankfully I'm rarely under 80w, so that suits me perfectly.
However....
Here's where it starts to get interesting. I say interesting, I mean mind numbingly dull as fuck, but....still interesting...(??)
Why have I chosen this particular device to accompany me thousands of miles away from my vape arsenal when I've clearly got a plethora of already proven high quality devices to choose from? Well firstly, this thing is reeeeally light at only 90 g, and light is good for a dual battery device - especially when you're on the move. But couple that with making it small and compact, and you're already onto a winner for the intended job at hand, and it is very small too. Vapor Storm claim it's the smallest dual battery mod in the world...something that as far as I was concerned was taken by my old travel buddy the Vaporesso Revenger.....so I got all uppity....and technical...I know right...get me....I did math and everything..
So, the Trip is shorter than the Revenger and it's also wider, yet thinner. But if you measure the volume of each mod then it tells a different story than Vapor Storm claim, as it turns out the Trip’s volume is 117.04 cu cm, yet the Revenger sneaks in at 112.14 cu cm. I mean it's not by much, and they both have rounded edges so it's kinda hard to gauge with any real accuracy, but I'm siding with my boy the Revenger....
Their next claim is an odd one, and not one that (as far as I can remember) has been touted by any other manufacturer before.
Anyone who is in to their design, or art, or advertising, or anything where the appearance of something is paramount, will already be aware of something called the 'Golden Ratio'. Vapor Storm claim that the trip has been made with this holy grail of appearance in mind, but what is it?...Well...would you be surprised to know that you're probably already a fan, and you don't even know it? Here's the actual explanation....
'The Golden Ratio (also known as the Golden Section, Golden Mean, Divine Proportion or Greek letter Phi) exists when a line is divided into two parts and the longer part (a) divided by the smaller part (b) is equal to the sum of (a) + (b) divided by (a), which both equal 1.618.'
But..to break it down to brass tacks....which is still a fucking difficult thing to explain....the Golden ratio is a mathematical solution to excellent aesthetics. When this ratio is applied to anything in terms of design or art then...you subconsciously like to look at it; the Pepsi logo has it, the Twitter logo has it....even the fucking Mona Lisa has it, your own body has it numerous times over and apparently....so does the Vapor Storm Trip. However....Vapor Storm claims that the Golden Ratio is 0.618.....but it's actually 1.618......or, if you're gonna be a dick about it, it's 1:0.618 depending on who you ask....so....does the Vapor Storm Trip have it?.....Well, how the fuck do I know?...Jesus.
But I have to admit....if you can put aside the fact that it's designed to look like a suitcase...it's actually quite nice to look at. It's also nice to feel too....probably because of those ridges...
which make it really grippy. Because it's so small it just has a real natural hand feel to it, but with it also being so slim, it's very pocket friendly....noooow you're gettin’ it.....I'm not as green as I am cabbage lookin’...