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Introduction

Hey guys, it’s sneaky Pete here, and today I want to show you a quick look at the Hippie Pipe.

Normally, I wouldn’t do a review video on a vaporizer like this, as I try to focus on the products I actually like and would recommend to people, but I’ve had a lot of people ask about this one so I want to tell you guys about my experience with it.

Also, I find the naming a bit weird, if something is a vape I would definitely not want to be referring to it as a pipe as that confuses people, but after spending some time with this I think I might know why they called it a pipe instead a vaporizer and that’s because you’re going to combust a lot while you try and learn it. 

Unboxing

In terms of instructions it is really lacking, all you get is this little dark brown piece of paper with black text on it. It’s really hard to read if you’re not under good lighting, a common theme with this vape, and you have to catch the sunlight on the text to really see it.

I don’t think this is a particularly easy to use vaporizer, so it really could benefit from a proper instruction manual, or alternatively, a solid instructional video on their site.

Design/Size/Weight

Immediately when you look at the device it is reminiscent of a DynaVap. It is similar in terms of the diameter and it is only slightly taller. It’s nice and light like a DynaVap as well.

There are a number of materials being used here, this single vaporizer features wood, carbon fiber, as well as stainless steel and I think it has a cool look, they’ve created a different look and feel within that familiar shape comparably to the DynaVap.

Loading…

The loading system is probably my favourite part on this vaporizer. It has a spring-loaded mouthpiece which extends to reveal your bowl. I really like this! I think it’s smart and it makes it super easy to load, though I do wonder how it will get gummed up over time.

How does it Work?

Rather than using a temperature indicating click that is both audible and tactile like with DynaVap, this vaporizer uses this little indicator window to let you know when it is at temperature, a purely visual vaporizer.

As you heat the device, the oven will warm up, and when it reaches what it says is 356°F, which I would vehemently disagree with, then this black piece of metal moves out-of-the-way to reveal the chrome underneath it. 

In theory, this is a great system and having an analogue vaporizer with a purely visual indicator is great for anybody who is hard of hearing, but it works better in this case in theory than in practice.

I think the choice of a black indicator was poorly made. Black is one of the worst colours of metal that they could have selected. You have a cylindrical device that is made out of shiny metal, with an indented section that is offset a few millimeters below the outer section, just begging for shadows along its surface. This makes it really difficult to tell if the appropriate temperature is reached. Also, the strip itself moves too slowly and the waiting can be enough to completely roast your load.

Heat up time / Cool down time

This is a bit of a tough question to answer as they don’t give you any sort of guidance. Should I be heating the very tip like they do in their videos on their site or rotating it like DynaVap and heating the oven? Well, I tried it with both methods so you don’t have to.

I find that if you are heating this up only on the very end like in their videos, it takes a crazy amount of time for the indicator switch to move. Butane torches put out a tremendous amount of heat, and if this hasn’t indicated it in 30 seconds, you know that oven is going to be totally combusted.

When I try to heat it more like a DynaVap and rotate it and heat both the tip and the oven, I definitely get a more even vape and a quicker indicator switch, but it’s sort of feels like you’re cheating it to try and turn the indicator and you’re really vaping more by feel and knowledge of how a vaporizer works than how they designed their product.

In terms of the cool-down, it takes significant time for the visual indicator to reset before you can re-use the device properly. It seems like the oven has to come down to room temperature for the piece of metal to return; I found that to take 3 to 5 minutes.

Dry Herb Session

After I went ahead and have a few hits, using a fresh oven pack for each hit, I could assess just how well it’s vaporizing. For this first, hit I did it exactly how they show it in their video and I only heat the tip with a double flame torch until the indicator moves to reveal chrome and we can see how that works.

Next, I used more of a DynaVap technique with that dual flame lighter, and finally I’m going to do more of a DynaVap technique with a single flame lighter and compare the results. In early usage, I found I was getting way better results with the DynaVap technique which is why I’m going to focus on that as I want to try to demonstrate this working as best as I can get it.

Strong Points

I like the loading system, adding in the spring is cool and I think it’s a unique but useful system they’ve designed, and the overall feel of the device is good.

I really like the concept, sometimes people don’t think about the vaporists out there who have certain challenges or limitations that make it hard to use other devices, so I like to see more accessibility added with something like a visual analogue vaporizer.

Needs Improvement

Honestly the entire vaporizer really needs improvement. This feels like a proof of concept or a beta product that definitely has some potential, but unless my device is malfunctioning this one just does not vaporize properly.

It is seriously lacking on instructions on how to use it properly, and whatever heating method I’m trying I’m just not getting the stellar results, I haven’t had one excellently vaped bowl, there’s always been at least some black spots or total combustion.

The indicator strip is incredibly hard to see, with it being in a cave of shadows and reflections, any other colour would have made this vaporizer easier to use. I also don’t think the strips retract fast enough, as soon as it’s at temperature that thing should be gone or they should tell you to start inhaling as soon as that starts moving.

I can’t even really get into efficiency or flavour, as it’s just not producing acceptable results for me to judge these things.

Overall Thoughts

Generally, this one is a real swing and a miss. The idea is here and with better execution they could have themselves a real DynaVap competitor, but as this stands this isn’t one that I could recommend to anybody and I have not been able to get good results with any consistency.

I feel like they need to take this one back to the drawing board, really improve on how the temperature indicator operates and also how easy it is to see that.

If they make an improved version and fix some of these issues I will be happy to try it again optimistically, as it currently stands though this isn’t going to be one that I’m going to use again and it will be banished to the annals of the dusty unused vaporizers in my collection.

Head to vapenorth.ca and sneakypetestore.com to find all of the other products you see me go over in my videos.

Thanks so much for watching,

KIG KIS