Product Review: Atmos Raw Portable Vaporizer

(from vapestore.com)

To be fair, the Atmos Raw is the first portable vaporizer I have tried. I have little to compare it to besides standard vaporizers, but I believe it’s safe to say I should expect less from a small, pen size device than a fancy digital glass-on-glass vaporizer.

That being said, the Atmos Raw Portable Vaporizer definitely does the job, but don’t expect so much from it.

Pros:

• Portable and discrete
• Great for concentrates, oils, and waxes
• Low maintenance, easy to clean
• Long battery life

Cons:

• Expensive – It goes for as low as ~$100 on Ebay and Amazon, but ~$200 on vaporizer websites.
• Not ideal temperature; can burn material
• Small chamber, only allows 2-4 hits
• Gets dirty fast

With the touch of one button, this battery-powered pen cooks the herb into a nice, thick vapor for about 4 hits. Although the taste of your herb will not be perfectly preserved, it delivers a satisfactory flavor that only true snobs would complain over.

My favorite use for the Atmos Raw vaporizer is vaporizing concentrates like oil and wax. The small amount of herb placed in the chamber will expire quickly, so it’s nice to have something you only need a few hits of. Yes, it’s possible to enjoy concentrates in this portable vaporizer; just remove the spring, which normally serves to hold your herb in place. Now keep the pen vertical, hunch over, and pull. Hold the button for about 2 seconds and keep inhaling until your lungs are full.

At first, it may not seem like you’re drawing in any vapor. Also, I’m reading a lot of reviews complaining about the pen’s default settings. I haven’t noticed many of these problems with my Atmos Raw, but it certainly isn’t ideal for vaporizing herb. The small chamber only allows you a hit or two, and any more would require you open it and mix it up. It does burn it a bit, so again: don’t expect a perfect taste.

I’d recommend this to anyone who needs a discrete and adequate portable piece, or those who use a lot of concentrates. Otherwise, it’s kind of an unnecessary expense.

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Choosing the Best Piece: Basic Pipe

Patsy (from icnetwork.co.uk)

If you’re like me, your piece is a comrade, a loyal companion, your Patsy. When I bought my first bong, Lexar Thunderball Whitlock, the nice lady at the smoke shop drew a baby face on the brown bags that concealed my paraphernalia. She must have known what it was like to hold a newborn bong. In time, you begin to think maybe naming it is a bit much. But then your roommate kicks it over and you can’t tell if the resonating crack is from the downstem or your heart. Still too poetic, but you grow to love your fellowship, and choosing the right members is important.

But picking the right piece can be a tricky thing if you don’t know your options. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and prices. So before you hand over $120 for a piece of shit, educate yourself a bit about what’s out there.

This is the first post in a series of Piece Guides, where you’ll get to know these babies inside and out. I’ll bust out my Mother Goose and provide you with healthy alternatives. But I understand apple slices aren’t for everyone, so we’ll talk about the lung busters too.

The Pipe

Let’s get started with the most primeval modes of consuming marijuana: the pipe. This piece is characterized by its simplicity, making it the most MacGyver-able of all pipe breeds; soda cans, fruits, toilet paper rolls, &c…with enough skill, simple household objects can be quickly converted into crappy pipes. Some get pretty hefty and large, but most are conveniently fun-sized, making them great for travel, hiking, and really anywhere that isn’t home.

Parts of the Pipe
A) Grip/Stabilizer – No one really knows the intended purpose of this little side ball, but it makes ergonomic sense that this is a fancy thumb rest. Others hypothesize it helps prevent the pipe from rolling away to its demise. Also fair. Whatever reason it was put there, its function is minimal.

B) Mouthpiece – You guessed it: this is where you place your face and inhale.

C) “Carb” or (Carburator) – Thumb is placed here while the marijuana burns, then it is removed to release the smoke from the chamber into your body. When left uncovered, the marijuana will essentially stop burning. Think of it as an off/off switch.

D) Bowl – The sacred herb hearth. Put your cannabis here and flame it.

Experience

If you care about the taste of your weed, a standard pipe isn’t your optimal choice. The smoke it produces is very harsh, and there are no filters between the pipe and your lungs. So beginners: be prepared for a scorched taste and a coughing fit. But once that’s over with, you’ll have a nice, concentrated high in your noggin.

Freestyle, Kravin Glass

Cost

Quite possibly the #1 reason to buy a pipe: they’re cheap! Walk into any hole-in-the-wall smoke shop and you’ll find a pipe you can afford. Hell, you don’t even need money; just cut some holes in an apple. Your creativity will pay off in no time. But many of the high-end shops with jaw-dropping glasswork (and bullshit “specialty brands”) will have you pay quite a bit for even a basic pipe.

But that’s the nice thing about pipes. You can pay nothing, a couple hundred dollars, or anywhere in between. The pipe in the diagram above was purchased at a small smoke shop for $8.00, for example. Not to be confused with this one to the right, which is not $8.00 at all.

Health

They may be cheap as shit, but heavy smokers end up paying for it with their respiratory health. Unlike bongs and water pipes which use water to cool and filter smoke, pipes make you inhale just about everything, including the occasional Scooby Snacks (bits of charred pot). Pipes are one step above paper-wrapped such as blunts and joints, because at least there are no additional byproducts with glass.

While pipes are convenient and portable, they shouldn’t be your daily go-to guys. Invest in something better for at home, and definitely keep a basic pipe off-hand for travel or as backup in case (God forbid) your bong breaks.

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