SMK Flagship Mechanical Mod

Guess what everybody? During my hiatus, I actually got a job WITH www.mtbakervapor! As such, I am obligated to tell you that the opinions in this interview are just that - my opinions - and are in no way, shape, or form endorsed, paid for, or sustained in any way, monetarily or otherwise. Let's get to it!

Let's take a quick peak at the manufacturer specifications..

Features:

• Floating Copper Firing Pin
• Copper Bottom Pin
• Adjustable Delrin Button Housing
• +/- .15 Voltage Drop @ 1 OHM
• 4 Vent Holes in Button Housing
• All Pieces are Interchangeable
• 18650 Tube 
• 22mm Diameter

Fairly rudimentary, no? Marketed as just that, the SMK Flagship is a mechanical mod devoid of bells and whistles - it has no fancy engraving, it does not stray from the tubular design, and it is not touted as the latest and greatest. Rather, the SMK rests on it's haunches knowing that it simply...works. 

It works well.

This authentic mod sports a made in america design, available in copper or stainless, and has the ultra affordable price tag of just 99.99 - showing that you can get quality material, artisan craftsmanship, and a functional device without sacrificing an arm and a leg. Let's go ahead and dive into what makes the Flagship rock.

Design

Nothing is out of the ordinary here. The Flagship sports the tried and true tubular design, with no glaring deviations - while it may do little to set itself aside from the pack, and outside of very few devices, what mechanical really does these days? In fact, I think the elegance of the Flagship is relative to it's ultra simplicity - it does not need an engraving, or a definitive stamp to call it's own. The nature of it's design lends to it's affordability and class, and I'm a big fan.

The switch itself, however, delightfully functional, and dare I say innovative in it's own right. Within the delrin housing are ball bearings, that lend a hand to not only conductivity, but rigidity of the switch. I won't lie, for 99.99, I halfheartedly anticipated a nightmare of a switch, the pitfall of many otherwise stellar mechanical mods. Surprisingly enough, it is without a doubt the smoothest switch I've dealt with to date - it has a moderate to low amount of throw, requires a firm press, and has yet to catch, stick, or otherwise fire on it's own. The ball bearings keep the switch from firing under it's weight or otherwise, and affords more peace of mind than the Manhattan/Fuhattan series type switches, utilizing opposing magnets. Good mods in their own right, but I've had more than a few auto-fire out of the blue...

Not with the Flagship.

Atop the superior switch design, the Flagship also sports solid copper contacts for ultra conductivity..and man, does this thing hit like a freaking train. It should be called the SMK Steam Engine 9000, or something (and that is why I'll probably never find myself in the marketing and development field..) The individual serialization is also a nice touch.

Have I mentioned the threads yet? No? Talk about smoother than a knife through butter. The craftsmanship and machining of the Flagship is impeccable, in fact, extraordinarily so ... I thought I was holding a mod worth it's weight in gold. In all seriousness, though, for the price, color me impressed. The switch and top cap slide off with ease, and thread back on just as well. Nothing crunched, nothing cross threaded. Upon further inspection, I could spot not one machining irregularity - they were crisp, smooth, and beyond what I'd expect from a device in this price range.

The top cap sports an adjustable copper pin, again to strengthen the conductivity between the atomizer and the mod itself. I'm a big fan of copper contacts, and it should be no surprise at this point. They're practically an industry standard, no?

Performance

After such a beaming review, you've got to be wondering, just how well does this baby work? 

It hits like Mike Tyson.

With it's all copper design, top to bottom, it should be no surprise that the Flagship is a powerhouse of the highest caliber, able to keep up with the best of the best. I built my mutation V3 exceptionally low for the Flagship, in hopes of putting it through it's paces. With a freshly charged VTC4, and my dual coil twisted build coming in at .02, I was ready to go.

This thing simply fires on all cylinders. If you're looking to produce some serious vapor, look no further. This thing should be your ace in the hole at your local cloud comp, your rig when you want to emulate a techno show in your living room, hell I swear it put off so much clouds I made rain. Simply put, I can't explain it any further. It works, and it works well. With an ultra low voltage drop, and a top to bottom copper design, look no further if you're eager to step into the authentic world and chase those glorious, glorious clouds... (unless cloudchasing isn't your thing, which is totally fine) because this can rock any setup you throw it's way. It is one of the very few mods that pose at least sustainable functionality when paired with the Atlantis v2, Subtank, or even a higher ohm dripper for all you flavor chasers.

Simply put, for 99.99, I was absolutely blown away by every facet of this device. From the top-to-bottom stellar construction, functionality, and ultra minimal design, the SMK Flagship should be the gold standard that all authentic mods are held to, in both design and price. Functionality should not be at a premium, nor should design - SMK has shown us that it is possible to get the best of both worlds on a budget. 

The Flagship was provided by www.mtbakervapor.com for review purposes. This review was not paid for, or otherwise influenced in any way, monetarily or otherwise. Everything you read are my expressed opinions, endorsed in no way, shape, or form by www.mtbakervapor.com or any of it's associates.

Vulcan RDA

Hey everybody! Today, I'll be doing a review on the Vulcan RDA, thanks to MtBakerVapor. It is my first shot at an authentic RDA....does it stack up the onslaught of clones? Let's dig in and find out.

Specifications

Features:

• Single solid piece base construction
• Revolutionary "under-passing" juice well
• A truly functional bottom-base heat sink
• Innovative AFC side walls
• Double Laser-cut vent holes
• Red copper bottom contact pin/screw
• PEEK insulators
• 3-sets post screws out of the box
• Plastic casing doubles as an atty stand
• 22mm Base

Right off the bat, the specifications seem to put this bad boy into perspective - it features a solid base construction, the "under passing" juice well, heat sinks, PEEK insulators, and it all clocks in at under 60.00 - for an authentic. Now, I know that word gives some people the shivers, because lets face it, the clone market is exploding on what appears to be a daily basis now...however, if you build it, they will come, and the authentic market will not falter anytime soon!

To begin, let's break down the packaging.

 Packaging/Presentation

This has to be, hands down, the greatest device packaging I've ever witnessed. While it does not come in a lavish keepsake-esque box, or bursting at the seams with confetti, it is elegant and eye catching, relishing in it's authentic goodness, yet simplistic enough to not be overbearing. The Vulcan itself comes in a large dripper sized piece of plastic, with two heat sinks - bottom and top. Everything is packaged neatly within this large heat sink container, and it comes off rather stylishly. It is nice to see this, rather than the same old box. At least it's something cool to keep around, and a nice place to store the vulcan when not in use.

Build Quality

An authentic device, in my opinion, poses a few expectations. First and foremost, I do not want "mystery metal." We see this commonly in fasttech products, and the cheaper spectrum of clone devices - brass, copper, "stainless"....etc. I am not as active in the community as I once was, but I still remember the lead/brass debacle, and as such, I absolutely refuse to vape anything constructed out of brass, plated with brass, or copper.

Thankfully, the Vulcan appears to be one solid chunk of stainless steel! The deck itself is carved out of a nice piece of stainless, and it is sleek, and sexy. It sports a three-post design, with the negative posts milled into the deck. While I am a big fan of the four-post deck, the old standard has held it's age, and remains easier as ever to build on. The posts are rigid, as are the thumb screws - though they take a bit to get used to, hex screws are

also included, and interchangeable I was a bit skeptic about the thumb screws, fearing that they wouldn't tighten down well enough - well, fear not, because these suckers screw down very tightly!

The juice well is surprisingly deep, and holds a relatively large amount of liquid - I'd put it on near magma levels, at least, considering what I use daily - the doge, mutation, stillare, and mutation...neither of which offer truly deep juice wells. It's a nice change of pace to squeeze just a bit more juice out of my RDA.

The sleeve itself is nice and thick, with the logo carved into the steel, of which the "V" is the airflow. The top cap features a heatsink, and the conical design leads to an elegant looking RDA. No drip tip is included, but it will accept your standard 510. 

It has a copper pin, ensure maximum conductivity, and it has fired on every device it was thrown at, which is always a good sign. Lately I've been fighting finicky 510 pins, notably on my Herkales, so it's a nice change of pace not having to constantly adjust something.

Overall, it is a remarkably well built device. At 59.99, I'd wager it's one of the best bang for your buck authentic RDAs. You get a solidly constructed piece, with thick, sturdy posts, heat sinks, a large juice well, and a rather appealing looking device. While that's all amazing, you must be wondering...how does it vape?

Performance

To be perfectly honest, if you are looking to chase clouds, the Vulcan simply isn't built for that.  The conical design, paired with the relatively restricted airflow, affords an entirely different experience. I found that building in the lower ohm range, around .2-.5, led to very warm, thick vapor. Compared to the mutation, for instance, the same build would be relatively cool, with an exponentially larger amount of vapor. This is due to the restricted airflow - which isn't inherently a bad thing. If you know what to expect from the Vulcan, you will know that it is more a flavor-chasing device. While it does have the

capability to produce a very respectable amount of vapor, you aren't going to be fogging up the room with this - though, I'm not sure why you'd try, and it would be some intensely hot vapor!

With the higher ohm builds, on a box mod, I was able to get some seriously great tasting flavor out of this device. The heat sinks really cool the vapor down, keeping it from overtaking the flavor - while some think heat and flavor go hand and hand, such is not the case when you don't have a large amount of airflow.

Overall, the Vulcan is exceptionally versatile - it can chuck out a respectable amount of vapor, but not ridiculous clouds - though theoretically you can, I wouldn't agree with you that it is a pleasurable vape - it simply gets too warm, too fast. I found the sweet spot on a mech to be about .5, dual coils. On a box, I was running it at about .8, around 50-60 watts. If you're looking for an affordable,, exceptionally well made, and versatile device, you cannot go wrong with the Vulcan RDA.