Pax Era Review – and First Impressions

Pax Labs and the line of products that hold their name have often been referred to as the “Apple of Vaporizers”. It is easy to see how so many can make that presumption when they take a look and see the similarities between the two brands. Like Apple, Pax has a very simple and elegant packaging style, groundbreaking marketing that sets them apart from their competition, and a dedication to tech and design with all of their Products. The Pax Era is their newest presentation of just that.

Right out of the Apple-esque packaging you notice the quality and care that was put into the product. Much like unboxing a smartphone, I find myself giddy with excitement. The package includes just the Pax Era unit and a USB charger for the battery base. The battery base packs 240mah of power and Bluetooth connectivity to pair with the Pax app…. But we’ll come back to that part later. Its long rectangular shape seemed as though it might have been awkward to hold or handle but I find quite the opposite. It’s sleek, slim, and simple in its design and fits perfectly in your hands and between your fingers. From the packaging to the battery base, and down to the Pods there is a ringing sense of care quality and design that was put into each item.

Pods

Pax Era Pods and flavors

The Pax Era is a “Pod” based oil vaporizer. This means that the battery base of the Pax Era fits special Pax Era Pods that are pre-filled with Cannabis oil of different strains available from your favorite Cannabis brands. The Pax Era is currently only available for purchase in the States which have all passed recreational marijuana laws.

In these various states and regions, Pax has partnered with local manufacturers of Cannabis oil that pre-fill these Pods to have them available at select dispensaries. Some of the notable brands include The Lab Colorado, Bloom Farms, Matrix NV, Guild Extracts, Legion of Bloom, and Blue Coast Farms. Each pod is filled with 0.5g of terpene-rich cannabis oil. While this may not sound like much it should deliver between 300-500 puffs depending on the length of the inhale. The Pods come in 4 strain types; Sativa, Indica, Hybrid, and CBD giving users a variety of effects and flavors to choose from.

First Session

Getting started with the Era is pretty simple. You simply insert the pod into the battery base. Once in place, the LED “X” on the front of the Era will flash white indicating the Pod and battery are connected and ready to use. I am based out of Las Vegas, NV, and was able to acquire a Matrix NV Pax Era pod to test this out for the first session. Because we didn’t want the session to be influenced by either a Sativa or Indica experience I picked up a Hybrid pod for these first sessions. The Matrix NV hybrid pod is filled with their Gorilla Glue #4 cannabis oil which is also one of my favorite strains.

You can check your charge level on the battery by shaking the Era back and forth. Like its big brother the Pax the four pedals on the front of the Era will illuminate indicating the battery level from 1-4. The Battery Base also has different wattage settings that will allow the pod to vape your oils at different temperatures. You can change the temperature using either the Pax app or there is a little Morse code-like procedure that you can use to change the settings. To toggle the settings you first shake the Era to display the battery, then you remove the pod which will illuminate the LED on the front of the Era, and rotate in a clockwise motion. When the lights illuminate your desired setting re-insert the pod and the Era will flash your chosen setting.  

Era Device: Temperature Settings+

Fahrenheit: Low: 520, Med-Low: 610, Med-High: 700, High: 790

Celcius: Low: 270ºC, Med-Low: 320, Med-High: 370, High: 420

First inhale……. “Dude! Are you serious?”. First words come from my mouth as I exhale the delicious vapor. Inhale again……”Duuuuuude”. Inhale again…. Ok, that’s enough lol. I kind of can’t believe the flavor I am getting from this vape. In my experience with Cannabis oil vapes, there is always a certain unwanted flavor that I get when using them. Sometimes it’s a strange burning flavor that is likely from the wick and coil of the cartridge, other times it is the flavor of the solvents used to make the oil. There is none of that present here with the Pax Era. It’s likely that to make sure not to tarnish the quality that Pax customers are used to getting from their products that Pax holds a very strict standard to both the solvents used in the oil-making process but also the quality of the Cannabis that is used in the first place to make it. From their selection of extractors is it clear that they chose partners who are known for providing quality buds and extracts on a mass scale to meet demand.  

First Week

This little guy is dangerous, or at least it is for someone like me hahaha. I took this thing absolutely everywhere. I used it in a movie theater granted I was the only person in the viewing lol. I took it all up and down the Las Vegas strip, vaping quick little hits as I ducked in and out of shops, restaurants, and casinos. I used it at home, I used it at the office, I used it at the store, I used it gym (yes I’m that shameless), I used it at the bank, I used it in a box, I used it with a fox, I used it here and there, I’ll use it anywhere, I do like the Pax era Sam-I-am. All jokes aside you can take this thing anywhere.

After a week of use, I went through 2 whole pods and got started on my third. For those of you who are counting that is 600-1000 puffs. Most consumers would hear that and it would be considered an extreme amount of usage. Some might say that I have a problem. I would say if you don’t live a life that allows you to do whatever you want as much as you want then you’re the one with the problem my guy. I did need to charge it twice, I found that I got about halfway through each pod before needing to do so. I can imagine users that aren’t as indulgent as I am may find they only need to charge once a week. Charge time is very quick usually – done in less than an hour.  

The App

Like the Pax3 the Pax Era is equipped with Bluetooth connectivity to access the all-new Pax app. The app has very minimal impact on the Era as it is not really necessary to use the app for any of its main functions. Those main functions are battery indicator and turning on when you inhale. However, the app does bring you some interesting features and some that are maybe not so necessary. Temperature control is one of those unnecessary features, there aren’t a lot of variations in the effect of the cannabis oil with adjusting the temperature. The only thing that temp variation does with Cannabis oil is affect the vapor-to-flavor ratio. Hotter means more vapor less flavor, cooler means more flavorless vapor, pretty simple. Next is brightness adjustment. The Era only has 4 small LED pedals on the front that don’t really cast that much light to be needing a brightness adjustment. Also, the device is small enough that you could just cover it with your finger as you hit it but oh well, you have to make that app do something I guess.

The only features of the App connectivity and the Era that I enjoyed were first the Child lock and second their games. The child lock is a very interesting and innovative feature. The Pax Era activates with a simple inhale, if you are a parent and use this device to medicate this is very important to you. Chances are that your children will see you duck off to puff every now and again. Monkey see Monkey do when it comes to the case of children. Every little kid wants to be a grown-up like Mom and Dad even if it’s not good for them. The child lock ensures that little Thomas won’t become Tommy Chong until he’s in college. The Last feature is the games. While it might seem childish and unnecessary I’ve always admired and appreciated the games included with the Pax2, Pax3, and now the Era. My favorite is a new game that they have called PAXspin. Similar to “spin the bottle” you place the Pax Era in the middle of you and your friends. The LED pedals will rotate round and round and stop on one, the person sitting closest to the pedal can now take the Era and have a hit. Fun fun fun hahaha.

First Cleaning

I took off the empty pod from the battery. I walked over to the trash can. I threw away the old pod. I inserted a new pod into the battery. The End.

Verdict

A very welcome alternative to cannabis oil cartridges. The Majority of oil cartridges that I find at my local dispensaries are all mass-produced cheap carts that are sourced from questionable manufacturers. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought a cartridge and the coil burnt out on me before the oil was all finished. With both of the pods we finished we found consistent flavor and vapor until the pod was empty.  

The Era is Simple in its operation and cleaning. It is Sleek in its function and portability. Most of all it is Smart with its app connectivity and its design. I would recommend the Era to literally anyone and everyone who would like to consume cannabis oil on a regular, semi-regular, or even occasional basis. It will keep for long periods of time, holds a good charge, and delivers delicious potent vapor. Really no reason not to like this little device.

What are your thoughts?

Leave a comment below, and/or rate the Pax Era yourself.  We’d love to know what you think and hear your comments!

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Boundless CF710 Review – First Impressions and Unboxing

Yo dude – check out my new Vape Mod. Or at least that’s what I could tell people when first showing them my new CF 710 by Boundless. The external feel and design on this vape look like any mechanical vape mod out on the market solid aluminum tube with a nice drip tip at the end. However, this is not the douche flute that it appears to be (my apologies to anyone who uses an e-cig mod). The CF 710 is, in fact, an electric nectar collector which allows you to take dab hits in a straw-like fashion. Like the vape mods,  the aluminum body and powder-coated finish give it an industrial and durable feel. Not too much swagger or style is incorporated with this vape, however, its simplicity might be by design. The packing is nice on the outside but not too impressive on the inside. Outside it’s a nice weight of cardboard with a full graphic wrap with branding a picture of the CF 710. The inside You first open up to the CF 710 unit sitting in a black foam underneath is a very thin paperlike box that holds the few included accessories; (1) Glass Concentrate jar, (1) Dab tool, (1) Ceramic atomizer, (1) Quartz Atomizer, and a USB cable to charge. At such a low MSRP of $129 the CF 710 competes with almost any vape pen on the market as far as cost we will see how it stacks up after our first session.

First Session

Boundless CF710 Review – Instructions

The CF 710 as I mentioned before is an aluminum cylinder with a drip tip at the top of the vape. The drip tip is the mouthpiece and inhalation point on the device. At the base of the device, you will find a cap that you can unscrew revealing one of the atomizer tips of your choice for our first sesh we are going to start with the quartz tip. With the base removed it now looks like a traditional nectar collector a little bit.

The UI of the CF 710 is almost as simple as its design. Like any wax pen, 5 clicks to power the device on and off, once it is on – press and hold the button for as long as 15 seconds for your hit with a single button to let you know what is going on. The button and light are both located near the tip of the device the light on the opposite side of the button above the USB port. Now that we have the cap off, tip installed, and powered on we are ready to dab. ***WARNING*** Before you take your dab make sure to put your concentrate on a heat-safe surface to avoid burning and inhaling any harsh chemicals or damaging your device, my recommended surface would be glass. The action of taking a dab with this device is to place the hot tip of the device directly onto your wax concentrate and inhale like a straw if you place your dabs on a questionable surface like wax paper or certain silicones you risk burning that surface and inhaling the other fumes that come off it. Glass is a heat resistant and clean surface that is safe for this device.   

Now with that all said and done I’m diving in for the full experience on this one I hit the button and dip right in the middle of my wax for a full 15-second hit. Press, hold, dip, and inhale! First hit annnnnndddd…. the tip didn’t seem to be hot enough until about 5-7 secs in the hit leaving me with minimal vapor. The first hit also tasted a little funky which is typical of coil-driven wax devices. I feel like I should have known better given my experience with wax pens but hey sometimes you have to be reminded the hard way. Now for my next hit, now that the coil and atomizer were seasoned I decided to prime the coil for 5secs to warm up the coil and quartz rod a little bit before I dive again in for another long 15sec hit. The second hit proved to be much more successful as I almost couldn’t hold it in SO MUCH DABBBBBSSSS. The flavor was also much improved feeling the terps tingle the back of my throat the whole hit. Definitely, the way to hit with this vape. A quick prime did wonders for the vapor production as is with most coil wax pens. Another hit and wow…. Starting to feel like I just took a hit off a rig. Full blown stoned on this one my guys, my eyes are red and watering and I have the strongest urge for rocky road ice cream. Hit number 4 and I’m on the floor. I can already tell I’m going to be short on wax this week giving this thing a full test drive. I kind of can’t wait!    

First Week

Boundless CF710 Review – One week with the CF710

One week in now let’s take a look at where we are with the CF 710. The first thing I noticed was how surprisingly clean the vape stayed after a week’s worth of use. With a wax pen typically your atomizer is already caked with burnt and reclaimed wax and then depending on the airflow and heat method of your atomizer you might have a lot of wax splattered in your airpath. I was surprised to see that this was not the case with the CF 710 I think this is due to the fact the wax that you are vaping the wax outside of the device so that only vapor is entering the inside of your vaporizer body leaving minimal residue. I was also surprised by how long the battery lasts with this piece I made it 4 days with regular use before I needed to set it for a charge for a minute there I thought it might make it a week. The unit takes about 5 hours to charge with the provided USB cable so you’ll want to make sure to charge it overnight if you don’t want to get left hanging.  

The flavor of the CF 710 stayed pretty consistent throughout the week I also think that it is due to the fact that the unit does not have all of the reclaim of the wax pens. While the unit is portable it’s not all that discreet. It makes a pretty decent cloud that could draw a lot of attention. That and the motion in which you dab is not exactly a natural movement to be doing in public. You have to unscrew the bottom cap and then dip your CF 710 into a glass jar full of concentrate to hit it. However, people who dab have never been known much to be discrete haha. Overall it was a great change of pace from a normal wax pen.   

While it may not be as small or discrete as your average wax pen the CF 710 doesn’t mess around with results. This device was all I needed to get good and medicated throughout the week. The ability to “dose” yourself is also very unique with the CF710 you can literally see the wax you are melting and inhaling so you can take as big or as little of a dab as you like. It’s very easy to come up to the CF710 look at your jar of wax and decide how much you think you’ll need to get the high you’re looking for. With Wax pens, I feel like it’s kind of a guessing game. You put in your little measured ball but how much of it really gets vaped? How much just ends up splattered all over your pen? How much vapor just burnt off inside your pen after you finished your hit but the coil was still hot? All questions I don’t have to think about with the CF710. The only question that really comes to mind is… “Was that last rip too much?”. As anticipated I did end up running low on my wax supply from my greediness with the CF710.  

First Cleaning

Boundless CF710 Review – Cleaning the Coil

Cleaning the CF 710 is almost as simple as the design and UI. The only parts that require cleaning are the atomizer and the air path. I’m not a huge fan of cleaning wax atomizers my approach to them is to use them until they taste bad and then just replace them rather than clean them. If taken care of properly atomizers should last almost a month. As I mentioned before the CF 710 was surprisingly clean after a week’s worth of regular use including the atomizer I found that running the coil through 2-3 cycles after or before a session burned off most of the reclaim keeping the unit pretty clean throughout the week.

To clean the air path of the CF 710 first unscrew and remove the top portion of the unit exposing the battery. The battery on the CF 710 is encased in aluminum and a part of the mouthpiece housing. To clean this portion, take a cloth dampened with isopropyl alcohol and wipe the battery piece until it is clean of any residue. The inside of the tube can be cleaned by soaking in alcohol or again by taking a damp cloth of alcohol and using a tool to wipe the inside of the tube. That’s pretty much it! The only way it could be easier is if the battery is completely removed and you could soak the whole thing in alcohol Oh well maybe the next one.

Wrap up/ Verdict

So looking back at all the things we have gone over I’d say that the CF 710 is a solid and simple way to take good-sized dab hits on the go. It’s priced to compete with the best wax pens on the market however it is not as discreet in public as a pen. However, it mitigates a lot of the negative wax pen attributes with its design. There is no splatter or leaky atomizers like the wax pens you might have experienced. The power of the large battery gives the coils a quick and even heat which vapes your wax concentrate on contact and the quartz-based atomizer leaves little extra flavor so you only taste your wax.

Its simple operation is to its advantage, however, there are improvements to be made. I wish the battery was either removable or not so close to the heat atomizer although I should mention the battery never once felt hot or in danger of being damaged. All in all, if you are looking for a step up from a wax pen and you are not going to be worried about how you look while doing it the CF 710 is a great option for you!

What are your thoughts?

Leave a comment below, and/or rate the Boundless CF 710 yourself.  We’d love to know what you think and hear your comments!

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Unboxing the Dr. Dabber Boost

“Sick! I already have a case for my new electric dab rig.” That is the first thought that goes through my head as I approach the Dr. Dabber boost for the first time. The last thing I would want to deal with after shelling out $150 for the Boost and another $45 for a gram of some tasty testing materials is to have to spend more money on a way to hold and protect my new rig. Inside the hard shell aluminum case of the Boost, you’ll find the following; (1) Dr. Dabber Boost Base, (1) Glass Bubbler attachment, (3) Boost nail heads, (1) USB Cable, (2) Silicone Dab Containers, Dab tool with magnetic carb cap, some alcohol wipes for cleaning, and a knifty liffy Dr Dabber Key chain. Already I feel like I have everything I need to get started with my dabbing and even some cool extras for later. The Design of the boost gives you a very industrial dab kind of feel. The device is sturdy and sits firmly on a flat surface with the provided magnetic base. The Boost Gives you a sense of quality and endurance. As long as you can take care of your glass there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to have this rig for a long time. When I look at this rig I think durable, easy, dabs; simple as that.     

First Sesh/ Moment of truth

Dr. Dabber Boost Power / control button

Not a whole lot of features with this one very simple operation. The Boost has 2 heat settings one for the Ceramic nail (5x Click) and another for the Titanium (3x Click) this makes operating the Boost super simple for dabbers of any skill level. It would be nice to control your temperature to more settings and temps however if you’re on the go or just getting started in the world of dabbing it’s not too much of a loss.

So as we get started we have to first fill the boost bubbler with water. The spill-proof design is nice for traveling with your boost filled with water ready to dab, however, filling it can be a little tricky. Figuring out the water level is key because if you fill too much you actually suck up dab water when you are taking your hit and that’s not fun for anyone.  Once we have that all taken care of we are ready to dab. For our first sesh, we tried out the Titanium Nail. The nail reaches max temp of 610°F after 45secs. I’d recommend waiting for this higher temp to take your dab. The low end of 520°F was just a little too low for my liking. The Flavor is a welcome change from the hits that you get from your typical vape pen. You can actually taste the full flavor of your terpenes while reaching a good temp to give a good throat hit and full feeling in the lungs. The nail head is small so you don’t want to take too big of a glob dab or you will have to click the nail back on for it to stay hot long enough for you to completely take the dab.

First Week/ Running a few laps

Dabs with Dr. Dabber Boost

After 1 week of use with the Boost, I find myself using the case a lot less often than I thought I would. The Boost typically has been fully assembled sitting either here on my desk or in the cup holder of my car. The Later being more often. The Boost has proven to be a great little travel rig. If you do decide to break down the boost everything you need to dab comes with you in the hard case and with your tool and wax. Not needing a torch, butane, or dealing with the hot nails is actually really nice. I still can’t emphasize enough how satisfying it is to get a full dab hit on the go and not have to settle for the burnt reclaim taste that you get from most vape pens.

The charge time for the boost is little long 6-8 hours to fully charge with the USB cable provided. Luckily for those who might be panicking over that fact fear not, the Boost has a replaceable 18650 battery that you can access by unscrewing the heating element from the base. If you have a spare battery or two you can swap batteries on the go.

First Cleaning

Cleaning the Dr. Dabber Boost Nail

Cleaning the Boost is probably one of the easier aspects. All the parts of the rig that come in contact with the dab vapor can be removed for cleaning. I recommend getting a small glass dish or Tupperware and filling it with isopropyl alcohol or your favorite cleaner. Then remove the bubbler from your Boost and empty the water. This is done by blowing the water out of the bottom of the bubbler. Once empty place the bubbler inside the solution. Then you can also soak the nail head, and remove the nailhead by turning counterclockwise from the base. You can also soak the tool and carb cap. Let these items soak overnight before removing them from the solution, rinse, then let dry before reinstalling. The only other thing you’ll need to do is wipe down the ceramic base plate around the nail and heating element. Wipe with a rag lightly soaked in alcohol or cleaner.

The Verdict

The Dr. Dabber Boost is a welcome change of pace from your normal wax pen experience. No longer are you stuck between a vape pen and a dab rig, there is now a hybrid solution that will allow you to take good rig-style dab hits on the go. The device is easy to clean, durable in its base materials, and simple to use. There is room for improvement as will any product but I’m excited to see what else the guys at Dr. Dabber will bring us.

What are your thoughts?

Leave a comment below, and/or rate the Dr. Dabber Boost yourself in the sidebar.  We’d love to know what you think and hear your comments!

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