The Crafty ($340) and the PAX 2 ($280) are two of the best portable vaporizers I’ve ever reviewed, and while I love them both they do have some important differences.
The Crafty gets a perfect score in almost all areas, with the exception of maintenance and battery life. The vapor this unit produces is the strongest of any portable I own. Cleaning isn’t a hassle, but you’ll have to do it once every dozen sessions or so. Battery life is below average at just 45 minutes, but it does a good job of keeping odor to a minimum.
The PAX 2 is very good in most areas just not quite top-shelf, and maintaining it is more effort than some others but still not too bad. The oven has just about the same capacity as the Crafty’s, but from the ~0.3g that it holds you don’t get quite as many strong draws with the PAX. This unit is a little smellier than other portables but this is a common issue with conduction vapes.
I have both, and to me I like the pax far better, if you know how to draw correctly from it you better production IMO, and the battery in the pax kills the crafty, to me the crafty just feels cheap in the way it’s built and performs, I will be giving my crafty away
My crafty broke after 3 hours use! Sending back under warranty but pretty unhappy as there are tonnes of people complaining, many of them on 4th or 5th unit! Don’t bother buying one, I’m going Pax
I’m in the market for my first vape… Been following your reviews for a couple years now but it’s the cost thats keeping me from jumping in.
Portability isnt really a huge issue for me (within reason) hard to stuff a volcano in your pocket.
I’m looking for reliability, quality of smoke, and overall cost.
At first I was trying to choose between the crafty, pax2, or davinci.
I narrowed it down to the pax2 but find it’s difficult to find on the shelves here in Canada, however I do find the crafty!
Here the crafty is significantly cheaper than what I suspect the pax 2 is.
Now I see there’s a pax 3.
Have you had a chance to review the pax3 yet?
Now i’m really try g to choose between the P2, P3, or crafty. So neck in neck.
For the extra cost does the pax2/3 have any advantage over the crafty other than size?
Thanks!
I purchased the crafty after reading the review. I am now on my 4th crafty and not because I like them that much. In short I have been extremely disappointed in they quality of the actual product. it does work fairly well when it functions properly but that’s the problem, all 3 of my previous craftys have broke at about the 30 hr mark or so which is not much use in my opinion. I have received replacements from the company for all of the craftys but that’s the very least they can do if they continue to sell it with out fixing it. DO NOT PURCHASE the product until they fix them. No excuse to have 3 craftys in less then a year break
Mate I got 3 hours out of mine! Just raised a warranty ticket now, unacceptable
Bought a Cratfy based on your positive reviews but had several problems with it. First the charging cable connection failed (very flimsy connector) and had to replace it. Then the Crafty would not turn on. Sent it back for repair after several months of use and Storz and Bickel wants to charge me $200 to repair claiming that the unit’s humidity sensor indicates that it either got wet or was exposed to humidity?
Only dry hebs used in the unit; unit was kept inside an AC controlled environment at all times and never got wet??? For the amount of money paid you would expect better reliability and better service and warranty. It has been over a month and they are not returning my calls. Worse yet, they have kept the unit.
Very concerning … time to tell the truth about the Crafty scam….
I owned a Crafty when it first came out and got about half the vapor you produced in the video. Then the unit broke. They did provide a new one to me but unfortunately it only produces half the vapor of my previous one. So, now I’m at about 20-25% of the vapor you produced in the video. I’ve adjusted the temp up / down from this sites recommendation of 365f. Going too much higher produces a harsh hit. Any recommendations or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated. I’d give my unit a rating of 60 not 95. help!?
Side note: I did contact the company again and we’ve been going back and forth about the quality of vapor to expect. I’d say that 20-25% of your vapor is waaaay tooooo low regardless of my surroundings (which are normal temp inside 70ish).
Hey Bud I have the Arizer Extreme Q and PAX 1. I bought the PAX early February like a week before they lowered and the price and announced that the PAX 2 is coming out…BUMMER. I want to get the crafty but I don’t know if there’s a better vape coming out soon. Have u heard any heat dropping soon in the vaporverse?
Also is there a whip/balloon combo vape u would recommend to me? I would like to upgrade if possible. The Extreme Q has its quirks lol. I hit my vapes everyday. (My life is like that song “smoke 2 joints” Just insert vape instead of 2 joints)
Thanks broskie
Hello! I bought the crafty like 2 weeks ago thanks to your reviews and I love it, but I have a problem, i read that a session usually lasts like 15 min, but i finish my herbs just to fast, (maybe 5-6 min) and the quantity of the vapor drops a LOT after the first draw even after i made them as large as you suggest in your videos, do need to fill it up like really packed or what do you recomend me?
Hi Sebastion, I’ve found the same thing. I get about 5 or 6 draws before having to stir and try again. After another stir, the 3rd, I’m onto the higher temp to finish the bowl and it only lasts in total for about 10 to 15 medium draws and it’s time to replenish. The bowl dosen’t hold that much though, only about 1/2 what a Pax will hold. From a Pax I’ll get about 10 to 15 draws between stirrings and after 3 or 4 stirrings it’s done.
I tried using my Pax again last night but none of these portables comes even close to what the Volcano (and presumably other volcano like designs) can deliver. I soon put it away and went back to the Volcano.
Hey Bud,
Thanks for your awesome reviews. They are much appreciated. I have had my Crafty for about 3 months and for the most part I love it. It is so simple and makes the best clouds ever. My problem with the Crafty is that it often won’t connect to my phone. S&B recognizes the problem and had me send it in for repair and it does connect more often now than it did, but still it isn’t fixed. While I still wouldn’t choose another vaporizer over my Crafty, the connectivity issue is a pain. Are you familiar with the problem and can you shed any light?
I have been disappointed with the Crafty since I bought it. Besides the common battery issues, mine also had a loose fitting USB port. The charger cord frequently disconnected while charging. My Crafty then died after 3 months of use (Red/yellow flashing light).
Storz&Bickel fixed the flashing light issue under warranty but told me I would need to pay $160!!! for a new circuit board that is connected to the mini USB port. They said this was normal wear & tear. They also said the battery was nearing the end of it’s useful life (200 hrs.) and they wanted another $40 to replace it. So I paid $350 for this junk & they are telling me that I can expect to pay $200 every 3 months for repairs.
If I knew the battery had to be replaced every 3 months I would never have bought this.
here we go, my crafty review. here is my crafty experience since i have gone through 2 of them in 8 months. for the first 10 hours of use everything works as it should, it takes a good haul to make the temp drop 7 degrees but after that the battery starts to lose its strength.after 20 hours the same haul can drop the temp by 20 degrees and takes longer to get up to temp, by the 30 hour range the temp can drop by 30 degrees on a good haul and is hard to keep at set temp, by the 40 hour usage it starts to have battery overheating issues and starts to flash the defective light colors.then it becomes a hit and miss to get it to work.Unfortunately i haven’t made it to 50 hours of usage on either one to give you an idea what happens next.There is a major problem with this units battery that needs to be addressed for $400 it should be a much more reliable product. I will be selling the new one that Storz – Bickel sends me again.Ive had over a 1000 hrs of usage with my Vapir NO2 and never a problem. I will be purchasing the new Vapir Prima this week when it comes out. I think the crafty is great for someone who uses it once or twice a week but not for the daily user. cheers
Mine is working fine though that is probably because I don’t like it enough to actually use it.
(I posted this earlier in the Firefly section because I decided to replace my counterfeit Firefly with a S&B product- I’m reposting just the part about the Crafty/Mighty-Feel free to leave out this first paragraph!)
I thought that a couple previous posts complaining about the the inability of the Mighty to stand on its own, in an upright position, to cool off, was an important consideration. Your take, Bud?
Do you think the Mighty is any better than the Crafty at cooling off or even at not heating up and shutting off, in the first place, to cool down? Have you noticed a difference in your use of these two units? Do you think the design of the Mighty is superior with respect to staying cool and not shutting down as much?
Battery heat, as well as normal use, will contribute to the deterioration of the battery, which will, like a cell phone battery, degrade over time. You can’t avoid that, but you can speed up it’s decay. My guess is that 2 years is the average lifespan for the batteries, similar to that of a cell phone battery. I’m guessing that’s why the Crafty/Mighty warranty is set at two years. For the battery.
I don’t mind the size of the Mighty. But the additional 70 bucks is a big deterrent to buying it. Not being to stand in a stable position is another demerit, but if it doesn’t get hot as easy and cools off quicker when it does, I might be able to overlook those shortcomings. Otherwise, I think I’ll go for the lower priced and gimmickier (cell phone app/bluetooth) Crafty.
Thanks Bud for all the helpful feedback and support you offer. You provide a great resource that takes the guess work (can you say “ka-ching” $$$) out of buying these expensive tools. This forum is priceless!
Cheers and gratitude, Daniel
The warranty does not cover the battery. S&B says the life of the battery is 200 hours. Mine lasted 3 months & then degraded rapidly. Only S&B can replace the battery and they wanted me to pay $40 for it.
They refused to cover an issue with my mini USB port. The charger does not fit securely in my Crafty. They said I had used it about 500 times and now it is worn out. They consider it to be “normal wear & tear”. The cost to fix it was $160.
IMO the warranty is virtually worthless.
CRAFTY VS MIGHTY
I have both andthe filling chamber are exatly the same,but the cooling chamber is bigger in the MIGHTY and provide longer taste and better quality …..what do you think?
IF STORES & BICKEL READS THIS:
It gets really hot in the south. Your device should function properly in the summer but it doesn’t. Everything has a computer in it these days and yours is set for “we do not want that battery blowing up in someone’s face!” 88 hours of service…a lot of blowing, holding up to car ac, stashing in freezer for a few minutes equals……
CRAFTY IS THE GREATEST DRY HERB VAPROIZER EVER CREATED!
FOR THOSE WITH OVERHEATING ISSUES….
Remember Crafty was designed in Deutschland. That means highs in the 70-80s…not 90-100+. I live in the deep south and in the summer crafty can get overwhelmed. Careful use of the freezer is your friend! Maybe YETI will make a cooler for crafty,,,,
Wow, this is horrible. :D I wanted the Crafty so much. Everybody saying its so perfect, every review. And praising S&B and their customer service. After reading these comments though… I guess I will get pax 2, alfa, or maybe some of those arizers… But I am staying away from crafty, I need something that actually works! :D
If you can use a Volcano that is what I’d recommend. I use it on my own and with about 2 1/2 pinches of herb (enough for a medium J) I can get 3 to 4 bags from it and those are turkey bags 1 1/2 times larger than S&B’s bags. The one filling is all you need in an evening as you get much [strong results] than smoking it. If I’m smoking I’ll have to do 2 to every 1 in the volcano.
The real beauty of it is to be able to draw at your leisure good tasting good thickness vapor with zero heat. You can stop take a rest then return to it as long as you don’t leave it in the bag too long (max about 15 minutes).
Hello everyone and I thought I would share my Crafty Warranty Issues since I bought a new Crafty in early May. It has broken twice on me know and it will say “Send back to Storz and Bickel for repair” after about 25 to 30 hours of use (Both times). Storz and Bickel give you free 2 Day Air USPS but it still is a hassle waiting about 10 days to get it back. I have never dropped my Crafty, got it wet, left it in a hot or cold vehicle for long periods, etc. ?
I am considering upgrading to the Mighty just because of the extra Lithium batter in it and I hope it will last longer than the two Craftys I have gone through in only four months. Anybody else gave up on the Crafty to try the Mighty instead after warranty work? I will let you know how the new Mighty holds out compared to the Crafty which I loved and enjoyed while it was working, Scoobie Steve ;o)
hey steve, I live in hot area and in summer crafty needs a lot of loving from my freezer to work in july/august. Now that Sept. roll around I am having less problems with overheating.
I have had every warning light combo possible but if you wait it out crafty always seems to come back to it’s senses. When you charge crafty it heats up. When you use crafty it heats up. That plus 90+ degree temps always cause me issues. That being said…
CRAFTY IS THE GREATEST DRY HERB DEVICE EVER CREATED. I CAN’T WAIT FOR VERSION 2 AND PROTEIN INFUSED GRITS.
My Crafty Portable Vaporizer is broken after serving 59 hours of use, inclusion of digging inside broke, now he can not be enabled.
Do not drop, easy to break by pressing another apparently from time to time, temperature, and visible from the poor quality of the parts. They gathered such a good thing, as is usually summed up as the cheap Chinese spare
Craft is cool and all that ,but it better not be your only vaporizer. No battery life. Hands down you can beat the Haze # 1 for me They have an upgrade program. Always able to get the latest model .
After 3 months of ownership, I really feel this is the best vaporizer to buy if you like packing tape, cardboard boxes, RMA forms, and making trips to the post office. If your dream in life is to spend over three bills on a commitment to ship things back and forth to Oakland, this is the vaporizer for you!
As someone who has owned a Crafty for three months and with 100 hours of usage, I feel comfortable saying that while Storz & Bickel have historically been well regarded for good customer service and reliable products, the Crafty is a $339 commitment to mail a device back in for warranty service every 60-90 days.
When it works? It’s amazing. It’s better than any other portable vape. But… you can expect that:
1. The battery is undercapacity for the unit, so it lasts 30 minutes at best in normal use scenarios.
2. The battery loses viability quickly, because it is stored next to the heating core, and constantly exposed to wild temperature swings. This also causes the unit to shut down due to heat… which seems pretty damn counterintuitive to having a vaporizer that works reliably.
3. The heater core starts overheating repeatedly in the 70-90 hour range of life. If you are someone who vapes an hour a day (or a user who vapes daily), expect you’ll get 2-3 months before it finally just up and dies on you. There are MANY people on Reddit and Fuckcombustion.com with this experience.
4. If you try to send your unit in before it fails, expect lots of run around about how it needs to be sent in on your own dime for potential repair, because no one at Storz & Bickel will help you troubleshoot or answer questions about your device via e-mail or over the phone. If you get someone on the phone? Go play the lotto because it’s the luckiest day of your life.
5. Unit quality ranges. Some users have great experiences. Others have broken plastic, cooling units that shipped with holes in them, etc. I am among those who have received broken plastic in a brand new box, from an authorized retailer (and yes, specifcally, the retailer recommended by VapeCritic).
6. Storz & Bickel will upgrade their firmware every few months — but only on new devices, with no way for older devices to receive new firmware. No changelogs are made available. No disclosure of what was altered from version to version is publicized. This means if they identify a design flaw or bug, you get to wait until your unit dies from it to get your replacement, rather than just upgrading your firmware to avoid the breakdown. This is like buying a cell phone, and if there’s a security flaw, you have to send the whole phone in to be fixed — but ONLY if the phone also experiences an in-warranty hardware failure. Otherwise? Too bad, so sad, continue to use old software.
7. Vendors (including VapeWorld) will point you at Storz & Bickel for warranty support once your device has been used for 30 days.
8. Storz & Bickel will answer you with form responses to return the unit at your own expense and include a hand written note explaining what is wrong with the unit, as if this were the year 1914, and telephone and e-mail communication were not invented to troubleshoot or log trouble tickets. If you ask questions, they will generally go unanswered until you send a followup e-mail noting that your questions are not being answered and/or are being responded to with irrelevant form responses.
9. You will receive no update on what’s happening with your unit whatsoever until you ask for one. After a week to ten days, you will get aggravated about the complete lack of response. You’ll e-mail Storz & Bickel, they’ll actually look at your device, conclude it is broken, not repair it, and send you a new one. You will say, “WTF, why didn’t you just mail me a new one and put a temporary hold on my credit card for collateral until you received the defective unit, if you weren’t actually going to perform any sort of service? All told, you will be without your device for 10 days to 2 weeks… and if you’re really lucky, “most” of the Storz & Bickel employees will “go on holiday” for the second week in August, with no communication of expectations, repair time, or trouble resolution.
And if you think I’m just disgruntled and unhappy about my expensive purchase? I might be — but there’s also a whole bunch of people who love this thing when it works, but who have also publicly posted about how they are on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th unit in less than a year, over on FC forum and reddit.
The further you go through the threads, the more and more stories of failure and return you’ll get.
So, if you want the portable vaporizer that works best — but only when it is actually working and not broken — buy a Crafty. Otherwise? Look at something else.
So what you are telling me is that if I ever actually get this unit working properly and actually producing decent vapor that will be just the start of my worries.
The Pax is a no brainer and when imbibing of herb that is exactly what I need. I love the Volcano though, it’s better than any portable any day.
hey is it just me??? crafty has problem in HOT climates.
This was a VERY helpful comment, thanks a lot. I’ve been on the fence about buying a Crafty solely because of the quality control issues, but after reading this (and many other reports of faulty Crafty units), I’m going to hold off for now.
Wish I knew this before I bought :-(
Hey, all. Just received a brand new Crafty (8.17.15) and after a full charge and getting used to the controls, I am getting orange/red/yellow blinking lights which according to the instructions means it is defective?!
Garbage unit, right out of the box?!
Left a couple of messages (apparently, the do not answer the phones?!) in Oakland but no response…yet.
Not cool. Not good.
If anyone has any thoughts or advice, would appreciate!
Really appreciate and enjoy your site, though, VC.
BP~
Did you try a reset by holding the button for 10 seconds? Otherwise you are going to have to send it back for warranty.
Hi! I’m about to get my first vaporizer and can’t decide between Crafty and Pax 2. Well, the devices are different but Crafty is winning due to the fact that Pax 2 is not available in EU. Has anybody seen Pax 2 as Crater sold in EU?
Jon, I highly recommend the Crafty. I had the Pax and could not get it to perform consistently well and cleaning it was a real pain. I also did not like the popup mouth piece. It got hot and was always getting stuck either in or out. I wound up throwing it away. To sum up the Crafty, IT’S A BEAST! Yes, the battery life sucks, but the density and consistency of the vapor far outweighs the battery issue. I bought the power bank from Storz & Bickel and it’s perfect for charging on the go. Don’t let the price scare you, it’s worth every dollar!
And yet I’ve had exactly the opposite experience with these 2 for vapor. The Pax is easy for me to get lots of vapor from and yet the Crafty provides only a fraction of the vapor with the same herb in each. The Pax’s mouthpiece is only hot on the first draw or two while the moisture content of the herb is expelled, thereafter it is fine. I can fill the oven on the Pax and will easily get 3 sessions at 10 to 15 draws each. I could get 4 but I don’t have to be careful with herb as it is plentiful & cheap here and the 4th never tastes too great. The Crafty I have to fight to get 2 sessions of 5 to 6 inadequate draws from. I’m still experimenting to try and improve it but no luck so far. The Pax has no such learning curve. The Crafty is actually designed very similarly to the Firefly which I had the same problem with before giving it away.
Best vape so far is the Volcano. Far superior to any portable when it comes to vapor quality, quantity, and ease of use.
Then you’re lucky because everyone else’s broke, mine just piled in after 3 hours use!
Hi! I’m about to get my first vaporizer and can’t decide between Crafty and Pax 2. Well, the devices are different but Crafty is winning due to the fact that Pax 2 is not available in EU. Has anybody seen Pax 2 as Crater sold in EU?
Hi Jon
I’d suggest the Pax over the crafty and the Volcano over the Pax. The Pax’s vapor seems thicker and more consistent to me. Crafty’s vapor taste’s better. The Pax is much more discreet though. If you can use a desktop vape though the Volcano has it all.
Six weeks ago, I purchased a Crafty. Today, I’m boxing it up to ship back for repair. I am not pleased. I’m a “heavy user” and I need something that will last longer than six weeks. Very disappointed.
Hi Bud.
I started with a Transporter and have little to say about it. Then went on to the Pax which I still think is great, good consistent vapor, easiest to use, good draw with a little mod (add a spacer below the screen), and the only cons are the taste and the cleaning. Then tried a Firefly but gave it away due to poor vapor, easy combustion, heavy & awkward to hold, and awkward to push the button. Recently bought the Crafty but am unable to get good vapor from it. I’ve tried tight to loose packs, heat starting from 165 to 190 in various increments, and fine to not so fine on herb grinding. The same herb provides lots of vapor from my Pax but little from my Crafty, why? What am I missing given how many others praise its vapor quality. I seem to either have little vapor or its trying to give it all to me in one or two draws. Even with little apparent vapor the draws still seem extraordinarily harsh, making my cough more than not.
Now waiting for my Volcano to come in to see what it is like.
Update: I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the Crafty, I wasn’t drawing slowly enough. You have to draw painfully slowly in order to get a decent amount of vapor from a Crafty. I have to draw at half the speed I do with the Pax in order to get the same amount of vapor. Of course the Volcano still beats them hands down since its draw has no impact on vapor production whatsoever.
THANK YOU Vape Critic, you are awesome. Your insight helped me with this purchase. A big Thanks to S&B for the great customer service and experience recently. I ordered the Crafty in June, for some reason I had a warning light show up last week. I contacted S&B to notify them of the issue. I got a response the next day along with a shipping label to send back my defected Crafty. They told me they will repair and send back in a timely manner. To my amazement, I got a brand new Crafty today. All of this was done within 6 days, they mailed 2 day priority. I am so happy they stepped up the customer service. They are definitely making improvements, as I have read bad things in the past about their customer service. But after this experience, I am very happy with S&B.
As for the Crafty, I couldn’t be happier with it. I love it and can’t imagine going back to my Magic Flight, but Magic Flight for the price is a great vape. This might sound like a bit much, but honestly, it is WELL WORTH THE PRICE! Invest in your health and future.
The Crafty quality and build is extraordinary. The app works great on my Note 3. The most important reason why I bought the Crafty is the materials used to make it. The product being RoSH certified makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE to me. I am not sure if the PAX is RoSH certified. I did email and ask Goboof if the Alfa is RoSH certified but they never replied. RoSH means the materials used to make the product does not contain toxins or hazardous chemicals. So think about the plastic, metal or paints used to make cheap vapes. You are inhaling toxins and chemicals that can be bad for your health. Another reason why I started with the Magic Flight (Maple in my case) and later moved onto the Crafty (RoSH certified and UL tested). I like how this product is made with very high standards. So please, everyone, I think it is worth purchasing or saving for a S&B product.
By the way, I just got some good wax from my local medical dispensary. Can’t wait to test out the concentrate pad for the Crafty.
Hey Sup
nice review.
Need to ask something…will the crafty work on [solid concentrates]?
coz where am at, we dont get quality [herbs].
And am just about to receive my package(crafty) in a bit.
thanks mate
Hey Bud, long time fan here. After a very poor experience of the original Vapir I took your advice and bought myself a Pax and then a Volcano.
My question is, Have S&B ironed out the early issues with the Crafty yet and if not should I look at the Mighty instead?
Peace
The Dude,
My friend and I have been researching portable vapes for the last two months. We really wanted to like the Crafty for a number of reasons but unfortunately we’ve seen WAY too many negative posts about the Crafty AND S&B’s poor customer service. Note the last negative comment about S&B above was on July 9 so their problems persit. Other vape review sites have also posted problems; not only with the Crafty, but with S&B’s customer (non)service. For this kind of money we feel a company should have sparkling customer service so we’re staying away from anything S&B for at least six months to give them time to get their act together and start seeing some MUCH more positive reviews. For the record I purchased a Summit from VapeWorld recently and found the unit very acceptable, especially for the price, and VapeWorld to be outstanding in their customer service.
Excellent info & insight, Bud! Many thanks! Since I have weak lungs due to occupational hazards in dusty work environs, a major concern I have with herbal vapes (& my main reason for wanting to vape…) is inhalation of herbal dust, which seems to get through the wire mesh screens on both of the two vapes I’ve used since the late 90’s: the VapirOne and my current goto Iolite, both are dated, so I’m looking at possible replacements. So I’m wondering if you have thoughts on how to prevent the herbal dust from passing through to my weak lungs on the draw? I actually love the Iolite on those cold & windy beach walks with my dog (it’s butane powered and feels like a hand warmer ;) but cleaning the screen after each and every use… I’m interested in the Crafty but also the Dr Dabber, thinking that concentrates might be a good alternative for me. But I’ve also heard that skillet-type pens can overheat residual dabs, impacting the flavor. Any thoughts on all of this is much appreciated.
Thanks for all the information you provide its a huge help!!!
I purchased the crafty about 6 months ago and I am on my second one and I am about to sent it back as I got another malfunction error. When working I do really enjoy the Crafty but it has become extremely frustrating that it keeps breaking. The first time it broke I was told by S&B that it was water damage and not covered. I have no way of proving that it was not but I do know that I was the only person that used it and it was never around water. I took extremely good care of it and only used it in dry areas and stored in a case. So when I received the second Crafty (at a discount) i was totally paranoid about water and treated it extremely well. So to say that I am annoyed that the replacement broke would be an understatement. I will
not pay anymore money for a crafty so I am looking for suggestion on a replacement? It seems that the Pax might be a good second choice based on your reviews.
I purchased a crafty in January of this year after going through half a dozen Vap pens and loved it. However, now it takes 8 hours + to charge and only last for 2 bowls or 20 minutes and the charging port is unreliable and needs to be propped up to a certain position to ensure contact. I have tried other micro USB cords, it doesn’t make any difference. I’m am sending it back to S&B to see if they can fix it.
In the mean time, I’m looking at either the Volcano or the Plenty, I don’t want to rely on battery power anymore. Any suggestions? I only use dry herbs.
My issue exactly. They wanted $160 to fix the charger port. They said it would require a new circuit board to fix it.
I’ve bought the Crafty as my first Vaporizer. Extremely satisfied so far, bu I have no comparison except with the NO2 Vapir. Honestly, I think the vapor quality and taste are similar. But the NO2 is much more big, so you can’t really bring it outside.
The only concern I have is that my unit doesn’t seem to produce huge amounts of vapor. When I look at Youtube videos I see people exhaling big clouds of vapor with their Crafty. How do you achieve that? I’m mainly vaping at 157°C and 185°.
Maybe an another note regarding the taste. The intensity of the taste is quickly decreasing after the first two draws. The vapor is still active after that, but I would have preferred a more durable taste.
O problema da quantidade de vapor E a qualidade de seu fumo ! se o fumo for de boa qualidade vc tera uma nuvem de vapor rsrsrsrs! att
Hey Bud!
Love your reviews and videos! Super informative and comprehensive insight for those looking make educated purchase. My question to you is, which portable vape do you feel has the coolest, fullest vapor. I am totally new to vamping. I use the PAX2 the other day with a friend and found that it gets pretty hot to the tough and the vapor seemed hot as well. It’s hard to draw and and overall, wasn’t that impressed. Have to admit, it made me cough quite a but, but as I said, I’m a newbie and not a smoker. I appreciate you input! Thanks, and Stay Up!
Jeff
Tanks for the reviews! For me, the Crafty has great vapor quality but is ultimately poorly constructed device prone to malfunction and breakdown. I purchased the unit in January from Vapefiend UK. Since then, despite only light and careful usage, it has already spent an entire month out for repair and is about to go again. First error was the dreaded orange/ red flashing LED; now it is the Red/blue.
I had purchased with confidence based on the S+B brand – big mistake! Comparing my experience with the many reviews on S+B customer service, I wonder whether there might be a difference between the US and European HQs. Maybe also between the units themselves, given different power requirements between continental Europe, the UK, and North America? I have no idea. Sending to S+B from the UK is also a drag because of the UK shipping regulations with respect to devices with batteries.
BOTTOM LINE FOR ME: No Bueno. I will sell the unit when it returns from warranty service for whatever I can get. In the interim, I will purchase a new device – definitely NOT another S+B and likely not from Vapefiend UK either (they promoted the hell out of this thing early on and have not been especially helpful – i.e. you could out of pocket the shipping to them and then they will send over to S+B, that’s about it). Thinking of avoiding portables, as I am only interested in home use and may just go with the Da Buddha or something from Arizer.
Will definitely poke around here for suggestions!
Bud,
Do you know of a spacer that can be used in the Crafty other than the pad from S&B? I’m not loving the pad but need something to fill the oven… Any suggestions are much appreciated!
Hey Bud,
Outside of these two vapes, which portable vaporizer produces the least amount of odor? Is the Pax 2’s smell an issue or is it just not as good as the crafty?
Many thx for your detailed, thoughtful and data-driven reviews. They are truly amazing.
New to vaping and I’m an herb guy. Been using a trusty Proto Pipe for years to combust and would rather vape on the go skiing. Tried inexpensive ($25-35) pens with miserable results (maybe better for concentrates/wax?)
Been reading about the Crafty, Mighty, Pax, Alpha, Summit and others. What would you recommend for:
-two to three guys stopping for a quick vape in the trees (or on the chair lift?)
-maybe 4-5 sessions/day, with 2-3 guys
-easy to pack and use in inclement weather
-will hold a charge for all day use (would be recharged in the condo at night)
-would be nice to pack once for one to two sessions
Many, many thanks for your thoughts!
Snowgo
RE: https://vapecritic.com/crafty/#comment-129167
Vaping tobacco and herb at the same time is pretty much the only way I would do it with tobacco, but the experience will vary.
In general the herb you put in is what creates the vapor so the tobac is really just filler, although sometimes it can make it a little harsher so you have to play around with what brand/type you use and stuff.
RE: https://vapecritic.com/crafty/#comment-129125
If at any point the vape becomes too hot it has built-in protection to prevent it from overheating, so it’ll delay charging until it cools down a little.
Crafty went red yellow flash after three weeks of use, meaning battery is toast. was nice but it cost me 100 dollars a week plus. I avoided the red and blue flashing lights as best i could but this thing is for people who smoke like once a damn week
RE: https://vapecritic.com/crafty/#comment-129063
Yes it is normal for the Crafty’s battery to use power faster than it can charge.
It will charge while you’re using it and it’s plugged in, but after a while it will eventually die because the charger can’t keep up.
If it’s totally dead it should take just about 2 hours to fully recharge to 100%.
Based in large part on your review, Bud, I purchased the Crafty about four months ago. Overall, I agree it’s a great unit. And to your credit, you warned about the battery life, but I think you understated how poor it really is. In my correspondence with support at “Oakland,” they have stated: a) the Crafty requires 3-4 hours to fully charge; b) for all that charging time, it provides only 20-40 minutes of heating time (c) they discourage leaving it plugged in overnight to charge because it’s not good for the battery, so you should unplug it after it’s fully charged. NONE of the above is spelled out in the manual.
Again, on the whole, it’s a very cool unit.
But for $400 (what I paid, but I see the price has since dropped a bit) the battery could/should be much, much better.
I completely agree with your comments. This is a state of the art battery operated vape but unfortunately, the state of the art is not so good. I’ve had it 3 weeks and the battery is shot, now I have to send it back for repair.
You have to clean it every two weeks or so and it is time consuming. No one told me not to plug it in all night.
Also, the app allows you to set it to be hotter but if you do it overheats the battery and is unusable until it cools down. THIS UNIT IS NO GOOD FOR HEAVY USERS. The battery will be finished before you are.
I’m not sorry I bought it because it’s a good portable vape but I’m going to have to buy a plug in model.
Ah man! that explains alot!
I have had this unit for a year now. I love it and I have been thinking about buying 2nd one for a while.
They over heat alot and it’s all coming from the battery.
I held off buying a new one because I’m now at my 6th crafty, replaced and exchanged every time no question asked. Every time the orange light….
After a few one, I tried to never do 2 chamber back to back to prevent the over heating and it helped a bit like I got more hours out of the device.
The one I had that had the most operating hours was at 84 hours.
But I always keep it on the charger…
I just read you guys post and noticed it may explain why they all die!
Now I just sent it a few days ago for replacement, I will try to keep the battery between 50 and 90%….
If that works then, I might get a 2nd one
RE: https://vapecritic.com/crafty/#comment-129054
The best case for the Crafty I’ve heard of or found is the Case Logic DCB-302
It fits the vape perfectly and it has a front pocket that just about fits the filling tool and a brush.
I bought one recently and def recommend it.