A New Level of Personal Vaporization

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When I first came across the VB Eleven vapor pen I was looking to replace what was a long procession of concentrate vaporizing pens. Dab pens, wax pens (or just vapor pens) have been a necessary but demanding tool for on the go medicating. I love how these pens allow me to medicate effortlessly without utilizing a torch- which negates certain dangers. [perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]However, with the technology most commonly available being imported from China, the poor quality is always very apparent. Add to that it was a constant worry that I might be exposed to carcinogenic toxins or even experience bodily harm, as cheap exploding lithium batteries have been making headlines with the advent of the Samsung Note 7 and those odd little hoverboard devices.[/perfectpullquote]

Vaporbrothers has been a leader in the vaporization industry and has generally been seen as the conscientious vaporizer company, so when they stepped into the pen market I was naturally excited. Their wooden box vaporizers have shown a lifespan of over a decade and advertise being free of harmful toxins. So if they were to sell dab pens, it means they probably upgraded them to the materials that they trust, right?

While more expensive dab pens are assumed to be produced with a higher quality, most are not. It’s not so much that other pens don’t produce good hits- at first they often do. You can find an endless stream of YouTube reviews featuring a multitude of vapor pens that worked great right after being unboxed. The problem is that the performance consistently weakens after the pen is used for a while. The most common shortfall noted are that heating elements fail and batteries weaken. It is well known that many vapor pen batteries stop taking or holding a charge after only a few weeks of regular use.

To make VB Eleven Pen last longer, during design, Vaporbrothers reengineered certain aspects and chose their source materials very carefully. Vaporbrothers described to me how a better heating element wire was chosen- a custom alloy of Titanium and Nickel which is more inert than pure Titanium. I was also told that Vaporbrothers subject every pen to additional testing. In the U.S. Every coil is verified by heating to full temperature before shipping to customers. The batteries are delivered to a customer fully charged by Vaporbrothers.This not just means your VB Eleven Pen is ready to work directly out of the box and it ensures the battery works correctly. Most major vapor pen companies export their pens to the U.S. without any stateside testing at all. My recommendation when purchasing another vapor pen, is to look to see if the heating element is still a shiny metal which indicates no element performance testing. During research for this article, I noticed that Vaporbrothers “Dabbler” vaporizer pen was awarded the “Best Standard Pen” by High Times Magazine two years ago.

The VB11 body has a comfortable feel and attractive particulars such as a chrome mouthpiece. The battery is a bit longer than most, yet the pen fits in your pocket without a problem. It is easily assumed that the charge will last longer because it isn’t undersized. Vaporbrothers uses “pass-through” batteries, which mean the charger is built right into the battery. You only have to connect a micro USB cable (included) which is compatible with other devices around the house i.e. Computer, XBOX etc. The pen components generally fit together well. The thread is not as easy to line up as some magnet closures I’ve tried, but it works fine as long as you are sure to keep them clean with isopropyl alcohol when needed. The coil is clean and set evenly, centered in place. Vaporbrothers uses a proprietary hollow ceramic core that requires less power to heat up efficiently and rapidly. Upon activation of the power button, the coil works immediately without waiting for the core to heat up.

The standard kit also comes with a silicone concentrate container and a metal loading tool. One caveat is that the tool should not come directly into contact with the heating element. If during loading you push the button to let the wax melt into place, the metal tool will short out the wire and break it- so keep it away from the coil.

After loading the VB11 pen and using it for a while, I get to experience the efficacy of the VaporBrothers design. It delivers very well. Even when I packed a large amount on top of the heater, the coil had no problem keeping up. When using the most common devices, cannabis oil melts to the bottom of the ceramic or titanium bowl and can be hard to coax the concentrate back into the coil. This didn’t seem to be a problem with the VB11. While some concentrate did melt to the bottom, the coil was powerful enough to reduce the THC substrate down to a thin residue. Vaporbrothers explains that their ceramic core has a texture that allows the oil to be vaporized more efficiently.

The VB Eleven Pen features a small hole in the cone above the heater to free up the airflow. Drawing on a clogged vapor pen is extremely difficult and can be frustrating- especially when on the go, so this simple addition makes the vapor much easier to uptake. If you want less airflow, cover the hole. A user should maintain the other internal vents by Periodically drawing strongly with the hole covered.
Kits are available in a single coil ceramic and multi-coil designs. Vaporbrothers claims their dual coil ceramic works faster than other market dual coil devices, which have been shown to require 12+ seconds to heat up. The larger battery means it won’t get overloaded by the dual coil energy requirements. A single quartz coil is also available for aficionados of all-glass bowls and smoking utensils.

Aside from general maintenance and cleaning, vape pen heaters require occasional replacement. Vaporbrothers Lifetime Warranty covers what they call “defects” only, which means a coil that has been used with oil won’t be covered if it breaks. They replace batteries completely free (with prepaid envelope) up to 90 days after purchase. If something happens to your battery after 90 days, they offer a $14 trade-in for a brand new one which is far more than other mainstream companies. Online reviews of Vaporbrothers, shows they are consistently very easy to deal with and are willing to help people out. Contrast this with other manufacturers who may not respond at all, or make you jump through hoops (registration, RMA, “fees”).

In conclusion, I have found this pen to be classy, high quality, versatile and very functional. The $60 price tag is not even close to the high end investment of other, equal pens, which also makes it a winner.

The pros: