If you’ve ever smoked from a Silver Surfer Vaporizer before, you probably wouldn’t be too surprised to know that other companies tried copying its success. Soon after the SSV started garnering fans, its makers, 7th Floor, found that cheap knocks of their star vaporizer were showing up here in the States. Unfortunately, for customers, they just weren’t up to snuff. To fight back, 7th Floor came up with the concept for their Da Buddha Vaporizer. The idea was fairly simple. They took what made the SSV so great and stripped away anything that wasn’t completely necessary. So the ceramic heating component is still 100% intact. What isn’t intact is the price. Da Buddha Vaporizer costs about ½ as much as the SSV.
The Construction
Da Buddha is made with the same ¼ inch aluminum housing that you’d find on the Silver Surfer. There’s also the same borosilicate glass wand, mouthpiece, heater cover, high-quality tubing and the heating component we mentioned earlier. One thing I wish they would change in both Da Buddha and the SSV is the tubing; an extra foot would make a huge difference. Also, while most of the elements are high-quality, the baseplate is not. It’s extremely cheap plastic that could easily break if you dropped it, so be careful. Given how much of this device’s construction is identical to the SSV, it’s insane what a deal you’re getting with it. One of the biggest differences between this device and its big brother, the Silver Surfer, is that the heated cover sits at a much different angle. On the latter, the HC/Wand is facing downward. This allows your herbs to remain chambered even if you’ve loaded it completely full or too loose. However, with Da Buddha, the combo sits horizontally.
Difference Compared to The SSV
This really isn’t a huge deal and it’s certainly not a deal breaker. But most people seem to prefer the way the Silver Surfer had it. Worst case scenario, if someone blows instead of inhaling in, the herbs could be forced into the heated cover where they’d be ignited. One time is usually enough to ensure that mistake doesn’t happen again, fortunately. Again, this really isn’t that big of a deal.
There are a couple other features that obviously involved cheaper parts too. For example, like we mentioned, the baseplate is made from a crappy plastic. The control knob is obviously not custom glass like on the SSV. However, function-wise, the two are pretty much dead-on, meaning you get a great product without spending a lot of money. Plus, say what you will about the cheaper parts, at least they’re all 100% American made.
Taking Hits
So long as you don’t completely pack the wand full, you shouldn’t have much issue inhaling from Da Buddha comfortably. The vape really flows well. As this device doesn’t come with a fan, the overall flow is completely up to you. However, this also means you need to smoke responsibly. If you have the heat up too high and you’re inhaling too slowly, you’ll be giving the air plenty of time to warm up. At some point, it could get so hot that the ceramic element combusts. Fortunately, you can avoid this issue by inhaling faster or just turning the heat down to a more moderate level.
Once you find the draw rate that works best for you, go ahead and remove the knob. Then turn the indicator to 12 o’clock and turn the knob back on. This way, you’ll always know what your correct setting is. It won’t take long to get the hang of this for your own personal use. If you have a friend by to smoke, though, be sure to run through the routine again.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, this is a great vaporizer. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say it’s the best deal on the market. It heats quickly and always hits hard. What more can you ask for at the end of the day other than an affordable price tag. Of course, 7th Floor made it with that too. So if you want a quality vaporizer for under $200, this one is calling your name.
