A review I did on the Peak for another site.
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This is a review of the Puffco Peak that I was loaned for a couple of days. I want to be very careful here as most reviews contain positive as well as negative comments. All of my comments are merely
my opinion based on my values and priorities. I really do mean it when I often say we are many and varied and what may appeal to me may not be the same for others and vice versus. One man’s fine wine is another man’s poison. What I may find to be a shortfall, another may view it that I’m calling their favorite baby ugly. The last thing I want to do is to embarrass anybody about purchases that they are happy with. So, if you own a Peak, please do not take any comments personally (talking mostly about the cost discussion below). It’s just one person’s view and you are fully entitled to have a different view that is equally valid for YOU.
The Puffco Peak
So, I have used the Peak a few times now and find it to be a pretty decent product; mechanically, functionally, and aesthetically (we’ll talk financially a bit later).
Very Short story: it works very well in that it delivers good tasting and thick vapor from a dab and what more do you want?
Its small, seemingly well built, feels good to hand, and generates very tasty and pretty thick vapor on the “Green” temp which is 500 F. I haven’t found a need to go higher or lower on the temp as the sugared liver resin and crumble that I have vaped in it just works well at that temp. I carb capped it every time and suggest this to everyone with a Peak or a nail of any sort.
The Device - Mechanics
It feels like a pretty well made device but it’s not perfect. For example, it has yet another “it does it all” single button on the front and that button has a soft rubberized membrane that covers the actual button…this rubberized stuff may not last that long (but I may be wrong) and the button is in a kind of awkward spot for me.
The only indication you have as to mode state and function is a thin lighted strip that runs around the unit. This is the only way you can tell that it’s on, what temp it’s at, and if it’s in dab mode (heating), etc. The indications are not super clear but there really isn’t much to mess with on it and it didn’t take very long to get used to it.
Overall, it has a nice feel to hand and appears to be rather well built…feels pretty solid and fit/finish/symmetry on the one I used was quite good. It’s smaller than I would have thought, but after using it…it’s not too small and actually I see the size being a favorable factor for those who want an easy to hide enail type device.
The instructions said to fill the bubbler with water to just above the air holes and that’s what I did. I did not get much water in my mouth at all and really had to pull hard to get a drop or two. I have no problems with the bubbler. Now, you do have to fill it from the MP end and NOT get water in the middle/lower section. You can pour it in carefully right from the tap and get it right, but I just used a hobby syringe (bought a set on Amazon for cheap and they are very useful for vape cleaning and the like) and distilled water. It doesn’t take very much water at all to be right.
Big Pen or Small Enail
So, is it an enail or a pen type device? The working part of this device is much like a large size Source pen-type atomizers with a cup (think Source Orb 4/Nail and their cup atomizers). Specifically, there is a ceramic plate heater in the atomizer upon which a ceramic cup is rested and which functions as the dab surface. Also, it runs in a timed heat/cool cycle rather than keeping the dab surface hot like a more traditional enail. So, for me…while the performance is very enail like…I rather view this as a hybrid. In terms of mechanicals and degree of integration, it has a lot in common with high end pens. In terms of vape function and vapor, it’s very enail like.
The device is indeed a highly integrated package compared to a full enail rig (with glass, coil, controller, etc.). While not necessarily my cup of tea, it is exactly this high level of integration and ease of use that will enamor many med patients, particularly those with acute conditions looking for solid, hard hitting, enail type concentrate medication. Also, I’m sure that there are a bunch of rec patients, maybe older ones who really never got into the torched nail dab scene or younger ones with a family such that dabbing needs to be quick, easy, and the rig easily hidden away.
Also, the Peak looks nice on a table when you have company over and not like some sort of crack rig science experiment with a very hot exposed coil. I suppose you could manage to burn yourself with a Peak, but you would really have to work at it.
The Device – Operational Function
This is where the Peak seems more pen like than enail like to me. To operate it, you turn it on with a three second push of the button. Then set temps by pushing the button once each time to cycle through the temps (while watching the colors of the LED light strip). Then you put your dab in the ceramic cup, cap it, then press the button twice and it goes into heat mode which is indicated by a vibration and the LED light pulses. About 15-20 seconds heat up time and it vibrates again and then you start to draw and there is a timer that will shut it down. Double click the button again for more time.
I found myself actually drawing a bit before the unit vibrated as I could see my resin bubbling away in there. That is very different than a traditional enail where the dab surface is already up to temp and maintained there and you melt the dab off, cap, and then draw.
Because you have to put the concentrates in before starting the heat cycle, and it needs to be on the bottom of the cup and not wiped on the sides (per the manual) I believe that it may be difficult to impossible to get terp sauce or sticky rosin in there. With coil pen type atomizers, you can sort of just wipe the stuff onto the coil. With a true enail, just melt it off of your dabber. With the Peak, I believe you will want somewhat stable concentrates that you can just drop into the cup. Pull/snap, crumble or budda, hard shatter…that type of stuff will work better, I believe.
The Device – Vapor Function
As mentioned, I ran the Peak on “green” which is 500 degrees (but 500 degrees where…on the ceramic heater or the dab surface of the cup…I suspect the former and I suspect that there is no thermal couple in there and temp is maintained by temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) which is how temp controlled pens work. I found no need to go hotter, personally.
When starting to draw a few seconds before the Peak hit full temp, the first draw in each session was just ok….very tasty but not thick. Second and third draw was killer and very tasty. Number of draws you get depends on how much you load and how hard you want to push it but I was getting the startup draw and then two really good draws from it before q-tipping. When I tried to get a 4th draw, it wasn’t really was worth it.
When I waited until the “at temp” vibration, I got two really nice draws and really nothing if I tried a third draw.
Again, number of draws depends on how much you put in but there really is a reasonable limit to a good dab size. Grain of rice or BB size still works for me. Can you fit more in there…yeah, but why? Later draws don’t taste as good as early ones, too big a dab and it may not melt thinly and evenly across the dab surface, and you will just create more reclaim and splatter if too much is loaded.
I definitely recommend capping it. You could see that in Bud’s LS…as soon as he dropped the cap on the vapor milked. I always recommend capping as its much better performance for really very little additional cost or effort.
Q-tipping worked quite well. The ceramic of the cup seems very smooth and not very porous. If q-tipped immediately when hot, it all sops up very easily and leaves a pretty dang clean cup. (Note, with a bit more use, it is getting stained a bit but I should think that would be expected)
The Cost
Well, here is where the issue is for me…it’s expensive, IMO, for what you get. The Peak is $380.
Meanwhile, for my full up D-nail slim line with the SiC Halo with flat coil and Ti carb cap w-forked dabber/handle...the full monty...and it was $260. Auber RDK-300 w/o coil is $99 so now up to $360. Would be even a bit less if I bought the coil from Auber with the controller rather than from D-nail with the nail. Add in a $40 DHGate water pipe and you are up to $400. So, while I can see the attraction of a nice shrink wrapped packaging of the Peak, for many users, its price may reasonably stop many from wanting this device.
Summary
Wow, a lot of words to say that it’s a well-functioning device, its “shrink wrapped” in terms of integration and overall mechanical design and that will appeal to many. I predict that as MJ goes even more mainstream, we will see more vapes be slickly packaged like the Peak and be more kitchen appliance like in general. But the Peak is pricey and will not supplant a true enail for the diehard dabbing aficionado.
LOL)
