Hugsvape Ringlord Mesh RTA
Now…I am very much an admirer of anything ‘different’. Doesn’t matter what it is, or indeed…who it is. Thinking outside the box, to me, is what got us where we are today. I mean, where would we be if some crazy bastard hadn’t had the outlandish idea to ignite a flammable liquid inside a metal box and then use that energy to drive wheels…something that up until that time had only been powered by either legs…or gravity?..What on earth would we all be driving around in??
Or even further back, a caveman…we’ll call him Trevor…must have looked completely off his axis as he furiously rubbed two sticks together, while all the other neanderthal onlookers questioned wtf they were looking at…
“Trevor claims he saw it glow the last time he did it…Has he been eating those funny lookin’ mushrooms again…??”
And whatever in the world did the first person who ever milked a cow actually think they were doing??..Actually…probably best not to think about that one too much…
Of course…not every ‘out there’ idea can bring forward the fruits of your labour - there is a very fine line between ‘unconventional idea’ and ‘what the fuck were you thinking?’…Even I have a very fond memory from many moons ago…I’d even go as far as to say it was an epiphany …one Christmas Eve night when I discovered that the hands on a clock…could actually be moved forward just by turning it with your finger, and more so…you could do it to every single clock in the house so that Christmas morning would come quicker…
I remember thinking I’d actually figured it out…only to have my dreams well and truly thwarted by my other half when told…
“Paul…you’re 47…it’s 3am…you’re still drunk…and if you wake the kids I’ll fucking kill you in your sleep”…
She was right of course, I was incredibly drunk and she would also have most definitely killed me in my sleep. In fact…some would argue that it’s a miracle she hasn’t already…SO…what’s this all about then? Well…when you’ve been doing this kind of writing for a while…you know…the kind of writing that may or may not occasionally merit the odd award…apparently…
It’s nice to actually find something that’s a bit different, something that takes the conventional…and quite literally…flips it on it’s head…and today…is one of those days…Excited?..Really…?..Bit weird…
…
Welcome once again my slightly awkward misty misfits, back again with…well…something utterly different for once, and from a company I literally know fuck all about…so…this should be fun.
Hugsvape - you may or may not have heard of them before - have been around for a couple of years and supplied the vape market with devices such as the Lotus RTA, the Chalice MTL RTA, and even the 3D printed Surge squonk mod. Still none the wiser?..No, I wasn’t either - not that that’s anything unusual, but still…what if I said the Ringlord RDA? Ahh…suddenly a few more ears prick up…
With…some of you…maybe…anyway…it’s highly probable that the Ringlord RDA gained some of its attention for the wrong reasons. Yes…the name may well have been used by some - a minority of small minded individuals who seek acceptance from their peers by putting down other people just for shits and giggles - as a derogatory term. Fortunately I know no such people…
But the other reason you may well remember it is down to the…almost absurd…way it looked. I mean, I admit right now…I was offered the Ringlord RDA when it was released, but once I saw a picture of what makes this thing so different I politely and respectfully turned this kind request down…
However…something very strange happened. Hugsvape, in all their stubborn persistence…wouldn’t let it lie…SO hell bent on their unconventional idea were they, that they released the same idea again…only this time it was a tank, and also this time…it used mesh. So…my intrigue was tickled like the fickle scrotum that it is - I wanted to know more…I wanted to know if I was just a tad flippant with its predecessor. If it sold fuck all, then…surely they wouldn’t try again?..Right?..Who would do that? (you probs…)…true story.
So…let’s see what in holy fucktarnation I am indeed…talking about. Courtesy of my good friend Carson over at Ave40, I present to you (with a certain amount of trepidation)…the Hugsvape Ringlord Mesh RTA…
Now come on… stay with me…yes…it looks just like any other of the ninety twelve thousand five hundred and seventy eleven tanks on the market today - in fact by comparison…it’s almost a bit dull. Yes, it has bubble glass and a little pattern around the top cap, but…don’t they all these days?..However …where the Ringlord falls short in sheer unadulterated beauty, it may well make up for it in personality.
The Lowdown
The Hugsvape Ringlord Mesh RTA is a 26mm rebuildable tank with a capacity of 5ml (bubble glass) or 2ml (TPD ass licking straight glass).
It takes a similar mesh strip type coil as such tanks like the Profile Unity & Profile RDA and has a bottom AFC ring with dual air intakes.
It has a screw off top cap for easy top fill…
Which has dual ports that aren’t recessed but are ample big enough for your average over the counter bottle - bit small for bigger unicorn bottles though…
And a quick release, nicely sealed top cap which houses a push-fit, standard fitment 810 drip tip.
Underneath we have the usual amount of information, all displayed in a strikingly boring and uninspiring font…
And an insulated, protruding, gold-plated pin.
There’s really not a whole lot else to say about first impressions when taking it out of the box, there will be no surprise, you will have been here before, and you will think you’ll know what to expect…
However…
If, say, you acquired this tank without any research whatsoever regarding what it actually is then…once you take it apart to install your first build…it may just bring forward a whole different reaction from you altogether…
And that reaction would be very understandable…because chances are you’ve already dealt with a plethora of different rebuildable tanks and RDA’s in the past…but never has any build deck you have ever encountered before…had something that looks like it should be shielding Chernobyl sat upon it’s noggin. But wait…things aren’t actually quite as scary as it would first actually appear to be…actually…(what?).
For a start…or should I say… before you start…just grab that big golden arch…and give it a little tug…
There…now that wasn’t so bad was it? In fact…once you do take it out, I have no doubt whatsoever that you will be peering over the top of your spectacles and staring intently at this once horrifying ordeal. Which will of course be useless…because now you won’t be able to see anything…seriously…even I do that and I have no idea why? Anyway…you’ll first first notice the array of airflow holes on the underneath of the arch…
then you’ll see the two air ducts which are now exposed due to the removal of said arch… and at that point…you will of course realise that this is where the air comes in…and you’ll feel almost smug with yourself…
So…you carry on as you normally would with any RTA…or at least any Mesh RTA…but there’s something nagging at you…pulling on that loose thread like a petulant child tugging on its mother’s apron strings…
Regardless…you get your little bits and bobs together and soldier on…you take your included mesh strip and bend it over a screwdriver or a drill bit or…something…coz you don’t get anything in the package to do that with…
It will no doubt be no bother to a seasoned pro such as yourself…in fact…it’s almost mundane. It’s two simple clamps with two simple screws - no spring block obviously because that belongs to MrJustright1 - but you figure Hugsvape must know what they’re doing, so you give it a quick glow to make sure all is above board and wick it up with the included cotton…which has added aglets to make the process even more mundane and challenge free…
You poke your little cotton ends into the ample juice channels, just like you’ve done a thousand times…yet…it’s still there…poking at the back of your brain with a shitty stick. What is it?..What’s not gelling in my jello brain…?
You proceed to trim your wick like you’re Vidal Sassoon and you apply a generous helping of your finest amber nectar to get things moving along…and then you pick up your little golden arch and replace it back in it’s little home…
And right at that moment…the stark realisation of that little annoying niggle pops up into your brain …like a fart in a mud bath.
“Waitafuckinggoddamnminute…this airflow is upside down??..Whatthefuckinghellisthisallafuckingbout?”
It takes a few minutes of careful consideration while your brain goes through the gears, relentlessly trying to fathom out what the fuck is going on and indeed…how the fuck this works…and then…pop…you’ll probably die in a puddle of your own blood and brain matter.
Of course…it wouldn’t be much of a review if I turned my toes up at this stage. So I opted to ignore the unfathomable, I blanked it out of my mind just like the time I walked in on my housemate enjoying himself too much with his headphones on…
He still doesn’t know…amature error…
I carried on as if I had not seen this abomination…gently sobbing…and utterly terrified, while I put it all back together with my trembling hands and filled it up with my own emotionally distraught tears. I then did what everyone does when they have just been through a confusing and traumatising experience…I sat in the shower fully dressed and cried uncontrollably while I tried to make sense of what I had just witnessed…
The Vape
Okay…I don’t think there has ever been a time in my reviewing career where I didn’t have at least a slight clue of what to expect when I first took a hit on a device, but here I was…still not quite understanding what in holy fuckballs was going on…or what was going to happen.
First off…this is a restricted tank, not MTL by any stretch, but by far the most restricted DTL mesh tank I have tried so far. This was my first surprise - it was smooth, there was no gargling or shit your pants instantaneous burst of power that you sometimes get with mesh…which was nice actually…albeit still slightly confusing.
Secondly…the flavour is actually quite good. You see…that airflow comes in directly above your coil, and it covers it completely, so you do get the full fat of anything that comes off the mesh - it doesn’t miss a single bit. Then, all the air you pull in over the top of your coil just does a U-turn and exits straight out of the drip tip… I have to say, it’s actually quite good, not my personal taste or way of vaping - I’m way more airy than this can provide, but for someone who likes a more restricted vape, I see no reason why they wouldn’t like it…I mean…this obscure upside down monstrosity…is actually a really tame, cute, little, fluffy kitten…I know right?..Who knew?
The Specs
Parameters
Size: 26 x 50.3mm
Build Deck: Single Coil
Material: Stainless Steel + Glass
Capacity: 2ml (a 5ml Bubble Glass Tube Included)
Coil Type: Mesh Coil
Resistance: 0.06ohm
Wattage: 65-75W
Thread: 510
It comes with
- 1 x Ring Lord Mesh RTA
- 2 x Mesh Style Wire
- 1 x Cotton
- 1 x 5ml Bubble Glass Tube
- 1 x User Manual
- Spare Screws and O-rings
Final Thoughts
Okay…my final thoughts on the Hugsvape Ringlord Mesh RTA would be thus…first off, they kinda need to work on the appearance a little bit if they’re gonna attract more vapers to what makes this unique. It’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with the way it looks, but there are a lot better looking mesh RTA’s out there right now, granted…none as restrictive as this, as far as I know anyway. Also, it doesn’t really come in the most inspiring of colours…
Now…although the first reaction to this ridiculous build deck might be confusion and utter bewilderment…it’s a actually a piece of piss to build on and wick. I used it for 3 weeks and to my surprise never got a single dry hit - and remember, this doesn’t have the spring block like the Profile Unity, you just have to make sure you get enough cotton in there so it’s packed enough to always have contact with the mesh, which is…easy?
Finally…that airflow…which was clearly created by an absolute maniac…something I can always get on board with…is genuinely a really good idea. It makes no sense at all and in theory shouldn’t work as well as it does but…it does work. I just wish they made it a lot more airy for my personal way of vaping, because if they did I’m pretty sure this would be a real flavour banger and would attract a lot more vapers. There are a lot of vapers who prefer a restrictive vape though, and with this being on its own in the mesh category, well…I can’t think of another one to compare it to?..On top of that the machining is fine, the build quality is fine and the flavour is excellent. Apart from the name, I can’t really think of anything bad to say about it…which has kind of upset me slightly. I wanted to rip this Ringlord wide open…
But it would appear that being different…is kinda cool after all…there’s a very valuable life lesson to be learnt there, and I hope that I have gone some way to making you all better people because of it…
Anyway…I guess all that’s left now is the price…soooo…I’ll just crack on, yeah?
The Price
At the time of writing Ave40 have this on sale for $35/£27 …it’s bang average. If you wanted to try mesh and prefer a more restrictive vape then… you’re shit outta options anyway, so I guess this is both the cheapest and most expensive restrictive mesh RTA out there…so…yeah…(shrugs)…find that deal here…
As always, the doors over here at Steampugs HQ are open 24/7 so feel free to peruse at your leisure. You will find a plethora of reviews from both me and those other reprobates I like to call my friends, and if you’d like to come meet and chat with us…(I mean why wouldn’t you?)…then hop on over to our little corner of the Vapeverse we like to call our forum…by clicking this link…
We promise to destroy your lives and rob you of every bit of dignity you have…but in a warm, welcoming and drama free setting.
Until next time
Pugs.
, yeah I’m surprised it works as well as it does without the spring block but…it does?
