Geek Vape Baron RDA
“Work smarter…not harder”
This is a phrase I hear a lot these days especially in my line of work…I mean my real job…you know…the job where I don’t win any awards (ahem)…nope…still not getting bored of that any time soon…
And it does carry a lot of merit, why go to a lot of bother if there is an easier way of doing something?..Makes sense right? I mean don’t get me wrong, I like to put effort into doing something well if it’s worth doing, for example…as a child I was obsessed with space, almost a cliche I know. I wanted to be an Astronaut and travel in a real spaceship; but seeing all the work that goes into making that a reality, the years of training, the putting your body past its physical limits and not being semi retarded in almost all aspects of your life…just seemed like a lot of hard work to a 23 year old child…so I improvised to make my dream a reality…
And these kind of things stand out to me all the time - efficiency is key, and it’s no more apparent than in this wonderful vaping universe of ours. To find out why this is relative, you’ll have to put maximum effort into reading below this rather pointless and frankly extravagant line of dots.
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Welcome back once again my sensual steam-sucking space monkeys, tis that time once again when I like to adorn you all with a page full of absolute award winning nonsense…oh I wasn’t kidding…I’m basically changing my middle name to ‘award winning’…you’ll get bored of it before I do, if you’re not already (I’d say that was a given)…cheeky…So… on today’s menu we have a starter of deliciously knurled polished stainless steel garnished with a smidge of swirly resin, a main course of dual coiled almost old skool build deck and for those with a sweet tooth we have a dessert consisting of over exuberant and slightly innovative side airflow. So find yourselves a table, order a drink, and prepare to find out whether super chefs Geekvape have created a masterpiece in vape culinary delights…or scrimped on the ingredients and have instead…presented us with a pile of over engineered egg ‘n’ chips …I present to you…better late than never…from my long time suffering partners Gearbest …The Geek Vape Baron RDA.
Fashionably late as always I know. The Baron has, after all, been out for quite a few months now - and as you can see by the overly flamboyant sample packaging… I’ve actually had this thing since it’s release myself. But you know how I like to make a fabulously graceful late entrance onto the reviewing scene…
So chances are…you already know about it, and rightfully so. It is after all quite the head turner when it comes to being pleasing to the eye. But did it whet my appetite and set my taste buds ablaze? Or was it all decorative side salads and swirly sauces?..Or indeed…should I really write a review when I’m clearly starving and can’t seem to write anything except food based euphemisms…? The answers to these questions and much more are coming up right now…just after I eat this doughnut…
The Lowdown
The Baron RDA is a 24mm side airflow dripper that comes in two variations - the standard edition and the TPD edition. The only difference being the packaging - the TPD version having the warning on the box telling you that it contains nicotine…which it obviously doesn’t (shrugs). Seeing as I got the sample packaging…I can only presume that I am indeed in some kind of impending chemical danger…here’s to living life on the edge…
Starting at the top we have the industry standard, brightly coloured swirly resin 810 drip tip, sat in an internally O-ringed industry standard 810 hole. Just below that we have a finger and eye pleasing ring of your finest knurling for airflow adjustment.
And following it down the sides we have a rather interesting channel cut out around it’s waist, which houses the side airflow as well as the bold engraved ‘Baron’ logo, giving it a strong appearance given its relatively stumpy - and dare I say it, industrial - stature. I have to admit…I kinda really dig the look…
Underneath is nothing particularly remarkable, but for those that like to look at bottoms…
All this is still kinda generic though, it’s what you would expect from a renowned vape manufacturer such as Geekvape and so far…we’ve seen it all before. However…underneath the hood…it’s a slightly different…if not slightly confusing story…
The build deck is essentially a dual shared post affair with a juice feed hole at the bottom for those squonkers amongst you…
Now…to me personally, two legs in one hole is a mistake on many levels. Firstly, it’s probably not a great title for a movie from the ‘adult entertainment’ section (shudders)…secondly, it’s a relatively dangerous activity that normally occurs when you are putting on your pants whilst drunk…and thirdly…it’s a right pain in the arse on a build deck (as well as in the aforementioned adult movie…probably…I mean there’s some things even I won’t Google…)
The problem is, unless you’re using a coil trimming gauge like the ones that Wotofo have started including in their kits, you’ll end up either guessing the correct leg length, or pushing the leg in first then trimming it on the other side whilst carefully trying to avoid cutting into the front leg of the coil that’s already there…I mean…it’s just a faff. Maybe some people like this approach, but those people are strange.
Something of a unique feature here though, and that’s the angled wedge you can see in between the posts. The purpose of this forms a solution to a problem I didn’t know I had, and it comes into play when you drip your liquid in through the drip tip…
What it’s meant to do is direct the liquid evenly onto both coils…but more on that later…it does have quite a deep well though, so with the included BF pin it could be a winner for squonking, I didn’t test it though…because I’m lazy.
Now…luckily for me, I have a coil trimming gauge so putting the build in was relatively easy, albeit…still a little fiddly…and credit where credit’s due…Geekvape do include a very nice pair of quad core claptons…
They also include some nice cotton strips with included aglets, and there’s plenty of room under the hood to make it nice and fluffy before you go for the money shot…
Boosh…now for a slight detour. I have mentioned this before, but lately I have been working in conjunction with Riot Squad E-Liquids, the guys who have been doing incredibly well with their ranges of full flavoured liquids which come in bullet shaped bottles…I’m still working my way though some of them but even I (who makes my own liquids and struggles to find store bought flavours to be as good as my own) am a bit of a fan. Especially of their Ghetto Penguin range…
There’s actually two missing from this line up, and that’s because I’ve tanked ‘em and left the bottles at work - those two were ‘Lil Lemon Felon’ and ‘Custard Jailbird’. Now…it’s pretty well documented that I am very much a custard man - I mean I have made a LOT of it, but buying it over the counter?..Meh…yet to be bowled over by any so far. However, I have to say that Custard Jailbird is one of…if not the best over the counter custard I have tried to date. So much so…that I actually bought more, and yes…that’s gone too - still waiting on my third bottle, it’s that good. It’s almost a semolina taste with a blob of jam in the middle, reeeally creamy, and I take my hats off to Riot Squad for that. As for the Lil Lemon Felon…well…let’s put it this way, it would definitely give a certain Dinner Lady a run for their money. The rest are all amazing in their own right, they kinda follow a fruity dessert theme, some with a touch of chill thrown in for good measure. For me personally, this is Riot Squads best range to date. I know, I know…taste is subjective blah blah fucking blah…but I know a good liquid when I taste one and I’ve been very very impressed with these - they definitely get the Steampugs thumbs up…whatever the fuck that is…
And you can keep up with whatever these culinary geniuses are up to next by checking out their Facebook & Twitter pages here…
Riot Squad Twitter Page
Riot Squad Facebook Page
Now…onwards buttercup…there’s fuckery to spread…as they say…somewhere (shrugs)…now where were we…ah yes…of course, the airflow. Pretty fucking hard to miss it let’s be perfectly honest, but it does have a trick up its sleeve, in the form of…well…a sleeve…
Now…see that sleeve sat there in the middle? Well…that clips onto the build deck like so…
Don’t be confused by the two different types of air holes, this is simply a choice…the sleeve clips in with either type sat in front of your coils, then you simply push the top cap over the sleeve, and adjust by turning the top cap itself…
I mean…I get the idea. Geekvape have been pushing this airflow ‘variation’ clip-on sleeve thing in the past, I dare say they’re even quite obsessed with it. We saw it on the Creed RTA, and despite the fact that almost every man…woman…and indeed their dogs…made comments about not really being able to tell the difference when it came to performance between the different variations…Geekvape seem relatively dogged in their approach to push it down our throats. My problem with this…and the reason I harped on in the intro about ‘work smarter not harder’…is simply that there are much easier ways to go about restricting airflow than this method…I mean, if you’re going to make a side airflow RDA there’s really only two rules you have to adhere to. Firstly, it must go from closed shut to wide open, and be easy to adjust between the two, that much is obvious. And secondly, it must be positioned correctly…which…you’d think would be quite obvious too?..It just needs to be aimed at, and if possible slightly lower than your coils, right?..So here’s the issue I have with the Baron; this thing has more airflow than my arse after 10 pints of Lager, an Indian takeaway, a bowl of All-Bran AND a tin of prunes. I SHIT YOU NOT…
I mean…I like an airy RDA. I regularly use the Warhead RDA - to name but one - which has a phenomenal amount of airflow, and admittedly I have to almost have it closed to use it. Now, with the Baron I have to have it three quarters closed…on a 24mm RDA? This brings in another problem… you see, when you have it three quarters closed the airflow is only hitting a quarter of the coil on one side. Now…we’ve seen this problem all but eliminated over the past year with an outer sleeve that…although locks in place…still turns about 20 degrees, just to line up the airflow with the coils again when you adjust it. This can’t have that because of the inner sleeve that locks in place, and unfortunately…flavour suffers as a result. It’s HUGELY over-engineered and under-thought out…and to add to that, if you have any hope of getting that massive airflow to whip up under your coils you’re gonna have to sit them pretty high…which makes the wedge they have included in between the posts …pretty redundant - juice just falls into the well. Kinda like what happened with another RDA minus a wedge…like I said earlier - a solution to a problem I didn’t know I had…
HOWEVER…that’s all well and good if you’re a flavour chaser as those are the kind of things you will need to know. But…what if you’re one of those kind of vapers that likes to walk around the room pretending you’re a choo choo train? Maybe creating your very own weather system in your living room is something which floats your proverbial boat? If THAT’S the case then…Look. No. Fucking. Further…I mean if you open this thing all the way up and activate your super-powered Dyson lungs…your poor coils will simply be holding on for dear life…
And the resulting plumage, I dare say, would make your immediate vicinity much akin to a smog filled 18th century London. Oh yes, if cloud chucking is your thing…then you, chuckles, are in for a treat…because the kind of cloud you can expect…?
The Specs
Ample kudos for the very comprehensive package of contents has to be given…
Final thoughts
Well, I think that for once I got a bit carried away with myself in the ‘Lowdown’ section. There’s really nothing much to add. I mean, it’s made exceptionally well and the machining is absolutely on point, but for me personally - I just feel the airflow is massively over engineered. There are simply much easier and better ways of making an adjustable side airflow system. And as for the two different types of airflow variation on the inner sleeve, well…again…there’s really not much difference between the two - you do get slightly more restriction with the holes rather than the slots, but it’s barely noticeable because there’s just too much air getting in. Even if you set it to a 'normal-ish’ level…it’s not hitting your coils properly…I mean it’s a good RDA for the cloud chuckers, but if you’re a flavour chaser…I’d probably give it a miss - there are better RDA’s out there for a similar price and geared towards that.
The Price
You have to hand it to Geekvape for being consistent with their pricing and once again this is no exception. At the time of writing, the Baron RDA can be found on Gearbest for a measly £21.18/$27.90, which…for a well made cloud-chucking machine with a very comprehensive package included…is a really good deal. If throwing the fluffies is your speciality, I highly recommend it…find that deal here…
Now then…ever the narcissist, I did a thing last week that I had a lot of fun doing and I want to share it with you. It would seem that those splendid chaps who adorned me with ‘that’ award I never like to talk about thought I was interesting enough to interview. So I did it…and here it is…(as ever, I couldn’t shut the fuck up) so if you ever wanted to know more about me - I mean, why wouldn’t you? - and what we do over at Steampugs HQ, including future plans, things we’re working on etc. etc., then click on this link and feast your eyes on a right load of rambling on with myself …
Ecig-Click chats to Steampugs - The long winded Interview
And as ever, the doors over at Steampugs are open 24/7, so if you would like to see how the Baron scored against other pieces of Vapeology then head on over.
Until next time
Pugs
