Well…I think it’s high time I got my lazy ass back in the driving seat after my cheeky lil vacay in the Welsh mountains, they say ‘no rest for the wicked’…well fuck you cheesy saying coz I got plenty, but like all good things…it came to an al
l too early end. But it wasn’t all play, there was some research going on in the form of testing out some new gear which came my way in the last few weeks. It’s always a risk going away with ONLY new gear but hey…my middle name is Risky …(no it isn’t)…and unlike my recent trip to Turkey, where I put way too much faith in a Smok product just for the ease of having pre-made coils whilst abroad…this time…I chose wisely…
Amen to that my bearded dead brother.
However…that being said, one of the choices I made was not without apprehension, and if you too have ever taken a hit directly off the surface of the sun, then you will understand this feeling all too well…mesh…the sworn enemy of the lung…has returned once again to an RDA…
Easy now…as understandable as your dismissive reaction might be…don’t be so hasty. Mesh has single handedly transformed a stagnant Sub-Ohm tank market and although it’s been around since day one in certain old skool circles…we are really only now discovering it’s true potential in today’s mind bogglingly over-saturated market. So… what if all it needed…was the correct application? The unpronounceable Cthulhu tried it with their 24mm Ceto, then Vandy Vapes had a bash with the imaginatively named Mesh RDA, but both suffered the same affliction…mesh and cotton it would seem…are a bit like a couple who get themselves involved in a ‘whirlwind’ romance - they get on famously well at the start (to the point that they are both convinced they have just met their soulmate), shag each other senseless for 2 days and then… one of them says the immortal words…‘Ever think about having kids…?’
Oh it’s all very rosy to begin with, but when one wants too much from the other, the only thing that grows between the two…is distance, and for any poor sucker who takes it upon him/herself to get involved by taking a hit on this turbulent relationship? Well, their interfering will only bring forward a reward usually saved for the Kurt Cobain’s of this world…big fan…may he rest in peace.
And so it was, mesh came…then went…then came…killed everyone…then went again…then came and conquered Sub-Ohm tanks…and now has designs on RDA’s…again…persistent little motherfucker for sure…so what’s changed?..Why won’t mesh take no for an answer? And why do I keep referring to it like it’s actually alive…?? All these answers and much much more coming up in literally 3 paragraphs …(I worry about you) (you worry about me?..you’re the one talking to yourself and then placing it in brackets as if it’s someone else…deal with that) (solid point well made) …moving on…
…
Welcome back my fine fluffy fog ferrets, back again with something we’ve all seen before…more than once…but this time with a twist…well…more of a spring…but all will become clear…probs…who knows…
It’s Wotofo’s turn once again under the Steampugs spotlight (yay!). I do have a soft spot for this company, they just do so much ‘right’ in my books, the re-branding looks awesome and bang up-to- date, and they’ve brought forth a string of interesting hits this year alone. So, when they asked me to look at their new mesh driven RDA, I apologised in advance to my lungs and accepted graciously. I’m also characteristically late seeing as they wanted my opinions a few days ago, but on the plus side…it’s given me time to test drive the shit outta this thing whilst on holiday…with some very surprising results. So enough with all this nonsensical gibberish…time to meet this meshy little maniac, may I introduce to you, the possible saviour of mesh driven RDA’s …the Wotofo Profile RDA…
Wotofo were even kind enough to send me a tube of ten spare mesh sheets and ten spare cotton refills. These would not be included in your package but you will get a couple of spare mesh sheets in the box…just so you know…
The Lowdown
The Wotofo Profile RDA is a 24mm, side airflow, squonkable RDA that takes mesh OR standard coils…in a nutshell, and just like 7 of the last 8 devices Wotofo have released, it is yet another collaboration…
Only this time it is the turn of Youtube reviewer Joel Robinson…AKA… ‘Mrjustright1’. I have to admit, I knew nothing about this reviewer until I saw his name on the Profile’s box, he’s one of the smaller reviewers from the US but has a few thousand YT subs and by all accounts really digs the ways of the mesh…so, seems like the perfect candidate to revisit this temperamental medium, with his idea on how to fix the problem that has sent vapers running in fear clutching what is left of their lungs …time and time again…but more on this little innovation later.
Starting from the top, we have a friction fit 810 drip tip in your finest swirly resin, almost an industry standard these days but it does make a nice change from the now out of fashion piss coloured Ultem, and you do get a frosted variation in the box too
Can’t say I’m a massive fan of the etched logo, but that’s just personal preference.
In the middle we have the side airflow which is dealt with in a relatively standard way, incorporating 19 x 1mm holes on either side and adjusted with a ‘stepped’ inner sleeve tucked inside an unfeasibly thick outer steel casing…and I do mean thick; the build deck itself is just over 20mm…the other 4mm…is all sleeve; this motherfucker is armoured, which I love, but…it makes it really difficult to see just where you are in terms of what’s open and what’s closed with the airflow without having to take the top cap off, the holes are just so fucking deep. Not really a huge problem unless you are one of those vapers that’s incredibly fussy and needs it to be just right…or…Mrjustright…as the case may be… (sigh), but it’s there all the same. Another weirdness is when you come to close it down, you see… you can turn the top cap to close off the top row of holes leaving the other 2 rows open, but the next step closes it off altogether. The reason for this is there’s just not enough room on the inner sleeve to include another step to close off the top and middle set of holes, so you will just have to make do with adjusting the middle and bottom set of holes from the side. That being said, I found the airflow to be just about perfect with the top row closed off…but each to their own, and it does have a locking notch in the base so lining up the holes with the coil is problem free. What I really love about all this though, is the chunky lip around the rim of the top cap, which makes taking the cap off super easy and it’s something I would personally love to see on more RDA’s. On top of that, the O-ring tension is bang on for adjusting the airflow AND removing the cap.
Underneath we have accolades for days, a hybrid friendly protruding 510 pin and Wotofo’s standard flawless machining throughout…
The Profile comes fitted with a BF pin but for my little trip away I didn’t take a squonker, so I swapped it out for the included standard pin.
Suffice to say the build quality thus far is what we have to come to expect from Wotofo. It’s pretty much perfect, but then it’s also fairly bog standard in its application…the innovation comes with the next bit, the heart of the matter…the Profile’s build deck.
A simple 2 clamp design with a Philips screw either side, now…nothing new here, most mesh RDA’s have used this method, but what makes the Profile unique is that large ceramic curved block in the centre…THIS…is where Mrjustright1’s innovation comes into play.
Fitting the coil is an absolute piece of piss, simply take the mesh sheet, bend it over the included coil tool to give it its curve, insert one side, screw it in, then the other, and Bob’s your mother’s brother…
Now, at this point in the proceedings, I literally knew nothing about this RDA. If I can…I try and go into these things completely blind so I can give an honest opinion and genuine experience from a vapers point of view…so all this seemed relatively standard in mesh RDA terms…or so I thought…until that is… I started to wick it…
The cotton that’s included is actually of a very nice quality. I admit to being a snob with such things but seeing as this cotton is presented in a way that is made JUST for this RDA I gave it a whirl. The cotton comes with a 6mm shoelace sleeve…or ‘flugelbinder’…if you ask Tom Cruise in the 80’s…it’s actually called an Aglet though…and Tom Cruise is a dick.
What is more interesting here though…is the fact that it is 6 FUCKING MILLIMETERS!..6!!..It’s fucking HUGE, this a LOT of cotton - how many coils do you know that have a 6 fucking millimeter diameter?!?..Anyways…it was only when I inserted the AGLET in under the coil that everything suddenly became clear…
Quick to the party as ever…you see…that white ceramic block in the middle is actually spring loaded…which…means the spare springs I saw in the box earlier make a bit more sense…I saw them…but being as inquisitive as I am (none) I swiftly ignored them…
Now…I’ll remind you why this is needed…
Problem: With mesh coils the cotton has to pushed against it AT ALL TIMES, any gap between the mesh sheet and the cotton will cause the holy hell of dry hits that will quite literally turn your head inside out quicker than you can scream “WHATHHOLYFUCKBALLSGAKWUGH” …you don’t need this in yours or anyone else’s life, except maybe Tom Cruise…and with cotton, not only does it expand and withdraw depending on how full of juice it is…but it also degrades and collapses over time, thus creating these gaps that unleash demons straight down your windpipe.
Fix: Spring-loaded ceramic block that will always push the cotton against the mesh…how fucking simple is that?
That being said, this is still a hell of a lot of cotton on a 20mm build deck, so trimming these bunny tails is needed, short at the top and long at the bottom. It’s not a super-deep juice well either, so if you try and stuff the whole cotton in without cutting it like this, it will just make the wick choke and become inefficient at absorbing the juice up from the well.
A good thorough soaking is obviously required…you will be amazed at how much juice this wick will take before it is full.
The Vape
Now…I have gone through, and survived, vaping from mesh RDA’s in the past. To say I was pensive is sugar-coating the shit out of it, and this wasn’t helped by just how quickly these mesh coils ramp up…I haven’t been this startled since I first fell foul of those fucking videos that did the rounds on social media where a screaming Linda Blair suddenly appears on the screen…I am not proud of how I reacted to those fucking videos…
But seriously…it’s beyond instant, just make sure you have your smackers placed firmly over the drip tip before you hit the fun button because the moment power hits this coil it pounces like a tightly coiled leopard…(what?). However…once you get over your girly nerves you are rewarded with what is quite possibly the oddest vape experience I have ever encountered.
For a start…the airflow is…well I wouldn’t even say silky smooth…it’s practically non-existent in terms of turbulence and juice popping…nothing…it’s completely silent…there is no other airflow on any device this smooth to compare it to; it almost comes as a complete shock when you see the plume of vapour which follows. Then there’s the flavour, I mean we all know that mesh can create a lot of flavour, but this?..this is really really clean flavour, and these mesh coils are made from Kanthal?..yet no metallic taste at all, and zero break in from Wotofo’s cotton either.
And then there’s the squonking, this was one of the few RDA’s where I was genuinely intrigued about it’s squonkability, just because it was different. So I have spent a few days with the BF Pin installed, and had it on my GBox. There is no rational explanation as to why I have not yet been totally sold on the whole squonking thing. I have tested MANY squonkers yet for reasons that escape me I gravitate towards more conventional dripper setups, but seeing as this was a whole different kettle of fish entirely…I just…wanted to know. So…first thing I noticed, the juice in the profile comes straight up the middle of the ceramic block and almost injects itself straight into the cotton, I mean there’s isn’t even any coil to get in the way, and when you squonk you can literally see the juice come through the wick and out through the holes in the mesh leaving the whole thing saturated…
The second thing to note is the airflow placement, it’s high, which is perfect for squonking and avoids leaking, and it needs to be as the juice well is quite shallow. I can safely say that I did not have a single drop of liquid escape through the airflow holes…probably because the wick is so huge it is literally like a giant sponge, you’d have to work pretty hard to flood the deck.
So in terms or performance, I really cannot fault the Profile.
The Package
In true Wotofo fashion, the package is super comprehensive with everything you need and spares for days…
So nice to see that along with the re-branding came a new transparent way of bagging up the spares. Gone are the 3 bags of utter mystery, and now we have clearly marked, half transparent bags so you know exactly what you are getting, love that. Also you have the coil tool, screwdriver, Allen key, spare drip tip, cotton, 2 mesh coils plus a regular coil and a bag of spares…including a spring.
The Specs
Main Features:
● Diameter: 2.4cm
● Thread: 510
● Break-through mesh style heating element
● The flavor can be broken down layer upon layer
● Side airflow
Specification
Product Details Brand: Wotofo
Type: Rebuildable Atomizer
Material: Stainless Steel
Dimension and Weight Product weight: 0.0426 kg
Package weight: 0.0530 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 2.40 x 2.40 x 3.25 cm / 0.94 x 0.94 x 1.28 inches
Package size (L x W x H): 9.60 x 7.60 x 5.10 cm / 3.78 x 2.99 x 2.01 inches
Package Contents Package Contents: 1 x RDA, 1 x 6mm Agleted Cotton Strip, 1 x Extra 810 Drip Tip, 1 x Bending Tool, 1 x Bag of Clapton Coils, 1 x Bag of Mesh Style Coils, 1 x Bag of Extra O-rings, 1 x English Using Manual
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts on the Wotofo Profile RDA will be this, it’s incredibly impressive. If you like the idea of a mesh RDA but have thus far been stung more than once with poor performing versions then, this is made for you. If you like to squonk on single battery devices at middle of the range wattages then…this is most definitely for you…but…even though the airflow was the smoothest thing I have ever tried, and the flavour was just as good as any RDA I have tried to date…there was something missing, and it took me quite a while to realise what it was…me. The problem between me and the Profile RDA is absolute personal preference, yes the vape is of a very high quality, and yes the flavour is right up there, but 90% of the time I vape at very high wattages with dual or triple coil builds, it’s just how I roll, and the Profile can’t provide me with the kind of punch I am used to. Don’t get me wrong it blows clouds but…there’s something lacking in the volume and body of the hit that just doesn’t satisfy me quite as much as my regular setups do. Like I said though, this is just me. I have been continuing to use the Profile on my Gbox just because it squonks so damn well, and it will remain in my car for the foreseeable future, but when I am at home, and have a choice between this and a high power lipo mod with a 30mm RDA then…it’s just not there. A 30mm dual mesh coil RDA however?..oh I’ll be all over that like a tramp on chips, but until that time the Profile will be used as a very nice, yet weird, RDA to drive with on a squonker running at 65 watts - giving me the ultimate in odd economic convenience.
The closest analogy I can think of with the Profile is an electric car; as much as I appreciate the unfathomable acceleration and near silent running of a Tesla electric car…there’s just something about a big wet slapping V8 that gives me goosebumps and an uncontrollable engine chubby…
And for me it’s the same with RDA’s - I need the gargling and crackling that comes with massive amounts of power on low builds, providing me with thick, hot, full-bodied clouds. That being said, if you normally vape in the 60 to 80 watt range…you will love this thing, it is by far the best mesh RDA on the market today, and I would even go as far as to say it is one of the best bottom feeders too.
And for those who want to matchy matchy?..it’s also available in an array of colour combinations.
Of course, let’s not forget that with the Profile you also get the option of running standard coils if mesh just doesn’t do it for you. I didn’t try it though so I can’t really comment on how well it performs with one, but the option is there, and Wotofo even supply you with a very nice framed staple clapton should you wish to give it a try. I don’t think that’s ever happened with a mesh RDA before.
The Price
Distinctly average, £25/$33 on Wotofo’s own site which is an absolute bargain and bang on the nail for a great performing RDA in today’s market, can’t argue with that one little bit…find that here…
Is mesh back on the menu?..Yes, I think it quite possibly is - the main issue has been solved. You can obviously still get dry hits if you run it dry, and you do have to keep it saturated to get the best from it, but even a dry hit from this thing is not nearly as traumatic as it used to be, I mean shit…it’s even got me squonking more, and I didn’t see that coming at all…nice work once again Wotofo, this is most certainly the time of the collaboration. Imagine what a group collaboration could come up with…that’s it, I’m gonna gather my team of reviewers…like the Avengers…only much much shitter…and design a dual mesh coil 30mm RDA…
And as always if you would like to see how the Profile scored against other vape devices then hop on over to Steampugs where you will find a wealth of awesome reviews from the Steamteam as well as a shop choc full of discounted vape gear.
What?..Did you think all I was going to go on about was a certain little shout-out that I received last week from a certain somebody from The Vape Team who you more than likely know?..Why would I do that??..That would be utterly conceited of me to just drop a link randomly into my review to literally ‘show off’ …no sir…thankfully…I am 100% humble, I can’t have links like
https://youtu.be/IINhKKz8YpM?t=20m18s
just sat there in the middle of everything, that would look terrible…how dare you even suggest such a thing…shame on you…I’m surprised you didn’t accuse me of throwing a random picture of the event in here too…
oh…now look what I’ve gone and done …
Until next time
Pugs.
def worth a look for sure brother 
People who send that are the devil, no doubt about it.