Dynavap M Review - After 1 Year Of Use

DynaVap M Review

The Dynavap M is one of the most unique vapes on offer today, being flame powered,super small and super affordable. Given that, I will cover in this dynavap M review: How long can a vape under £75 last; should you go for flame power over the more popular battery powered vape; and does the Dynavap give a premium & desirable vaping experience?

Given I have had the Dynavap M for over a year now and used it 3-6 times a week since I got it. I hope my Dynavap M review makes it clear the many Pros and Cons I have found with Dynavaps and flame powered vapes in general, and help you decide if it’s the right Vaporizer for you.

Why I bought the Dynavap M

I bought the Dynavap M as my 3rd vape (The 2018 version, A year old version at the time). I got a great offer on it at Black Friday and I decided to get myself an early Christmas gift. As someone who is heavily involved in the vape industry it's impossible not to see the rapid growth in popularity and cult following behind the Dynavap.

I think it's good to say that I personally own a Storz & Bickel Mighty & DynaVap M. But I have Used: 

What made me get the Dynavap was its quirky flame powered nature, which I basically wanted to see if it was a gimmick or not. But also I had found my Mighty Vaporizer to be too large to carry with me on the go. For example in a suit jacket, especially when you want to carry a grinder with some extra dry herb. So I was hoping the Dynavap could become my on the go vaporizer.

Dynavap M beside mighty vape

Initial impressions

When I first got the Dynavap M 2018 I was surprised that it didn’t come in any branded packaging, something which they have changed in more recent versions.

However, at the same time I appreciate that I had little to no waste to throw away, as the plastic tube that it came in was a great way to store it and I still use it to this day. Saying this the latest versions the dynavap comes in a cardboard sleeve so even more sustainable and a lot better presented. 

I was genuinely impressed by its small size and its substantial weight. You can tell this is a precision milled piece of stainless steel, due to the great unique design they produce every year, but also it is something that is super durable and practically immune to drops.

When first using a Dynavap I would highly recommend watching a video on it, it's not a hard or complicated process. But if you mess up you will ignite your dry herb making your Vape a Pipe, and this makes your future vapes from it taste a lot more burnt, unless you clean it. In the next section I will go onto what I found to be the best practises of using a dynavap.

New Dynavap M packaging

Learning how to use the Dynavap + top tips

I find with the dynavap my preferred method of heating makes there about 3-4 effective heating cycles out of one fill of the vaporization chamber. The First Thing You need to know about is what lighter to use.

Torch lighters are best for Dynavaps

Lighters and other heat sources

Primarily, you will want to use a Torch lighter (also known as ‘Jet lighters’) to heat your dynavap M for 3 reason:

  1. They burn clean blue flames (They do not produce soot, so you need to clean your vape a lot less)
  2. They burn hotter, so heat your Dynavap faster
  3. They are wind resistant, so you can use your Dynavap M outdoors easier

I would recommend getting a refillable torch lighter with 2 or more burners on it, as these heat your DynaVap faster. But one burner is completely fine. 

You should buy a spare can of Butane as you will use up a lighter tank about every 6 or so sessions (hence why disposable is a bad way to go). But that refill butane will last a lot of refills. I’m still using the first refill I bought.

Alternatively you can do some more out of the box things to heat your dynavap like use it on stoves, campfires or barbeques, but this is a very uneven way to heat it, but it does work, you just need to pay close attention, as it's easy to burn your herb inside the vape, also you can burn yourself a lot easier with this less controlled heating methods hence why I don’t really recommend it.

Finally, Dynavap has gone full circle on ditching electricity by recently releasing the dynavap induction heater. Yes that's right, heat your vape with electromagnets. I haven’t used this but I am very curious to check it out.

Where to heat the Vap Cap for Best Results

How to properly heat a DynaVap M

This is probably the most useful thing to know when first using your Dynavap M, So I thought It would be essential to include it in my Dynavap M Review.  I find no matter what torch lighter you are using it's best to heat the Dynavap M about 2/3rds up the side of the Vap Cap from the end rotating the Dynavap constantly, this allows the metal and herb in the head of a vaporizer to get uniformly heated to a higher temperature.producing big clouds of pure vapor. 

I find this is the best way to heat as heating the end of the vape directly causes the vapcap to click prematurely as that is where the clicker is. So it clicks before the whole chamber is heated. You will still get some vapor, but it's just not as fast and as efficient. So you will end up doing up more heat up cycles , topping your lighters up more and spending unnecessary extra time heating.

Listening For The ‘Clicks’ of the Vap Cap When Heating

The Main Reason the Dynavap is so popular and just works is because of ‘The Click’. When you heat the end of the Dynavap on its ‘Vap Cap’ when it has reached a suitable temperature to vape it will make a clear and audible metallic clicking sound. Kind of like a pen click. Once it clicks you stop heating it and start vaping immediately. 

Once the Vap Cap clicks again you can stop vaping, as this lets you know it's too cold to effectively vape from. This is also clear as there is no more visible vapor. However this doesn’t mean your herb is completely vaporized.

As mentioned before, I would keep repeating the heating and vaping process until it produces no more vapor after a reheat cycle, which normally is 3 or 4 heating cycles.

Controlling the Airflow

With any dynavap a key aspect of controlling the vapor quantity you get on an inhale comes from controlling the airflow. I found regular tapping with my finger the air hole closed and open as I inhaled was the best way to do this. Giving a nice mix of clean cool air with vapor. Meaning less coughs and a smoother vaping experience.

Cleaning and Maintaining the Dynavap

As mentioned earlier in this review, I find you need to clean the dynavap more often than other vapes due to the added chance of igniting the contents. So as well as needing to regularly clean it due to resin build up you may also need to clean it because you accidentally burnt the contents.

This was a lot more common of an issue when I first used the dynavap, but also using a single burner lighter can prevent this as the gentler heat makes it harder to mess up.

However, The dynavap M is also probably one of the easiest vapes to thoroughly clean. As all you need to do is remove the rubber seals and soak the metal parts of the Dynavap M in alcohol overnight. Sometimes getting a q-tip (cotton bud) to scrub the inside can help remove larger chunks of residue build up.

DynaVap M Review - one year of discolouration

General durability is great, after 5-6 times a week use for a year. I have not needed to replace any seals or parts. The vapcap has lost its shine but functionally it is as good as the day i got it.

Pro Cleaning Tip: want to make cleaning any vape faster or quicker?

Try using an ultrasonic cleaner, I find they can clean a dynavap in 5 minutes!

Long term of using Flame powered over Battery powered

One of the Final things you’ll need to decide if the dynavap is a good vape for you. I think the main consideration is how and where do you plan to use it? And with how many people?

I would say it's one of the most compact vaping options, making it a good option for carrying with you. However due to the nature of how involved the heating process is.

Which includes using a torch lighter to heat a little metal tube, it makes it a bit of a dubious looking activity for public use, and may draw unwanted attention. As the untrained and non-vape user, which is the majority of the public. Will most likely assume your vaporising something very illicit. 

So this makes it a great vape to bring with you to a friends house, with you camping or to the beach ect. But taking it out in a busy city may be a bad choice. Making an electric vape such as an Arizer Argo, Pax 3 or Crafty would be a lot more discreet in an urban environment.

I personally use my Dynavap M more than any other vape, but I primarily vape at home by myself. Which also points out the Dynavap’s other weakness is that it’s not great for large groups, and really at most is only suitable for 1-2 people to use at a time. I generally go electric when I'm in a group scenario as passing a burning hot 4 inch metal tube isn’t the easiest to do or safe.

However, as a party piece and something to show your friends it's an awesome little device. I remember pulling this out preloaded at my work christmas party and heating it off of a campfire in the smoking area of the venue we attended in seconds. But this was at a closed event, I wouldn’t be comfortable pulling it out in a nightclub or bar smoking area.

The Clear Pros and cons

Pros

  • Quick and hard hitting
  • Top quality vapor when done right
  • Super small and portable
  • Durable
  • Easy to clean
  • No need to wait in large sessions for batteries to charge
  • Fun little ritual of the heating process
  • Dual use concentrates and herb

Cons

  • Need to pay good attention or your smoking a pipe
  • Once you’ve accidentally burnt the contents you'll taste smokiness in following vape sessions unless it is cleaned
  • A bigger risk to burn yourself
  • Looks sketchy when heating to a person who does not vape
  • No real consistent temp control
  • Small design and open burning torch flames make it a bad choice for those with disabilities that lead to poor hand control, auditory problems or impaired vision.

FINAL SCORES & DESIRED IMPROVEMENTS

Review Score By Tom Neilly

Score

Vapour Production

4.2/5

Functionality & Flexibility

3.8/5

Appearance

4.2/5

Durability

5/5

Size

4.5/5

Maintenance & cleaning

3.5

Overall

4.2 (out of) 5

As the most popular Flame Power vape the dynavap M is an amazing piece of engineering. It’s hard to perceive how a flame powered vape could be better.  But there are some features that I would prefer, But funnily enough these are features found on other Dyavap products such as the omnivong xl

What is it in the Dynavap Omnivong and Nonavong which I like?

I like that both these vapes come with wooden bodies, I think this would lead to a reduced chance of touching hot parts, and just a slightly larger body would make it easier to hold overall. 

Also the wooden bodies on these versions are tapered in a way which makes them also built in 14mm water pipe adapter, making it easy to combo with a water pipe or bubbler to make super cool water cooled vapor.

However, the additional price makes it hard for me to not recommend the cheaper Dynavap M over the Omnivong or Nonavong in this review. Due the overall experience and vapor quality will be similar, just some nice features will be missing. So testing out the flame powered dynavap experience first with the cheaper dynavap M is worth it. However, like me you may find yourself tempted to upgrade to an omnivong or NonaVong like I am...

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