Viva La Vape’s Revolt Vaporizer

Working at a dispensary can be very hard. I say this because I spend my days talking about, selling, and generally being surrounded by not just great bud, concentrates, and edibles, but also by a variety of smoking devices and other toys. It’s like being a kid in a candy store who grows up to work at the candy store. It’s a constant struggle to keep from spending my entire paycheck on the very stuff that funds said paycheck.

I’m always excited to try new gadgets, so I was definitely looking forward to Viva La Vape’s Revolt Vaporizer.

Viva La Vape’s Revolt Digital Vaporizer

In a previous life, I owned a Silver Surfer Vape that was the same size as the Revolt model. I don’t remember exactly how much I paid for it, but I do remember it was between $200-300; this was 5 years ago. Since the dawn of the widely available portable vaporizer pen, these tabletop models, in general, have definitely come down in price.

The Revolt retails at $69 and came with a hands-free glass bowl, glass mouth piece, rubber hose, and aromatherapy oil and glass oil burning piece. In addition to the 1 sheet of instructions, the only other thing that came in the box was a good omen: a guitar pick! Viva La Vape definitely knows their demographic, and the custom orange pick was a very nice touch.

I liked the Silver Surfer and got plenty of good use out of it. Its ultimate demise came when it got accidentally knocked off the coffee table during a party. The main unit flipped over, breaking the glass bulb that acts as the main heating element. While Silver Surfer does actually sell replacement bulbs, it’s not the kind of extra expense I ever wanted to bother paying for (about $10 more then a replacement lamp would have cost, I got this entirely new vaporizer.) The Revolt has a much safer design for a heat source; instead of glass, it’s simply a small “stove”. While the glass bowl can certainly break, it’s no bigger of a risk then using a glass pipe.

Overall, the Revolt is a great model and much better then the Silver Surfer. My absolute favorite thing about this is the temperature control screen. Actually having an indication of the exact temperature is an obviously huge help in getting the best smoke. The included instructions said that the optimal temperature is 385 °F. As I learned with the Silver Surfer, it’s best to turn the unit up very high when you first turn it on, and then turn it down while actually smoking. After much trial and error, I’ve found the optimal temperature to set it to when first turning the unit on is 386°F, then turn it down to somewhere between 375-385 °F while smoking.

I tried a variety of different strains to see how the taste is affected by the vaporizer. Obviously, not applying direct flame to the bud means that it has a much better taste no matter what; the Revolt definitely makes bud MUCH tastier, and ultimately conserves more. You only need to load the glass bowl about half way (any closer and you risk torching it if it gets too close to the heating unit.) This means that I’ve actually used less bud and gotten a better smoke in the weeks since the Revolt became my main smoking device.

I tried Blue Dream (a diesel kind of taste), Goldberry (pot of gold x with blueberry, and the final effect is a minty flavor), Third Dimension (the kind of strain with that “medically clean” taste that is PERFECT for a vape), and even tired some blond Bruce Banner Earwax. (While vaping wax is not nearly as good as dabbing for overall effect, the taste was amazing!)

The only disappointment was the aromatherapy component. While putting the included oil onto the burner did yield some vapor, it was ultimately pretty weak. However, I have to imagine they include that piece so that it can be legally sold without having to explain to anyone what it’s actually used for; and it performs that intended function very well.

I highly recommend the Viva La Vape Revolt to anyone who wants to get a vaporizer for home use and doesn’t want to break the bank to get the best smoke possible.