I’ll admit right now, I was more than a little intrigued when I first heard about the items I am presenting to you today…and why?..well when a company brings out a ‘thing’…and ‘that’ thing tends to be in the top 5 ‘things’ of 2017 …in almost every vapers ‘my favourite thing of last year’ list then…you can’t not be interested in what they’re going to come out with next…because whatever that thing is…it could either build on the success of that last ‘thing’…or just turn out to be that ‘awkward second album’, thus labeling you a one hit wonder…your failure only bolstering the success of other people’s ‘things’…while they look down on you…and shit on your once impeccable reputation…
The company I am talking about is OBS, and more specifically their ‘home run’ RTA of yesteryear…the Engine. The Engine sat high in the best RTA’s of 2017 list for a vast swathe of vapers, and deservedly so…that thing was a leak proof flavour machine, almost perfect in every way, and is indeed still enjoyed to this day by vapers the world over, however…trends change, there is a ‘fashion’ to vaping and like any fashion it continuously evolves, and if your RTA ain’t day-glo purple with bubble glass and a matching swirly resin 810 drip tip…it ain’t considered as…‘sick’…anymore…
Form over function unfortunately…sells.
So…a change of direction was needed…why make another ‘thing’…when the ‘thing’ you made was good enough?!..As the new designs came in for the next ‘thing’ …OBS’s choice was simple…
FUCK IT!..we’re making a mod…
…
Greetings once more my gloriously smoggy Gothamites, back again with more barely legible claptrap about some stuff that you probably don’t need, but will more than likely buy anyway because you are indeed… bat shit crazy, and while we’re on the subject of bats…(we were?) …it would appear that the Dark Knight himself has had more than a little influence on one of today’s offerings…not officially of course…because that would be expensive and probably impossible to obtain…but it’s about as official as China gets …kinda like covering a mod in spider webs, giving it a logo similar to Spider Man’s but instead… calling it the Wall Crawler…(cough-Vaptio-cough)…so…not official in the slightest then…
Courtesy of the gift that keeps on giving from Heaven…Heavengifts (?) …slipping into view menacingly from the shadows… The OBS Bat 218w Box Mod Kit with Damo Sub Ohm Tank…and because I don’t particularly like sub ohm tanks…I am also presenting the OBS Crius RDA…because I can…it’s my review…
Quite surprised they didn’t call the Crius the ‘She-Bat’ and the Damo tank the ‘Red Breast’ …would of made a nice little set together…
SET!..I said SET!!..(sigh)…moving on…
The Lowdown (Bat 218 Kit)
The OBS Bat mod is a dual 18650 powered, 218w heavyweight power-house of a device that comes complete with the Damo Sub Ohm Tank…nothing particularly unusual going on on the surface of things, nor is it particularly unusual under said surface…either…
I think you’ll find that it is…we’ll come to that.
First things first, the packaging on ALL of the new OBS gear is nothing short of impressive, the retail presence is absolutely next level, so ample kudos to them for that, and once you open the kit and pull out the Bat mod…you start to get a real sense that OBS…have not lost their edge when it comes to build quality…as a matter of fact…they’re even better than they used to be, and that’s saying something, this thing is SOLID, you’d almost believe it came with batteries already installed it’s that heavy…and chunky too…think more Ben Affleck and less Adam West…even Batman has suffered a little…shall we say…middle aged spread of late…
The Bat is kind of reminiscent of the Alien/Predator/Ravage style, but without the trigger bar, instead you get a very nice large fire button, right where you’d expect it to be…
And it’s nice too, very satisfyingly solid with a barely audible click…super butch…like Batman…
And the manliness continues when you take a crowbar to the battery door …which…on it’s own could very well be used as a shield to ward off any impending dangers…from…baddies…and such like…
All held in place by 4 super bat magnets…no doubt…and complete with menacing mesh vents top and bottom…grrrrr.
The centered spring loaded 510 looks very solid and well threaded too with a decent throw on the spring, and as a very nice added bonus it will take up to a 28.5mm top without overhang…good news for my Sherman RDA’s …and even a 30mm doesn’t look unacceptable…you’d think I would of taken a picture of that…
Controlling the Bat mod brought forward the only real surprise for me…I mean by today’s standards it’s almost a throwback to over a year ago (around 7 in vape years…or is that dogs…?) , it seems to be run by a very similar chip to the older Smok products, the menu system is almost identical to my Smok G150 that I have had for eons…3 clicks puts you into the menu, you get the icons for ‘Light’ (the bulb) ‘Mode’ (the pipe) ‘Puffs’ (the lips) ‘Settings’ (the cog) and ‘power’…you know the drill…hold the fire button on any of these to enter the sub menus…leave alone to go back to the main screen…I mean it works, and it gives you everything you need, you get the full TC suite for SS, Ti and Ni and with the full 218w at your disposal…plus a TCR setting, you also get VW with 3 settings for soft, normal and hard…it’s just…in a time where full colour displays most definitely rule the roost with regulated mods…it feels a little…“Oh?”…don’t get me wrong, I’m a simple man…the latest technology that lets you fine tune absolutely every aspect of your vaping is wasted on me anyway…
But still…for a brand new device?..slightly odd choice I thought.
It does however…have LIGHTS!.. (sarcastic ‘woooo’ fist pump)
(shudders)…sinister…the vast majority of you will be pleased to know that as well as being able to choose from a handful of primary colours…you can also switch them off…or just have them on when you fire…or for those amongst you that like to vape whilst mooching menacingly around the rooftops of a smoggy crime infested city at night…you can leave them on…all the time…because…that’s cool…
It’s also available in the following very un-Batman like colours…
The Tank that comes with the Bat kit version is the ‘Damo’ sub ohm tank…I can only assume that it’s real name is Damon…and it’s from Liverpool…(kinda Regionalist) …and as far as sub ohm tanks go…it’s actually quite good… being a 25mm affair that holds an admirable 5ml of your finest… the flavour and cloud production is very good indeed, and the dual bottom adjustable airflow is smooth and ample…so if you like tanks with pre made coils…you’ll probably dig it.
It also retains it’s very nice top fill system, simply pull up the sleeve and pour your liquid into the large port…just like the Engine…love that.
That’s about all I have to say about it though, it’s good but not really my thing…so I swapped it…for another of OBS’s newcomers…something…a little lovely…
The Lowdown (Crius RDA)
The Crius RDA is 24mm of glorious loveliness, and yes…it probably deserves it’s own review, and double yes…OBS appear to call every top they bring out these days the Crius…however…with me not being a particularly huge fan of sub ohm tanks I wanted something else to pair up with the bat…seemed like an obvious choice…although at the time…I didn’t realise just how good this thing would be…and my adoration started…as soon as I opened the box…
I felt like I was getting a piece of high quality jewellery, talk about presentation…
It also comes complete with everything you need to set it up…which I did…instantly…because once I saw the build deck…I was like a moth to a flame…or a bat…to a…belfrey…??
Yes it kinda steals it’s idea from the dotmod dotRDA24 …except the clamp is stepped, and apparently that creamy filling in the gold sandwich is Zirconia, which apart from having outstanding thermal properties…is also incredibly tough to break…oh yeah…I know some shit…(totally fucking Googled that…)
The Crius is also fully squonk capable, you can see the inlet at the base of the centre pin on each side, the only thing that worries me about squonking on the Crius, is just how high your coils are, leaving quite a stretch for your liquid to travel, I didn’t try it personally, but in order to put it into BF mode…all you have to do is remove the plug…a little grub screw in the middle of the pin…
The machining and overall finish on the Crius is impeccable, definitely one of the best I’ve seen, and building on it is a walk in the park…
Only one screw to worry about and although keeping everything in place with one hand, while you tighten it up with the other, requires some thought…and no alcohol…(trust me on that)…it doesn’t take too long before you master it. I found it easier to bend the legs up and down once I had the coil in place so that they stayed put while I clamped them…and as per usual…I used the supplied fused claptons…because I’m cheap… but not the cotton pad…because I’m not a savage…time to butter up this bacon sandwich…
The Vape
Pretty…fucking…amazing…and I believe that is all down to the airflow…
I couldn’t actually get a decent picture that would explain how the airflow works on this thing…so I pilfered one from the OBS site…
And this picture still doesn’t explain it very well (sigh)…it has 4 adjustable airflow slots, but because of the lid/sleeve that’s built into the top cap it’s all angled down, so the air is sucked up from underneath the coils…meaning… although it appears to be side airflow…it’s actually bottom airflow…and it works…REALLY well…It’s silky smooth and thanks to the nicely domed top cap…the flavour is right up there with the best I have tried…
It’s also notched, so no need to try and line up your airflow, it does it all for you…the only issue with this for me personally…was that I couldn’t line up the beautifully done engraving on the outer sleeve properly…I’d like it to look like this…
But I can’t have it…every time I put the lid on…I get this…
I guess it’s a small sacrifice to make for such an exquisite vape though.
Also worthy of note is that the drip tip is your industry standard 810, so if Ultem isn’t your thing…you can swap that baby right out…it’s also available in 3…pleasant colours…
Right…it’s holy double spec-list time Batman…
The Specs
OBS Bat 218 Kit Specification
Product Details Brand: OBS
Atomizer: Sub Ohm Tank
Battery Form Factor: 18650
Battery Quantity: 2pcs ( not included )
Charge time: 4 hours
Material: Glass,Stainless Steel,Zinc Alloy
Mod Type: Temperature Control Mod,VV/VW Mod
Temperature Control Range: 200 - 600 Deg.F / 100 - 315 Deg.CWattage: 7-218W
Output voltage: 0.1-8.4V
Dimension and Weight Package size (L x W x H): 4.20 x 4.18 x 16.40 cm / 1.65 x 1.65 x 6.46 inches
Package weight: 0.3950 kg
Product size (L x W x H): 4.60 x 3.20 x 9.00 cm / 1.81 x 1.26 x 3.54 inches
Product weight: 0.2290 kg
Packing Contents Package Contents: 1 x BAT Mod, 1 x USB Cable, 1 x DAMO Tank, 1 x 510 Adapter, 1 x M2 Coil, 1 x M6 Coil ( Pre-installed ), 1 x Glass Tube, 1 x Pack of Sealing Ring
OBS Crius RDA
Size: 24mm x 38mm
Material: 304 stainless steel
Thread: Gold-plated 510 connection
New 360° Cyclic Airflow System to Improve the Flavor
4 Adjustable Airflow Holes for More Bigger Clouds
High-tech DIY Deck with a Zirconia White Piece
Easy Dual Coils Building
Bottom Feeding Pin
Final Thoughts
Love it…plain and simple, I do believe hand on heart that OBS have a real winner on their hands AGAIN…with both the Bat AND the Crius RDA…
The Bat 218 mod might not house the most up to date technology but what it does have is enough, and not only does it look like it was modelled on the Batmobile, it’s built like the bloody thing too…OBS have taken the term ‘workhorse’ …and pumped it full of steroids, it just gives you the sense that this thing will work forever…and I have to admit, after going through more than my fair share of Smok mods over the years…the ones that have survived unscathed…all have this kind of menu system, the shit just works because it’s simple, so I get what they did, what’s the point in having a durable super heavy-duty mod and then fitting it with a chip and display that’s probably gonna crap out at some point…yes I know it has silly lights just like a lot of ridiculous devices these days but…you can turn them off easily. It’s powerful, it remains compact even though it’s robust, and despite it’s angular appearance it’s actually very smooth and rounded, this bat…very much makes itself at home in the palm of your hand…
As for the Crius RDA well…what more can I add, in a market that is saturated with 24mm RDA’s it shines like a diamond, it’s become a firm favourite of mine in the short time I have been using it, the flavour production is outstanding and whether you prefer a more restricted flavorful vape or a super airy cloud chucker…this unique and super impressive airflow system can do it all…and as an added bonus, because you get bottom airflow flavour from side air vents…you get no leaking at all…no matter how hard you squonk it, on top of that the build deck is very user friendly…not to mention a joy to look at…in fact the ONLY con I found was the O-rings holding the whole cap on, way too loose, but at least that’s an easy fix…apart from that…this is an outstanding RDA…well done OBS…well done…
But does quality come at a price?..
The Price
At present Heavengifts have the Bat Kit on sale with an apparent 18% discount…making it £71.58 / $99.00, even if you use my discount code APUGS15 it only brings it down to £60.85 / $84.15 …yes…it’s expensive…they do sell the mod on it’s own though for £49.89 / $69.00 and with my discount that drops to a very acceptable £42.41 / $58.65 …I mean that makes the Damo tank an extra $30 on top…which just simply isn’t worth it in my opinion…find those deals here…
OBS Bat 218 Kit with Damo Sub Ohm Tank
The Crius RDA however is available for £25.96 / $35.90 and with my discount code APUGS15 that comes down to £22.06 / $30.51 …which should make you scramble for your credit cards almost instantly because at that price…it’s just fucking unbelievable…find that deal here…
It’s my opinion that should you quite like the look of the Bat…and why wouldn’t you…you should go for the Mod on it’s own and pair it with the Crius RDA for around £65 / $89 …because these 2 together…make an incredible couple that clearly enjoy each others company…but I still think they should call the Crius the She-Bat…or Miss Batty McBatface…or…(stop naming things…forever) tut…fine.
As always if you would like to see how the new wave of OBS’s gear scored then hop on over to Steampugs where you will find a plethora of reviews from the Steamteam as well as a shop choc full of bargains.
Until next time
Pugs
🖒