The new nexMESH SS316L stainless steel mesh was sent to me directly from OFRF along with the new nexMESH Sub ohm tank, review coming soon. I was planning on doing one review to cover both but felt this needed its own review.
Mesh shmesh, what’s the big deal?
I have been a fan of mesh since the first mesh sub ohm tank hit the market but rebuildable mesh, not so much until the Wotofo Profile RDA hit the market. I reviewed the Cthulhu Ceto mesh RDA, wasn’t a fan and purchased Vandy Vapes first offering of a mesh RTA prior to the Kylin M, again, not a fan.
During that time I also purchased a lot of mesh to try, got a huge tube of SS 400 mesh from lightning vapes when they offered it, meh. Also bought 3 rolls of Vandy Vape SS316L mesh, the one that was supposed to work with there failed first attempt at a mesh RTA. The Vandy Vape SS316L mesh comes in 3 versions, 150, 200 and 300, the numbers meaning how coarse or fine the mesh. Luckily I am a cheap bastard and didn’t throw any of this mesh away. Thought they would never get used until I was sent the Profile RDA to review. I tried all the mesh I had in the Profile RDA and fell head over heels for the VV SS316L 200 mesh, kicked flavor up a notch and even better I could use it in TC mode to avoid the dreaded mesh dry hit from hell.
The VV SS wasn’t too accurate when it came to TC though, experimentation was needed to find the right settings vs what I used to with normal SS316L coils.
Enter the OFRF nexMESH SS316L mesh coil
OFRF came on the scene with the original Kanthal nexMESH coils made exclusively for the Profile RDA and boy did they make a great first impression. I did enjoy this mesh but went back to the VV SS316L 200 mesh, I forget to squonk sometimes and wind up with a dry hit, cough my brains out, I need TC.
Imagine my excitement when I opened up the vape mail from OFRF expecting to only find the new nexMESH Sub Ohm Tank and find a package of there new SS316L nexMESH for rebuildable tanks!!! The clouds parted and the sun shone down on me, they must have heard my prayers!
Opened up the packaging, oh, look at that!
Not only is it SS316L but a different hole layout in the mesh compared to the kanthal version, here is a pic showing the VV SS316L 200 on the left, nexMESH kanthal in the middle and new nexMESH SS316L on the right.
Performance and comparisons to the VV SS316L 200 mesh
I am already set on mesh, the VV 200 SS316L mesh is my go to so I didn’t feel a need to compare it to all the others I have, I wanted to match up with the best performer I have. You have to cut the VV mesh to size, it comes on a roll, not precut. I used the included bending tool that comes with a different mesh RTA to make sure both mesh was installed to the same height.
As you can see the nexMESH on the bottom 2 pics was not fully pushed down, the solid part is what makes contact, I found this makes for a better TC vape than fully inserting the mesh, a little more accurate.
Both Profile RDA’s loaded up and ready to rock, the same wick was used in both to make sure thickness was the same.
I just want to note whenever using any SS316L coils do not dry fire them until they’re red hot, it can form oxides which are not good. WIth mesh, you can also damage it by glowing them red hot, these are very small hair-thin wires. No need to work out hot spots on mesh, it is already uniform, just dry fire at 10 watts to clean the coil prior to installing your wicks, short 1 second pulses are all that is needed, you want a dull glow, not a bright glow.
Using the juice I have been obsessed with lately, Fuji by Pacha Mama (if anyone has a DIY recipe please let me know) I placed both Profiles on DNA250C mods and made sure the settings matched right down to the preheat boost.
First thing I noticed was the nexMESH SS is not as spity as the VV SS mesh, it was apparent with each draw. Now the moist hit of the VV mesh does lead to a bit of a flavor bump, you will be licking your lips, sugar lips anyone? The flavor with the nexMesh was pretty damn close though which is to say it was tasty and better than any other mesh I tried besides the VV SS 200. With the VV being a thinner mesh the ramp-up was a bit quicker too but really close, I had to look into the drip tip to confirm which mesh was which a few times.
For TC the nexMESH was closer to what you would expect with a traditional SS coil, more accurate than the VV SS mesh. I had to turn down the temp on the VV mesh to avoid a dry hit, the nexMESH I ran at my normal 430F and got results I was expecting, still different than a normal build but no dry hits which is a godsend when it comes to mesh. It has to be noted though that when the next mesh was fully inserted into the clamps, the solid part was not visible like the pic shown above, then TC was not as accurate.
For the Profile RDA I preferred the nexMESH SS316L mesh over the VV SS 200 mesh, the flavor was almost even but the spit back was reduced. This stopped me from looking like a spaz while licking my lips.
Moved both over to my Pumper mods to test out just power, I use my Profiles a lot on these as I have trained myself to just give a pumper a squeeze before hitting the power button.
I had a hard time figuring out which was which with a 18650 installed in both mods, both really tasty.
I only have 1 Profile RTA and 1 Kylin M, had a fresh build in the Profile using the VV SS 200 and installed the nexMESH into the Kylin M. In this situation with your mouth being further away from the coil I preferred the VV 200 mesh as it is still a little moister, the nexMESH a dryer vape. Still very close though and I would be satisfied with either one, I do tend to prefer the Profile RTA over the Kylin M.
Final Thoughts
Skipping the Pros and Cons, not really any cons I can think of other than they didn’t send me a lifetime supply. I think the OFRF nexMESH SS316L mesh will be the new standard for mesh RDA/RTA’s, power or TC, it doesn’t matter, it excels at both.
I will keep using my roll of VV SS 200 mesh until it is used up but will be ordering more OFRF nexMESH SS316L mesh for the convenience, performance and how well it works in TC. If you love the VV SS 200 but wish it wasn’t so spity then the nexMESH SS is for you. I just noticed that vapordna just put the new nexMESH SS316L in stock as well and it should be at other retailers soon.
I was only able to find a blog post of OFRF’s site regarding the new SS316L mesh: https://www.ofrf.com/community/ofrf-launches-nexmesh-ss316l-stainless-steel-coils I would expect them to start selling it soon though.
Check out how this stacks up to other tasty gear and meet the Steampugs team of reviewers. Your bound to have a good time and read up on some great products, not so great ones too http://www.steampugs.co.uk/
