Smoant Ladon Kit
AT LAST!!..FINALLY!!..SOMETHING that I actually give a shit about has arrived on my cobweb ridden doorstep, utterly bereft of anything even remotely resembling a vape ensemble that wasn’t a pod kit or AIO for MONTHS!..I’m so happy I could literally shit …(?)… because this time… the light at the end of the tunnel was not some fucktard with a torch trying to pedal a matchbox sized contraption powered by farts as it frugally sipped my amber nectar, leaving my lungs and taste buds begging for me to just stop the madness and throw it in the bin…no my friends…not this time, this time the light in the tunnel was in fact the light of hope, a glimmer of a spark that told me, no…SHOUTED at me…it’s not over yet Pugs, we still care, and we are here, by your side…to help you…
Oh I don’t worship anything that isn’t cheese or beer. My postman is called Jesus…he’s not, I just call him that, and neither myself, or him…know why. BUT…for the purposes of showing my gratitude for delivering such a timely and unfathomably appreciated gift…I did wash his feet, make of that what you will (shrugs)…he seemed to enjoy it for what it’s worth…
I tried SO HARD to adapt to this ever changing industry of ours, I mean seriously, I forced myself to suck on these little fellas until my head turned inside out, get your mind out of the gutter…tut…(he says). But lately, I have been casting aside anything that I’ve reviewed over the past few months in favour of devices that I quite literally had to dust off, man…there were some devices that once set up had me reeling with cries of “Where the fuck have you been? (sobs) I’m so sorry, never leave me again”…(totes emosh)
But the stark reality is thus…the vape industry does not exist to furnish my needs, or yours, or even to get people to stop smoking. No…the vape industry is exactly that, an industry, and it’s soul purpose in life… is to make piles and piles of cold hard cash, while it churns out tons upon tons of whatever is popular at any given time. So…who’s to blame? Well…unfortunately…this time…it’s vapers. I mean it’s good, because it kinda points to all the noobs, those that have recently taken the plunge from those god awful stinkies into that realm of delectability that we all know and love, because it’s these vaping noobs that are buying the vast majority of smaller AIO’s and Pod systems. So the fact that the industry has turned it’s focus to this way of vaping is a sure sign that more people are switching to vaping and ridding themselves of that deathly and dirty habit…you can’t not feel a sense of pride for that, especially with everything we have had to overcome over the years. But…where does that leave us…the old Skoolers, the Vapers that completed this level many years ago and have now been facing, and defeating, the final boss of Vapingdom on a daily basis? Well…it would appear that we haven’t been completely forgotten about just yet , and I’m about to show you why as I suavely get back on the saddle like the professional award winning aficionado that I indeed…am.
Shall we…
…
Welcome back once again my power hungry, narcissistic, smog sucking psychopaths, FUCK it’s been a minute am I right? At long last I have all the time in the world to write and it happens at a time when I’ve got fuck-all to write about. You have to laugh at the irony otherwise you’d cry. However, I’m still here like the procrastinating, drunk, fat man that I am…doing cock all, but safely, and 2 meters away from anyone that’s not my postman, who has really sexy feet by the way…
But today is a day of joyfulness, today…we are back in the realm of normality, for me anyway. In actual fact…we’re probably going a little way further back than normality, a normality that used to be normal back when normal things were normal, now things are less normal than when they were normal, but this is still normal compared to the normal we have become accustomed to during these abnormal times…you follow?..No, me neither, but hey…who knows, if you carry on reading you might find out what the fuck I’m on about, which is exactly what I’m going to do once I’ve written it…SO…where were we? Ah yes…back to normal, and in a world where everything is less so…it’s a really nice feeling, and it’s all thanks to a company whose past efforts have often been understated - the rather portly Cylon, the well crafted Charon and Naboo, and the ‘wtf were you thinking’ Rabox, to name but a few. I am of course talking about Smoant, and this time…they have come up with a device that is a positive handbrake turn in their back catalogue of outlandish designs and over the top full colour pocket TV’s…and it’s not entirely unwelcome, so please…allow me to present to you, courtesy of my good friends over at Sourcemore , the Smoant Ladon Kit…
Now…first things first, this was originally touted as an all-in-one kit - in fact, the tank still is. In double fact…the kit still is if you look on Smoant’s site, but the phrase seems to have disappeared from the front lid of this retail version. I HAVE NO IDEA why they called it an AIO, if this is an AIO…then on that premise every single complete kit on the market is an AIO, and we all know that’s not the case, so…my guess…someone thankfully pulled Smoant’s advertising team to one side and whispered in their ear …“psst…dude…this isn’t what vapers refer to as an AIO mate…like…seriously…stop that” and they dropped pushing it as such. What this is, is a bloody good starter kit, well almost, in fact no…I’ll say it’s still a bloody good starter kit, and I’ll come to the cons in a wee while, but it’s definitely NOT an AIO as we know it…so there.
The Lowdown
The Smoant Ladon kit consists of the Ladon box mod and Ladon AIO tank (sigh)…They call it this, because if you buy the tank on it’s own it comes with an RBA as well as the regular mesh sub-ohm coils. THAT…does not make it an AIO, but I guess it does make it an all-in-one…kinda. It’s all very confusing and they should have put more thought into it…maybe not quite as much thought as they put into that RBA though, which doesn’t come with the kit…we’ll come back to that feat of engineering in a short while…
The Ladon box mod is a (optimistic) 225w, dual 18650 powered device that has all the functionality of most up to date devices thanks to Smoant’s ‘AI Ant Chip’…pretty sure there’s no artificial intelligence as we know it going on there. I asked it a few questions and got no reply…which I found rude…and my offers of a game of chess went down like a lead balloon. But hey…I’m no expert, apparently the fact that the Ant chip automatically adjusts wattage by coil resistance means that it is in fact…AI…
Who am I to argue? It does offer the usual array of modes though, with a navigation that is completely novice friendly, including VW, TC for SS, Ti and Ni, TCR values and a curve mode…called ‘DVW’…whatever the fuck that stands for…I’m guessing ‘Don’t Vape Willies’…but I can’t be sure…you shouldn’t though to be fair, it’s a terrible habit to get into. Regardless, the Ladons claims of artificial intelligence and slightly dodgy mode labeling aside, it’s not to say that what we have here is not worthy of perusal, far from it. For a start…this thing is SOLID, the whole thing is made from SS304 stainless steel and Zinc alloy, and this is no more apparent than when you pick it up for the first time, it’s got some heft to it let me tell ya, which may put some vapers off who were looking for a super transportable, pocket friendly take out kit if it wasn’t for one small point - and I emphasise the word ‘small’ - because even though the Ladon may well be ‘big boned’…it’s also incredibly compact, barely bigger than the batteries that power it…hidden neatly and snuggly behind the magnetic battery door on the back…which…has a bit of play in it…just a little niggle there…we’ll overlook that…
And it feels good too. On the back they have adorned the Ladon with China’s finest ‘pleather’…
Which offers a pleasing grip that feels nice to the touch, good for us…maybe not so good for whichever planimal was skinned for it though (?), and if you flip the Ladon over to the business side of things…
You get speaker mesh, no…it’s not a speaker, nor is it a walkie talkie, or a pocket radio. It’s a lie is what it is, but…it does add to the grip, as well as the almost ‘retro’ design of the Ladon…I like it…I just don’t know why I like it…and I like that.
Also on the front we have the display, it won’t show you pretty pictures of semi-naked women, nor will it entice you with cleverly animated technicolor graphics…
But it will tell you everything you need to know and nothing you don’t. It’s the same kind of interface we first saw on the Alien, and it’s adorned many…many devices since. It’s simple, effective, intuitive, and dull as fuck, but…it does the job it intends to do without confusing the hell out of any newcomers.
Now…as if you needed telling where the function buttons are, you can hardly miss the almost out of place bright red plastic accents. I’m unsure about the choice I’ll be honest with you, I guess it adds to the retro ‘feel’?..But I don’t think some will agree, and it’s the same with the fire button…
But then…Smoant wouldn’t be Smoant if they didn’t do something a bit weird, it’s just their way. The front bar is a rocker switch for plus and minus and the fire button is satisfyingly clicky regardless of whether you dig the look or not, 3 simple clicks of the fire button will let you choose the mode, 5 for on and off…like I said…simples.
Underneath we have ample ventilation just below the USB ‘C’ socket…
And upon it’s noggin we have the 510 plate with spring loaded pin, centrally located thankfully, and raised to offer a wider space without your tank or RDA creeping over the curved edges of the body…
25mm is perfect without overhang, 26mm doesn’t look terrible, but anything over will fuck with you I’m afraid.
Okay, time for something I always look forward to with these kits…the included Sub-Ohm tank…
She’s a leggy number without doubt, but actually rather pretty, AND…with a trick or two up her overly lengthy sleeve…surprisingly.
The Ladon AIO tank is 25mm at the base, coming up to 28 around it’s portly midriff, and houses an impressive 6ml of liquid in it’s bubble belly, coming down to 4ml in its straight variant.
It comes with 2 types of coil, the 0.16Ω single mesh coil (70 to 80w), and the dual mesh 0.15Ω coil (70 to 85w), both of which are loaded with 100% Tea Tree fibre.
And if you travel up to the top you will find the first nifty little surprise, which is both a blessing and a curse…
I’ll tell you this now, it’s incredibly satisfying, and perfectly executed, BUT…as good as this is, and as well put together as the mechanism that does it is…there’s a couple of issues I have with it, firstly…only one fill hole…
“But you only need one fill hole?”…you may say. No, no you don’t, you need two, because unless you are using needle point bottles, you need somewhere for the air to escape as the juice goes in, and when you only have one, that air comes out of the same hole at the same time as the juice goes in, so you get in a mess if you’re using anything with a slightly broader point like unicorn bottle etc., unless you drop the juice in very slowly and very carefully… that’s a bad point with me.
And secondly…is the lock button…
It’s bigger than a big thing!..Fine if you’re gonna leave this kit on your side table or desk all the time, but carry this around in your pocket…and that button is gonna catch on something and flick open without you knowing, and I can confirm on several occasions over the last month …that that happened. It also happens if you knock it over…I’ve done that too. It doesn’t mean the tank is doomed though, actually…as far as ‘kit included’ tanks go…I’d say this is one of the best ones I have tried in terms of performance, but that’s mainly down to the coils…which…are a bit of a masterclass in Sub-Ohm coil manufacturing it has to be said. The Tea Tree fibre gives incredible flavour for a Sub-ohm tank, I was actually quite blown away by it, not the quietest…but smooth enough with a full bodied flavour, a rarity if you will.
On top of that, the tank just feels really well made and heavy duty, offering perfect tension on the bottom AFC as well as the added bonus of a brightly coloured 810 resin drip tip…it’s good…not perfect…but I wouldn’t be upset if I was stuck with it, and I don’t say that about many included Sub-Ohm tanks…in fact…even the inner vape snob inside me, which is normally quite forthright when offered a Sub-Ohm tank to suck on…
has been uncharacteristically quiet during my ownership of the Ladon AIO tank.
However…
There’s this…‘RBA’…that we need to talk about…
I was…SO…excited to try this thing, purely due to the fact that I actually quite like the tank, and it’s been aaaaages since I tried an RBA. This would be the best of both worlds…or so I imagined. It did promise to do regular builds as well as mesh after all… ALL sub ohm tanks should come with an RBA option, and they never do, so…finally…I got my hands on one, well…I actually bought 2, because the first one took so long to come I figured it had got lost, but they both turned up on the same day…much to my fortune…and I got to work instantly.
Now…I’m not a patient man, it’s actually well documented…much to the dismay of my long suffering family, but like I said…I reaaaally wanted to like this thing, so much so, that I put no less than 7 different builds in this thing to get a vape I enjoyed. Unfortunately however…this fucking contraption is a colossal piece of over engineered dog turd. Out of the 7 builds I did, 2 of them worked okay but one leaked like a motherfucker and the other had no flavour at all, and that was mesh??..How is that even possible? And I got so fucking annoyed with it, with its dodgy loose O-ring (that I lost twice) and the finicky way in which you have to put it together, that I hadn’t even taken any pictures of it before I threw it in the bin. If you buy this kit, DO NOT BUY THE RBA…I can’t put it any simpler than that, unless of course you like a fruitless challenge, in which case…knock your goddam self out and good luck to ya.
I wish I had done, then I wouldn’t have wasted several hours of my life deciding why some sadistic shit-bag engineered this steaming pile of excrement.
Moving on…
The Specs
Size: 91.5mm x 45mm x 29.5mm
Output range: 1-225W
Voltage: 6.0-8.4V
Battery: dual 18650 batteries
TC Mode: NI; TI; SS316; TCR
Conversion rate: 95%
Charging: 5V/2A
Temperature Range: 100- 300℃; 200- 600F
Surface: Zinc Alloy+SUS304+Leather
Coil: Mesh 0.16ohm coil (65-80W) (pre- install))
Dual mesh 0.15ohm coil (70-80W)
Coil Cotton: 100% tea tree fiber
Drip tip size: 16x11mm (810)
Material: SS304 & Quartz glass
Multi-functional and smart box kit
First smoant innovate 2-in-1 RBA
Sub-Ohm coils and RBA base for pure flavor
High power 225W output
Faster Type-C charging
High-quality leather body finish simple and elegant
AI smart ant-chip and buck-boost chip for smarter
What’s In the Box:
- 1 x Ladon 225W mod
- 1 x Ladon Sub-ohm Tank
- 1 x Spare Parts Pack
- 1 x User manual
- 1 x Type-C Cable
- 1 x Certificated
- 1 x glass tube
- 1 x Battery Warning card
- 1 x Warranty card
- 1 x Mesh 0.16ohm coil
- 1 x Dual mesh 0.15ohm coil(pre-install)
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts on the Smoant Ladon Kit would be thus - I dig it, I really dig it actually. It’s a ‘no fuss’ throw back to a time when things were simpler, and the throwback part of that is perfectly echoed in the retro design of the Ladon. It’s almost like something from the set of Star Trek, and I really think most people, especially the slightly older ones amongst us, will dig it because we have a weakness for such things…
As for the actual performance of the kit well, no…it probably doesn’t do 225w, because that’s just not practical from a pair of 18650’s, but it’s powerful enough for everyone. I like high power devices and I depending what I have on it I rarely go over 120 to 130w, and that feels pretty accurate to me.
As for the TC, well…you all know where this is gonna go…it has it, I’m sure it does its thing admirably, but I wouldn’t know if it was good if I fell over it so…you know…
But as for the rest of it well, it’s really well made. It’s solid and weighty and feels like it will last for ever, because…well…there’s not really a lot going on with it to go wrong. It’s just a really simple device that anyone and everyone could just pick up and be comfortable using straight out of the box, and in today’s market…there’s really not a lot of high power, affordable devices that are like that…big fan.
The tank…for once…is actually worth a punt, as long as you’re careful with that top fill mechanism. It likes to spring open, and as cool as it feels when you open it, it can happen when you really don’t want it to, and believe me…walking around unknowing that it has happened, with a bulky object in your jeans pocket, and an ever growing wet patch at the end of it…is no fun for you, or anyone that might see it and phone the police as they clutch their young children away from you while you look down in horror and start swearing at your groinal area …
You’ll just have to trust me on that one, but for crying out loud…leave the RBA alone, you don’t need that kind of stress in your life. I know the Ladon is named after a mythical beast with 100 heads…but this kit can quite happily get along without this one, and no…I don’t particularly want to know that you got one and liked it…because I wouldn’t believe you OR give a shit, I’ve been around this stuff long enough to know when something is garbage.
What the Ladon Kit pertains to be, is a solid starter kit for the masses, and it does exactly that, it’s straightforward, no nonsense, high power vaping for anyone wanting to level up, or…for those sick of overly convoluted devices from manufactures who try and out-do each other with ‘the next best thing’…because this isn’t the next best thing, it might have been 4 years ago, but not now, it’s just a really good starter kit that offers ease of use coupled with great performance, great flavour, and great build quality, with a choice of colours that won’t confuse you…
And best of all…it’s very affordable.
The Price
After a little ’ tête-à-tête ’ with the lovely Ella at Sourcemore I have secured a little bit of a special discounted price for you. Normally, they would have this on sale for £56/$71, however, if you use code ‘LADON’ at checkout you can grab this kit for a wallet twitching £33.87/ $42.99, which for a complete kit is an absolute steal - the tank would set you back 30 quid on it’s own so I suggest you grab that while you can.
Find that deal here…
Well…that was fun, I imagine it will be a while before I get another dual battery device knowing today’s industry. But I hope the Ladon does well enough to prove that there is still very much a market for this kind of gear, especially with a back-to-basics approach to things, the Ladon does what you need, and nothing more…Love that.
Coming up in the next few weeks however, I do have ANOTHER Aegis with the new Max kit, always look forward to those, and also a range of one shot concentrates from a group of very good friends of mine that are coming to the market with some ‘drool worthy’ flavours let me tell you…I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime please feel free to peruse the Steampugs site, where you will find a plethora of reviews from myself as well as those misty reprobates I like to call my friends. And if that’s not enough then hop on over to our little corner of the Vapeverse we like to call our home, the forum known as Vaping Community It’s free to join, has a whole host of knowledgeable vape folk to answer all your questions, and even has a nifty little liquid mixing calculator for all you budding mixologists out there.
Until next time.
Stay safe & stay well.
Pugs.
Speaks the truth. 
, always nice to pop in here and see all the old faces still knocking about 
