KingPin!
In my defence, I was left unsupervised ^^
VU Donator
Platinum Contributor
Member For 4 Years
VU Challenge Team
Reviewer
Hi Folks,
Vanja Bonic (Van) & Sasa Barac (Del) have been about since the dawn of mainstream vaping, both hobbyists turned modders gracing us with numerous products over the years;
So I guess if I’m going to support a business; who better than two craggy old modders who love what they do, and still have the energy and enthusiasm to deliver the goods….and on that note everything in this review was purchased myself…I’ll be covering the Soul S RDA, Jazz RDA and Poet RDA.
The Souls S and Poet, I Purchased from Van and Del directly from
http://www.vaporwall.com/
The Jazz RDA and all accessories for these products I purchased from Alex at Cheeky Vape (an authorised vendor for Van & Del)…I’ve used Alex’s shop a lot, he tends to get stuff other shops don’t in the UK, or at least put’s on some cracking deals where he can. I’ve always found his customer service top notch and delivery fast.
https://cheekyvape.com/
Without further ado…..I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews, instead I present you with my findings to help bolster your research should you be interested in the products.
(Please note: photos appear normal size when logged in)
Specification Overview
About These Products
If you step back to 2016 the Soul and Soulless RTAs were launched (different size tanks denoted which one was which)…this is where you’ll find the introduction of their signature post system carried forward to the Soul S and Jazz RDA's….in fact even the Poet uses the same post distancing of the other two, it just misses the middle screw.
It was this post system that first drew me to their products, in that it offers builders so much utility. You can run two coil side by side, parallel wrap, run a larger single coil, fit in exotics, or even go for a simple round wire…they cater for it all. After that you don’t even need to snip the leads, as the screw fastens down into the recess it pops the leg up and you can simply move the wire side to side to snap it off ……it’s for these reasons out of all the RDA’s I’ve used to date this deck is by far my favourite to build on, which is no small feat as I’m a picky sod at the best of times.
The Soul S is supposedly a mash up of the Nipple and Pancake RDA’s according to Flavour Chasers, perhaps slightly with its minimalist looks on the outside, but I don’t think so, not really, the natural progression I see is from their RTA I mentioned earlier. It’s made from virgin 304 and 316 stainless steel (i.e. not recycled), has Ketron peek insulators, with a white Delrin drip tip, all spares and parts are sourced locally in Europe or USA. Every single one was made in house by Van and Del themselves and is left with a brushed machine finish.
The Jazz took elements of the Souls S but they re-designed the airflow completely, changed the top cap both inside and out, they also introduced a different form of drip tip, finally this RDA saw the introduction of a type of finish rarely seen…heavy sandblasted. Being both of these modders are meticulous when it comes to high end finishing, and serious about the safety of their staff, they chose a more expensive sandblasting option by ensuring the sand had less than 1% silica in it (have a read up of silicosis). They went with a company that were using the same sand on titanium biomedical implants…I have to say; the effort they went to left the Jazz RDA looking like some sort of volcanic stone…it’s just bloody stunning!.
Later they offered a finer sand finish, or a ceramic finish for that velvet look. It’s worth noting with the original sandblasted finish I have pictured throughout it will darken over time after use, this is expected and normal.
The same materials were used as the Soul S and Poet, in addition the grub screws are inter-changeable between the three of them.
Towards the end of 2018 Sasa announced they were going to have to outsource production…not to china, but somewhere down the road from them in Croatia. They didn’t have the capital to invest the millions needs for new machinery, and with their popularity surging it was impossible to keep up in house. Doing so has it’s positives; they could be more competitive in price per unit, which is important to the challenging conditions of the market today, it also means they can scale up, bring out more projects, and finally rather than hand machining they say the quality will be superior (which I have to say was bloody awesome to begin with!) The downside is …they can’t be as flexible with demand through peaks and troughs because they have to place orders in bulk, so waiting lists are a natural result. In addition the warranty period has been reduced to 1 year…I don’t have a problem with it, they are staying true to their vision as best they can in challenging times.
So with the changes made to production, we saw the RDA that Van & Del are finishing with…yep the Poet is apparently their last squonking atty before they try new things (I’m really hoping it isn’t)… but if this truly is their last squonking RDA ….they are going out with a bang with an ode to Edgar Allan Poe. It has engravings encircling the drip tip “Quoth The Raven Nevermore”…it really is their finest piece to date, sporting the same materials and grub screws seen previously, the machining is spotless even under macro lens.
The Poet is a big shift from it's RDA predecessors, introducing a more restricted draw (which is dependent on different peek inserts), is limited to single sided entry, and considering its smaller size; is the more forgivable squonker of the bunch. It comes in two finishes at the moment; machine and ceramic (after much deliberation I went with ceramic), but it’s worth noting the deck comes ceramic blasted whatever option you choose. The box is supplied by Marko from Visionary Mods, and is made to look the style of a Poets book, as I said the whole experience receiving and opening this RDA was superb….this isn’t just good, it’s pretty epic.
At the time of writing this review I was unable to purchase extras for the Poet, they had a bit of a nightmare with Ultem coming in late for the first batch…eventually they will be releasing different top caps, so I’ll just wait for cheeky vapes to get them and pick one up from there.
When it comes to options for the others; Van and Del released Plexiglas top airflow caps which I really enjoy, I found them to improve squonking and enhance flavour further…my review though is going to be about the stock kit first and foremost, but if you have any questions let me know below and ill reply with regards to my experiences with the extras.
Vanja Bonic (Van) & Sasa Barac (Del) have been about since the dawn of mainstream vaping, both hobbyists turned modders gracing us with numerous products over the years;
- Mini & Maxi Genesis
- Line Genesis
- Line v2 Genesis
- Silver Dog
- Silver Dog cross breed
- Silver Dog V2
- Silver Fox
- Line LE
- Soul / Soulless RTA
- Soul S RDA
- Jazz RDA
- Poet RSA
So I guess if I’m going to support a business; who better than two craggy old modders who love what they do, and still have the energy and enthusiasm to deliver the goods….and on that note everything in this review was purchased myself…I’ll be covering the Soul S RDA, Jazz RDA and Poet RDA.
The Souls S and Poet, I Purchased from Van and Del directly from
http://www.vaporwall.com/
The Jazz RDA and all accessories for these products I purchased from Alex at Cheeky Vape (an authorised vendor for Van & Del)…I’ve used Alex’s shop a lot, he tends to get stuff other shops don’t in the UK, or at least put’s on some cracking deals where he can. I’ve always found his customer service top notch and delivery fast.
https://cheekyvape.com/
Without further ado…..I don’t like to make recommendations in my reviews, instead I present you with my findings to help bolster your research should you be interested in the products.
(Please note: photos appear normal size when logged in)
Specification Overview
About These Products
If you step back to 2016 the Soul and Soulless RTAs were launched (different size tanks denoted which one was which)…this is where you’ll find the introduction of their signature post system carried forward to the Soul S and Jazz RDA's….in fact even the Poet uses the same post distancing of the other two, it just misses the middle screw.
It was this post system that first drew me to their products, in that it offers builders so much utility. You can run two coil side by side, parallel wrap, run a larger single coil, fit in exotics, or even go for a simple round wire…they cater for it all. After that you don’t even need to snip the leads, as the screw fastens down into the recess it pops the leg up and you can simply move the wire side to side to snap it off ……it’s for these reasons out of all the RDA’s I’ve used to date this deck is by far my favourite to build on, which is no small feat as I’m a picky sod at the best of times.
The Soul S is supposedly a mash up of the Nipple and Pancake RDA’s according to Flavour Chasers, perhaps slightly with its minimalist looks on the outside, but I don’t think so, not really, the natural progression I see is from their RTA I mentioned earlier. It’s made from virgin 304 and 316 stainless steel (i.e. not recycled), has Ketron peek insulators, with a white Delrin drip tip, all spares and parts are sourced locally in Europe or USA. Every single one was made in house by Van and Del themselves and is left with a brushed machine finish.
The Jazz took elements of the Souls S but they re-designed the airflow completely, changed the top cap both inside and out, they also introduced a different form of drip tip, finally this RDA saw the introduction of a type of finish rarely seen…heavy sandblasted. Being both of these modders are meticulous when it comes to high end finishing, and serious about the safety of their staff, they chose a more expensive sandblasting option by ensuring the sand had less than 1% silica in it (have a read up of silicosis). They went with a company that were using the same sand on titanium biomedical implants…I have to say; the effort they went to left the Jazz RDA looking like some sort of volcanic stone…it’s just bloody stunning!.
Later they offered a finer sand finish, or a ceramic finish for that velvet look. It’s worth noting with the original sandblasted finish I have pictured throughout it will darken over time after use, this is expected and normal.
The same materials were used as the Soul S and Poet, in addition the grub screws are inter-changeable between the three of them.
Towards the end of 2018 Sasa announced they were going to have to outsource production…not to china, but somewhere down the road from them in Croatia. They didn’t have the capital to invest the millions needs for new machinery, and with their popularity surging it was impossible to keep up in house. Doing so has it’s positives; they could be more competitive in price per unit, which is important to the challenging conditions of the market today, it also means they can scale up, bring out more projects, and finally rather than hand machining they say the quality will be superior (which I have to say was bloody awesome to begin with!) The downside is …they can’t be as flexible with demand through peaks and troughs because they have to place orders in bulk, so waiting lists are a natural result. In addition the warranty period has been reduced to 1 year…I don’t have a problem with it, they are staying true to their vision as best they can in challenging times.
So with the changes made to production, we saw the RDA that Van & Del are finishing with…yep the Poet is apparently their last squonking atty before they try new things (I’m really hoping it isn’t)… but if this truly is their last squonking RDA ….they are going out with a bang with an ode to Edgar Allan Poe. It has engravings encircling the drip tip “Quoth The Raven Nevermore”…it really is their finest piece to date, sporting the same materials and grub screws seen previously, the machining is spotless even under macro lens.
The Poet is a big shift from it's RDA predecessors, introducing a more restricted draw (which is dependent on different peek inserts), is limited to single sided entry, and considering its smaller size; is the more forgivable squonker of the bunch. It comes in two finishes at the moment; machine and ceramic (after much deliberation I went with ceramic), but it’s worth noting the deck comes ceramic blasted whatever option you choose. The box is supplied by Marko from Visionary Mods, and is made to look the style of a Poets book, as I said the whole experience receiving and opening this RDA was superb….this isn’t just good, it’s pretty epic.
At the time of writing this review I was unable to purchase extras for the Poet, they had a bit of a nightmare with Ultem coming in late for the first batch…eventually they will be releasing different top caps, so I’ll just wait for cheeky vapes to get them and pick one up from there.
When it comes to options for the others; Van and Del released Plexiglas top airflow caps which I really enjoy, I found them to improve squonking and enhance flavour further…my review though is going to be about the stock kit first and foremost, but if you have any questions let me know below and ill reply with regards to my experiences with the extras.
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