Norseman Mech
Member For 4 Years
I received this Sandman kit free of charge from AtomVapes for the purpose of this review. Regardless of this, it will not color my opinion on this review in any way, shape or form.
Packaging
It comes in a black and yellow package with a print of the kit on the front, together with the name of it. On one of the sides it says what the box contains. On the backside you will find info on the collaboration and the story behind the Sandman kit.
When you open it up you will see the manual on top of everything, and underneath it, the Sandman mod sitting in a cutout on the left with the Njord in a cutout on the right, and under it you will find the spares in their bag.
The Sandman
It is a nice looking 24 mm hybrid copper mod painted with a rugged black paint. The paint itself seems sturdy and in the time I have been using the kit it hasn’t started to chip or flake anywhere.
The body of the mod got a bevelled upside down V on it and it doesn’t make it unpleasant to hold, it’s rather the contrary. It is really nice to hold and even if you carry it for a longer time, it still lies real nice in the hand.
It has 3 ventilation holes at the top of the body in case of an emergency where the battery ventilates, and in order to get the use of those ventilation holes you need to use it with the plus side up on the battery.
The switch is spring loaded and is basically the same switch used in the VGOD Pro Mech 2 and is re-used in the Sandman, since Atomvapes is owned by VGOD. It got three contact points and each one of them is a single pin that you have to put together in the case you open it up to clean it. The throw on it is pretty short I might add, and I like short throws on mechanical tubes.
The whole switch is made out of 8 pieces, the switch housing, a spring loaded battery adjustor, the three contact pins, the button itself, the spring and a screw to hold it together in the switch housing. And the outer part of the button has a resin disk attached to it for the looks, I guess.
It has worked really good for me and I haven’t had any misfires at all and I would say that it hits real good. I say that without any use of measure equipments, so it is based solely on my experince and feel.
The only issue I see with the three contact pins, is that on the mod I have they have become somewhat deformed on the side directed to the center of the switch. It isn’t much, but still a deformation showing that the material used in the contact pins maybe needs to be changed out to something else that’s a bit more sturdy.
The inside of the tube got a Delrin sleeve attached to it to prevent getting a short if a battery wrap gets damaged, and I haven’t been able to take it out even though it does rotate in the mod. All the threads on it is real smooth and well made.
The tube and the switch parts are all anodized in a bronze(ish) kind of shade and it has started to wear off on every threaded part on the mod. This means that the anodization or what it is, doesn’t last very well at all.
The Njørd
This is the 24 mm RDA that’s included in the kit and it is a collaboration between Atom Vapes and Morten Øen, and I’m sure you have seen him in videos that is all about airflow and airflow design.
It is a 2-piece or 3-piece if the Airblade is in the count, single coil RDA and it got 3 airflow holes spread out 3 times around the top cap. It isn’t possible to make any adjustments at all on the airflow, which I personally think is a bad thing. I truly would have liked the opportunity to make it somewhat more restricted to fit my vaping style.
When this first came out to reviewers it didn’t have the Airblade that Atomvapes calls it, and it didn’t get a warm reception. Now it is delivered with one Airblade, and from what I have learned, it might be possible to buy additional different ones later on.
It definitely got a different looking deck, it got two posts, one with the post screw on the downside of it and the other post with the post screw at the top. This means that the coil will be standing on its head. Recommended coil inner diameter is 2 mm–4 mm. The third piece in the deck is what Atom calls the Top Juice Well.
And you wick it from top to bottom and pull out the amount of wick that you need in the juice well. The top part of the wicking needs to be cut in a length so you can stuff it down the top juice well. And when you drip you need to make sure that you get juice onto the juice well and also down the top juice well.
It is a little finicky to wick, but with some patience you will manage to get the wick where you want it to be. Another thing I think you should be care with is to not tighten down the screw on the lower post since it looks a bit weak and it did bend for me when i built it.
It has been a pleasant ride to use the Njørd. It might not be the RDA with the best flavor I have used, but I would say though that it is decent. I’m sure that if they make it with an adjustable airflow the flavor will improve, since I mean it is to wide open to actually be able to deliver on really good flavor.
Assessment
It is a nice kit no doubt, and it is absolutely worth the money asked for it. The tube has the flaw with deforming contact pins and the anodize not keeping together as it should, but despite that it’s a nice mod. The RDA got its kinks and not having an adjustable airflow is a real big con to me. Perhaps an Airblade that helps making it more restrictive would be a possibility as well as giving it an adjustable airflow. Both together is a good kit and I think loads of people will be happy with what they get.
Can I recommend it to others?
If you are in the market for a kit that is priced really fair and of a good quality I can’t see why not. The mod itself is better than the RDA, but it doesn’t mean the RDA isn’t good.
Pros
Sandman
Machining
Hard hitting
Smooth threads
Looks good
The paint job
The Switch
The throw
Manual
Njørd
Looks
Airblade
Well made
810 drip tip compatible
Innovative deck design
Cons
Sandman
Contact pins starting to deform somewhat
The anodize is wearing off
Can’t get the Delrin sleeve out despite that it is loose
Njørd
Not adjustable airflow
Too wide open
Finicky to wick
Post that holds the lower leg can bend when building
Parameters
Sandman
Width: 24 mm
Length: 85 mm
Color: Black
Njørd
Width: 24 mm
Length: 29 mm without drip tip
Color: Black
Package includes
1 x Sandman mechanical mod
1 x Njord RDA
1 x Air Blade
1 x 810 Ultem drip tip
1 x Extra high tension spring
1 x Bag of spare o-rings
2 x Spare post screws
1 x Screw driver
1 x Manual
You will find it here
At Atom Vapes for $84.50 at the time I wrote the review.
And before ending this review I want to point out a few things of importance to those new to mech mods and also the seasoned user. Remember to always pay attention to…
Battery safety
Ohms law
Having a hybrid connection you must make sure to have a protruding enough 510 pin on the atomizer
Keeping your mech mod clean at all times. Meaning the connections, switch, threading and internally
Thanks for reading this far and Vape on!
Norseman
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