The Hippie Pipe X was sent to me for the purpose of this review. The Hippie Pipe X is an analog vape pen. So what’s an analog vape pen? Well it’s basically a non-electronic vape pen that holds herb and you hold a flame to the metal to heat it up.
Specs
- Analog vaping
- Convection/conduction hybrid
- Rapid heating
- Real carbon fiber and wood handle
- Telescopic design
In The Box
- The Hippie Pipe X
- Cleaning brush
- Extra screens and o-rings
Design
The Hippie Vape Pen X is a really nice piece of gear. It’s manufactured really well. The tip is made of stainless steel, the shaft is real carbon fiber, there’s a wood handle sleeve to keep your hands cool, and the stainless steel tip slims down before flaring out at the end.
There are two colors to choose from. One has a brown rosewood handle and the other has an ebony blackwood handle. And that’s real wood too.
Convection & Conduction Hybrid Heating
If you’re familiar with dry herb convection vapes, this works the same way. But most of these types of vapes are electronic. This is analog, which means it heats up with flame.
Conduction heating works by heating herb through direct contact of a hot surface, such as metal. Convection heating works by heating herb with hot air passing through it. And that’s how the Hippie Pipe X works. You heat the metal, which is contact with the herb and by inhaling at the same time, you’re also creating a convection process.
Using The Hippie Pipe X
The Pipe X has a telescopic design so you push the mouthpiece to open up the chamber at the other end of the device. Scoop up some ground-up herb to fill it up and then let it close. It’s important that you grind up the herb well too because you need it to cover as much surface area inside of the chamber to heat properly.
The image below shows herb that has already been vaped. It was green when I put it in there. It works great!
Now you can vape. The inverted X on the tip, not the black X but the one on the other side, indicates the spot where you need to hold the flame.
It’ll take about 3 seconds of heat to start producing vapor on the first hit but after the chamber is warm, it’ll only take 1-2 seconds. You do have to be careful not to hold the flame to it for too long or you will burn the herb.
Hippie’s Double Jet Flame Torch Lighter
You can use a regular lighter for the Pipe X but Hippie has a special double jet flame torch lighter, which they also sent me. This is a really nice lighter.
You’ll need butane to fill it up so keep that in mind but that’s great because you can always refill it and keep using it.
This is a wind-proof lighter that has two burners so it’ll heat up faster than a regular butane lighter and with less fuel. There’s an adjustment knob on the bottom that lets you set the flame size.
When it’s time to refill the lighter, turn the adjustment knob all the way down and press something pointy into the valve next to the adjustment knob to release any leftover gas. Then pump more butane into the valve, turn the adjustment knob all the way up again, give it a few clicks to light it up, and then adjust the flame to however you like it normally.
Cleaning the Pipe X
After using the Pipe X, you need to empty it out and clean it. Start by unscrewing the mouthpiece. There’s a spring right behind the mouthpiece that falls out. Then you pull the chamber tube out from the other side and unscrew the two handle pieces. And that’s everything taken apart.
Now take the included metal brush and push it into the chamber tube to push out the screen. Now you can soak everything except for the wood handle in isopropyl alcohol for about 30 minutes. You can also use the brush after this for a deep clean. I also like to use an ultrasonic cleaner but if do choose to use an ultrasonic cleaner, don’t use alcohol because that’s not safe. Just use water and dish soap.
When it’s done, let it dry and put everything back together. This is a good way to prevent it from getting gunked up over time so that it always works like new. How often you clean it depends on how often you use it but if you use it a lot, I’d say once a week is a good schedule to aim for.
Final Thoughts
This is a really cool kit. I love the craftsmanship, it works great, it’s easy to use, and the flavor comes out great. This is makes vaping herb convenient and easy and the Pipe X is so small that it’s a perfect discreet analog herb vape when you’re on-the-go. The only issue I have with it is that it’s really hot after vaping so you can’t just stick it in your pocket right away and you’ll need to let it cool down.
Hippie also makes a Pipe Holder designed to carry the Pipe X, the lighter, and it has a chamber to hold herb. They didn’t send me that but if you’re picking one of these up, you might as well get the holder too so that you can easily carry everything in a slim case. That case also lets you put the Pipe X away right after using it, even while it’s hot.
The Hippie Pipe X was sent to me for review and you can get this from them for $79.99