Trees

No, not any more. Way back when dynavap first got popular it was seen as an upstarting stoner metalworker and they were reasonably priced.

Then the hype train hit online on reddit and instagram and the dude got a bit of an ego riding the wave (no offense to G., he's great and kind but also a little look-down-ony if you ever tuned into his talks). Each respective iteration of the product was just that, and year after year prices were raised, quality was lowered and costs were cut, and then he coated some in a heat based anodization and called it a permathermachromatic coating. Over the years leading up to this there was an increase in peripherals/accessories sold as well and now it's really just an iterative brand.

Machine oils up the wazoo after the '20s which were still continuing to this year from what I saw before I quit reddit. Could have changed but frankly, I doubt it. Does it matter much? Well, other than the actual machine quality of some of the vapes themselves, no not really. We should clean our vapes first anyway, although Dynavap should also specifically tell you to clean it before use like every other company.

The dynavap does what it does well, which is heat up to a click and give you 5-12 seconds of vapor by the second heatup. I fundamentally don't agree with a vape that cools down as you hit it, so the dynavap doesn't suit my personal preference, but that's not to say it's not good or anything like that. I personally switched to vaping specifically to get away from butane, so another personal preference. However I have an induction heater which does me just fine, but then at that point the cost is looking towards a different vape.

I think much of its popularity comes from the easier entry cost compared to other vapes, the similar ritualistic element that smokers are used to, and the relatively easy use of it. It's also easy to buy something cheap, be excited it works well enough, have some space and time and feel the need to get something to give it a little extra kick so you get some accessories for it, customize it etc. It's probably the most customizable vape out there, which is certainly something.

All in all, if you get one that was well treated but used you'd be getting a decent price. Don't go for any resales of special editions, they are trying to recoup money because they bought a brand. Honestly, get a 2019 if you're at all interested, find it for $45. The 2020's suck, everything after them suck more. The 2018's combust way more easily.

Otherwise, you'll be suckered into getting "the best" accessories to make the experience "the best" it can be... None of what you will pay will be worth just getting a better vape that works the way you want it to in the first place. (As in, make sure your preferences are filled - the dynavap may fill it! For a heavy heavy long time stoner it was a minor upgrade to the MFLB - not enough.

IMO, vapes should work the best they can work with minimal aftermarket modding. The 2019 is the closest they got to that, and for the price on sale it was great.

Compared to the Tiny Might at $350? Different classes entirely really - if the Dynavap feels like you run out of vapor that's why we use battery powered vapes. Exact same chamber/session size, but I can actually clear a bowl without needing "technique" (which is another "it should just work". I had enough technique with the MFLB thank you).

Compared to the Mighty for $279? You get faster heat up time and a slimmer profile - shorter sessions but easy to refill.

Compared to the Solo 2 for $189? The Solo 2 is a slighly less vapor dense Mighty, so this is down to preference of use. The Solo 2 is a bubbler sipper, the dynavap can be a 1-hit bong ripper.

Compared to the other vapes for $89+($49 accessory 1)+($49 accessory 2)+($49 accessory 3)+(cost of better torch)+(cost of induction heater)... And ultimately, that is what my issue with Dynavap is. It hyped up spending money on a mediocre experience, not entirely the fault of Dynavap but not wholly helped/prevented either there became a toxic community that was fostered. It ultimately resulting in a couple controversies between vendors and other enthusiasts wanting to also make vaporizers. I will always enjoy my experiences and friends I've made around the early years, but the rapid expansion really brought a negative crowd to the space which really fractured the community and George has just fallen to capitalism. Must expand and make shareholders happy, must always expand.

Well, they popped a bit lol.

Technique and accessory creep mostly. If it's the type of session that you enjoy then it can be worth the reasonably low price (particularly compared to other vapes out of the box). However if you find yourself wanting more, or getting the feeling to customize it visually, you quickly find yourself spending much more money than any other vape for very little actual return on efficiency and use. I made another much longer comment elsewhere in the thread so I'll leave it at this!

Getting one of the induction heaters, while pricey, turned it into my favorite vaporizer

See it was the heating method that turned me on to the dynavap. Battery vapes need to charge, they can get way too hot (at least my APX does), and you have to worry about yet another battery lithium bomb waiting to spontaneously combust in your house. I love the idea of an "analog" vape that doesn't have any of those problems, and the heating technique was super easy to pick up in my experience.

Still like it but I’ve moved on to a different battery vape (lobo from potv) as my go-to, mostly because I got tired of dealing with lighters all the time.

Yeah I still don’t like having a hot battery thing in the house, but it hits great and I can swap out the battery when it starts to get old or sketchy.

I’ve also taken my old vtower out of retirement, thinking about getting a dave mod piece for it.

But yeah I still hit the Dynavap every few days, gotta mix things up now and then.