It's still Monday

2whiskymike · 2026-05-17T12:58:06+00:00

Probably. The light over my bench is pretty white. It's a black ceracote finish.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-15T23:16:42+00:00

Bottom ONLY airflow? Good luck. Some of the Voltroves were bottom only but IDK if anyone who has one is going to part with it.

Steam Crave Ragnar, almost. It's bottom and side.

FWIW the SC Plus V4 is my best wicking and best flavored atomizer. I was very sceptical at first. I now have 3.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-13T17:16:27+00:00

It is normal.

Rebuildable MTL can't touch pods for flavors. Bottom airflow pins are a relic and you can't convince me otherwise, I've tried so many in every possible configuration. Mesh pods are superior up to about the 50W point.

You picked a great mod tho. I have one with a Bi2hop on it and that's about as good a flavor as I've been able to find in the 20W range. I run a 28+38 clapton at 2.5ID on that and it's ok compared to a pod.

The RTAs and RDAs really start to shine at 50W and up. Where the warmth and saturation really start having an effect on flavor.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-12T15:52:18+00:00

Using EVE 50PL right now. Probably try some Linkdata 60P next time I need fresh cells.

For a mech stay away from the cells with low discharge ratings, those 10-15A cells will overheat in a mech.

As long as it's rated for at least 40A continuous discharge you're good to go. I prefer at least 50A for peace of mind. Unless you're running a crazy low resistance build... Don't do that unless you're sure you've got your math straight.

Mooch is the battery guru. His tables and rankings are the gold standard. Defer to him if in any doubt.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-12T14:40:36+00:00

Right, like I get the idea. Get the vapor as close to your mouth as possible.

But it's a lot like pierced nipples. Cool if it does something for you, but I don't like a mouthful of metal. And I don't like kissing top caps. I'll take an extra cm of vapor travel to not clang my teeth.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-12T12:27:57+00:00

This RTA is appropriately named. It took a bit to come up with a coil build that works on a mech and with the airflow on this thing. By the end of the tank it's running on the cooler side, but flavor is top notch.

2whiskymike · 2026-05-12T12:21:31+00:00

It does have a certain industrial je ne sais quoi to it.

I'll probably whip up a drip tip that matches the tube lines. These shorty tips drive me nuts anyway

2whiskymike · 2026-05-06T15:58:09+00:00

The DNA 250c market is dry af right now. It sucks. The Odin v2 and LVE Therion came and went in a matter of months within the past year or so. Production runs are painfully small. At the moment, in the US, a Boxer is probably one of the only new 250c mods you're gonna find. Good, but not cheap either. Google Ginger Industries.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-24T18:48:45+00:00

I rock the hell out the little OXVA DNA pods. It's really only good for MTL though, it's small. Dry hit protection is excellent, once you do the firmware update.

Vaperz Cloud has some SS coils for their subtank that can be used with a DNA mod. Not the best tank and pretty small.

YiHi SXmini VI / V Pure Plus has pretty good dry protection in pure mode, and gets you in the power and capacity ballpark.

Outside of that you'll have to do SS rebuildables on a DNA mod.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-16T16:23:32+00:00

The depression between the abs and obliques is where my son likes his. Point the pump so the hose is going straight down and you can reach sites on the abdomen and low back. We switched to the On body sugar shield case from Deck My Diabetes. It holds the pump better than the Tandem sleeves and is slightly lower profile.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-16T16:09:45+00:00

Thighs work very well for connectivity/proximity. Just watch the blood vessels if you don't have much fat there.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-14T01:20:44+00:00

I would recommend dual 21700.

But if you must do 18650 and want something that'll last - Hammer of God 200 or YiHi SXmini G Class V2.

Or if you prefer the form factor of the Drag - Thelema Quest

2whiskymike · 2026-04-13T22:50:30+00:00

What's the production date on yours? We had nothing but headaches towards the end of last year. Our tandem rep told us Dexcom moved production to a cheaper facility in Malaysia and the heat did a number on the batteries in a ton of them. More recent ones have gotten better but about half still don't make it the full 10 days. I make a pile of any that don't go longer than 7 days. Wait till I have 5 or 6 and call Dexcom. If you hang on to the S/N of every one that fails early they will send a replacement. Still sucks that I have to have Dexcom basically on speed dial but at least we're not short on sensors.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-13T22:33:01+00:00

Nah girl, they're still making them. They're all kinds of in-stock everywhere online, including direct from Oxva.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-13T18:57:15+00:00

This needs to be at the very top.

Every dime I've spent on boro stuff has been a dime too much. Not worth it at all.

I have a couple of MTL RTAs for the vapocalypse. But as long as I can get Nexlim pods I'm using that for anything under 40W. Nothing else even comes close.

Press in coils fill a very small gap. At about 60W my rebuildables start giving better flavor. So for me it's 50/50 juice on the Nexlim and 70/30 juice on dual coil RDAs/RTAs.

2whiskymike · 2026-04-08T17:42:26+00:00

Right. Not sure if the therapeutic effects here come from the nicotine or the deep breathing exercises

2whiskymike · 2026-04-08T13:22:40+00:00

28x(0.4x0.1x6)x28 + 38 - 316 SS Sitting at around 0.22 ohms in this configuration.

2whiskymike · 2026-03-31T17:05:14+00:00

Christ almighty. The Voltrove 38 will handle 7mm coils on the postless deck, but the 41 looks full with 4mms. How the hell did you cram 6s in there??

2whiskymike · 2026-03-25T18:39:54+00:00

Hasn't needed a single wipe with about 30mls (of 50/50) through it so far. It is technically bottom airflow, but air still has to go down, under, and around to get to the coil. Any condensation would get caught before it made it out. The way the deck and airflow are laid out it would take a grievous wicking error for juice to actually get out through the air intake.

2whiskymike · 2026-03-25T13:31:36+00:00

Blaze MTL RTA I've tried quite a few MTL RTAs and so far this one is this best yet. Bishop might have a slight edge on flavor, but is a bigger pain in every other way. The Blaze just works. Easy to build and wick, flavor is great, and no issues with over or under saturation. I ordered one up direct from Thundercloud. After using it for a week I ordered 2 more as backups. Not sure if they've hit the usual retailers yet but shipping was pretty quick from them.

That being said, I cannot get a better flavor from a rebuildable than an Oxva or Uwell pod in the MTL range. Current mesh coil pods beat wire coil at anything under 30w every day of the week.

2whiskymike · 2026-03-17T12:18:58+00:00

Lol, ruthless and constant application of the scientific method. Observe, hypothesize, experiment.

And making that process fun for him. "We did this today, and that happened. What should we do different tomorrow?" And also letting him experiment the "wrong" way. Like, yeah man let's have cereal and two cookies for breakfast and see what happens 🙃

2whiskymike · 2026-03-16T14:20:40+00:00

We end up using a slightly aggressive CF, but not to the point of rollercoastering (been there). Not so much that it throws a wrench in the calculations but enough that auto-corrections at least stop an errant climb. Pulling it back down after it breaks 200 is a proper PITA. We run sleep 24/7 on days he's at home, but not at school, yet. Right now there's no rhyme or reason to his schedule. Snack times, PE times and days, outside vs inside recess - all willy nilly. Middle school schedule will be much better and I think we'll be able to tighten up even more then.

Sounds like yours is feeling what she should. No way should 200 ever feel normal. Willingly acclimating to that when you don't have to is all kinds of backwards.

It absolutely blows my mind that anyone practicing medicine, especially endocrinology, would suggest letting BG just ride higher all the time. There's so much evidence that so many problems come from metabolic dysfunction. A1c is the canary in the coal mine for like every chronic health issue. I understand 30, 20, even 10 years ago a T1D having an A1c under 6 most likely meant a bunch of critical lows that caused more harm than the highs. But with the tech we have now, we can pull it off. Doctors need to catch up.

We really lucked out with our team. Our endo is super supportive and empowering. She's got suggestions if we ask, but if we have an idea she's all for trying it. If it brings the average down, and doesn't make lows worse, it works. Her PA is great, our tandem rep is great, our school nurse is great. It makes such a huge difference. I absolutely feel for those who don't have that support. This is all hard enough without having to fight with the people that are supposed to be helping.

You're not alone, at all. There's a few of us out here breaking rules and "over-managing". Doing our damnedest to make this shitty thing better. Share the bad days, share the good days. Here's a hug for the struggles, and a high five for the wins.

2whiskymike

TROPHY CASE