HARDWARE PRODUCT REVIEW
The Change V1 Atomiser
from Steampipes
The Change V1 by Steampipes was purchased from inTaste.
de for €125.00.
The Germans do a number of things incredibly well: they
win football World Cups with clockwork precision, they make
getting drunk in British town centres socially acceptable
during Christmas and they operate a mean lathe when it
comes to turning metal.
Steampipes have flown under the high-end device radar in
the UK. Hugely popular in their home country and across
mainland Europe you are more likely to find a helpful
assistant in B&Q than a YouTube review of their products in
English.
The company have taken Thomas Brückmann’s 2014 Enigma
atomiser, itself a reflection of top-coil attys from days gone by,
and advanced it into a little piece of joy for anyone who loved
Meccano kits as a child.
While they claim you can “discover the sensations of a
dripper with a tank atomiser” it is a multifunctioning genesis
tank with numerous wicking options. The twin post head
might limit the coil set-ups to singles or duals but it’s the four
wick holes to the 4ml tank that expose the full potential.
Billed to be able to accommodate “all wicking possibilities”,
the atty can press mesh, stainless rope, silica and cotton
into use. Dual U or four feeder mesh wicks, the multiple
opportunities are there for the tinkerer with Google skills and
a recollection of GCSE language classes.
So while it can be a gorgeous genny, the cap (with as much
space as a London bedsit) demands you to create the
dripping experience. Four mesh straws will continually feed
cotton as juice is vaporised by twin coils. Adjustable airflow is
good up to lung hits – but not venturing into full cloud chasing
territory.
The rarity of the 22mm Teutonic tank in the UK will have that
people saying, “What on Earth is that?” There are options to
further customise the Change with a range of add-on shields
to protect the Pyrex, funky caps and alternative tips so that
people will then ask, “What on Earth is that?” It’s distinctive,
it’s esoteric, it’s the vaping equivalent of liking The Human
74 AUGUST 2015 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
League in 1979.
Were an online reviewer to comment about all of the
threading they’d no doubt eulogise and mention butter or silk.
It’s without doubt a finely crafted atomiser but we are entering
times where many will question whether they want to pay
€125-€135 for something that makes the dripping experience
more convenient...but then that’s not what this atomiser is
about.
It’s less vorsprung durch technic and more autobahn
amusement. An Opel Kadett might perform the basic
functions of getting you from A to B but some will prefer the
experience of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. If you are wanting
to pay for a slice of quality and a pretty unique experience
then the Change V1 will deliver like Pat Mustard in Father Ted.
It maybe steel but it could hardly be described as a steal –
although the current exchange rate makes the Change V1
by Steampipes an attractive alternative (or addition) to the
Squape, the Kayfun and the Rose.
by Dave Cross