The iolite vaporizer was the first portable – butane powered – vaporizer. It measures the size of an average mobile smartphone and weighs only 81 grams.
What’s in the box?
Included:
– carrying case
– cleaning device
– maintenance tool
– moisture condenser
– extendable mouthpiece
– 7 dot herb chamber screen
– replacement heater mesh screen
– instruction manual
As of 2011, the manufacturer, Oglesby & Butler, offers an additional part called the ‘optimizer’. It is however not included with the vaporizer. This is a little metal plate with three small pins that goes inside the herb chamber. It is meant to create more air space inside the filling chamber to allow for bigger, more flavorful hits.
Butane gas is also not included. Make sure you use only purified gas! A good way to find out if the brand of butane you are using contains impurities is to spray some butane onto a mirror. If any residue remains after 5 minutes the gas is not suitable.
Looks
Straight from the box, the iolite looks very sleek and compact. It is available in 9 different colors, excluding some limited edition colors.
When picking it up, I must admit that the unit itself feels a bit cheap and not very solid because of all the plastic.
Previously, problems with plastic tubing that melted have occurred, and for that reason the mouthpiece is now made of metal.
Functionality
To open and fill the vaporizer, the top (where the stem is attached) can simply be taken off. Reattaching it is easy, as you can pop it right back on. Filling the iolite with herb can be done in seconds, especially when you have some pre-ground herb ready.
The advertised loading capacity of the bowl is .5 gram, but in reality the iolite holds about .25 grams of grinded herb. Which is still not bad since vaporization is much more efficient than smoking. Once loaded it is time to let it heat up.
After turning it on it automatically starts to heat up to the fixed temperature. The thermostat can be heard hissing during heat-up. The thermostat cycles it on/off, and you hear it a little after turning it off, as it dissipates the butane that’s already been dispensed. The sound is not disturbing however, and during a concert or at a movie theater it would be very hard to notice.
A few minutes after turning it on you’re ready to inhale. The hits are very decent for a portable vape and the temperature seems to be accurate – no burning at all. Using the mouthpiece extension allows for the vapor to cool down even more. It does make things a bit less stealthy however.