**REVIEW** iStick Pico Squeeze 2 TC Squonk Kit

STOP: this post is ONLY for those of legal age for nicotine use.

See the guide for state-by-state regulations

state-by-state regulations

This is the next-to-last vape device I will be reviewing for a while, but it's a unique one - at least for me. It's the iStick Pico Squeeze 2 TC Squonk. This one in "dazzling" (aka Rainbow) came from over at Breazy but it's currently available at a couple of other places. It's a beauty, yes?

Like I said, this one is unique for me. First off, I really had zero clues as to what half the name meant. In my opinion, "TC" and "Squonk" sound like descriptions for space shuttle equipment.What I have learned (from the 20-something younguns in my family) is that "TC" stands for temperature control and "squonk" is too complicated to explain in a few words so this link is highly useful for details. Very basically, to squonk is to squeeze soak the cotton and coil with a juice bottle attached to the vaping device. I did say "basically". This is another laymen explanation.

The entire kit (minus a battery)

Until now, I had only ever used the simpler methods of vaping. I didn't want to deal with anything as complicated as building and setting up a mod device, but I did want to experience something designed for better flavor and vapor production. Apparently, squonking is a nice compromise. Still, I had to have my nephew come over and attach the coil and cotton so I could try the Pico Squeeze 2.

Since I am in 'For Dummies" mode with this device, you will do better to view this extremely helpful video from Wendy Vapes for details on setting things up.

Her nails are always awesome, by the way

Speaking of Wendy,  you should subscribe to her channel anyway. She's very knowledgeable and has a way of clarifying things for newbies. And she's great fun to watch.

Once my nephew got everything all set up for me, I was ready to test the device. I'm not sure what I expected. I've now tried so many devices - pods, mods, pens... - that I can't really anticipate the experience. With this one, I was careful not to hit it too hard.

Wow. This is a whole different level of vaping for me. The closest I've come to such flavor is with the Smok Veneno or the Voopoo Caliber. The Pico though is super, super smooth. That's the best way I can describe it. The juice I used was one from Vapewild called 21 Jump Treat (Funnel cake, raspberries, powdered sugar) and it doesn't rate high with other buyers but I love it. It's smooth enough in my other devices but with the Pico Squeeze, it was so rich and creamy tasting.

The second time around, I took a deep hit and got the same smoothness. I really like the experience. And I cannot say enough how pretty the dang thing is.

What I want to do is try one of my stronger flavors - like the RoseChamp from ECBlends that I customized. Let's just stop here and list the Pros and Cons of the Squeeze.

PROS:

• Not too difficult to use once it's been set up with a coil. What I'm saying is that I can at least change the cotton with no problem,
• The size and weight are Goldilocks nice - not too heavy, not too light - and fits nicely in even my smaller feminine hands.
• I love that the firing pin is situated so that both right-handed and left-handed users can see the OLED screen. (There's no screen on the Pico Baby but the firing pin is positioned awkwardly in relation to the flash indicator light.)
• The juice bottle is soft and pliable. I like that I don't have to apply a lot of pressure to "squonk" the liquid. WendyVapes made a similar observation.
• I can adjust the display to view the set wattage and battery usage at a glance. These are the 2 things I'm most concerned with when vaping.
• As far as looks: I just lurve the color and the LED lights.

CONS: ( most of these are due to user inexperience)

• While accessing and using the main menu is fairly simple, the submenu is a different story. (This helps a bit.)
• The "coral" drip tip that came with it was a) hard as hell to get off, and b) too short, in my opinion. I changed it out for one from the Veneno.
• The user manuals were just okay. For instance, it didn't really explain using the menu in enough detail. And it was in the tiniest print ever. Don't these people know us 50-plussers are vaping now?
• The coil might have been easier to insert if it had been pre-cut for this particular device. I don't know why it wasn't. Experienced vapers seemed to prefer their own coils and knew how to size and cut them to fit. The coils that came with the device should have, again in my opinion, should have been ready to go.
• As good as the device looks (and it looks fabulous), don't leave it behind at any crime scenes because your prints will damn near be in 3D. (Just kidding about crime scenes, but not about the fingerprints.)

As I said, my gripes are mostly those of a newbie. The whole thing with the coils not being pre-cut really irritated me since this was the biggest obstacle to using right out of the box. Access to the menu (or rather the poor instructions for) was the other major annoyance. Since the screens on these devices are small, there really should have been more detailed instructions for the menu - even for experienced vapers.

I prefer the taller drip tip from the Veneno

One thing I can mention that would be a sort-of-kind-of negative to squonking, in general, is that, because you are using a juice bottle, it's not as easy to switch out flavors. With my other devices, I can just swap out the pod or coil for each flavor type. With the squonk, I would (for the best flavor experience) need to change out the cotton and/or finish the bottle I've filled. Or, I guess I could just use smaller amounts of juice in the bottle. Still, it will be more of a hassle until I get used to changing cotton and, possibly, coils. And this brings up something I forgot to mention about the Pico Squeeze: you get one complete squonk bottle (cap and all), but the spare bottle is only the bottle; you have to fit the cap from the first one onto the spare. So that leaves out easily swapping bottles for flavor changing.

Here's the thing though: for all my fussing about the few negatives, this thing is too marvelous for words. That might be the newbie in me talking, but I really can't imagine myself giving up this device.

Changed the drip tip!

When I do get around to changing the juice in the bottle, I plan to try each of my juice flavors. With this device, I feel like I am getting so much more taste from the 21 Jump Treat. Can't wait to try the PB&J that I've been using in the Caliber and Veneno.

I am doing this particular device kit for this review but as far as price, I think that the current cost of around $30 (without the battery) is pretty decent. As recent as a few months ago, the price seemed to be around $50 for the device with the battery. Even good batteries are cheaper than $20.

If you are getting the Pico Squeeze as a gift for someone, the overall packaging is lovely. That's not a hint, but if someone in my family would like to get me one in another color, I'll take the red!

Bottom line, this device is NOT for newbies (unless you have friends to help you get started) and safety is so much more of a priority. Where you always need to be careful of batteries and charging and everything else with other devices, you really want to be on your toes when using this kind of device.

Free
--Free

P.S.: I just now screwed up the setting while messing around with that damn menu!

To All the Vapes I've Loved Before

Okay, I have been promising for a minute to do this post. Now that it's been a year since I went cigarette-free, I thought it was a good time to sort of showcase my vape collection. Some of these devices I won (yay, me) or were gifted (because people were glad I quit cigs) or that I gifted myself (with money saved from not smoking). I have to say that I do NOT miss smoking even though I sometimes miss the smoking rituals. I do like vaping. I can vape without nicotine and I can vape without stinking. I dig it.

I know that there have been a lot of news reports of the dangers of vaping and, honestly, I agree with others who think the problems come from outside "normal" vaping. People who are using juices from any and everywhere might be getting bad additives in their eliquid. Also, a lot of folks are vaping weed and who knows what else. It's just like with the stories of people hurt by exploding devices. Usually, those are situations of people improperly using vapes or amateurs improperly using specialty devices meant only for the experienced. You will not soon - if ever - see me using something I had to build and set up myself. No thank you, ma'am. It took me a week to get comfortable just choosing juice to put into an easy-fill, off-the-shelf device.

These are the devices I love and what I think of them now that I have more experience vaping.

First, let me say that after I wrote this post, I realized that I forgot to mention the device that I tried and went back to cigarettes. This was probably 5 or 6 years ago when ecigs were getting to be really popular in Alaska. I wanted to quit (again) and a friend went to the corner cigarette store and bought me a Blu device. I was so hopeful. Then I tried it. Ugh. That was the worst ever experience of my life. I didn't understand why people preferred a "vape" over cigarettes. I stayed on cigarettes until I moved here to Iowa. I saw the friend of a friend vaping away on a tiny ecig. I asked if they really liked it and I told them about the Blu. They let me try their device (I think it was an Aspire or something similar). It was decent. It didn't make me cough or feel like I was inhaling sandpaper down my throat. That's when I knew that I could find an alternative to cigarettes. So...

The Juul was my first. I loved this thing. I was able to give up cigarettes with it. The vape was just as strong of a nicotine hit as the full-flavor cigarettes I smoked except the flavor and scent was Mango. How I loved the Mango pods. However...

Juul pods are so expensive that I wasn't saving any money. Also, eventually, Juul stopped selling the Mango pods. I rarely use the device anymore. The replacement and refillable pods I've found just are never as good as the original Juul pod.

Veneno

I had one or two other small cheapo devices like that amazing $9 Boulder that I eventually gave to my SIL. She loves and still uses it. I wanted something that gave me the flavor of the smaller pod Juul device. I was seriously over cigarettes at this point. Enter the Smok Veneno. Wow. This thing scared me a little at first. My nephew had to show me everything from how to fill it to how to change the coils. I still to this day never mess with changing the wattage except from up to down! I do love this though. It's a workhorse and it can handle being dropped (a couple of times) and tossed into purses and backpacks. I can also switch out tanks with the Caliber. I really do love this and will have til it quits on me.

After the Veneno, things get blurry as far as which device came next and when. Because I won or was given a couple of devices, I would pay it forward by giving them to someone else trying to quit cigs and wanting to try vaping. I at one time had at least 2 devices similar to the Boulder. Those went to friends and neighbors and I hope they helped them. As for the rest, here are some that I still have and I link to any reviews I might have written for them.

PockeX

This is the Aspire PockeX. I have learned that I'm not a huge fan of the smaller and less powerful mouth-to-lung devices out there. Even though MTL mimics smoking a cigarette, I have gotten used to direct to lung vaping since I don't use high nicotine (or, sometimes any nicotine) and like the clouds and flavor more than anything. I hope that made sense!

Overall, this PockeX is great for "ladylike" vaping. It a nice device for slipping into the purse or pocket for trips to the store or when you are around people who might not vape. I have literally vaped right in front of people who never noticed because this device is so discreet. However, I never got a lot of flavor with this. 

Pico Baby

 This little beauty is the Eleaf Istick Pico Baby 25W Kit. It's one of my favorites as far as how it looks. It's just cute and discreet and stylish. And it was under $15 believe it or not. It's a nice vape - much more powerful than you'd expect for such a tiny device. It didn't come with extra coils and I always burn through them quickly.

But when I say this device is tiny, I mean just that.




So, there's the cute, tiny Pico Baby and then there's the big brother...

Squeeze2

The Pico Squeeze is a squonk device. Listen, I had zero business getting this thing! I didn't understand what a "squonk" was. Now I know. Thank goodness I have a young (young adult, so don't freak out) nephew who was once so into vaping that he built his own devices (whatever that means). He came over and set everything up for me and told me to call him whenever I need to do anything more complicated than filling the juice reservoir.

I don't use this one often - because of my nephew's instructions - but when I do, it is awesome. I can't really describe how much more smooth and defined flavors are when using a squonk. Just freaking superb.

Now, believe it or not, between winning devices, getting them as gifts, and finding sales, I don't spend nearly as much money on vapes as I did on cigarettes. With cigarettes, I was sometimes going through over a pack of cigarettes a day. At the time I was in Alaska, a pack cost over 9 dollars and sometimes as much as 10 and change. Crazy habit. Now that I vape, a $7 bottle of
ejuice can last me 2 weeks or more. Of course, I don't use fancy juice. I also have found places like the Dollar eJuice Club. Mostly, I use VapeWild juice that I can find at Electronic Tobacconist (and skip the crazy shipping or club fees). So I do like finding devices that are no longer brand new on the market. Once the new device craze wears off, I can snatch up a 40- or 50-dollar device for 15 to 20 dollars. Don't believe me? Go back and look at what I paid for some of the devices compared to what they cost several months before my review.

Anyway, it did take me a while to learn what kind of vape experience I like. I'm not into a lot of bling-bling or alterable parts and stuff. I just want something that's decent-looking and gives a nice flavor. Okay, I do like my vapor too! Once I settled into my vape groove, I was more careful about falling for all the hype every time something new came out. And I was really happy with what I already had in my collection.


Then, because I remembered the joys of the Juul, I wanted to see if there was anything just as good. I especially wanted a more "able" device than the Juul - more affordable and definitely refillable. And along came the Uwell Caliburn.


I didn't immediately love the way it looks. The Caliburn is so much fatter than the Juul. As soon as I vaped the device I forgot all about the Juul. The one and only thing that Juul has on the Caliburn are those high-nicotine pods. I think that's what attracts newly-quit smokers. You get such a good taste and a super-hit of nicotine with Juul. But then you start to learn about things like salt nic and refillable pods. Yeah, no need to spend all that money on Juul pods.

Finic 20

I am now best friends with the Caliburn. Like the Pico Baby, it's small and discreet.  Because it's narrow and flat, it's nice to have when you don't want to carry a purse. This is a good pocket vape.

Another device that I wasn't immediately thrilled with is the Finic 20 from Voopoo. Since I won it in a giveaway, I was willing to get used to it. And I have to admit, it's a cute little device. When I was given a choice of 3 devices, I chose to wait a month for this one mainly because of the colors and design.

I had to use this for a few days and figure out that I could not only vape cigarette-style but also do DTL vaping. Then I was happy. I don't use this all the time but I like it.



I can't believe that I'm just now mentioning one of my fave devices. Well, it's my sort-of-fave. The first one I got went wonky and I had to fight my way through getting it replaced. Tedious. But so worth it because this thing is AHmazing. Behold the Voopoo Caliber.

Oh my my my! How I love this thing. It's beautiful and a vape- monster (if that's a thing). The one reason I use this mostly at home and don't pack it around is that it's freaking solid. It's too fat to tuck in a pant or skirt pocket and too heavy for a shirt pocket. I don't mean to say that it's crazy-heavy, but it's just a bit much for tucking away anywhere, in my opinion.

Uwell Whirl 22

No worries though. Just like the Pico Baby is the kid sister to the Pico Squeeze, I did find the adopted kid sibling to the Caliber. Adopted because it's got a different mother.

That's the Uwell Whirl 22. How cute is it? For a $20 device... I'll say that if I could, I would have paid twice that. It's not as powerful as the Caliber, of course, but it's a nice substitute for taking around on the go. It's smaller and much lighter in weight.


 Look at them together. Just kind of amazing that I found something like the Whirl. It's one of the devices that I liked the minute I got it.



I'm just now discovering that, for some reason, I never did a review of the Smok Priv V8. Huh. Well, I will have to do that. For now, here is what it looks like and I can tell you that it's another device I was a little slow to fall in love with.

There are some pros and cons with this one and I promise to do a short review soon.



The Innokin Endura is one that I started out liking and then... things have been going downhill. I listed the pros and cons when I reviewed the device but those negatives have become very annoying. The other day, it tipped over again and then started leaking. When I tried to see what was up, the whole top part fell apart. So... yeah. That thing was too much trouble to fill and then, with the constantly tipping over, it just went into a drawer somewhere. At least I got an extra drip tip that fits a couple of the other small devices...



You can probably tell that I tend to like Smok devices - even though I don't know if I'm pronouncing Smok correctly. I say "Smock" but some other people say "Smoke". Whatever. Maybe because a Smok was my first serious device after the Juul, I feel comfortable with them. I will say one thing though: When Smok gets it right, they nail it, but when they get it wrong...

The Smok Infinix was a device I raved about for a long time. Then, recently, I could hear light hissing after I finished taking a hit. I changed to a new, clean pod and the same thing happened. I'm going to have my brother or nephew take a look at it the next time they are over. Ugh

By the way, in a battle between the Infinix and the Caliburn, the Infinix gets its butt kicked. For flavor, vapor, and reliable hits, the Caliburn is the champ. Also, next to the Caliburn, the Infinix looks and feels a little cheap.  I have to admit right now that Uwell and Eleaf are becoming my favorites. Sorry, Smok.

Looking at this list, I'm thinking that I have a lot of devices! In reality, it has been a year since I quit cigarettes and with contests, giveaways, and sales, I haven't done too badly. If you didn't believe me when I told you how long juice lasts me, just look at how much I accumulated over a 4 month period. I won't be buying juice again for a very long minute...

I took this photo 6 months ago for a post and I still have about 5 full or nearly full 30ml bottles and I think I still have all of those 10ml bottles.



So, if you didn't doze off somewhere before this, I might as well tell you about a fun app I've signed up with called Vaffle. It's social media for vape enthusiasts. I am not that into it yet because it's not very user-friendly. However, it is an awesome place to look at very cool and unusual devices. I love that part.

By the way, here is a post I did about some of the shops I frequent. And remember, I am a broke cheapskate so...

I hope you had fun looking at the different vapes and, hopefully, reading some of the linked reviews. And remember, as a vaper, be cool, not annoying.

Peace
--Free

I think this young man in underappreciated

**REVIEW** Uwell Caliburn Starter Kit

(With the loss of Google Plus, I am struggling to get visibility for these reviews back up. I'm working on finding replacement platforms. In the meantime, on I go.)

STOP: this post is ONLY for those of legal age for nicotine use.

See the guide for state-by-state regulations

state-by-state regulations

This review is for the newest (and most talked about) pod system. The Uwell Caliburn is raved about as big competition for the Juul. I'm using it for the first time today and the raving is warranted. Right off the bat, the $27-$35 Caliburn is cheaper than the $35-$50 Juul. Make sure that you shop around though because prices right now are varying wildly (and this is why I'm not linking to any specific shop, including where I got this one.)

I'll back up right now to say that Juul not only has competition but serious competition. Most people first coming off cigarettes want something to sate the nic craving and soothe their budget. After all, one of the benefits of quitting smoking is saving money. It's ridiculous to go broke when switching to vaping.

Came fully charged, by the way

PROS:

1. One of the things a lot of people like about the Caliburn is that it can be button-fired or just mouth-drawn. I find that there is more of a flavor release when using the button. Also, I think most vapers are just used to that method.

2. In comparing this to the Juul, I like that you can hit this mouth-to-lung or direct-to-lung. With the Juul, DTL is not as easy or nice, in my opinion. That leads to the next point.

3. The draw (or airflow) on the Caliburn is the perfect balance between tight and airy. I found the Juul to be tight which is why it was not a decent DTL device. And I get it, a lot of people reserve DTL for sub ohm devices and not pod systems. I like to switch between the two styles. MTL reminds me of smoking cigarettes, but DTL seems to give me a bigger nicotine hit when I am just doing one or hits.

4. One of my favorite things about this system is the top-fill design. You basically pop off the top of the pod and use one of the two holes underneath. I had no spills and leaking like with some of the side fill devices.

5. The device is extremely light and comfortable to hold. Again, more so than any other pod device I've used this is akin to the Juul. The Infinx, for instance, feels bigger and heavier.

6. Even with salt nic, the cloud vapor was better on this than with the Juul. One of my peeves with using the Juul right after giving up cigarettes was the lack of vapor. That was a big deal for me because I really wanted to recreate the experience of having an actual cigarette. Since then, I find that I love the vapor more than the nicotine - which I often go without. I'm not a cloud fanatic, but vapor is part of the satisfaction for me.

6. Uwell did a great job with the appearance of this device. It's sleek and comes in some nice colors. The blue looked a lot more like teal out of the box. There's not much difference in hue from seeing the product photo on screen but... I do like the color though. (I haven't received the pink one yet.) Also, although the finish has a slight shine to it, it's matte and isn't a fingerprint magnet.

7. Probably the biggest pro is that this uses refillable pods. With the kit, you get a spare so you can switch between flavors if you want or not freak out about losing one. And the pods hold 2ml of liquid (versus 0.7ml in standard Juul pods).

CONS:

The one and only real negative I want to point out is that the top is so freaking hard to remove. Other reviews mention that this gets easier with some. That makes sense but I damn near erased my fingerprints trying to remove the cap for the first fill.

The minor negative is that the view window for the liquid level is useless. In the right light, I could kind of see the liquid level but it's easier to just pop out the pod for a glance. Like I said, minor.

Overall, I agree that this is one of the best pod systems out there. I think it's a better alternative than the Juul for people getting away from cigarettes. The lower price combined with the refillable pods puts this so far above the Juul that I see no reason to bother with the other device.

Since I started using sub ohm (and squonk) devices, I found that I liked them more than I did the pod systems. This Caliburn is the one pod system I can see myself often choosing over the sub ohms. I like it a lot and it's going to be my on-the-go when I don't want to lug the heavier sub ohms around.

By the way, in some forums, people are asking if it's feasible to use anything other than salt nic in the Caliburn. A few people have mentioned that they use 50/50 pg/vg juice and I've seen one person say that they have used 70/30 juice. The Caliburn coil is designed for nic salt so that's what I plan to stick with. I've thought about testing the spare pod using some 50/50 juice but don't want to ruin it. If I take the chance, I will update this review with the results.

Peace
-- Free