INTRODUCTION
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Hello everyone Pizza Dave here, delivering a review of the Dead Rabbit RTA by Hellvape. As many of us all know, the Dead Rabbit was probably the most popular atomizer of 2017. Since it’s release, we have seen the 24mm dual coil version, a single coil version, and even the cooperative creation which is the Drop Dead. This time round, we are served with the guts of a Dead Rabbit, Air flow of a Dead Rabbit, styling cues of a Dead Rabbit, all wrapped into an RTA. This has been hyped up for quite some time, so let’s dive down and see if Hellvape and Heathen came up with another winner with this RTA.
Disclaimer: This device was sent to me by Sourcemore for review.
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WHAT YOU GET
Available in Black, Gunmetal, Stainless, Rainbow, Blue, Purple, and Gold.
STOCK SHOT
PACKAGING
UNBOXED
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BUILD DECK AND WICKING
First off, this build deck has been seen quite a bit over the last year. Like the original Dead Rabbit RDA, this deck is shaped in a fashion (like rabbit ears) which positions the coils on top with the leads poking through the bottom of the deck for snipping later. However, this one crams everything in a bit tighter than before and is not designed in a way which allows snipped after the fact with ease. It isn’t hard to build on by any means, but precutting the leads is a huge advantage. I usually installed 3mm coils on mine as it seemed to work best with it. Wider builds or 3.5mm builds have the chance to short against the chimney, so keep that in mind when building. I built high, and I built low, and I found the same thing that many other reviewers found. If it is high, it can whistle a bit. When it is built low, the flavor reduces slightly, but the whistle drops to ALMOST nonexistent.
Wicking on this RTA is what pushes this out of the realm of a beginners atty and into the world of experienced only. Since this build deck style is so high it relies heavily on the wicking to perform well. I had a few builds in mine and wicked it up about 5 to 6 times to test what works best. I found that super thin wicks get the win on this, as it doesn’t have a massive juice well and has a long ways to travel up to the coils. When I thinned the wicking extensively and just barely tucked them into the wicking ports it performed quite well and had no issues keeping up. I am a chain vapor, so I tend to take just a few seconds in between puffs. If it keeps up to me, it should keep up to anybody.
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AIR FLOW
The top air flow design on this RTA is directly ripped from the RDA design. It features a top air flow that angles the air flow down to the coils. The draw I get from it is just a tad more restricted than the RDA but has a very similar feel. If you are a fan of the draw the RDA has, then I think you would be happy with this as well. If you are a fan of purging your vaping device, this will blast the vapor into your face just like it did on the RDA, so keep that in mind as well.
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HOW IT VAPES
This is the part that everybody more than likely scrolled to anyway, so here it is. Don’t dive into the expecting out of this world flavor. I thoroughly enjoy my Dead Rabbit and Drop-Dead RDAs, so this was a bit of a let down for me. I never had an issue getting great flavor from them, but I struggled to get the flavor to pop from this. It had a little better flavor with the coils positioned as high as I could without shorting, but the chimney shape and air flow combination created an annoying turbulent whistle. When built low, the whistle isn’t there, but the flavor drops down a hair. It seems like the air flow is a little bit too high on this, so it doesn’t get a direct blast to the coil, thus killing the flavor.
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PHOTO GALLERY
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FINAL THOUGHTS
Ah the Dead Rabbit name. SO MANY people have tried out the Dead Rabbit RDA, and so many have really enjoyed it. Hell, I have two of them and use them regularly. However, they missed the mark on this one by a hair. I was worried about the deck transitioning into an RTA because it just isn’t practical to make it work with a tank to contend with for real estate. It isn’t an awful RTA, and I would vote it as one of the best-looking tanks to come out this year, however, the flavor and challenging wicking knock it down a bit. It takes some trial and error to wick just right and takes some playing to get the coils in just the right position. I really love just popping coils in a tank, wicking it up, and it performs. I can’t stand having to fiddle for days to get it just right. On the bright side, this one is very resilient to leaking, looks great, holds a solid amount of e-liquid, and has a smooth draw. Like I said before, it isn’t terrible by any means, but it is beat out by other top air flow rtas for flavor and ease of build.
OVEN TEST
If this were to accidentally go into the pizza oven would I go out and get another? Really hoping for a V1.5 on this that tweaks it a bit, as I really wanted to love it. For now…. It’s a no.
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PROS
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CONS
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Thank you everyone for reading my review and thank you to Sourcemore for sending it my way for review. I am seeing this one all over online for about $28.
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Pizza Dave – delivering real reviews with no extra toppings
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REVIEW CRITERIA: I use each item extensively for about two weeks to ensure I have collected enough data to adequately write a review. I use the same e liquid in tanks or rdas throughout all my reviews to ensure that I am comparing apples to apples between all modern equipment. I do not post reviews until I feel confident that I have used all products enough to give an educated review. The reason I started doing reviews was due to poor purchasing decisions in my vaping infancy about two years ago. Back then, I purchased several different pieces of hardware without really enjoying them and I hope my reviews can guide people into spending their hard-earned money more wisely than I did! ****Keep in mind that some items I receive may be pre-release and not in retail packaging. Quality may be less than the finished product and what is in the package may differ from the retail package as well.
______________________________________________________________________________
Hello everyone Pizza Dave here, delivering a review of the Dead Rabbit RTA by Hellvape. As many of us all know, the Dead Rabbit was probably the most popular atomizer of 2017. Since it’s release, we have seen the 24mm dual coil version, a single coil version, and even the cooperative creation which is the Drop Dead. This time round, we are served with the guts of a Dead Rabbit, Air flow of a Dead Rabbit, styling cues of a Dead Rabbit, all wrapped into an RTA. This has been hyped up for quite some time, so let’s dive down and see if Hellvape and Heathen came up with another winner with this RTA.
Disclaimer: This device was sent to me by Sourcemore for review.
______________________________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU GET
- 1 Dead Rabbit RTA
- 1 4.5ml Bubble Glass
- 1 2ml Straight Glass
- 1 Resin 810 Drip tip
- 1 510 drip tip adapter
- 1 Spare parts and tool bag
- 1 Instruction Manual
Available in Black, Gunmetal, Stainless, Rainbow, Blue, Purple, and Gold.
STOCK SHOT
PACKAGING
UNBOXED
______________________________________________________________________________
BUILD DECK AND WICKING
First off, this build deck has been seen quite a bit over the last year. Like the original Dead Rabbit RDA, this deck is shaped in a fashion (like rabbit ears) which positions the coils on top with the leads poking through the bottom of the deck for snipping later. However, this one crams everything in a bit tighter than before and is not designed in a way which allows snipped after the fact with ease. It isn’t hard to build on by any means, but precutting the leads is a huge advantage. I usually installed 3mm coils on mine as it seemed to work best with it. Wider builds or 3.5mm builds have the chance to short against the chimney, so keep that in mind when building. I built high, and I built low, and I found the same thing that many other reviewers found. If it is high, it can whistle a bit. When it is built low, the flavor reduces slightly, but the whistle drops to ALMOST nonexistent.
Wicking on this RTA is what pushes this out of the realm of a beginners atty and into the world of experienced only. Since this build deck style is so high it relies heavily on the wicking to perform well. I had a few builds in mine and wicked it up about 5 to 6 times to test what works best. I found that super thin wicks get the win on this, as it doesn’t have a massive juice well and has a long ways to travel up to the coils. When I thinned the wicking extensively and just barely tucked them into the wicking ports it performed quite well and had no issues keeping up. I am a chain vapor, so I tend to take just a few seconds in between puffs. If it keeps up to me, it should keep up to anybody.
______________________________________________________________________________
AIR FLOW
The top air flow design on this RTA is directly ripped from the RDA design. It features a top air flow that angles the air flow down to the coils. The draw I get from it is just a tad more restricted than the RDA but has a very similar feel. If you are a fan of the draw the RDA has, then I think you would be happy with this as well. If you are a fan of purging your vaping device, this will blast the vapor into your face just like it did on the RDA, so keep that in mind as well.
______________________________________________________________________________
HOW IT VAPES
This is the part that everybody more than likely scrolled to anyway, so here it is. Don’t dive into the expecting out of this world flavor. I thoroughly enjoy my Dead Rabbit and Drop-Dead RDAs, so this was a bit of a let down for me. I never had an issue getting great flavor from them, but I struggled to get the flavor to pop from this. It had a little better flavor with the coils positioned as high as I could without shorting, but the chimney shape and air flow combination created an annoying turbulent whistle. When built low, the whistle isn’t there, but the flavor drops down a hair. It seems like the air flow is a little bit too high on this, so it doesn’t get a direct blast to the coil, thus killing the flavor.
______________________________________________________________________________
PHOTO GALLERY
______________________________________________________________________________
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ah the Dead Rabbit name. SO MANY people have tried out the Dead Rabbit RDA, and so many have really enjoyed it. Hell, I have two of them and use them regularly. However, they missed the mark on this one by a hair. I was worried about the deck transitioning into an RTA because it just isn’t practical to make it work with a tank to contend with for real estate. It isn’t an awful RTA, and I would vote it as one of the best-looking tanks to come out this year, however, the flavor and challenging wicking knock it down a bit. It takes some trial and error to wick just right and takes some playing to get the coils in just the right position. I really love just popping coils in a tank, wicking it up, and it performs. I can’t stand having to fiddle for days to get it just right. On the bright side, this one is very resilient to leaking, looks great, holds a solid amount of e-liquid, and has a smooth draw. Like I said before, it isn’t terrible by any means, but it is beat out by other top air flow rtas for flavor and ease of build.
OVEN TEST
If this were to accidentally go into the pizza oven would I go out and get another? Really hoping for a V1.5 on this that tweaks it a bit, as I really wanted to love it. For now…. It’s a no.
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PROS
- Looks great
- Doesn’t leak easily
- Includes ample spare parts and a nice drip tip
- Smooth air flow
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CONS
- Wicking takes trial and error
- Flavor is lacking
- Requires some coil placement fiddling to get the best results
- Not mentioned above, but the RTA must be removed from a mod or building stand in order to assemble it due to how it all goes together.
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Thank you everyone for reading my review and thank you to Sourcemore for sending it my way for review. I am seeing this one all over online for about $28.
______________________________________________________________________________
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Pizza Dave – delivering real reviews with no extra toppings
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
REVIEW CRITERIA: I use each item extensively for about two weeks to ensure I have collected enough data to adequately write a review. I use the same e liquid in tanks or rdas throughout all my reviews to ensure that I am comparing apples to apples between all modern equipment. I do not post reviews until I feel confident that I have used all products enough to give an educated review. The reason I started doing reviews was due to poor purchasing decisions in my vaping infancy about two years ago. Back then, I purchased several different pieces of hardware without really enjoying them and I hope my reviews can guide people into spending their hard-earned money more wisely than I did! ****Keep in mind that some items I receive may be pre-release and not in retail packaging. Quality may be less than the finished product and what is in the package may differ from the retail package as well.
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