I’m pretty sure the first thing you thought is what is a hybrid cartomizer. I’m glad you asked! The idea is that you take the concept of a CE style clearomizer and a traditional fillered cartomizer and mesh them together. So the question is do you get vaping fusion or Frankenstein’s monster? Let’s find out together in this review of the GotVapes Stallion hybrid cartomizer.
Design
On the outside, the Stallion looks like a typical XL cartomizer that you’d get from Boge or Smoktech. It has a 2 ml(ish) capacity. It is a steel cartomizer with a black wrap around it. The carto also features GotVapes’ branding.
The company seems to be the first to have these on the market, which is sort of their thing. They also tend to put their own name on things, so when this carto hits wide release, expect it to have a different name.
Superficials aside, the main attraction here is what’s inside these black beauties (I figured I’d just run with the horse references). Luckily, there’s a handy diagram on the back of the box these things come in:
The diagram above shows an empty bottom chamber and then on the top there’s a horizontal coil (sort of like a CE2 up to this point). The top part is wrapped in the familiar batting like traditional cartomizers. So the concept is the excess liquid in the bottom part keeps the batting and coil wet without having to worry about the batting drying out in random spots in burning.
In practice, things still basically work that way. But, I broke out the pipe cutter and opened one up to see what it looked like inside. It seems to me there was quite a bit of deviation from the diagram on the back of the box.
First, there’s more filler in there than you would think based on the picture. There’s a sheet of batting that goes the length of the cartomizer, meaning the bottom chamber isn’t empty.
There is, however, much less filler in there than in a traditional cartomizer. The filler is essentially loosely wrapped around the inside. A second inner material is wrapped around the heating coil to keep it out of contact with the filler.
These images will give you an idea of how the thing is built:
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The heating coil is perched on top of a stem so it is mounted horizontally at the top of the cartomizer, much like a CE2 without the ceramic cup around it. Like a CE2, there are also wicks.
It is sort of a strange wick configuration. There’s what appears to be two stubby wicks as seen in things like the Stardust and Vivi Nova, but protruding from the center of the short wicks are long, thin wicks that run to the bottom of the cartomizer.
So, the revised story is that there is filler, but also plenty of liquid sloshing around the inside of the cartomizer. The filler is in contact with the wicks which keeps them wet because the filler should be consistently saturated with the extra liquid running around inside.
Riding the Stallion
It seems like the design isn’t quite the same as the picture on the box shows. But the real point is finding out if they are actually any good.
Before getting into the performance of this hybrid carto, I word about filling. I found that filling the Stallion was a little different. At first, before I tore one apart, I wasn’t sure of the best way to fill. You can’t go in from underneath using the condom method or a 510-syringe adapter, it would force liquid through the air hole and flood the atomizer.
So that leaves dripping from the top or syringe filling. Dripping is tricky because you essentially need to flood the thing, but avoid getting liquid down the center, not a simple task. I had the best luck using a syringe with the needle placed between the side wall and the filler. I had to find a spot where the blunt needle would go all the way to the bottom and then slowly fill until I saw the top filler become saturated.
Now that the hybrid is filled, it’s time to see what kind of vapor we can get out of it. Now, the other oddball claim that this already odd carto has is that it has some sort of high-efficiency coil thing going on. It meters at 3.0 ohm, but claims the performance of a 2 ohm setup.
My first inclination, then was to try it out at lower voltages (ok, no, I wanted to see how high I can crank it, but I’m trying to go in order here). Anyway, running it at eGo and 3.7v speeds, it did pretty well. I didn’t feel at all like I was using a 3.0 ohm device. I’m not sure it was quite as good as a 2.0 ohm, but it worked surprisingly well.
To me, that means there might be some potential for good performance at higher voltages. That turned out to be the case. While unlike a regular carto, things started falling apart well short of 6 volts, it did very well in the area between 4 and 5v.
I found that at 5v it was workable, but would start getting a little harsh. Unlike a fillered carto, however, nothing really burned. The design keeps the filler away from the heating element, so abusing these doesn’t result in burned filler.
It was much more like a CE2 when it’s cranked up a little too high. I found optimal cruising speed to be around 4.5v. At that level, vapor production is very good and the vapor is quite warm. Flavor is decent, but to me it seemed like there was a hint of that flavor that comes from cartomizers with filler in it.
I’m not completely unconvinced that is just my imagination at work from seeing filler at the top of the cartomizer.
If there’s one big drawback it’s that it’s a standard size cartomizer, and I’ve been kind of spoiled by tanks lately. Attempts to punch one of these things and put it in a tank were mixed. I think the key will be to punch it in a way that would make a normal cartomizer flood.
Too Long; Didn’t Read
The GotVapes Stallion hybrid cartomizer seems to have blended a CE2 with a Boge cartomizer and produced something that performs quite well. It also boasts a super efficient heating element that performs better on a low-power e-cigarette than a 3.0 ohm device has a right to. The cartomizer, sadly, is a normal sized cartomizer, and filling can be a bit tricky. I’d imagine this design might stick around, so tank versions are inevitable. You can grab a 5-pack of these cartos from GotVapes.
Pros:
- Good performance on eGos
- Great performance at 4v+
- Solid construction
- No burning
Cons:
- Tricky to fill
- Not as easy to throw in a carto tank
- Hard to estimate remaining liquid (it’s not clear)
Details:
Product Name: Stallion Hybrid Cartomizer
Available From: GotVapes
Threading: 510
Capacity: 2ml (advertised)
Resistance: 3.0 ohm
