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Leafly’s Avid Dabber, Will Hyde, and dabbing newbie Ian Chant recently got their hands on the new Incendio e-nail and concentrate vaporizer from Vivant. Here’s their verdict after they spent more than a week using the Incendio.
Ian Chant: Will, we’ve both been using the Vivant Incendio for about 10 days or so now, so what were your first impressions?
Will Hyde: It’s a nice, complete kit. I like the fact that it came with a big tank for the dry vaporizer function, a backup Firecore coil, and a water perc attachment. I’ve seen a lot of percs that are very similar in design to this, but this one functioned better than most.
The Vivant Incendio kit comes in a padded carrying case. (Julia Sumpter/Leafly)
Chant: I’ve seen attachments like this, but this is the first one I’ve used. I went into this a little skeptical, sort of going, “Oh yeah, a teaspoon of water is going to make a big difference here.” As it turns out, a teaspoon of water actually does make a significant difference in the experience.
Hyde: Yeah, definitely. And the fact that it comes in a nice convenient padded carrying case made life super easy, because I don’t feel like I’m in any danger of breaking it.
Chant: I know! It comes in a nice little kind of lunchbox case. I’m still getting my feet wet in the dab world—my first experience with concentrates was with another Vivant product, the Dabox, and this sort of seems like the next step up from that. How would you compare this to either similar devices or to a proper dab rig?
Hyde: I think it’s a sort of hybrid between an authentic, true-to-form dab rig and more portable wax or oil pens. You have the ability to filter through water, plus the ability to get your nail hot and actually dab onto it, so it’s the same process as dabbing. Or, you can preload it, cap it, and be ready to take it on the go, which is a nice option to have.
Chant: I did not use the Incendio a ton on the go; I was mostly a homebody with it.
The Vivant Incendio. (Julia Sumpter/Leafly)
Hyde: I did use the dry-vape tank on the go pretty regularly, which is very user-friendly. Though, I will say, I found the air holes on the tank a little much. I was getting a good hit, but because of how much air they’re letting in, you weren’t blowing clouds the same way you were seeing clouds. I did try covering one, which helped, but since that does get warm, finger carbing it is not a long-term solution.
I also found when you’re working with more solid forms of concentrate, it’s really easy to pre-load it and be able to rip that on the road. But I also have some nice high-terpene concentrates which are a little runnier, and you can’t really use those in portable devices as easily, because it can be a little messier to spoon, and you need to have a really hot nail ready; otherwise, you’re going to be just kind of spreading around goo.
Chant: What were your thoughts on ease of use?
Hyde: I thought it was really easy to set up and use; it’s very plug-and-play and quite intuitive. I liked that you had wattage control over the battery but can also monitor temperature in e-nail mode, which is what I’m more used to; it’s nice to have that sort of conversion made for you. It takes a little while to charge up, but it’s a great battery that I’ve only had to charge once in the time I’ve been using it.
A high-quality battery powers the Incendio through session after session without recharging. (Julia Sumpter/Leafly)
Chant: Same here—I’ve been super impressed with the battery life. I feel like every time I finish up, I check the battery thinking, “OK, it’s gotta be time to charge it now,” and every time it’s still going strong. I was also really impressed with the ease of not only setup, but also cleanup. Just a little alcohol, a little cotton swab, and half a minute, and I was through.
Hyde: Yeah, I didn’t even use alcohol on mine. Since the coil is in the middle, the oil sort of naturally flows to the side, so if I had a little leftover oil, I would just sort of tap it with the heat, and you can clear out any remainders with a cotton swab very easily. The coil I’m using looks pretty brand new, and it was used pretty regularly.
I also really like that you’re not placing your concentrate directly on the coil. The coil is embedded into the glass bowl, and while the heat transfer does leave you with some hotspots because of the coil, overall it’s a very even heating experience and you don’t get any metallic flavor.
Right out of the box, this does have sort of a “new car smell” flavor to it, so I’d suggest seasoning your dish a little, kind of the way you season a frying pain. I put a little waste oil in it, then burned it off and repeated that process a couple times, not trying to smoke it but to just bake in some of those oils.
Chant: So you can give this its own character before you’re using it regularly?
Hyde: Yeah, exactly.
A glass-embedded coil helps the Incendio heat concentrates evenly. (Julia Sumpter/Leafly)
Chant: As kind of a newbie, I was initially intimidated by the accordion of instructions for setting up the water perc function, but once you do it for the first time, you realize all of those instructions boil down to “everything screws on just about the way and place you’d expect.” And the next time around, it was easy and felt very intuitive.
Hyde: For me, as someone who’s used devices like this before, it was pretty standard and, like you said, intuitive—there was no proprietary tech with a steep learning curve or anything. The other thing I really like about the design is that a lot of tools that are similar to this will use a narrow battery that is taller. Those can get kind of top-heavy, but because this has such a solid, wide base, it actually stands up pretty easily and feels pretty ergonomically correct in that regard.
Chant: Any things you do wish were different in the design?
Hyde: The only issue I have is that I can’t see what my battery is doing while I’m hitting it. And that’s a common thing in devices like this, because they are so small and the readout is hidden by your hand. But having some sort of feedback beyond the glow of the coil would be really welcome.
Chant: Yeah, I felt like the Incendio was well-thought out and designed with users in mind. Once I had it standing with the percolator attached, I wished it had a slightly wider base, because I had to be pretty ginger with it to keep it standing. And it’s true that whatever glass you’re using, you need to take care with it…
Hyde: Especially after a couple of dabs.
Chant: Especially then. But generally, the second I was done dabbing, the percolator came off, which was another reason I was glad the cleanup was so easy. Because frankly, the idea that there’s a pretty involved setup and teardown process with dabbing is something that has kept me away until now, so it’s really nice to get a taste of that experience at a fairly low input of effort on my part.
The Incendio set up as a water-filtered dab rig. (Julia Sumpter/Leafly)
Hyde: I found the hardest part of using this was cleaning out the percolator attachment, because they’ve made it so leak- and spill-resistant that it’s actually a little hard to get the water out. The best way I found was to take the attachment off, then blow through it to clear it out.
Chant: Yeah, I actually had the most success doing exactly what you’re describing, and then giving it a quick blast with a hair dryer to dry out any remaining water.
Hyde: Another nice thing about the design, not of the device, but of the case, was that while I didn’t use the silicon puck that’s included, that space is the same size as most concentrate containers, so you can take whatever you’re dabbing with you very easily.
Chant: Speaking of that, I got some really nice results out of this from the honey crystal and sugar resin I was dabbing, which are, like you mentioned earlier, pretty solid kinds of concentrates. And I felt like the all glass heating and delivery systems delivered a really true flavor. What were you dabbing as we put the Incendio through its paces?
Hyde: I tried pretty much everything, just to see how it handled different concentrates and consistencies. I had really some high-terpene extract, some honey crystal, and then I also tried some THCA crystalline isolate, and they all dabbed really nicely in there.
I think the biggest learning curve was finding the right amount of whatever concentrate to load, so that you can complete a full dab and not have any excess. That makes sure you’re not wasting any oil, and you’re also not taking any twice-baked dabs, which took a little trial and error.
Chant: Who would you recommend this for?
Hyde: Maybe not for someone who’s just getting into dabbing, but for someone who has tried it enough that they want something they can take with them easily, and someone who doesn’t want to break the bank on a portable rig. Someone who’s looking for more than just a vape pen, but maybe not quite ready to make the space commitment or the financial commitment that a full rig setup would take.
Chant: OK, you just described me, and yeah, I concur—this is a great next step into dabbing if you’re still not sure how much work you want to put towards how you consume. What about for more seasoned dabbers like yourself?
Hyde: This is something I would definitely take camping. The simple tank setup is easy to hit while you’re on the trail, and the water filtration is great for putting together and passing around while you’re around the campfire.
