The Plenty Vaporizer is an exciting new product from German manufacturer, Storz & Bickel, makers of the iconic Volcano. Already known as the industry standard-bearer in vaporization products, Storz & Bickel have added an intriguing entry in the market with the Plenty. Featuring a lower price-point and a whip-style delivery, the Plenty sets itself apart nicely from the Volcano while still giving a premium vaporization experience.
How The Plenty Works
Unlike the Volcano and other balloon style vaporizers, the Plenty is a direct inhalation vaporizer. Once the unit builds to an adjustable temperature, the user inhales through a “whip”, causing hot air to pass over the herbal material and a vapor that the user inhales. The whip on the Plenty is not like most whips, however: instead of using flexible plastic tubing, it uses a flexible metal coil which helps to cool the vapor before it is inhaled. The Plenty is a plug-in handheld vaporizer, and can be easily carried or passed around as long as you stay within the range of the (generously long) power cord.
There is an auto shut-off once the unit gets to the desired temperature, and a trigger that needs to be pulled to re-start the heating again. In practice, it functions great, as several draws can be taken before it needs reheating again, and the Plenty is so efficient that “several” tends to be more than enough. It’s a unique design requiring minimal user intervention for safety, but it is simple and intuitive in person and works perfectly in practice.
The Plenty Will Rock Your World
The first thing to know about the Plenty is that the quality of the vapor is wonderfully thick and full. The Plenty compares very favorably in terms of vapor quality to the company’s more expensive Volcano, and is hands-down better than anything else I’ve tried using a whip. How is this so? The Plenty’s ability to spread the heat over a wider surface area, combined with a shallow, wide herb chamber assure that the herb is heated thoroughly and without need for stirring or shaking. It works incredibly, and the result is thick, fragrant vapor, requiring far fewer inhalations to achieve the desired effect. For example, while it might take four draws from another vaporizer, the same effect with the Plenty might only take one or two.
The Plenty is simple to use, and has a very small learning curve. There are few parts, and the quick-start card will get you up and running fast. Don’t let the plastic casing deceive you, the unit itself looks and feels quality in person. The temperature can be adjusted via a dial over a range of about 266f – 395f (note: the analog gauge actually goes to 420f). The dial is numbered from 1-7, and a chart is provided to correlate that to the temperature. I found 6 ½ or so to be my favorite setting.
The flexible metal whip is designed to cool the air before it reaches you, and it performs this task admirably. However, the metal does get progressively hotter during use and becomes especially hot to the touch near where it attaches to the base, so you’ll want to be careful when handling it.
Product Design
While the function is near perfect with the Plenty, there are a few design issues that left me scratching my head just a little. Perhaps because it performs so fabulously, the design quibbles seemed all the more curious. For example, the device itself doesn’t stand up or otherwise rest itself gracefully – you just sort of lay it down. While that sounds innocent enough, there are parts of the vaporizer that get quite hot, leaving me nervous when setting it on my leather ottoman, for example. While the form-factor is great for usage, it’s a bit awkward to pick up, especially if parts of it are still heated – and the base of the metal whip coil does get quite hot. Personally, I would have preferred that either the unit stood up between uses, or had a stand of some sort to rest it in. One final thought on the design – I couldn’t help but imagine this as a cordless device with a rechargeable base and a charging station for true portability. Still, in practice it all works quite well overall and I find these to be minor nitpicks or, perhaps, missed opportunities.
On a positive design side, the herb chamber, and connecting pieces are simple to use and work extremely well. The herb chamber is shallow, but very wide and holds a fair amount of material. The Plenty also comes with a special metal “pad” for vaporizing liquid, that doubles as a space filler if you are only wanting to vaporize a small amount of herb. Another unique feature that’s difficult to explain, but works great in practice. Without this pad, it is important that the herb chamber be filled completely to get the type of thick, full inhales the Plenty is capable of producing. There is a great explanation for how this works in the owners manual included with the Plenty device.
Final Thoughts
In terms of vapor quality, the Plenty is a total home-run. It’s only real competition in that regard seems to be Storz & Bickel’s own higher-end Volcano balloon-style vaporizer. The name of the product itself seems apt, as the term “Plenty” actually comes to mind after only one or two draws from it, thanks to the unusually thick, fragrant vapors it produces.
Overall, it performs brilliantly, though it takes a bit longer to heat up than some vaporizers I’ve used (about 3 minutes depending on the setting). It’s completely silent in operation.
Due to it’s design, the material is heated thoroughly without need for stirring, and when it’s done you know it. I’ve used vaporizers that left me feeling like there was still herbal material that wasn’t vaporized, despite stirring and stirring the material. The Plenty’s design ensures that all of your material is vaporized without need for stirring, and you get a lot of thick inhales in the process.
While I wish it was less awkward to set down or pickup when warm, it’s not been a problem so far and the form-factor works well for usage.
Bottom line: The Plenty is a great way to get Storz & Bickel premium vaporization at less-than-Volcano pricing.
Manufacturer: Storz & Bickel
Review by: XLR8 – 420 Magazine Staff Writer
