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The Magic Flight Box, aka the Magic Flight Launch Box vaporizer, was released in May, 2009 by Magic-Flight in California and is different from most of the other portable dried herb vaporizers in design.
First, it’s a very recognizable (among users) wooden box. Made in America, the vaporizer is effective and is priced at a reasonable price tag. The cost itself is very competitive and in the end, for that, you are getting basic functionality. Read more below for our full Magic Flight Box review.
Build Quality
To bring this part of the Magic Flight Box review, the body of this portable vaporizer is built from a single block of wood and it’s solid. This portable vape is built to last for a long time, with no electronics and no moving mechanical parts.
The screen in the box is really the weakest area and you use that to slide over the chamber to open and close it. If you don’t misuse or abuse it though, it should last for many years.
And if you do break something, the manufacturer has decent replacement policies and renowned and friendly customer service, so you are more likely than not to get help to fix it.
It also comes with a lifetime warranty on the workmanship and materials, which is unheard of in the industry.
Draws are taken through a glass tube (it is reportedly plastic on older models which isn’t really the sturdiest material but it works). There is a clear, plastic screen covering the chamber which does help you see how much dry material is left in there, which is useful.
The material chamber and the heating element are both stainless steel. The chamber is large for such a small vaporizer and can hold a lot of dried herbs, saving you from having to refill it very often. On the inside, the vaporizer looks a little more impressive than the outside. It has a short, 5 to 10 second, heats up time.
You do get some choice in the wood finish from a light maple to cherry to walnut. The mouthpiece in the kit will match the type of wood you choose. The vaporizer comes with a cool, retro metal tin and a pouch for storage and portability.
Extras that you can purchase separately include a water pipe adapter, a whip and a power adapter. The power adapter will save you battery life and battery charge time. It is also suitable for some third-party accessories.
Vapor Quality
Now that we have talked about how it’s built, let’s get down to the heart of every vaporizer review and why we are here reading the Magic Flight Box review – vapor quality.
It looks like such a simple unit but this vaporizer does offer good flavour and decent amounts of vapor. Users recommend the “sipping method” for the best result – slow, deep draws. Also, it is highly recommended that you grind the dried herbs really well to get the best vapor possible from the box.
Toward the end of the session, some dried herb will get scorched where they are in more direct contact with the box’s heating element. So, the flavour of the vapor at the end will degrade. That really isn’t anything unusual.
In terms of vapor, you can produce a decent amount with the Magic Flight Box, after you learn to draw on it correctly. If you let the vapor built up too much, however, it will begin to produce a harsher, hotter vapor.
This will also happen if you hold the battery in for too long. If the unit begins to overheat your material, release the battery to stop the heating element.
In terms of the chamber, it can handle micro-dosing easily. You can use as little as 0.1 g of dried herb with no special additional equipment necessary.
Batteries and Battery Life
Next in our Magic Flight Box review, let’s look at the battery – important for a portable vaporizer. Most other vaporizers operate on a rechargeable battery but the Magic Flight Box is built for a NiMH AA battery. It comes with 2 rechargeable AAs to start with.
You can purchase extra rechargeable batteries but be sure that they are NiMH. If you have batteries on standby, the relatively short battery life relative to the charge time isn’t a problem.
If you forget to recharge them and you don’t have your power adapter handy, you are going to have a wait on your hands. The charging station that comes with the Magic Flight Box will take about 4 hours to bring the batteries up to a full charge.
Depending on how you use the Magic Flight Box and the temperature where you are using it, you can expect anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour of vaping experience. Cold temperatures drain batteries faster while room temperatures and slightly warmer will get the longest life.
Portability and Discreetness
Next up in our Magic Flight Box review, we’ll cover portability and discreetness. Aesthetically, it’s a bit clunky looking. Definitely not an elegant piece of fine art. On the other hand, wood is very pleasing. It does fit nicely into your hand, which makes it easily portable.
It’s not ergonomic though – it’s a wooden box - so it can be more noticeable in the hand than other similar vaporizers on the market. On the other hand, it’s a wooden box so it doesn’t readily look like a vaporizer except to users who are familiar with it.
The battery life isn’t exceptionally long but carrying additional, charged batteries will extend the time you can be out and about with the vaporizer, increasing its portability.
The need to mix your dried herb in the vaporizer between every draw or every second draw makes it much less discrete than many other dried herb vaporizers on the market. While out and about, it may be better to learn the shake and mix technique which includes ensuring all your herb gets back down into the trench.
The operation is silent, which makes it discreet in that way. No fans or electronic noise to worry about. However, if you do use the sip method to draw on this unit, the odour of your dry herb will become noticeable.
Ease of Use
No Magic Flight Box review could be complete without covering how easy (or not) the device is to use. Grind the herb you want to use finely to get the best vapor experience with this unit. This will help the vaporizer heat evenly and keep the chamber cleaner.
Once you put the herb into the chamber, all that is left to do is to engage the battery by pushing it in. It is not recommended to pack or press the dry herbs and do not overload the trench. Space Case grinders or a similar herb grinders can be useful when using the Magic-Flight Launch Box to improve the overall vaping experience.
Heat control here is a learning process and without a regulator, it is not consistent. There is no display to tell you what temperature you are at. You have to learn to take draws of the right length and speed.
If it is overheating, you are drawing too slowly and if you are not getting vapor, the draw is too fast. Practice. Practice. Practice. There are several video tutorials available on the internet to show you the best draw methods to use with this vaporizer but you will still need to practice techniques for yourself.
There are also several useful tips in the “Flight Guide” for good drawing techniques – the “Flight Guide” is the user manual that comes with the vaporizer. Users also recommend that you mix your material in between draws using the backside of the cleaning brush.
You can shake the box too, it works but make sure the dried herb settles back down into the stainless-steel trench before drawing down again.
The Magic Flight Box review cannot be complete without talking about cleaning. The removable mouthpiece is easy to clean. A little isopropyl alcohol and a pipe cleaner and you’re done in just a few seconds. You can use the same alcohol to clean the trench if and when it becomes necessary.
This vaporizer is for dry material use only. The same manufacturer, Magic-Flight, makes a wooden box vaporizer called Muad-Dib for concentrates if that is something you are looking for.
Summing It All Up
Time to sum up our Magic Flight Box review. For its price and its very simple though ingenious design, the Magic Flight Box produces a decent quality vapor with good flavour and high potency.
So long as you learn the proper drawing techniques for this non-electronic dry herb vaporizer, it will get the job done. Learning includes not only draw methods but when and for how long to engage the battery by pressing down on it.
The build quality is impressive for such an inexpensive, tiny vaporizer. It is easy to clean and made of solid material that, if you don’t abuse or misuse the unit, should last a very long time.
We like that you now have a choice between maple, cherry and walnut for your wooden box and that the mouthpiece matches the wood.
All of the workmanship and materials in this simply designed unit are guaranteed for life, which is impressive and unheard of with other vaporizers.
The use of rechargeable NiMH AA batteries is quite unique and including a power adapter for home use along with a battery charger provides that extra value for your money.
The unit comes with two batteries but you can purchase more so long as make sure they are NiMH. Batteries make the unit more portable and more discreet given that they will not cause any electrical noise whatsoever.
The felt lined tin and pouch can also be used to make the unit portable and a little more discreet during transport.
Mixing your dried herb between every draw (or second draw) makes the unit a little less discreet than other vaporizers in the portable dry herb class but you can also shake up the unit so long as you get all the herb back into the trench.
We like the fact that this unit can handle micro dosing of as little as 0.1 g at a time.
One disadvantage for beginners though is the learning curve that comes with making a decent vapor with the right draw and learning when and for how long to hold the battery.
There is lots of helpful advice available though and with some practice, this really should not be an obstacle. Keep in mind that this is a very simply designed unit at a very reasonable price point which are factors that make it a good vaporizer for those starting out.
All in all, this is a decent quality, very original, dry herb vaporizer that will do the job in a reasonably discreet, very portable way. No special equipment is required, it runs on rechargeable batteries and though it has no moving parts or electronics to assist your session, you can get a good vape from this unit.
This trusted information is sourced from the manufacturer and our own experience with the Magic Flight vaporizer.
