Cloud Vape Pen Review

I first encountered the Cloud brand at Hempcon a couple years ago.  I had steadily worn down a pair of Gpen microGs after a year of solid use and desperately needed to replace them.  I stumbled on the Cloud booth, and after being given the chance to test one out, I bought a metallic blue vape pen.

It didn’t take long for me to make my Cloud a daily part of my medicating routine.  A convenient, mini-dab platform, it doesn’t differ in concept from other vape pens on the market.  There is a battery, a heating element–in this case, an exposed coil–and a mouthpiece.  The thing that sets the Cloud’s design apart is its size.  It easily fit in any pocket or bag and never seemed too bulky to handle.  I took it everywhere, and if it wasn’t on my immediate person, it was within arms reach.

However, I made a noob mistake using this vape, and like the Gpens before it, I ended up more or less destroying it.  First off, it is critical to realize that Cloud pens are meant to be “single use”.  This doesn’t mean that you can only do one hit at a time, but it does mean that you shouldn’t try to pack in as much concentrate into the atomizer as possible.  Besides clogging the air intake, the wax tends to ooze and get all over the mouthpiece.  Even when loading it ahead of time, I’ve found that if it isn’t standing upright on a hot day, the concentrate can again make a mess inside the pen.  It was this mistake that finally did in my beautiful blue vape pen.  A shatter I had been overloading it with managed to leak down to between the atomizer and the battery and hardened.  From then on, the power button stuck, rendering it practically useless.

The next opportunity I had to get another Cloud was at the most recent High Times LA Cannabis Cup.  They were selling all their models at half off, so I made off with a bright pumpkin orange pen that I had been eyeing on their website but was always sold out.  I’ve taken the time to care for this pen, and it has lasted me far longer than the first few I owned.

Like I said above, the Cloud works best when used one session at a time.  Load it with a reasonable couple of dabs, and then vape until you finish it.  This will help keep leftover concentrate from gooping all over the mouthpiece.  When I am on the go, I now leave my Cloud at home and take my 510 thread pen instead, which is even more portable.  I’ve also found that exceptionally wet extracts tend to make more of a mess than drier ones.  Most shatters basically liquify immediately and splatter on the mouthpiece.  The company has also made incredible leaps in the technology of the atomizers they sell.  The newer all ceramic elements are far more efficient and well designed.

You can also expect to spend quite a bit of time cleaning your pen, much like you would your other smoking paraphernalia.  Invest in a bottle of high percentage rubbing alcohol and some cotton swabs, and when it starts to need it, wipe down the inside of the mouthpiece and around the outside of the atomizer to remove excess oil.  The atomizers themselves do not last the life of the pen and will need to be replaced routinely.  The newer ceramic ones can run $20, but there are acceptable off brand options in most smoke shops.

In the end, I love my Cloud vape.  They have me locked as a lifetime customer, and I’d widely recommend their products to our readers.  A few years ago, as the platform was still developing, there were a few bugs and complaints of everything from faulty batteries to broken atomizers, but all that has largely gone away, and knock off pens can be found across the industry.  However, the Cloud is simply made to be better quality and promises to last.  And if one day the Great Pumpkin that is my vape pen is lost or destroyed, there is no doubt I’ll get another Cloud, but when they are half off at the festivals, cause I’m not crazy.