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Wotofo & Mike Vapes Recurve Dual RDA | Double the Fun!
Product intro and specs
Mike Vapes and Wotofo come together once again, this time for the dual-coil version of one of the best single-coil RDAs of 2018, the Recurve. The Recurve Dual is a 24 mm RDA with a postless deck and side airflow that builds upon the well-thought-out design of its predecessor. Some of the exterior curves are lost, but the inside is as curvy as you’d expect.
I reviewed the original Recurve one year ago and said it was the single-coil RDA to beat in 2018. Is the Recurve Dual a cash-grab that capitalizes on the success of the original Recurve, or does it deserve a spot in the best RDAs of 2019? Keep reading to find out.
Colors: Black, stainless steel, gunmetal, blue, gold, rainbow
Price: $29.95
Specifications:
- Diameter: 24 mm
- Overall Height: 34 mm (with drip tip and 510 pin)
- Threading: 510 thread
- Drip tip: 810
- Body material: stainless steel
- Coil configuration: dual coil
- Juice feeding method: drip/squonk
- Insulator material: German PEEK
- Wattage range: 40-120 watts
Kit Contents:
- Recurve Dual RDA
- Coil trimming tool
- Squonk pin
- User manual
- 2 x coils
- Organic cotton
- Extra O-rings & screws
Build quality and design
The design of the Recurve Dual doesn’t stray far from the design of the original; it is a two-piece RDA that features the same half-pipe airflow design and six airflow holes on each side. The holes are slightly larger this time, and the halfpipe has some extra distance in between to allow for dual-coil builds. The top cap is not curvy anymore and resembles the straight top caps that came out for the original Recurve sometime after its release. The top cap of the Dual is also much thinner than the one on the original, which is why the Dual has more building space, although they are both 24 mm in diameter.
The machining of the Recurve Dual is some of the best machining you’ll be able to find on a $30-40 RDA. My black unit is practically flawless! The O-rings are excellent (a nice change of pace after reviewing the Occula RDA), and the branding is toned down when compared to the original, with only a small “RECURVE” engraving on the side of the top cap. I was shocked not to see the signature curvy drip tip on top of the RDA out of the box, but it is included in an accessory bag. Unfortunately, I think doesn’t look as good on the Dual as it did on the original, but the rounded shorty drip tip that comes on the RDA looks and feels great.
Same as the original, the top cap features two hard stops, making it easy to unscrew the RDA out of your mod. I had some trouble finding the right spot when putting the top cap back on but got used to it pretty quickly. It may take you a day or two, but you will soon develop muscle memory for it.
Build deck
The deck is the standard top-loading postless deck that we saw on the original Recurve, the difference being that now the two sides are further from each other and are divided into positive and negative to allow for dual coil placement. The screws are the same flathead/Philips combo screws and the 510 and squonk pins are hex screws that can be replaced using the included Allen key. Just make sure you don’t leave the tiny O-ring inside the hole, as it can easily come off the pins.
It’s worthwhile mentioning that the package includes one of the most interesting accessories I’ve seen in a while. People have been complaining about companies cloning the coiling tool, but Wotofo put an innovative spin on it. The included tool is reminiscent of a handheld fan, with a 4 mm thick base and six more 1 mm levels on top of it. This allows for measuring coil legs that go up to ten millimeters with a tool that is practically the size of a thumb.
Building and wicking
Wotofo advises using their coil tool and cutting the coil legs at 7 mm long, which is just about right in my opinion. After that, building on the Recurve Dual is a walk in the park. Just pull your coils a bit up and closer to the airflow holes, add some cotton, slightly comb it up and tuck it gently inside the openings at the bottom of the deck. Standard 3 mm ID coils will fit great on the deck; I wouldn’t go over a 3.5 mm ID, especially with thicker exotic coils, as the space is kinda restricted.
I wish I could speak more about building on the Recurve Dual, but this is one of the most straightforward designs when it comes to postless decks. You’ll have to try hard not to nail it every time.
Airflow
The airflow features the same 2 x 3 honeycomb formation that we saw on the original Recurve. The holes themselves are a bit larger this time (1.8 mm vs 1.5 mm) which translates to 20% more airflow. Although the difference is not large, and the Dual fits two coils instead of one, the vape itself feels much cooler when compared to the original, which offered one of the most dense and saturated vapes a single-coil RDA can give.
Airflow adjustment is very simple, but with one caveat. When closing up airflow hole columns, having only two of the six holes open will also open up some air intake from the side of the halfpipe. This means that part of the air will not hit the coil at all, which practically kills the two-hole option. On the other hand, I don’t think many people would want to vape with two holes open, as the Recurve Dual with four holes open is tight enough to satisfy those who enjoy a rather restricted lung hit.
Performance
I tested the Recurve Dual with two sets of coils:
- The included Ni80 quad-core fused Claptons (0.13 ohm)
- A set of handmade Ni80 Aliens (0.14 ohm)
The amount of airflow feels very similar to Mike’s previous RDA, the Rebirth. Fully open it is a smooth, slightly restricted lung draw that’s capable of producing decent clouds with the right build. Closing up two holes restricts it even further, but I generally enjoyed using it fully open. For me, that’s the right amount of restriction to allow the flavor to pop.
Talking about flavor, the Recurve Dual performs just as I was expecting it to; side-airflow done right. You won’t get the “in your face” flavor of a bottom airflow RDA, but it is not far from that as the way the air is entering the deck (when fully open that is) ends up hitting every part of your coil. I’ve had mixed results with Wotofo’s quad fused Claptons in the past, but they performed comparably to the handmade Aliens in this RDA, which is great. All in all, great performance and I found nothing to complain at when it comes to the draw and flavor of the Recurve Dual.
I preferred the original Recurve as a squonking RDA, due to the limited well depth and the fact that the coil was positioned at the middle of the deck. For this one, I preferred dripping. I didn’t face any issues with its squonking capabilities, but I personally prefer using single-battery squonkers, and dual-coil RDAs usually require more power than that. But if you like using dual-battery squonkers, then the Recurve Dual is a great option.
The angled airflow holes are positioned high enough to give the Recurve Dual some leak resistance. You could make it leak if you overdrip/oversquonk, but you’d have to be kinda careless for that to happen. I personally never had a single drop come out of it.
Pros / Cons
- (+) Excellent build quality
- (+) Simple but elegant design
- (+) Great O-rings
- (+) Two drip tips included (curvy and straight)
- (+) Great semi-restricted lung draw
- (+) Top-notch flavor for a side airflow RDA
- (+) Easy to build and wick
- (+) Looks good
- (+) Innovative and practical coil measuring tool
- (+) Great for dripping and squonking
- (+) Hard stops allow for easy removal from the mod
- (+) Smooth and silent airflow when fully open
- (-) No 510 adapter (come on Mike!)
- (-) Two-hole airflow opens side air intake
- (-) Not much airflow adjustability
Verdict
Is the Recurve Dual a ground-breaking RDA? Not really. But between its build quality, its ease of use, and its overall performance, it is easily one of the best RDAs of the year. Cloud-chuckers and those who enjoy fine tuning their airflow to the last bit may want to look elsewhere. But if you enjoy a slightly restricted lung hit and appreciate a well-thought-out design and the leak resistance that comes with angled side airflow, the Recurve Dual RDA is highly recommended. All in all, this is another excellent RDA by Mike Vapes, and one that I will keep on using for a long time.
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Article Written by:
Spyros Papamichail
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