HellVape Dead Rabbit RDA Review – This One Excels & Then Some

We’re a little late to the RDA review party with the Dead Rabbit but it’s certainly been well received by both reviewers and the wider vape community.

Speaking of reviewers this is a project from popular US YouTube reviewer Heathen and manufacturer HellVape best known for the Trishul mech mods and RDA.

Heathen was one of the first YouTube reviewers I subscribed to and he really has gone from strength to strength – always liked his no BS honest reviews.

Anyway the Hellvape Dead Rabbit is a 24mm RDA that includes a squonk pin and comes in a variety of colours each with the option of a funky coloured 810 drip tip.

Incidentally the name Dead Rabbit hails from an Irish/American gang back in the 1850’s – think the movie Gangs of New York and you’ll get my drift.

I’m guessing the bunny ear styled posts on the deck follow this theme through 😉

OK this was sent to me for the purpose of review and as always my thoughts and opinions are my own.

So has the Dead Rabbit RDA made me a very happy vaping bunny or given me a Watership Downer?

[ouch]

Let’s see how this one vapes…

Inside the Box

• 1 x HellVape Dead Rabbit RDA
• 1 x 810 colorful resin Drip tip
• 1 x 510 adapter
• 1 x Gold BF pin
• 4 x Hex screws
• 1 x Orings
• 2 x Hex screwdrivers

Dead Rabbit RDA Specs

• 24mm rda
• Slide in top coil deck
• Adjustable top side diagonal airflow
• Single or dual coil configurations
• Gold plated positive post
• Knurled grip to adjust the airflow with ease
• Bottom feeding pin included for squonking
• Two 810 drip tip options and a 510 adapter
• Slotted or hex head post screw options
• Protruding 510 pin

Key Features

First up I have to say I absolutely love the raised two tone deck on the Dead Rabbit – especially those post holes.

As I have often mentioned I come unstuck all the time when it comes to trimming my coil legs on post less styles – however the design of this one means I’m a very happy bunny.

You simply drop the coil into the ample sized post holes and thanks to the open slots you can snip without the guesswork – excellent.

It can take a single or dual coil set-up – I used dual for both dripping and on the VandyVape Pulse BF mod in squonk mode.

Some might say there’s a slight dip in flavour and clouds on a single coil build – however I certainly didn’t notice to much of a change – if at all – on the Rabbit – but hey dual coils are more fun…sometimes 😉

OK I’ve mentioned squonking and trust me of the half dozen or so RDAs I’ve squonked on the Dead Rabbit stands out by a mile – even better than the Digiflavor DROP which I love – more on the squonking action later.

Another great feature and one I hope more companies will adopt – is offering the choice of a coloured drip tip.

That’s a little thing to some but it really does add a little something to the overall look of the RDA – yeah even the red one I got on top of the purple!

It’s a 24mm sitting flush on every single mod I’ve popped it on and doesn’t look lost on the larger ones either.

And a quick word about the juice well – it’s extremely deep – I think I read somewhere it’s around 5mm which for the drippers out there is great!

It features a top airflow but thanks to the angled cut-outs this acts more like a side airflow and I found little difference in vape quality from having my coils high or low on the deck.

Design and Build Quality

I’ve never used a product from HellVape but if this is a standard of their work then I’m impressed.

The RDA is beautifully machined with the colour coating covering both inside and out and looks like it’s a paint job that will resist all but the hardest knocks.

The top cap is more domed than other drippers I’ve used and I’m guessing this is why this is such a flavoursome RDA!

As you can see I received the rather fetching purple version – and even though I’m usually a little annoyed by oversized logos I have to say and even in silver I love the Dead Rabbit image – if it’s not for you I believe blacked out versions are available!

I’ve already mentioned I love the design of the deck and from the side you can see even the post holes carry through the theme of the Rabbit with bunny ear shapes!

Overall it’s well put together – got a great deck and design wise even this grumpy old sod likes the look and logo – so how does it vape?

How Does the Hellvape Dead Rabbit RDA Perform?

I popped in a couple of very simple Clapton coils with a reading of 0.23ohms.

Wicking was easy enough but depending on how high you want your coils be prepared to use a little more cotton than you normally might.

As I’ve already said I found little difference in vape quality how high or low I had my coils – however it’s pretty obvious the closer to your mouthpiece the better the flavour.

In dual coil mode as a dripper I found this to be absolutely zinging the flavour off my tongue with plenty of thick clouds – a real wow moment once that cotton broke it – this thing really is a flavour chaser’s dream.

I can’t get over how smooth the vape is off the Dead Rabbit and even when I pushed my build to 79 watts I was getting a great hit but the vapour stayed smooth – not too warm and those clouds were dense!

Given some RDAs I’ve used in the past have become uncomfortably hot on the lips I was gobsmacked to chain vape on the Rabbit and whilst warming up it certainly didn’t get unbearably hot.

Squonking on the Dead Rabbit

Given I’m more of a squonker than a dripper this was the key for me – does the Dead Rabbit live up to the feedback I’ve seen on how it squonks?

One word – yes!

Oh Lord it’s in squonk mode when this RDA really kicks into life – for me anyway!

The juice hits underneath the slightly raised peek insulator block meaning it channels the liquid out and to both sides giving both sets of wicks a good soaking.

The depth of the well means it’s rare if impossible to over-squonk and even when the pressure tries to suck the juice back into the bottle there’s still e-liquid left behind – make sure your wicks are on that deck!

The only leakage I’ve got from this is leaving it on its side overnight and not once have I flooded it with overzealous squeezing of my squonker 😉

So as both a dripper and a BF RDA this one excels and then some…

Awesome!

What I Like

I love the ease of build on this clever little deck and the peek insulator block works brilliantly channeling the juice in squonk mode.

I really like the design too – from the photos I thought the knurling on the top cap was a bit over the top but in the flesh it looks good as does the rabbit logo.

It can be used as a single coil however I reckon in dual coil the Rabbit hops into life delivering superb flavour and incredible clouds – don’t get me wrong single coilers will be more than happy.

What I Don’t Like

The O rings on the deck [on mine] to the barrel are a lot looser than I may have liked and two weeks in I feel now they’re lubed up they aren’t as tight as could be.

But hey that’s a nit-pick and they can easily be swapped out.

Another nit-pick is the lack of coils and cotton in the box – most of the newer RDAs out there do supply them – but again a very small moan as most of us have plenty of those to hand.

Final Verdict

Is the Hellvape Dead Rabbit the perfect all round RDA?

I reckon it is.

As I say all the time I’m not much of a dripper but squonking has brought me back to the RDA family and of the ones I’ve tried the Dead Rabbit is as close to the perfect BF RDA I’ve had the pleasure of using.

The squonk action is delightful and that channeling effect is really effective giving your wicks a consistent soaking.

To be honest after using this as a dripper I have spent more time doping that than any of the other newer RDAs in my collection – that says something – the flavour and clouds are exceptional!

Just buy one already!

Pros

• Easy to build deck
• Incredible flavour
• Stupendous cloud production
• Fantastic in squonk mode

Cons

• O rings a little loose
• No coils or cotton in the box