Introduction to the THC Tauren BF RDTA
So, my love affair with the ThunderHead Creations Tauren RDTA began with a rather unassuming jiffy envelope landing on my desk at work. I was expecting something new in for review, but had no idea what.
If it hadn’t been for the shipping information this tiny package would have ended up in another “I’ll get to it later” pile on my desk.
ThunderHead Creations (THC) are a relatively new company to the vaping scene, but their products have delighted reviewers for their solid looking materials and apparent attention to detail.
The Tauren BF RDTA sees the styling and functionality of the Tauren RTA built on to provide a modest 2ml tank that is both top and bottom fill. Sounds good right? Let’s see…
Cracking open the envelope, I hadn’t seen packaging like this. The fabric bag looked cool and the metal cylinder inside was blasted with the ThunderHead Creations logo and Tauren range emblem.
Unscrewing the cylinder top (which was actually the bottom) I saw a shiny gold piece of pretty staring back at me. The base of the packaging doubles as an atty stand and allows me to keep a spare atty to hand in case I want a different type of vape. Multi-purpose gear always grabs my attention.
Disclaimer: I received the THC Tauren BF RTA for the purpose of this review. All opinions are based on my own experience and testing.
In the Bag
- 1 x Tauren RDTA
- 1 x 510 Squonk pin
- 1 x Allen wrench
- 1 x Accessory bag
- 1 x BF squonk pin
- 1 x Spare frosted glass (acrylic)
Features and Specs
Dimensions
- Width: 24mm
- Height: 38mm
- Drip tip connection: 810
- Connection: regular gold-plated and BF 510 pin
- Coil type: Dual coil
- Capacity: 2ml
Design and Build Quality
Size
With a 24mm footprint the Tauren BF RDTA has some pretty stiff competition out there to get it on the radar of dripper fans, but the addition of the 2ml tank gives it something to make it stand out.
With an extra 9mm of height compared to the standard RDA, it certainly looks bigger, but this doesn’t make it look unbalanced or so tall that it will stick out of your jeans pocket when out and about.
Post Type
THC have kept their side angle postless deck to keep the BF RDTA true to the Tauren range.
Fitting the coils was a little fiddly as I’m used to raised postless designs that let me trim my coils after building. Saying that, after a big snip and some gentle trimming my coils were sat in a good position at my first attempt.
My first gripe was with the tiny grub screw heads. It’s a good job there’s a spare set in the pack as these ones are going to have their heads stripped in no time!
After seating my coils I could appreciate why the angle was necessary. My coils are lined up perfectly with the 28 micro air holes that will blast my coils with every draw.
Air flow
On first look I couldn’t understand why the air holes were so small. But the oval inlets feed in at 45 degrees and force the air through the 28 micro air holes with jet-like force.
There isn’t much room for tailoring your airflow with the inlets being so small and there is no offset for single coils. But this aside, the airflow covers the coils well and with the easy coil positioning each hit is as good as the last.
Absolutely nothing about it appears to have been manufactured to a price point. The 2 part top cap is solid, moves freely and fits perfectly together with no gaps.
How Does The ThunderHead Creations Tauren RDTA Perform?
Fill me up
There are 2 ways to feed your e-liquid into the 2ml tank.
The one I used most was the top fill that is accessed by removing the top cap and inserting your e-liquid bottle into one of the small ports on either side of the coils.
Leaking from these ports in non-existent as there are poles positioned on the top cap that not only block the fill ports, but act as a locking point to stop the airflow from misaligning during use.
One thing to point out is that I did find myself upending the Tauren just to make sure that I had a decent amount of juice on the wicks.
The second fill method is the bottom fill system (BF) that makes the Tauren accessible to the squonkers amongst us.
I couldn’t really test this method whilst vaping as I don’t have access to a dual battery squonk mod. I did give the BF a test on my original Pulse box and found the filling method to be clean and smooth.
However, the inlet hole on the centre column seems a little low to me and I’m certain it didn’t fill all the way to 2ml. But hey on a squonker does it really matter?
Flavour, Clouds or Both?
So my current build reads 0.1Ohms, I’m happy with my wicking, I’m rocking Flavour Boss’ Super Manchee in the 2ml tank and my wattage is 77W.
This is where the fun starts. I firstly tried to hit this hard, aiming to draw in as much air as possible like I do with my trusty Dead Rabbit RDA. I was left underwhelmed. The flavour was great, and I mean really great. It’s just so fresh and clean.
The way the micro holes jet the air to the coil is frickin awesome! But there was something wrong. The draw was too restrictive for that to be the way it was designed to be used. I was expecting the draw to be tight just from seeing the tiny air flow, but not that tight.
AND RELAX…this is how you use the Tauren BF RDTA.
Gentle, long inhales. Do this and you’ll be smiling for as many weeks as I was. I started taking my draws easy, which considering how aggressively I have to vape at work saw me using the Tauren more at home on an evening after the kids were in bed (well I did say relax!).
The flavour is first class and the clouds are as full and thick as any I’ve produced with my Dead Rabbit. I honestly couldn’t get enough of it and still use it every night.
Pros
- Build quality
- Simple to coil
- air flow is awesome
- Flavour for days!
Cons
- Tiny adjustment on the airflow
- Inverting the tank to ensure wicks are wet enough
Final verdict
I am amazed by this little Bottom Feed setup. For me it’s paired fantastic airflow and easy building for me to recommend to vapers looking to start with rebuildables. The 2ml underslung tank gives peace of mind that you’re not going to get a dreaded dry hit.
The ThunderHead Creations Tauren BF is definitely an RDTA to relax with. So grab the TV remote and vape away!
