Hellvape Dead Rabbit Solo RDA Review

I’ve been playing around with my squonk setups again lately, and in doing so, of course began wondering about some newer single coil RDA’s. Well, almost as though he was seeing my thoughts through a crystal ball, this new RDA landed on my doorstep from Vaporstate!

I’ve been giving it a good old run for the last couple of weeks, through multiple coils and wick changes, and am pretty impressed with how this little RDA vapes!

Let’s check out Hellvape’s Dead Rabbit Solo RDA!

Big thanks goes to Vaporstate, who sent this out for the purposes of review!

General Information

As you can see from the initial photos, the Hellvape Dead Rabbit Solo RDA has very similar aesthetics to the other Dead Rabbit offerings. The familiar Dead rabbit logo, 810 drip tip, slot and multi-hole airflow, it just looks so familiar.
Obviously made from stainless steel, the DR Solo RDA is a condensed chamber, single coil RDA, basically a single coil version of the larger DR 3 RDA that Hellvape released some time ago. Having said that, there are a few differences, that I’ll go into further on.

Being a condensed chamber single coil specific RDA, with a decent sized juice well, pushes this right into the “designed for squonking” category, and let me tell you, it does it very well.

Top Cap

Creating a single coil version of an RDA can be tough. Most just redesign, to have less posts on the deck and call it a day, but Hellvape have gone above and beyond with this one. As soon as you remove the top cap, you realise that there is a little more going on that expected.

Inside the barrel section you can find a press fit condensing block that not only provides a conical top section near the drip tip for better flavour but a step on the inside of the chamber that condenses the chamber around the single coil, where the airflow comes in, also allowing the airflow to hit the coil directly. This clever little bit of engineering ensures that you get a smoother, more flavourful vape by removing all of that extra space around your coil.

The airflow consists of the outer 3 slots on either side of the main barrel, 15 small holes in 3 rows on the inner press fit sleeve, and a stepped top cap adjuster. To adjust the airflow you’ll turn the top cap insert that fits in the top of the barrel, and for extra control, allowing you to block off any one of the 3 rows of airholes, and any number in-between.

A very clever design.

The Deck and Build

The deck is quite simple. Two raised blocks in the centre of the deck with post holes on top that trap your wires. That’s right, in the style that we’ve all come to know from the Dead Rabbit series, your coil will sit over the top of the post blocks with your wicking left to hang downward toward the bottom of the deck.

There is a generous juice well at the bottom with the block base raised from the deck somewhat so that juice doesn’t just drain back down into your bottle when you’ve got the squonk pin installed.

You’ll also note that there are tabs cut out of the deck that mate up with the ones in the barrel, so that you can be sure your condensed chamber top cap does not interfere with your coil and wick when putting the top cap on.

As you can see from the above images, building on this deck couldn’t be simpler, its a matter of cutting your coil legs short (coil tool included) placing it on top of the deck blocks and tightening down. Dry fire to get rid of any shorts or hotspots, and wick it up. Nothing to it!

A very roomy deck with a nice sized juice well.

Airflow

I’ve gone over this already but wanted to show off the various ways you can dial your airflow in, whether it be row by row, or even angled from either side. The stepped airflow design allows you to customize your airflow with almost infinite options.

Pros:

• Squonkable
• Lots of room to build
• Can fit larger coils
• Stepped airflow adjustment
• Condensed single coil chamber
• Great looking RDA

Cons:

• None

Where to Buy:

You can pick up the Hellvape Dead Rabbit Solo RDA locally from Vaporstate’s online store. They’ve got them listed for the $59.95 AUD mark, which is an excellent price.

Conclusion

I’ve really enjoyed this RDA. At first I was a little worried that having that press fit section in the barrel may present some problems, in particular, noisy airflow, or interrupted airflow. Often when multiple airflow sections come into play, you can experience a hissing or air seeping through the gaps in the fitment of parts. This has not happened here.
The machining and tolerances are so very good, you won’t even notice that the airflow has to go through 3 different sections to get to the coil, it feels very direct and that is very good.

I really like the airflow adjustment, and being able to get my preferred airflow happening very easily.
Another thing that I like is the room that Hellvape have left for the single coil. It’s condensed sure, but they’ve left enough room in there for larger coils. So if you’re keen on running larger than 3mm diameter coils you can get away with it no problems (all within reason of course).

Hellvape, you’ve done some very good work with this, thankyou for your condensed chamber engineering, it is very much appreciated!

Shane Presser

Shane Presser has been vaping since 2013, and has extensive experience with advanced equipment, coil builds and DIY mixing. He is the man behind VapersGarage, and also more recently Aussie Vape Stores, a resource to help vapers find their nearest Vape Shops, and eLiquid Vendors.