Vandy Vape Requiem BF Kit Reviewed

Vandy Vape Requiem BF Kit Reviewed

Finally! A squonk setup to review! It’s been a long while since any of the larger vape companies brought a squonk (or bottom feed kit) to market, with so many pod devices and smaller kits, it feels a little like the mechanical users have been left out for so long.

Anyway, this one is from Vandy Vape, we all know them, and they’ve brought a couple of nice little touches to this new mechanical squonk device that you might just fall in love with.

Let’s take a look at Vandy Vape’s Requiem BF Squonk kit!

Big thanks goes to Sourcemore for sending this through to me for review!

General Info & Photos

The Requiem BF Kit is a full kit complete with mechanical squonk box, fancy silicone bottles and it’s very own RDA.
Measuring in at a tiny 72.5 x 24 x 42mm, it’s a nice little compact squonker that fits wonderfully in the hand, has a nice heft to it and just screams quality.

Featuring it’s own 22mm RDA, 6ml eliquid capacity, adjustable connection, a smart locking mechanism, and silver connections throughout, the Requiem BF Kit is not only a great looking little setup, but performs wonderfully too.

The BF Box

The body of the Requiem Box has got to be a zinc alloy, it’s actually really heavy for the small size, but that heft gives it a quality feel. It’s your typical 510 connection with metal strips for connection mechanical device, we’ve all seen these before, but Vandy Vape have gone above and beyond with this one.

Featuring Silver strips for connection, a custom 510 mechanism that has adjustable pin and fire lock, and delrin backed button show that Vandy Vape has not only taken this style of mechanical device into consideration, but improved on some of the features others are lacking.

For example, many squonkers will either come with a spring loaded pin, or a floating pin so you’re limited on which RDA’s you can use, and not only that, forget using any beauty rings, because as soon as you try, your RDA no longer makes a good connection. Not so with the Requiem, it has a fully adjustable pin, and not only that, it’s really easy to adjust from the base of the 510 mechanism inside the device. Simply wind out the part that the e-liquid bottle plugs into, screw on the RDA, then wind the mechanism back up until it stops. Perfect connection.

Another problem solved by Vandy Vape on the Requiem is on how to lock the device. It’s mechanical so it’s going to need a mechanical lock right? It does. Inside the device around the top part of the 510 mechanism is a plastic ring that you can spin around to block the contact point. While a lock that is accessible from the outside would have been even better, it’s a lovely addition to make, and let’s face it, being inside the device means that you won’t be unlocking it by accident!

The door of the device is magnetized, while you might not see any magnets on the inside of it, they are there, they are not really strong but this is not exactly the type of device you throw around either. Around the rim of the door is a rubber gasket for an even better fit and to make sure that the door stays put, even when waving it around!

The Requiem BF box takes a single 18650 battery, and if you’re familiar with mechanical squonkers, you’ll find it a similar process to many other boxes on the market. One thing I’ll note however, is that the battery once in, is very difficult to remove as it’s such a tight fit between the contacts. An extra millimetre or two might have been a better idea here, we want our batteries to sit snug, not wedged into the device so that they can’t be removed without potentially damaging battery wraps!!

Squonk Bottles

This is a squonking device, so you’re going to need squonk bottles! Vandy Vape have provided x2 different colours for you in the box, a yellow and a tinted. They are square bottles designed to contain as much e-liquid as possible in the small space provided and in doing so have managed to get a maximum capacity of 6mls in there, which is actually pretty good.

The bottles are silicone, and Vandy Vape boast that there are 3 ways to fill, by opening the top cap, by squeezing eliquid through the small hose (most of us know about that one), and via the silicone plug that they’ve put on the side of the bottle lid, that stays front and centre, even when inside the device.
This little fill port is a great idea, and makes filling without taking the bottle out much easier. It is slow filling however due to the hose on the inside getting in the way, but as long as you do it carefully, you won’t get a spill.

The RDA

The Requiem BF Kit being a kit, also comes with it’s own RDA. Vandy Vape did release a Requiem RDA a little while ago, and this is the updated version, instead of a metal top cap, you’ll get two plastic ones in the box, as well as two matching beauty rings too.

If the design of this 22mm RDA looks familiar, you’d be right, it’s a very close design to the HAKU Cruiser with two airflow blocks with airflow holes angled downward to avoid over squonking, and two screws on lower platforms that allow you to trap your coil legs under really easily. The e-liquid comes up directly through the centre of the deck just like the Haku too. And at risk of repeating myself again, just like the Haku range, you adjust your airflow by twisting the top cap around minimising your airflow via the overlap of the airflow holes in the deck and the cap.

This little RDA is a great design, however I do have a few Con’s for it, that really are unforgiveable.

Whistling: This is a pet peeve of mine, a whistling RDA, and this one not only has a noisy airflow, but it whistles a bunch too, I’ve adjusted my build so many times now trying to minimise it all to no avail. This is an automatic deal killer for me.

Top cap too tight: The top cap is how the airflow is adjusted, but it’s just too tight to adjust, even by lubricating the orings, it’s still very tight and too difficult to adjust easily. I even removed one of the orings to make it easier, it didn’t.

Building on the RDA

Building on the new Requiem BF RDA is a doddle. Put your coil in, tighten down the screws to trap the legs of your coil.
Dry burn the coil to remove any hotspots, slide your wick through and you’re done. It’s an RDA, so wicking is forgiving, you can pretty much wick it how you want. Just squonk to add more juice!

Pros:

  • Great build quality
  • Nice pin adjustment
  • Excellent locking mechanism
  • Hard hitting due to great conductivity
  • Sturdy and solid, has some weight to it

Cons:

  • RDA is noisy and whistles
  • Top cap on RDA is difficult to adjust
  • Really difficult to remove battery


Where to Buy:

If you’re looking at purchasing the Vandy Vape Requiem BF Kit, you can pick it up from Sourcemore’s online store. They’ve got it listed for about $50 USD which is not a bad price for what you get. They also have a coupon code that brings that price down to $33.99 USD, just enter “REBF” and you’ll get a discount! There are also a tonne of Aussie online stores stocking them too, so you’re favourite Aussie store likely has it in stock.

Conclusion

The Requiem BF Kit is the latest setup out of the Vandy Vape factory, out of any factory really, since the squonking phase has sort of quietened down, and there’s some clear improvements and some fancy engineering here that make it well worth checking out.

My favourite parts are the innovative pin adjustment, that’s invaluable, and the locking mechanism. I quite like the squarish bottles too, if only the fill port were a little less prone to back pressure.

Vandy Vape almost nailed the RDA too, but unfortunately two very large con’s made it a complete write off. A noisy and whistling airflow is just not pleasant to use, and the top cap being far too tight, makes using the airflow adjustment cumbersome, bordering on impossible.

Let’s face facts though, most of us don’t buy a squonk kit for the RDA, we tend to not even use them, instead, replacing them with our favourites. The box more than makes up for the inadequate RDA as far as I’m concerned, but if the Box were to be offered by itself rather in a kit, that’s what I’d suggest purchasing.

Overall, a very impressive squonk box with a below average RDA. Sorry guys 🙁




Rating overview

  • Overall Design
    8/10
  • Build Quality
    9/10
  • Ease of Use
    8/10
  • Airflow
    7/10
  • Flavour
    8/10
  • Innovation
    8/10
Total score
High Quality 8
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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.

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