2+1 RDA
8.2
PROS
- Compatible with Regular Coils and Mesh Coils
- Beautiful Design
- Multiple Airflow Options
- Great Flavor w/ SS Caps
CONS
- A Bit Leaky When Adjusting The Airflow
- Airflow Slots are Strangely Positioned
- This Tank Gets Very Hot, Even with Resin Caps
Today, we’ve got a very interesting review on our hands. The 2+1 RDA is a new tank by RFG vape that comes with both stainless steel and resin mid caps. But the reason for the name is because you have the option of using either regular coils or mesh coils with this RDA, which is pretty neat.
What’s interesting is that you’re able to purchase the 2+1 RDA on its own, or as part of RFG’s “Flavor Puzzle Kit”. The kit comes with the 2+1 RDA, as well as (almost) everything you need to build. You also get some very uniquely shaped and named coils with the kit, which we’ll take a look at as well.
I’ve been busy testing and tinkering with the 2+1 RDA & Flavor Puzzle Kit and in this in-depth review I’m going to go over everything that you need to know. There’s a lot to go over too, so redrip or fill your tank and let’s get right into it!
This item was sent to us for the purpose of this review. This does not in any way affect our opinion or ratings of the device.
2+1 RDA Review — A Mesh & Coil RDA by RFG Vape
What’s In The Box
You can either get the 2+1 RDA on its own, or as part of RFG’s Flavor Puzzle Kit. On it’s own, the 2+1 RDA still comes with a few extras. But if you don’t already have a set of tools, the Puzzle Kit comes with a bunch of items to make building a lot easier.
2+1 RDA
The 2+1 RDA comes in a small box with a window that allows you to see the color of the resin & stainless steel caps. Inside you’ll find:
- 1 x 2+1 RDA (Resin Airflow Ring & Mid Cap)
- 1 x Stainless Steel Airflow Ring
- 1 x Stainless Steel Mid Cap
- 4 x 24K Gold Plated Coil Screws
- 2 x 24K Gold Plated Squonk Screws
- 1 x Extra Resin Mouthpiece
- 2 x Premade Coils
- 3 x SS316L Mesh Coils
- 3 x Kanthal A1 Mesh Coils
- 1 x Japanese Organic Cotton
- 1 x T-Shaped Screwdriver
- 1 x User Manual
Flavor Puzzle Kit (Includes 2+1 RDA)
The Flavor Puzzle Kit comes in an attractive package, and the kit itself is of good quality. There is a zipper to keep all of the goodies secured inside, and it works well without snagging. The casing of the kit is sturdy, and has a soft touch feel. With the kit you get the 2+1 RDA and everything that normally included (see above), as well as:
- 6 x 6pc Specialty Coils: You get 6 glass tubes, each with a different type of coil. You get 6 coils in each tube. The coils have names that I have never heard of, such as “Hero Alliance” and “Jaggenaut”. They all look pretty crazy too. We’ll see how they vape.
- 1 x Coil Leg Length Measuring Tool: This tool lets you drop your coils in, and cut the legs to your desired length.
- 1 x Heat Sink with Squonking Center Pin: A heat sink for your tank. You can screw your RDA onto the heat sink, and then onto your mod.
- 1 x Squonk Refill Cap for 60ml Bottles: This is a bottle cap that will attach to a standard 60ml bottle. This refill cap will also screw onto your mod, and allow you to refill your squonk bottle — without removing the bottle from the mod.
- 1 x RDA Building Stand: A stand that you can attach your tank onto, for an easier time while building. However, it’s a little bit small.
- 1 x Black Ceramic Tweezer
- 1 x Coil/Wire Cutters
- 1 x 1.5meter spool of 26awg Kanthal Wire
- 1 x 1.5meter spool of 28awg Kanthal Wire
- 1 x Japanese Organic Cotton
- 1 x T-Shaped Screwdriver
- 1 x User Manual
My only gripe with the contents of the Flavor Puzzle Kit is that they didn’t include something for you to wrap your coils around. This means that you’ll just have to make use of what you have if you don’t already have a dedicated jig.
Key Features of the 2+1 RDA
- 24.8mm Diameter
- Resin & Stainless Steel Construction
- Dual Coil RDA
- Compatible with Regular Coils and/or Mesh Coils
- Tri Slot Adjustable Bottom Airflow
- Tri Slot Adjustable Top Airflow
Design & Build Quality
I have to say, for a company I had never heard of previously, my first impressions of this RDA were very good. The 2+1 is a very handsome RDA and has a high-quality look, with precision machining to match.
Out of the box, the 2+1 RDA comes assembled with the resin airflow ring and mid cap. Now at first, I was worried that the resin would warp from the heat. However, the barrel on the inside of the top cap is made of stainless steel, and helps to prevent the heat from transferring too much.
The 2+1 RDA comes with two 810 drip tips. One is short, conically shaped, and gets narrower towards the top. This drip tip is a little small, but easy enough to drip into. The other drip tip however, is unlike any that I’ve seen before and is what RFG calls the “Ducktail” drip tip. This drip tip can only be puffed on from two angles, and has a narrow rectangular shape for your mouth with an even narrower opening. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of how this thing looks, and much prefer the look and performance of the resin drip tip. More importantly, you can’t drip with the ducktail drip tip attached. But more on this later in the performance section.
Both the resin and stainless steel mid caps have three slots for airflow. And while these airflow slots are adjustable, it’s in a weird way. This is because of the way that the top cap locks onto the build deck. With the 2+1 RDA, the top cap is one piece with the stainless steel barrel. This means that when you put the tank together, your airflow slots will always be in the same place; you just turn the mid cap to adjust the amount of airflow.
Personally, I’m not the biggest fan of where the airflow slots line up, as they are a bit too close to the posts for my liking. I would have preferred if this was either dual slot, or four slot airflow rather than the three awkwardly placed airflow holes. Additionally, turning the mid cap to adjust the airflow is a little bit difficult, but not any more difficult than turning the top caps on most RDAs.
The little ring that sits above the mid cap is also adjustable, and features three airflow holes. On the resin ring, the holes are very small and circular. On the stainless steel ring, the slots are identical to the ones on the midcap. This allows you some more variety in your airflow, as you can mix and match the rings to your preference.
The build deck is what got the 2+1 RDA its name, and it is capable of running either regular coils or mesh coils. If you’re particularly crazy, you can even do both at the same time (however, I wouldn’t suggest it). There are four posts on the build deck, as well as two “clamps” closer to the middle of the deck. These clamps will allow you to install your mesh coils.
The build deck on the 2+1 RDA is also gold plated, and uses hex screws to secure your coils. There is also a squonk pin included with the 2+1, and the way that the build deck is shaped ensures that juice is distributed evenly.
Overall, the design and build quality of the 2+1 is solid. The machining is very precise and everything fits together very snugly. I only wish that the airflow slots were positioned a little differently.
Building On The 2+1 RDA
Building a regular coil on the 2+1 RDA is straightforward and simple, especially with the tools from the Puzzle Kit.
You’ll want to start off by grabbing/building your coils of choice, and unscrewing the four post screws. You want to cut your legs pretty short for this build deck, and so I used the leg measuring tool to do so. It’s a bit tricky to get right at first, but it was easy once I figured out the right length.
Once that’s done, it’s simply a matter of dropping the coils into the “shafts” so to speak, and tightening the leads. I also brought my coils forward a bit, to make the wicking easier. Your cotton has to be quite short for this deck as well, but will tuck in neatly on the sides.
Building a mesh coil on this deck is just as easy, and just requires loosening the screws on the outer side of the interior build deck. Mesh wire will then slot nicely into the clamp, and you’re able to secure it by tightening the screws. You have to be careful to tighten the screws all the way, or else the metal top cap can make contact with the screws and cause a short. Also, it’s a bit tricky to keep the plate secured while you try to get the mesh coil in. Be careful not to loosen the screws too much.
The gold plated build deck on the 2+1 RDA is nice, and easy to use and build on. And while you can technically use both mesh and regular coils at the same time, I wouldn’t suggest it. Unless you’re building some extremely high resistance coils, I don’t know how you would maintain a safe resistance range. For example, with the coils that are included with the kit, you would be going under 0.09 ohms for sure with both mesh and regular coils installed.
My suggestion with this build deck is to keep it safe, and build either mesh or a regular dual coil build.
Vaping & Squonking Performance
There are a lot of different ways that you can use the 2+1 RDA: with regular coils or mesh coils, with two different material mid caps, and with multiple different airflow configurations. I tested this baby out with as many possibilities as I could think of and overall, I had some pretty great results.
For starters, I used the included dual “Hero Alliance” which came in at 0.25ohm, the all resin mid cap, the resin airflow ring, and the resin drip tip. The flavor was very good with just the bottom airflow open, but too airy with the top airflow open as well. I also tried using just the top airflow holes, but it was too tight of a draw. The ducktail mouthpiece was similar in flavor for me as the resin drip tip, and I didn’t notice a real difference here. Also, the fact that you can’t drip with the ducktail mouthpiece makes it more cumbersome to use. In any case, I prefer the resin drip tip. One thing to note here is that even though the caps are resin, it still got very hot. With the resin caps on, this RDA still got so hot that it noticeably heated up my metal mod. Definitely something to keep in mind.
Using the stainless steel mid cap and airflow ring, I found the flavor to be even better than with the resin mid cap. The only problem here was how hot the tank got. When using the stainless steel mid cap, I found it was best to use the included heat sink as well. The flavor was pretty great, and I had the best results with the bottom airflow open, and the top slots closed. I also had excellent flavor by closing the bottom airflow slots, and opening only the top.
Dripping was easy with the resin drip tip, and I dripped right into the center without wicking problems or leaking. I will say, however, that it does leak a bit when you adjust the airflow. Because of the design, juice gets squeezed out from between the different sections and you end up with a little juice on your hands. A minor inconvenience, but nothing too major.
The squonking performance of the 2+1 was good, and I didn’t have any problems with wicking. The open nature of the build deck allows juice to travel virtually everywhere on it, and this allows good wicking action.
Final Verdict — 2+1 RDA Review
What’s the final verdict on the 2+1 RDA? Personally, I really liked the flavor from this RDA, as well as the options and possibilities. If you want to get the most out of the 2+1 RDA, I would suggest building either dual regular coils, or a single mesh coil. For body configuration, the stainless steel cap and airflow ring with either the top or bottom open will deliver the best results.
While there are some minor issues, such as the positioning of the airflow slots, difficulty in turning the mid cap, and slight leaking of juice when adjusting the airflow, these are kinks that will hopefully be worked out in the next version of this RDA.
The Flavor Puzzle Kit is also pretty awesome, and the tools that are included are all really well built and useful. The included variety of coils are somewhat odd, but I had a lot of fun testing them out and trying new builds. If you don’t already have a set of tools for building, this kit includes almost everything you’ll need to build on an RDA (besides something to wrap your coils around).
So if you’re looking for an RDA that is new and different, or looking to try mesh coils out for the first time, check out the 2+1 RDA.
Really Need To Purchase 1 for Myself, Hella Lit Design