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Review Hastur MTL RTA from Cthulhu

daz_app

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This review is my opinion and is not representing the views of POTV. The tank was sent to me free for review from Cthulhu.

So, as many of you will be aware, I kept the flag flying for MTL vaping through The Sub Ohm Years. I prefer the tightness of the draw and the fact that as I tend to be vaping at relatively low watts, my battery and juice life are really good.

Based on this, I was rather keen on getting my hands on one of the new breed of MTL rebuildables. The Kayfun Prime for the high end and the Vandy Vape Berserker for the budget end are both very well recieved, so how does the Hastur MTL RTA compare?

Starting with the presentation, the Hastur comes in a rather splendid little box, and contains a manual, a spare frosted glass section, two Ultem 510 drip tips, a small bore for true MTL and a slightly wider bore for a more open MTL experience. This adaptability is carried over with the spares bag, which contains the usual allen-type wrench, spare deck screws and also 5 push fit airflow reducers. I first came across these with the Kayfun 5 from Svoemesto which went some way to adapt the K5 to a MTL tank. Of course, the Prime has taken this even further, providing a really reduced air experience.

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A bit of spec from the Cthulhu site shows that:

It comes with 5 swappable air flow resisters(1.0mm, 1.6mm, 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.5mm).
4 extra air flow resisters are optional (1.2mm,1.4mm,1mm X 2, 0.8mm X3)
Bigger posts to reduce the size of chamber. New and easy refilling system.
Two 510 drip tips(airhole dia.: 3.5mm & 2.0mm).
Food grade 304 stainless steel.
3.5ml capacity. (Non-TPD compliant, so you will have to seek out this tank from your favourite overseas vendor)

WIDTH: 24 mm / 0.94 in
HEIGHT: 43 mm / 1.69 in (without drip tip)

Onto the build deck, and the deck is really great. It's a single coil only deck but with 4 clamps, it doesn't matter how you prefer to wind your coil, it will go in. It looks tight at first but the deck will take a 2.5-3.0 ID coil without too much trouble. The grub screws hold the coil well and it's a doddle to build.

Wicking can be a little tricky at first. You can see from the attached pictures that the two juice flow channels are pretty massive. At first, I cut my wicks quite short and had the wicks just touching the deck, leaving the juice channels free of wich. This was fine at first, but the tank had a bit of a thing with flooding and then dumping it's contents. So now, I put the wick down to the bottom of the tank, ensuring that the juice flow channels are filled with wick. No more flooding!

Filling the tank is the easiest I have ever used. There is no juice flow control, so to fill, you turn the top fill port 90 degrees and the top just lifts off. Two massive fill holes are available and have really good o rings to seal the air from the top and thus creating a vacuum. Personally, I tend to close the airflow when filling.

Onto the airflow, and the range of bores on the airflow resistors mean you can really customise your draw. With not restrictor in place, there is a restricted lung hit, but the tank is not really designed for this. Personally, I go for the 1.6 restrictor. Changing them is a doddle, but you will need to access the deck and remove your coil. Bit of a pain but once you have settled on your preferred airflow, you won't need to change them.

The build construction is really high quality. I had the black finish, and it is also available in stainless. The 24mm diameter and 43mm hight make for a solid looking bit of kit. The frosted glass looks pretty smart too.

Pros

Adaptability. The airflow restrictors give a wide variety of vape style, and it's nice to have them included Please take note Svoemesto....£100 for a K5 and and extra £7 for the restrictors!). With a choice of two 510 Ultem tips in the box, the tank again allows for some adaptability. All my other 510 tips fit perfectly, but the small bore is a welcome addition.

The build deck. A really good deck. The clamp screws work really well and the option of having four screws means that pretty much anyone, from new RTA users to the more seasoned builders can get this up and built in seconds.

Looks. A tidy little tank and it has some presence on pretty much all my mods.

Filling. The best feature. With no juice flow to fiddle with, it's a really easy fill method and it would be great to see on other tanks.

Cons

Wicking. I'm actually tempted to not have this as a negative. Most new tanks you buy have a bit of a runnig in period where you need to have aplay with different builds/wicking methods. Once I had worked it out, and put the wicks down to the bottom of the deck, I've had no issues with flooding at all.

So that's about it really.

So in conclusion, it's a welcome entry to the MTL vaper's arsenal. The looks, the build, the fill all add up to a cracking little MTL tank.

Onto the pictures, some of which I have taken from the Cthulhu site as my phone is like taking pictures on a potato....

Thanks to @cthulhumod for sending it over for review.

http://www.cthulhumod.com/hastur-mtl-rta/

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My wicking method...

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Last edited:
Elux
Great review. How does the flavour compare to other rebuildable RTAs such as the siren 2 or the Beserker?
 
Cheers @Mark and thanks for the heads up that I hadn't actually discussed how it vapes!

So, the flavour is spot on. I used a variety of juices in the few weeks I've been using it, normally with a 1.0ohm Kanthal build at around 14 watts and the flavour is well on par with my usual tank of choice, the Kayfun 5, but for a real cost saving. Personally, I find that the flavour that comes from MTL is what I look for. It's most certainly not a "clouds brah" type of tank.
 
AcmeFog
Cheers @Mark and thanks for the heads up that I hadn't actually discussed how it vapes!

Ha wasn't meant to be a criticism (though I did read it twice to see if you mentioned flavour :D )

These budget MTL RTAs are knocking it out of the park recently. I';m using two Beserkers and a Siren V2 for my MTL vapes and they're both excellent for flavour.

So, the Cthulhu is another one on my 'to try' list. Along with the Innokin Ares when it lands. And probably the new Beserker mini...doh
 
No worries at all, thanks again for pointing it out!

It's great to see so many MTL tanks coming to market. With the massive flood of DTL tanks over the last couple of years, it's especially important to consider that most new vapers are coming from a tight cigarette draw sensation, and DTL can be a challenge for some.
 
Vape Superstore
Great review, cheers. This one is too big for me as I only have 22mm mods. It sounds right up my street though, definitely more tempting than the other ones that are out at the minute, mostly because it seems well thought out for mtl, airflow restrictors and stuff appeal to me.
 
Great review, that reads like you've Vaped it, got it wrong, tried it again and got it how you like! You thinking of doing any more?
Did you try it with different PG/VG ratios? Just wondering as I Vape fairly high VG (70/30 or 80/20)
 
Vape Green
Aw shucks you guys! Thanks for the kind words. It's sort of my first hardware review, but I've had the tank for at least a couple of weeks now, so it's been put through its paces. It's quite happy at 50/50, 70/30 and max VG. Cracking tank.
 
The Electronic Cigarette Company
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