On paper, an RTA tank sounds like a great idea. But in practice, the VAST majority of RTA tanks are a serious pain to live and work with…. Thankfully, I have FINALLY found a decent RTA tank that doesn’t leak…
One of the things I love about vaping is the sheer choice of stuff you have at your fingertips.
Mods and tanks come in all kinds of different styles and sizes, for instance, but if there is one style of tank I have struggled with more than any other, since day one, it has to be RTAs.
It took me years to find an RTA tank that doesn’t leak – years!
It got so bad, back in the day, that I started to bloody hate them.
Why? They were fiddly, they never worked properly, they leaked everywhere, they were often impossible to wick correctly, they’d serve up a near-constant stream of dry hits…
Long story short:
I could never find the golden goose: an RTA tank that doesn’t leak – and I very nearly gave up.
I actually hated my Griffin RTA so much I threw it in the bin, after spending an entire afternoon trying to get it to wick properly. Turns out you need to have a doctorate in engineering to get that thing functioning properly. And I am no doctor.
Even the ENVII Artisan RTA is trying at the best of times.
I’ll set it up, for instance, and it’ll vape like a champ for a few hours and then, from out of nowhere, a disgusting dry hit will rip my throat apart, reducing me to a spluttering, coughing mess.
This recently happened when I was driving. It was not fun.
Another time, it just decided to leak all over my new coat.
No warnings. It had been fine for days and then, BOOM, it spunked all over my brand new winter coat for no reason.
Basically, by the close of 2017, I’d had enough.
RTA tanks were just far too fiddly for my liking. I enacted a shun on all things RTA.
Screw you, RTA tanks, I thought. You’ve stolen enough of my time, money, and sanity.
But In 2018 Things Changed…
Yep. Big time! I am now using an RTA as I write this and, by the grace of the vaping gods, it hasn’t leaked once in the time I’ve had it (2 months).
That’s right: not one single leak. No dry hits either. And it’s super simple to setup as well.
What RTA is this, you ask? It’s the Coil Master RAY RTA, a cheap, heavy-hitting, dual-coil RTA that is brilliant to live with, vapes like a champ, and produces excellent flavor.
The Coil Master RAY RTA – Awesome Performance & Value For Money ($25)
The Coil Master ELFY, I got both at the same time, is another option if you’re after an RTA tank that doesn’t leak.
And the ELFY is a single-coil RTA, so it’s kinder to your E Juice and battery life.
I can’t decide which RTA I like best; there’s very little in it with respect to whether they leak or not and how easy they are to live with.
Obviously, the RAY RTA is designed for more heavy-hitting vaping – vaping at higher wattages – while the ELFY RTA is perfectly happy tootling along at 40-50W.
I like single-coil RTA tanks because you can run them at lower power.
This saves you TONS of battery life and TONS of E Juice over a period of time. And for me, this is what makes a tank great – when it feels like it’s working for me. Not against me.
I’ve added the box-outs from our reviews of both tanks below, so you can see how they compare, as well as how I rated them when I tested them.
You can click through to the full review by clicking the “Read full review” tag below the verdict snippet.
A More Expensive (And Powerful) Option?
But there are other, more snazzy options around now too.
Drew – one of VapeBeat’s reviewers – swears by the Vandy Vape Kensei RTA, which, again, hardly ever leaks and provides some of the best performance you’re like to find inside the RTA space.
The Beautiful Kensei RTA! Easily One of The Best RTAs In The Business ($40.95)
These, if you’re 100% after an RTA in 2018, would be my picks.
Or, if your budget stretches, the Kayfun Prime – though that bad boy is VERY expensive.
But if you’re feeling pimp, you should probably check it out as it kicks out some serious flavor and performance.
You can check out the VapeBeat Verdict for both the Kensei RTA and TRIPLE RTA below.
Both are excellent (and super easy to live with). They’re just pricier than the Coil Master options.
Does An RDTA Beat An RTA Tank?
That depends.
It depends on your needs and what you want from a tank.
Some RTAs are exceptional, while a good deal of them are problematic, which is why I gave only four shout-outs above (they’re the only ones I have used that have played ball consistently).
An RDTA is definitely simpler.
They’re basically RDAs, just with a bit more juice capacity.
If you’re after something simple, like an RDA, just with slightly more E Juice capacity (and none of the fiddliness of RTAs), an RDTA is a great option.
I’ve already detailed what I think are the best RDTA tanks around right now, so check that out if you’re in the market for one.
I personally use the GAIA RDTA, though it is usually alongside a couple of other setups.
At the moment I’m using about three tanks (testing E Juice).
The GAIA RDTA, for instance, has not missed a beat since I first got it about five months ago.
I use it most days and, like a Nissan from the 90s, it just keeps on going.
Nothing can stop this thing.
And on top of this it is a joy to live; I can wick it in under 30 seconds.
My Favorite RDTA, The GAIA – Get Yours For $34 via VaporDNA
Never had a dry hit from it either. Not one.
RDTAs do also have a habit of being a little leaky too, but they are NOTHING compared to the floods I have found inside my pocket after carrying an RTA around for a few hours.
If you’re considering a move towards RTA tanks, however, and you’re relatively new to the world of wicking and coil building, I have one simple piece of advice:
Make sure you get one that doesn’t leak all over the place.
And if you asked me which to go for, I’d probably say the Vandy Vape Kensei RTA, as it’s a great-looking tank that performs like absolute monsters.
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