RDA Reviews

Govad RDA by Vandy Vape

The Govad RDA (Rebuildable Dripping Atomizer) is the first offering from new manufacturer, Vandy Vape. This RDA is 24mm in diameter and caters to single or dual coil builds. It features a spring-loaded clamp-style two post deck, a deep juice well and a dizzying array of airflow options.

by VapeMaster
Jun 15, 2017

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Govad RDA features

24mm Diameter
Deep juice well
Stainless Steel Construction
24K Gold-Plated Build Deck
Unique Clamp-Style Two-Post Design. Centrally Secured via Phillips-Screws
Spring-Loaded Clamps for Easy Building
Two-Airflow Control System - Crosswind Experience
Dual Slotted Bottom Airflow
Single Internal Air hole - Gold-Plated
Dynamic Side Airflow - Quad Air slots Beneath Coils Arrangement
Direct-to-Coil Chamber Effect
Gold-Plated 510 Connection

What’s in the box?

1x Govad RDA.
1x 17.5mm Wide Bore Drip Tip
1x 16mm Wide Bore Drip Tip
1x 14mm Wide Bore Drip Tip
1x 510 Drip Tip Adapter
Spare Parts & O-Rings
Screwdriver

Govad RDA styling and build quality

The first thing you notice about this particular RDA is the excellent build quality. Everything fits together beautifully and it compares very favourably with far more expensive RDA’s!

The Govad is 24mm in diameter and constructed from Stainless Steel. In addition it Gold-Plated spring loaded clamps as well as a Gold-Plated centrally positioned and raised air tube. Everything breaks down into three pieces; the base, the upper top cap and the drip tip. The 510 pin is also Gold-Plated to ensure maximum conductivity.

There are only two O-rings, one where the drip tip fits and the other where the deck meets the top cap. Both O-rings seem very sturdy and the cap is held very securely even when moisture builds up.

The deck is quite unique even though it has some resemblance to the Digiflavor Pharaoh RDA. The spring-loaded clamps work very well and these are secured by two reasonably sized Philips head screws which are also Gold-Plated. There is a very good amount of well space so you can fill up the Govad with quite a bit of juice but you do have to take care that the juice level doesn’t go above the airflow tube or you will get leaking.

The logos are tastefully done and nicely engraved on both sides of the top cap. One final bonus is that the package includes three different drip tips along with a 510 adapter and the Govad RDA can also be fitted with Goon, Kennedy or Half Moon Mods drip tips.

Airflow

One thing this RDA is not short of is airflow. To start with there are two fixed horizontal air slots in the base very much like the Kennedy. In addition there is also a set of quad air slots positioned along with another two slots which create what Vandy Vape call their “Crosswind Airflow”. But wait there’s more…since there is also the single bottom airflow hole with its raised tube which is designed to hit the coil from below. Depending how you decide to position the top cap you will either have four of those slots slightly open or fully open or completely closed and rely choose to rely entirely on the fixed bottom airflow slots.

Given how much airflow the Govad offers this RDA really isn’t suited for mouth to lung users since when fully opened up it caters to direct to lung vapers and gradually becomes a bit more restrictive as you close that airflow down.

Ease of use

Building this RDA is an absolute breeze and even a newcomer to rebuildables won’t feel too challenged. The spring-loaded clamps make installing a coil extremely straightforward and hold the wire very securely. Once you get your coil into position you need to use either a screwdriver or your coiling rod to move it down as far as you possibly can so it is just a few millimetres over the air hole because this will give you the best flavour. Wicking is simple and you only need enough cotton to reach the base of the well which is generously sized.

A Dual coil would be a little trickier to set up since there isn’t a huge amount of space. It is certainly doable providing you have some rebuildable experience but I never actually felt the need to be honest.

How does it vape?

I set up the Govad with a single Fused Clapton Coil build which had a final Resistance of 0.3ohm. Having wicked the coil and primed the cotton with some Suicide Bunny Mother’s Milk I took my first vape. The flavour was extremely impressive and I personally thought it absolutely blew away a very similar RDA such as the Pharaoh. In my opinion the Govad compares well to other RDA’s such as the CSMNT, the Goon and the Kennedy. The draw is excellent and so very enjoyable and the great thing is that you can choose to either close that airflow down or just leave it wide open for massive cloud production!

In fact the flavour was so good that I moved on to vaping some Unicorn Milk and later some Heisenberg. Even though you can dual coil this RDA I never really felt the need to because I was more than satisfied with the single coil performance!

I was a little concerned when it came to dripping but as long as you remember to paint those wicks you don’t actually get major leaking problems. Even with the airflow fully opened up the Govad simply did not leak but keep in mind that it can if you get a bit over zealous dripping juice.

Conclusion

While the Govad certainly has some resemblance in terms of its deck to the Digiflavor Pharaoh I wasn’t especially enamoured with that particular dripper and in my opinion this RDA is a far better investment.

Flavour is outstanding considering just how much airflow is available and the really odd thing about it is that I actually find it even more flavoursome when completely opened up. Cloud production is top notch so if you like things really foggy you will have no complaints here. The build quality is superb and puts a few similar priced RDA’s to shame.

It may sound like the Govad is too good to be true so let me put your mind at ease by saying that there are in fact some very minor cons. Firstly even though you can potentially dual coil this RDA the space available may lead to a rather cramped build. Secondly you can’t really drip through the drip tip or things will get really messy but then it is quick and easy to remove the cap so I don’t consider that a problem. Finally the side airflow right next to your wicking could also lead to potential leaking if the airflow is fully opened up so I found it is often better to carefully paint the wicks with juice and thankfully I never actually had any leaking at all.

Apart from that this is a superb RDA that is sold at an extremely reasonable price! When you take into account all of the extras and the fact that you also got three different drip tips included this product represents very good value for money. Considering that this is the first offering from new manufacturer Vandy Vape I hope to see other equally impressive products from them in the future.

I have no hesitation in recommending the Govad RDA so do pick one up if it appeals to you!

Many thanks to Vandy Vape who kindly sent this RDA to Planet of the Vapes for us to review.