RDA Reviews

Twisted Messes

This RDA is a joint collaboration between CompVape U.S.A . and Twisted Messes who is very well known on YouTube for publishing tutorials focused on exotic and unique RDA builds. At its heart this RDA is essentially an upgrade of the El Cabron made by CompVape.

by Dave Junglist
May 14, 2015

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Introduction to the Twisted Messes RDA

Features

22mm RDA
304 Stainless Steel
4 Post Design - Four 2.8mm Holes Never Done Before
Silver Plated Brass Contact Pin
Dual Hole Centre Post
Silver Plated Brass Contact Pin
Redesigned Upper Heat Sink
6mm deep juice well
Single or Dual Coil AFC
3 Drip Tip Options included similar to the El Cabron RDA

Included in the Twisted Messes RDA Box

Twisted Messes RDA
Spare Peek Insulators
Extra Screws,
Spare O-Rings
Spare Insulators
Spare contact pin
Allen Wrench
2 Sleeves, one stainless steel and one blue.
Delrin 510 adapter and standard drip tip
Large wide bore delrin drip tip
Stainless steel chuff drip tip

Looks

This is a great looking RDA. It impresses me aesthetically and technically. The machining is excellent, the threading is top notch. The screws are well made and durable. The Allen Key is sturdy and of a comfortable size to use no matter how big or small your hands are. The O-rings are very good and overall you are left feeling that this RDA has been made with a great deal of thought and care.

The crenelated top cap gives this RDA its own uniqueness. It looks equally good with either the stainless steel sleeve or the blue one. Personally I love the blue one since it makes this dripper even more varied to most other RDA's.

Twisted Messes Build

Building this was an absolute breeze. The hex screws are nicely machined and the sturdy Allen key fits well. The post holes being as large as they are made it a doddle to fit the wire through.

I built this first with a single coil 0.4mm Kanthal (26 AWG) wrapped around a 3mm screwdriver, resistance came out at 0.8 ohms. I then wicked with Japanese cotton. I coated the wick with Heisenberg, replaced the top cap and fired it up at 35 watts on my Sigelei 100w+ the flavour and vapour was excellent.

Second build was a dual coil 0.5mm (24AWG) wrapped around a 3mm screwdriver with a final resistance of 0.5 ohms. I vaped this one between 35-50 watts.

My most recent build and yes this is the third build so far because this RDA is so easy to use its actually so much fun to build, was a dual coil twisted 0.4mm (26AWG) with a final resistance of 0.4 ohms and I've been vaping this one for the last couple of days. Firing it on the Sigelei between 60-85 watts.

One thing to keep in mind and its not a negative at all but because of the way the top cap rotates I advise you remove it before screwing down the RDA on your mod so you know its sufficiently tightened before replacing the top cap.

My thoughts

With some RDA's it can be difficult to get wire to go through your post holes, the Twisted Messes has no such problems, you could fit a truck through them. Well maybe not, but they are huge.

There is a huge amount of room so you can pretty much throw whatever build you want in there. Want to build a single microcoil no problem, want to put dual twisted 0.4mm coils in, once again no problem. You could likely fit a couple of Clapton coils in there if you wished or try one of Twisted Messes own exotic builds like the Twisted Double Helix. The post holes are massive so this RDA is extremely versatile and due to that its also very easy to use for newcomers as well as offering everything else for more seasoned users.

The top cap rotates on O-rings so no matter how you build you can be certain that you can direct airflow at your coils. Its also forgiving for someone who may be new to RDA's and not used to centring their build correctly because you can simply adjust the cap and still get a good vape.

Airflow is adjusted by unscrewing the top cap slightly and then turning the sleeve to open or block the three air holes on each side before re tightening the top cap. Rotating the top cap itself as mentioned above just changes airflow position.

Using the chuff cap means you sometimes get spit back from juice, so if you're not so keen on that then fit the wide bore tip or swap that out and fit the 510 adapter and use the include drip tip or your own favourite one from your collection. This RDA caters to everyone but includes so many options that you'll want to experiment.

Often huge airflow leads to massive loss of flavour, not so here. I found flavour to be very good on a single coil with the airflow wide open and with the chuff top fitted. Close the airflow down slightly and the flavour gets even better. With a dual coil build flavour was truly excellent. I've already vaped quite of few flavours in this RDA, T-Juice Red Astaire, Vampire Vape Heisenberg, South Coast Vape's Callicustard and even my own DIY juice. Everything tasted great.

Vapour production is excellent whether you use a chuff cap, wide bore or a standard drip tip. Vapour is dense and it can be a bit of a room fogger.

A 6mm deep well seems like a lot but trust me once you start vaping on this thing you really won't want to stop and you'll find yourself topping up often. Topping up is easy with the chuff cap or wide bore since you can drip straight down it. Alternatively or if using a standard drip tip the top cap is easily removable, I don't mean its loose at all its just easy to get off. Considering the way its designed you are not going to knock your build taking it on and off.

Leaking is extremely minimal, obviously with most RDA's you will get a few drops coming out of the air holes. However don't be tempted to fill it up and stick it in your pocket since this is still a standard RDA and not a leak free solution like the Veritas or Aeolus. If you vape off the liquid first then you shouldn't have any issues if you want to vape while out and about.

Conclusion

For an authentic RDA in the £40-45 price region this is excellent value for money. The quality is superb, the include extras are generous and this RDA will suit anyone whether they are someone who is buying a dripper for the first time or someone who just wants to create exotic builds. This RDA suits both flavour chasers and cloud chasers and if you can afford it I would recommend you simply go out and buy it. As a person who was left quite disappointed by the Dark Horse this RDA is in my opinion what the Dark Horse should have been in the first place but it also does way more and offers far greater options to a wider variety of people. A truly excellent collaboration from Twisted Messes and CompVape.

Dave Junglist

Reviewer at POTV

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Dave Junglist is co-owner of Planet of the Vapes and has been vaping since 2015. He spent his early years with his head in a bass bin and was a very committed and experienced smoker. He had his first cigarette at the age of 13 and just knew it was for him. He did stop briefly with the aid of patches but reverted quickly and became a ‘secret’ smoker, working hard to keep his weak will from the attention of his family. Vaping made an honest man of him and for this he is forever thankful. He has been involved in websites since completing a degree in Environmental Science in the late nineties. At that time there was pretty much no contact with computers but on joining the regular workforce and deciding that the world-wide-web was the future he blagged his first job as a web designer and never looked back. As you would expect from a junglist, Dave likes his beats and is most comfortable when the bass is wobbly.