Review: Gold Rush Kit by Artery Vapor

The Gold Rush kit by Artery Vapor consists of the Nugget box mod and the 49er sub-ohm tank. I have to admit I was pretty exited when Niklas from esmokes.se suggested I'd do this review, cause I have to admit I've had my eyes at the tiny Nugget mod for a while, eager to see how it compares to the Mini Volt from Council of Vapor, which I really like. The Nugget have some pretty impressive specs considering it's size with 50W of power and Temperature control crammed into a box that is about the size of a zippo lighter.

In the box

• Nugget box mod
• 49er tank with 0.5 ohm kanthal head installed
• 0.8 ohm stainless coil head
• User manual for the mod and the tank
• Usb cable
• 5 spare o-rings

Specifications

Nugget box mod: 

• 55.5mm x 22mm x 31mm
• Zink Alloy
• Internal 1000mAh battery
• Gold plated copper pin
• Power range: 5W - 50W
• Voltage range: 0.5V - 8V
• Max Output current: 20A
• Resistance range: 0.1Ω - 3.0Ω
• Temperature range: 200 - 600ºF (Nickel/Titanium/SS)
• Software upgradable
• USB-port for charging and firmware upgrades
• Supports Power, Temperature control and Voltage modes
• Pass-through vaping (can be used while charging)

49er tank:

• Stainless steel
• Height: 48.5mm, Diameter: 22mm
• Top filling
• Juice flow control
• Airflow control
• 2ml juice capacity (a mega version of 4ml exists as well but not included in the kit)

Look and feel

This kit comes in six different colors, of which five looks quite cool to be honest, while the sixth color .... is pink. You may now guess which color my Swedish friend sent me. I have to admit I was thinking of mentioning that any color except pink would be nice when we discussed this in some emails, but at some point I figured ... nah, he's not that evil. I was wrong :) Got a good laugh when I opened the box though, and the pink is actually not ugly either... if I was a girl I'd probably love it, but since I'm not I would prefer any of the others. I especially think the copper and bronze editions look awesome.

The Nugget feels really solidly built, and kind of heavy for it's size. It has a nice big, readable display and the buttons are nice and clicky. Rattles a bit but not something that bothers me to be honest.

The tank also solid, and looks ... well like most tanks to be honest. Notice, however, that the tank in the pink kit is also pink, and hence the only one that can't be paired with any other mod unless you want to burn your eyes out.

A friend of mine said that he really liked that the 510 connection on the mod is centered on this one. Personally I've always thought I prefer it on one of the sides, but at least on the Nugget I totally agree with my friend, the centered 510 looks ... just right.

Then there is the size of this kit. It is indeed really small. The Nugget is pretty much exactly the same size as the Mini Volt from C.O.V. The tank is also quite small, not the smallest I've seen, but I think it's size is a good match for the mod. I said the mod was quite heavy for it's size, but considering the size of the whole thing this is really one of the smallest and lightest kits around.

In use

The Nugget mod is pretty straight forward to use. Since I had watched some videos about it before I knew that you needed to press + and - at the same time to enter the menu, and that is about the only thing that is a bit different and that you need to know. The rest is pretty intuitive. It has the usual 5 clicks to turn on and off. Scroll through the menu system using + and - and select with fire. One thing I noticed though is that when entering a sub-menu it goes to the first setting in the list rather than the current setting. This is a bit annoying to be honest, if I have it in Power mode, Power mode should be selected when I enter the "Work Mode Setting" sub-menu. Also, I think it would have been better if there was a delay so you needed to actually hold + and - down for some seconds before entering the menu system, now you just need to click them quickly, which combined with the fact that it goes to default rather than current setting, increases the chance of accidentally changing the settings. Other than these things, the menu system is easy and intuitive to operate, and the display is quite big and readable. Also the fact that the software is upgradable is a great thing, and all the issues I've mentioned above should be solvable in software. Whether Artery intends to do it remains to see as the software version on my mod seems to be the latest one.

Temp. control mode also works quite well. I like it that you can also set the a limit to the power used in temp. control mode. Now I've only tried the SS temp. control and personally I don't really need temp. control with these coils. I mean I quite like the temperature of the vapor when I fire it at 50W and haven't had any dry hits by doing so. The way I vape it serves as a security net if I don't notice that my tank is empty and that's about it. Then again... I've never been a huge fan of temp. control... a rarely use it to be honest, but for those who do I think the Nugget will meet your expectations in this area as well.

The 49er tank doesn't require you to be a rocket scientist to operate either. It's easy to fill with a nice top-filling system where you just unscrew the top part to reveil two kidney-shaped fill holes, which is great considering that you only have a 2ml juice capacity. Some might feel this is a bit on the small side, but for me this is kind of a mod that I grab for short trips outside, not neccesarily the one I chainvape at home. The juice flow control is very nice and will naturally close when you unscrew the tank from the mod and open when you screw it on. This system also enables you to change the coil heads without having to empty the tank first. It's pretty easy to take apart and clean as well, and I've had absolutely no leaking problems, not even when filling it.

Performance

This little kit really impressed me performance wise. The mod really packs a punch and the tank tastes really good. I mean really good. A friend of mine actually tried it and told me it was hands down the cleanest, nicest tasting sub-ohm he had ever tried, and I have to say I understand why he said that. The installed 0.5 ohm coil head tastes pretty good and gives you decent vapor on wattages down to like 30ish. Hell I bet a lot of people would be happy at 25 or even lower as well. At the same time it can easily handle full throttle from the nugget as well and at that wattage it really impressed me. In other words it's pretty versatile... crank up the watts when you're close to a charger, or lower it to save battery when you're out and about. I've used it most at around 40 W which gives you a bit of both. At 40W, maybe a bit less, I think your tank will be empty about at the same time as your battery calls it a night. It's a small mod, and of course the battery isn't going to last you all day if you chain vape it, but to be honest it lasts longer than I thought it would.

Pros and cons

++ Great flavour
+ Great vapor production
+ Easy clean
+ Easy to fill on the go
+ Good juice control and able to change coils without emptying tank
+ Decent battery time considering the size
- Juice capacity
- Some flaws in the software

Conclusion

I was really impressed by this little kit. Awesome performance and worth every penny. To be honest I'd say both just the tank, or just the mod for that matter, would be worth the price (54.99 Euros at esmokes.se). I think I need one that I can use among people to be honest :)

Thanks a lot to Niklas at esmokes.se for sending me this pink little bastard, making this review possible. He also provided a 10% discount code for my readers: GIRAFFE01

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.
• This product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

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