KAEES X TONY B. STACKED 24MM RTA REVIEW

Can someone help me pronounce Kaees? Because I’d love to start dropping some praise on this company, but I’m not sure if I’d do it right.  I hope that it won’t stop others, though – because the Kaees Stacked RTA is another winner. And that’s saying a lot for 2018, a year that’s will be known for a resurgence in rebuildable tank atomizers.

AT first glance, the Stacked isn’t going to win any awards for originality. The exterior is plain and mostly unadorned. But all the same, my brushed silver test model is a showpiece of smooth, high-quality machining, thoughtful design aesthetics, and an overall sense of uniqueness, amid a sea of competing “me too” rebuildable tank atomizers.

Though it’s stout – maybe TOO stout – the 24mm Kaees Stacked looks at home on virtually any device, thanks to the understated design.

The two-sided bottom AFC ring is stiff and secure but is loose enough to allow for opening and closing with minimal effort. My only gripe with the airflow control is that it is somewhat narrow, posing a little difficulty when trying to adjust it while attached to a mod. It wasn’t a major concern, but I did struggle a bit when the Stacked was attached to devices with raised lips around the 510 connections.

Opening up the bottom cap exposes the build deck, which is supposedly the easiest build deck on planet Earth (or something like that, anyway). While that didn’t QUITE turn out to be the case, the ample deck space allows for even the most complicated builds to be seated without any concern of cramping or accidental contact with the chimney.

(We’ll discuss that build deck a little further below…)

The airflow is noteworthy. Not just because of its size, but also because it is purported to condense the flow directly to the coils as it rises toward the mouthpiece, concentrating it for outstanding flavor. Which is why it’s a bit surprising that Kaees chose to only include an ultra-wide bore acrylic drip tip, without offering a narrower option that might have further concentrated the flavor and vapor.

The top cap is easily removed, revealing one of the widest, most accessible top-fill ports I’ve seen. I tried every bottle type in my collection, and nearly all of them fit inside the ports with no effort, filling without an ounce of wasted juice. With the handful of thicker tipped bottles and droppers on hand, I also found success, by simply angling the Stacked RTA slightly toward

The Stacked deck is the RTA’s primary selling point, thanks to a – well – stacked,spring-loaded design that supposedly allows for maximum mobility when placing coils. But “mobility” is the problem – thanks to the open design, it’s near-impossible to keep coil leads in place when trying to trim them. And as a dual-coil RTA, it only gets worse when trying to do the same on the other side.

In traditional posted-deck formats, you can easily lock down leads to work on the others, ensuring nothing shifts along the way. In this layered deck design, the coils move around constantly. Before long, you’ll get the hang of it, but not before you throw your hands in the air out of frustration at least once.

Maybe it’s me, but I found this format a little unwieldy, almost to the point where I started hunting online for solutions – something I never want to admit doing as a reviewer.

(Bonus side complaint: Companies, please STOP using flathead screws. Tiny, shallow flathead screws are near impossible to manage once e-liquid enters the equation. Please go back to Philips heads, and never speak of the other variety again. Again, I said please.)

Why all the negativity? Because if you rush, the odds of you getting a short warning are high – very high – thanks to unintended shifting when you’re not looking. Again, it comes with experience, but the Kaees Stacked isn’t exactly “beginner-friendly.” There are times I wish we all just stuck with Velocity-type post arrangements, and this is one of them. Because as much as I enjoyed the Stacked, I feel like it could have done even more without all the fuss.

Finally, we should mention that the Stacked was developed in collaboration with Tony B from the Vapor Trail Channel. As you might recall, we’re not HUGE on “celebrity-endorsed” vape products, but Tony’s been a mainstay in this scene for a long, long time, so we felt it only right to throw him a well-deserved shout.

Nitpicking and frustrations aside (I’m easily frustrated these days, anyway) there’s no two ways about it – the Kaees Stacked provides an immensely flavorful, abundant vape, with clouds that aren’t just large, but also milky and dense. Though much of this could be attributed to the liquid I used, I don’t recall many other RTAs producing such results.

Well, many others PRIOR to 2018 – we’re living in a golden age of rebuildable tanks, kids. And even though the Stacked is definitely toward the top end of things, it still has a way to go before catching up with the Dead Rabbit RTA or the ZEUS. But that’s a high bar, so take it as honest, genuine praise.

That said, the Kaees Stacked is very much a flavor-first tank, rewarding users with dripper-like enjoyment in most every puff. But that flavor comes with the coils tend to get even thirstier. Have your bottles handy when bringing the Stacked out for the day, as you’ll need to keep the juice levels fairly high throughout.

While the design doesn’t necessarily speak to mouth-to-lung use, I was able to cut off most of the airflow for a richer, restricted lung hit. The results were good, if not a little too warm for my liking. This is clearly not the primary intent of the Stacked’s design. But it’s always nice to find a little versatility in this corner of the tank market.

The Kaees Stacked is a top-tier RTA that delivers flavorful, foggy vape enjoyment to a decent range of audiences. Though I won’t go as far as to call it a potential “multipurpose” tank, the Stacked is a little more versatile than its wide drip tip and thirsty design implies.

When used as a cloud machine, the Stacked delivers in spades, without ever sacrificing flavor amid the cloud production. It’s not flawless, but when you nail down the build techniques the Stacked is a worthwhile effort by Kaees, that deserves a closer look when you’re ready for your next RTA.

AVAILABLE NOW AT ELEMENT VAPE