Products
Product Review: Iconic Chuck Billy Signature Vape Delivers
Lord Vaper has partnered with thrash metal musician Chuck Billy to create a new dry-herb pen.
It’s become commonplace for celebrities to endorse products that build their name recognition while attracting consumers to the brand they’re touting. For decades, it’s been a symbiotic, time-honored tradition for savvy sports figures, film stars and musicians alike to promote products ranging from energy drinks to perfumes. But it’s a newer concept for celebrities to openly tout products associated with cannabis use.
Lord Vaper is the latest to join the mix, partnering with thrash metal musician Chuck Billy – vocalist of the band Testament and a seminal figure in the West Coast thrash metal scene – creating a signature Billy dry-herb pen. Along with metal bands like Metallica and Exodus, Testament and Billy helped to create the thrash metal music sound of the 1980s. Fans of Testament will be happy to hear that the portable vaporizer called “The Chief” has been given Billy’s weed stamp of approval.
“I am stoked to be a part of a very important time for cannabis and having my Chief vaporizer available for fans and vape users,” says Billy.
When the Lord Vaper Chief first arrived at our office – amid the sea of other portable vaporizers that flood our desks – it drew attention based purely on its wild packaging and design. A friend who was present for the unveiling of the vaporizer summed up its immediate appeal: “Skull and king icons over a shiny red alloy surface… that thing is dope,” she said, mesmerized.
We promptly loaded the 100 percent non-combustion vape with Super Silver Haze and took a run at it. The Chief did not disappoint. In fact, it worked better than most vapes in the $100 price range. The device comes with USB charger, replacement filter screens, a handy “medicine bag” and an assortment of silicone mouthpiece covers for sharing. A clear and bright red lighting system cues you to an effective heat – one of three optimized settings – and vaping is even and fairly lengthy between refills. It’s also sturdy and simple to load with a mouthpiece that’s easily removed.
Billy’s involvement with the signature vape came when Lord Vaper founder and CEO Adam Black approached him one day last summer.
“Testament is arguably the most popular band in metal, having stayed true to their roots after 30 years in the music business,” said Black, who met Billy years ago. “I got this idea to do a collaboration with him on a vape pen and said, ‘Let’s make a futuristic peace-pipe.’ He was very interested and after several months of planning and development, we brought our first vaporizer pen to market together.”
Billy, who is a proud member of the Pomo Native American tribe and also has Native American art featured alongside his grandmother in the renown Smithsonian Institute, knows people will enjoy his vape.
“The Chief will go toe-to-toe and perform better than most products out there,” said Billy. “The Chief is for real.”
Black said they “hot-rodded, tweaked and supercharged” the Chief vaporizer – from the skull design down to its internal electronics – for many months before it was released.
And it shows. What got our attention initially with flashy showmanship and design proved to be backed up with careful craftsmanship and rock-solid components.
The Chief is indeed the real deal.
$99.95 / Click here to purchase.
Do you vape? Tell us about it in the comments.