Review of mechanical mod PILOT 1.5 by 495 Cloud Buro

The company 495 Cloud Buro was founded in 2016, I don’t have more precise data, and it’s unlikely that even the founders themselves remember them, but the date of the presentation of the very first mechanical PILOT mod has been preserved by history — January 18, 2017. Initially, the device was copper, without a button lock, without protection from short circuits on the case and constant contact, but even then it had a characteristic shape and a pleasant grip. On March 20, 2017, a more affordable brass version was first revealed, and on June 19, an attempt was made to “throw in” information about the new version, which, however, almost everyone ignored. During the summer, people actively voted for the paint and its type, according to the results of the poll, ceracote won. And finally, on September 9, version 1.5 was officially presented, which I will try to tell you about. 

Inside, wrapped in a small (about half the height of the package) piece of foam plastic, there will be the Pilot 1.5 mechanical mod itself without any additional parts or accessories.

However, inside the mod there will be a rolled-up business card with warnings printed on the back, wishes about preferred battery models and a request to wash the device before use, as well as a handwritten serial number.

Appearance and characteristics

Diameter 24-26 mm

Height without battery 90 mm

Height with battery about 94 mm (depends on the height of the battery itself and the length of the positive pin of the evaporator)

Platform for evaporators 24 mm

Features Hybrid connector, constant contact, button lock

Material Brass

Possible colors Polished brass, black, cobalt, bronze.best online vape store canada Announced but not yet available for sale: silver (white), blue, red

495 Cloud Buro Pilot 1.5 Mod – appearance

At the top there is a hybrid 510 connector with a shallow groove, which will contribute to less active adhesion of the evaporators to the device, although the central part is already higher than the main plane by about 0.05 mm (or even less, with a screwed dripper, levitation is not visible, but by applying a ruler, the gap can be seen).

The button case: from the inside it looks like a small bowl with a rod in the center. This rod performs four functions at once: half of the contact group in a constant connection, current transfer by the side surfaces to the body, resistance to skewing when pressed and resistance to torque both during the use of the bellows for its intended purpose and during screwing/screwing the lid. To achieve the latter, the rod is made in the form of a multifaceted prism. A fluoroplastic insulator is inserted into the depth of the lid, do not look at its not the most presentable appearance, but it perfectly tolerates high temperatures and is quite wear-resistant. The insulator can be installed on either side, but it is recommended with the groove outward, because it is on it that the spring will rest. When installed in reverse, the button stroke will become somewhat tighter, and the spring will no longer be centered and pressing will become much less comfortable.

Summary and conclusions

What I liked:

The ideal (at least for me) ergonomic shape of the mod.

Hybrid connector

High quality workmanship

Always the same button stroke

High-quality paintwork (the “bronze” color in the photo does not look half as chic as in real life)

Permanent contact

What is simply good:

Button lock

Protection from short circuit inside the connector

Gas outlet holes

Nice packaging

There are different color versions

What could have been better:

Silver contact in the spacer instead of copper

Color designation of the mod on the packaging

Slightly more careful processing of paronite

Spare spacer included

Summary:

A solid, solid, convenient and “roasting” mechanical mod with constant contact and a trouble-free button. In the Pilot 1.5 version, all the shortcomings were removed, except for the lack of precious metals in the button mechanism, there is nothing to even find fault with, roughly speaking. Perhaps the price, but good devices have never been cheap. I am being a bit disingenuous here, of course, I have cheaper devices, but they have their own problems and peculiarities, and such ergonomics is definitely not there.