I recently bought one of these little pieces of wood based on the review from this site. After having it for a week, I can say it's a big step up. Personally, I was not prepared to pay over $800 for a volcano. At $100, this baby does wonders with a just a few tips:
1. There's no thermostat, and frankly, it does get too hot. If you pack the ethnobotanical plant at all it will combust and smoke. It may not look like it's igniting, but I know the difference between blowing smoke and blowing vapor. The key is to use very little herb, and don't pack it at all!! This contraption comes with two very nifty side items: a grinder, that grinds your herb to something short of a nice powder. This you will use a lot. The second side item you should throw away. It's a wooden peg that is used to pack the herb in the stick. If you pack the herb at all, it will combust. Use very little herb and keep it loose.
2. Don't make the same mistake I did trying to bend over and heat the stick while the wood block is sitting on the counter. I did this for a week. Ok, so some things take me awhile. The wood block is light. Pick it up and use it like a lighter. That way the oil doesn't fall out of the stick.
3. When you've had the unit on for awhile, you will really need to watch the heat. I use a technique I call "whistling." Keep the plant or oil loose and bring the heat source up to the stick until the male/female connection is just made (you'll understand this when you see it). Then when you start inhaling, lift the stick away from the heat source just a tiny bit until it starts to whistle. You don't want to insert the stick all the way into the brass heating source because it's just too hot. Even inserting just the tip is too hot. By whistling, you let in a little air from outside the unit that cools it down just enough. You will know when you're getting vapor and not smoke, because vapor evaporates quickly, while smoke hangs in the air.
$100 to save your lungs. It's a no brainer to me. Hope this proves helpful to someone.
Credit: Bradley