Puffco Proxy:Pricey but probably worth it

If you’re a gadget head like me, you’ve probably spent more than a few visits to your local pot shop eyeing the snazzy products by Puffco. Long known for the Puffco Peak and the Puffco Peak Pro, a pair of well-regarded premium concentrate vaporizers that come with a premium price tag.

I finally made my dive into the world of Puffco with their latest product in the Puffco Proxy. The portable version of their product caught my eye on my latest visit to the dispensary, particularly because it was accompanied by a huge range of upgrades and addons.

The standard Puffco Proxy kit, which clocks in at a whopping $300, comes with a sturdy carrying case that includes a glass Sherlock Holmes-style pipe, a cleaning kit and the Puffco Proxy, a garbage disposal-shaped gadget where all the magic happens. The Proxy can be removed and plugged into one of its many pipe alternatives—which includes a glass bubbler, a silicone pipe or custom-made glass.

The Proxy has a little ceramic chamber oven that you load with your concentrate of choice, close the lid and hit the button so it starts to cook. It comes with four different temperature settings—I found the green level, which is the third hottest, was my preferred setting—and it heats up to temperature faster than any other concentrate vaporizer I’ve tried.

The hits are, simply put, some of the best I’ve had. They’re smooth and flavorful, and the oven produces a consistent hit throughout each session.

As someone who has long loved the nectar-collector, straw-style pipes for doing dabs, I enjoyed the ease of loading up the chamber and the operation is intuitive. Also, who doesn’t like a Sherlock Holmes-style pipe?

One of the biggest drawbacks for the Puffco Proxy—and what I’ve found is the case with many of the premium portable vaporizers out there—is that the battery life isn’t amazing. Its battery life is plenty and more for one or two users to be happy throughout the day—about 15 sessions at the recommended green heat level—but if you like higher temperatures or sharing with a group, you might find yourself looking for a charger sooner than you’d like. Luckily, though, it uses the increasingly popular—and resilient—USB-C connector for charging, so it’s at least future proof.

What I particularly like about the Puffco Proxy is the promise of being a customizable platform. The Proxy itself isn’t wedded to the Sherlock pipe that it comes with and can be easily removed and slotted into just about anything else that has the right size. Puffco currently sells a few of its own alternatives, but I could see it garnering attention from custom glass blowers and third-party companies.

But about that price tag. At $300, it’s the premium of the premium and is really meant for the most dedicated of concentrate consumers. If you’ve looking at just trying out concentrates, I’d still recommend a nectar collector straw or one of the electric nectar collectors—like the Lookah Seahorse, which can be bought for between $50 and $100 depending on the model. But if you’re looking for the best of the best experience and money is no problem, then the Puffco Proxy is a great investment.

A, $300 at Uncle Herb’s