Hoberto Serrano of Hobo Customs is quickly becoming one of the major powerhouses of the vaping world. Not only has he now made 3 generations of the famous Hobo RDA, he also designed and produced one of the hottest Mods around, the HoBo-X DNA 200. Well Hoberto hasn’t rested on his laurels, instead secretly while still producing and fulfilling HoBo-X orders he found time for this absolute gem, the Hobo Drifter RDA. Some think of it as the Hobo RDA v4 but it is so much more than that…
It’s design thinking like this that makes you stop and wonder why it was never thought of or done before. From the outside it looks like a simple (but very beautiful) side airflow RDA, but the magic is on the inside (much like the NarDA). Hobo made a very simple yet extremely effective modification to the airflow design. The inner airflow slots are low and ramp up on a 45° angle, sitting the coil just above the top of the ramp allows for the coil to be hit from the side and the bottom simultaneously. This is the magic that produces some incredible flavour. Along with this unique airflow, Hobo has borrowed a little from the Snap Dragon RDA and designed the posts to be a clamp style that makes building a snap but also frees up space for larger coils in a smaller deck area. This basically reduces the chamber or really fills it with more coil and more cotton which just intensifies the whole equation. I will cut to the chase, this is a must own atty! There is nothing else like it on the market (although many are comparing it to the M-Atty, we have yet to review it, so we can’t comment yet). One little note, the finish is pretty delicate for 316, we had a little drop of the top cap on hardwood and it left a slight scuff, so be careful.
Yeah it’s $70 USD, so it’s not cheap. But the quality and value based on the quality of Vape, Flavour and Fit & Finish make it worth every penny. If you haven’t bought an authentic yet, this is the one to buy. It’s 316 Stainless Steel (the best), has incredibly accurate o-ring tolerances, comes with plenty of spares and a high quality allen key. But really it’s all about the design, it’s beautiful in its simplicity and functions so very well. It really is the perfect RDA right now, the perfect mix of form and function.
Building is extremely easy and satisfying thanks to the clamp style posts. Let’s be clear here though, Hobo didn’t just borrow the clamp design, they improved it. Simply secure your center post wire leads first and then angle your negative leads on a 45° angle so they clamp under the outer posts. It’s another beautiful bit of design, it basically auto centers your coils and gets the negative leads out of the way to make wicking easier to accomplish. You might fuss for the very first build, but after that you will wish all RDAs had decks like this. Another perk in the design is an anti-spin rounded rectangular center post. Our favourite build- 24awg, dual, 5 wrap, 3mm, spaced coils coming in at 0.2-0.25Ohms run at 53-60W. Warm, luscious vapor, oh so flavourful, heaven. Oh and another design perk, she pumps out the vapor, vapor production is very good, dense and lots of volume. Quick note, place your coils right to the very edge of the top of the ramp and about 1-1.5mm above it, this will give you the best chance of getting the airflow to envelope the coils.
Airflow is very good, accurate, and smooth. Wide open its almost a full lung hit, and still with plenty of flavour, but shut her down 1/3 to 1/2 and it’s flavour zone! A nice restricted lung hit with warmth, volume and flavour. The flavour is also very acute, you will be able to taste when the second your coils scream for more juice. The AFC is versatile, you can get a mouth-lung hit you are after, just up those ohms a bit. One little con, but not really, is that the airflow ramps direct the vapor down towards the top of your mod, so you will notice some condensation build up on the top of your mod (more than usual). It’s a little messy and you will find yourself wiping the top of your mod more than usual, but it’s more than a fair trade for the performance and flavour you get.
Wicking is a joy! Leave more length on your wick leads than you think, about 3-4mm past the deck, stuff them down and use a tool to get them sitting nicely to the edges of the juice well. You want air to be able to pass through the center of the juice well and up into your mouth. The juice wells are deep, we easily get 20+ drops in there. You get 10 or so glorious and long pulls between redrips.
The design is just so beautiful, so thoughtful, so perfect! You can drip through the included wide bore drip tip but you will find yourself pulling the top cap just so you can admire the craftsmanship. The Hobo Drifter has quickly become our absolute favourite RDA. They are easy to get too! Hobo Customs updates their inventory regularly on their newly designed website (it’s better). Every weekend seems to be the timeframe, so keep an eye out. They will also be hitting BMs later this month. This is an atty that needs to be experienced by all, even if you don’t like drippers, suck it up and get one. If you are a new vaper, buy one too, it’s easy to build and the flavour will have you looking for a replacement for a very long time. That’s it, it’s worth every penny. We give the closest we can to perfect, if it cost a little bit less it would be more than perfect. There really are no flaws or cons, stop reading this and go buy it!
Nice detailed review! Would you rank this personally higher than the narda or the snappy?
Hey Tony,
Yeah, we would. If you like warm, dual coil builds, this is the atty! But if you like cooler vapes you may still dig a NarDA or Snap Dragon over it. For us it’s in our top 3, Hobo Drifter, Vaponaute Le Magister, and a tie between the NarDA & Snappy (so really top 4). The Drifter is also the easiest to build of the bunch.
Awesome Ryan! Keep up the great blog.
Will this rock if I put dual fused claptons (0.18–0.21) and push em up to 90W? Will it still deliver the flavor?
Hey Reyhan,
Fused Claptons will fit for sure, 90W might be pushing the temperature envelope, would be a pretty hot vape. Maybe throw something in about a 0.4 build instead (smaller awg claptons) and 2.5mm instead of 3mm, it would not be nearly as hot (run around 50-60W). The Drifter is a pretty condensed atty, but hey bro, if that’s your think go for it.
In your opinion, which have the better flavour between hobo drifter and M-Atty? I’m a single coil person.
Hey Sheldon,
Both attys need accessories to run a proper single coil build (reducer for the m-atty and a single airflow top cap for the drifter). That said the m-atty wins out but finding a reducer is a tall order (rare). You may want to consider a Hobo 3 or 3.1 if you are only into single coils, it’s a awesome atty that can be found new or used easily and has movable posts to give you a wide variety of single coil options.
How about dual coil? Still M-Atty better than drifter?
It’s a close call, The Drifter, Hobo 3/3.1, and The M-Atty are all great with dual coil builds. It comes down to personal preferences (size, airflow, aesthetics, build deck, etc…).
Ever tried Ziggs RDA by Advken, they also has angled airflow slot. The difference is only at the shape of airflow hole and for the deck they use dual post design rather than three post and four hole like hobo drifter. Hope you can get this one for comparison, the price is really cheap for an authentic.
Hey Suro,
The Ziggs look similar to both the Drifter and Yuri RDAs. It should have similar performance. The AFC design (the dual inlets) makes it something we have no interest in. We look for more versatility in an AFC.
Bro,try the Typhon RDA and give a review, it is a new Atty from Malaysia.
Where can i buy one? The links above are orphaned 🙁
Flavor is muted on my recent builds, dual spaced SS coils, dual 24g kA1 7loops contact coils, single 24g kA1, single spaced SS, all 3mm in diameter. Would you suggest some builds for me to try? Thanks mate!
Hey Paulo,
Sounds like you are heading in the right direction. I would try downsizing your coils to 2.5mm ID and make sure the center of your coil is aligned with the top of the AFC ramps. Also have them sit a couple of mm above the ramps. Don’t build lower than 0.2 Ohms with around a 0.4 being pretty perfect. Hope this helps!
I try with khantal 24awg, dia 3, 5 wrap spaced, mute flavour, only much vapor
Maybe something wrong with me?
Hey Aan,
2.5mm ID coils do better in the Drifter. It’s all about getting your coil in the proper position to have the AFC ramps hitting the middle of the bottom of the coil. Look at our build picks. If you are still having trouble send us a pic of your build and we’ll see what we can do from there… Vape on!
Thx for your quick respone sir
I try your suggest and the flavour great.
Can you review about govad and druga rda sir?