Vapman and Lotus are betting there’s still room for flame, ritual, and manual control in a category dominated by chargers and buttons.
Cannabis hardware has spent years chasing the same promise: less friction, more convenience. Faster heat-up times, tighter temperature control, sleeker interfaces, USB-C charging, app integration, disposable everything.
And yet, a different kind of device has managed to survive that entire wave without adapting to it.
No batteries. No screens. No software updates. Just wood, metal, heat, and the simple fact that the user has to pay attention.
That is part of what makes Vapman and Lotus interesting. Not because they are new, and not because they are trying to out-tech the rest of the category. Quite the opposite. Their relevance comes from the fact that in a market increasingly built around speed and automation, they still ask something of the person using them.
The broader cannabis hardware market has moved toward predictability. Press a button, get a result. Charge the device, dial in a setting, repeat. For a lot of consumers, that is exactly the point. It is easier, cleaner, more consistent, and often more portable. That model won for a reason.
But it also reshaped the relationship between the user and the ritual. What used to involve touch, timing, and familiarity became increasingly abstracted. The device took over more of the experience. In many cases, that was progress. In others, it meant losing some of what made consumption feel personal in the first place.
That is where manual vaporizers still have a pulse.
Vapman dates back to Switzerland, where it was originally developed in the early 2000s by inventor René Balli. Lotus came out of California with a different design philosophy but a similar devotion to flame-powered vaporization. Today, both sit under the Italy-based INHALE umbrella, …
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Author: High Times / High Times
