Chris 'majorvapes' SissonIt’s not often I get a chance to review a piece of hardware made by a Canadian manufacturer but recently I was presented with an opportunity to do just that. I’m talking about the Gata RTA from QP Design, founded by Phillipe Quenville of P. Quenville fame a line of incredible liquids that years later are still among my top all time favs. One of their latest hardware releases is called the Gata, a multi-purpose RTA that’s been designed with the same care and experience of past QP Design releases ie. the Juggernaut, Fatality and Kali. This latest release has been getting plenty of positive attention and after using one for a couple of weeks I can easily see why. I got this one from Carrack Vape out of Concord Ontario. Here are my honest thoughts on the Gata RTA by QP Design.
Package contents:
| 1 x | Gata base/postless deck |
|---|---|
| 2 x | Tanks(1 clear v2 2ml PMMA, 1 4ml glass) |
| 2 x | Drip tips (1 mtl, 1 dl) |
| 2 x | Airflow rings(1 mtl, 1dl) |
| 1 x | Airflow insert |
| 2 x | Spare grubs screws |
| 1 x | Philips screwdriver |
| 1 x | Allen wrench |
| 1 x | Full set of O-rings |
| 1 x | QP Design Vape band |
| 2 x | Authenticity card |
Listed features and specs:
| Dimensions: | 24mm |
|---|---|
| Capacity: | 2/4ml(PMMA/Glass) |
| Airflow hole size: | 0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm |
Packaging and contents:
The kit comes packed in a dark coloured cardboard box with the name of the RTA and company scrawled across the front in big bold lettering. On the back it lists both the contents and features in a single list as well shows the various social media links for the company. In the kit you get the Gata RTA single coil postless deck, a 4ml glass and metal tank, a 2ml bell cap style clear plastic tank, two drip tips to match the two tanks, two different airflow rings and a bag of accessories. In the accessories bag you get a full set of o-rings, a philips head screwdriver, an allen wrench, a replacement set of grub screws, a QP Design vape band and an air reducer insert. It’s an incredibly well stocked kit but noticeably absent are any kind of coils or cotton so you’ll have to source your own before getting going on this thing.
The RTA:
The Gata RTA is the king when it comes to customization. With what’s included in the kit you can basically run it as either a mouth to lung rta or a direct lung rta with a few different options when it comes to the tank and the airflow. You’ve basically got the option of a 4ml glass tank that comes with a half-twist easy off top fill cap or a 2ml clear plastic bell cap sort of tank that’s bottom fill. With either tank you also have the option of using the mtl airflow control ring which has three progressively bigger holes from 0.5mm, 1mm to 1.5mm or the DL airflow ring with cyclops style slot which is more meant for direct lung vaping. The glass tank comes with a wide bore 510 drip tip installed whereas the plastic tank comes with a much narrower tapered mtl style 510 tip. On top of the tank and airflow control ring options you also have the choice of using the included 1.5mm airflow reducers which gets plugged in directly to the airflow hole on the deck. Fair warning the insert is made of ultem but you are still advised to remove it while building or dry firing to avoid melting it. So far I’ve been careful and it’s not melted or deformed in anyway. Also if you’re using the clear plastic tank it’s advised to avoid acidic and menthol liquids as it may potentially crack the tank.
Build, wick and Performance:
Now the deck on this thing will feel somewhat familiar to anyone who’s ever used a postless deck before and it works pretty much the same as most others with the post screws screwing in from the sides. Two decent sized post holes should let you pop in either a beefy direct lung build or a diminutive mtl type build. If you’re using it in MTL mode I’d highly recommend using the included reducer as it really helps tighten up the draw for mouth to lung hits. The deck also has a slight concave shape to it and on either side it has some very ample wick holes for stuffing full of cotton. For me personally building on postless decks is really straightforward and is just a matter of pre-trimming your leads, popping in your coils, tightening your grubs and working things out. With those cutout wick holes wicking it is equally straightforward and as usual I tend to cut my wicks on a slight angle and just tuck the rest in to the wells.
On my first build I started with a modest fused clapton 2×30/40g ni80 which came out to around 1ohm which I ran around 18W in an mtl configuration. Flavour was perfect and with the airflow control set to the second 1mm hole the draw was also perfect. It gave a nice mtl hit that wasn’t too tight and not too loose. After a week or so I swapped out the tank, airflow ring and the build to one better suited to direct lung with another fused clapton 2×28/40g ni80 which came out to 0.4ohm which I ran at about 40W. Keeping the cyclops style slot about a third of the way open and with the reducer removed it gave a nice slightly restricted direct lung hit just how I like it. Flavour and vapour production will always depend on your ability to build and wick but with this little tank the options are nearly endless.
Overall:
In the few weeks that I’ve had the Gata I’ve quickly fallen in love. Normally with these dual purpose atties they tend to fall a bit short in one regard or another but with the Gata I’ve got to say it manages both mtl and dl rather well thanks to the various accessories it includes. Even the couple of cons I listed really aren’t reflective of the Gata’s build quality, design or performance and are really more just simple warnings to users. It’s easy to work with and build on, the multiple options make it extremely versatile and with the build quality and styling it’s just an all-around amazing atomizer. This one easily took it’s place in my regular rotation and I wouldn’t have any problems recommending it to anyone who’s into building. Whether mtl or DL is your preference the Gata is one heck of an option!!