Royal Hunter RDA & Kindred II Review

The Royal Hunter RDA and Kindred II mechanical mod are made by The Council of Vapor, the same modder responsible for the Aris RDA, and the Typhoon RTA that I recently reviewed.

The Royal Hunter RDA has been marketed as a champion cloud chasing and flavor chasing atomizer featuring a high flow wide bore drip tip, and adjustable air flow. The Kindred II mechanical mod is a single tube 18650 with a magnetic switch and silver plated contacts, and it is available in stainless steel wrapped copper, or a full copper construction.

The Royal Hunter RDA and Kindred II mechanical mod featured in this review were provided by The Council of Vapor for the purpose of this product review. The Royal Hunter RDA retails for $39.99-$50.00 USD, and the Kindred II retails for $74.95-$90.00 USD at select online retailers.

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Where to buy the Royal Hunter RDA:

Where to buy the Kindred II mod:

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The Royal Hunter RDA is presented in a clear plastic clamshell style gift box, while the Kindred II comes in a branded black velvet pouch.

RH and Kindred collage 1

ROYAL HUNTER RDA SPECIFICATIONS:

  • Brand: The Council of Vapor
  • Type: rebuildable dripping atomizer
  • Material: stainless steel
  • Connection threading: 510
  • Diameter: 22mm
  • Height: 24mm
  • Weight: 31 grams

KINDRED II SPECIFICATIONS:

  • Type: mechanical mod
  • Material: stainless steel wrapped copper
  • Connection threading: 510 (adjustable)
  • Diameter: 22mm
  • Height: N/A
  • Weight: 110 grams

BUILD QUALITY/ROYAL HUNTER

My initial impression of the Royal Hunter RDA is that it is one of the classiest looking “cloud chaser” style drippers on the market right now. The simplicity of the country club style font combined with the clean line of the body, and the relative proportions of the high flow drip tip do make for an attractive aesthetic in my opinion. The Royal Hunter is available in stainless steel, or matte black and gold.

I am not usually a fan of high flow style drip tips because I find them too large to feel comfortable in the mouth. However, for what it is, I feel like COV did a good job in designing this drip tip from a standpoint of form and function. The Council of Vapor and 4 digit serial number is printed on the bottom of the atomizer. It doesn’t feel laser etched or engraved, and I get the sense that much of the print will rub off or fade overtime. The 510 pin is silver plated however, I cannot find any specs which indicate the pin is plated brass or copper.

The Royal Hunter has graduated vertical air flow holes on both sides of the atomizer, and is set up for single, dual, or quad coil configurations.

RH and Kindred collage 2

The Royal Hunter RDA breaks down into four parts which are the base/deck, body sleeve, top cap/AFC, and the drip tip. The machining and fitment of the individual parts is very good as all of the parts fit properly. The top cap/AFC has three air flow cut outs around it, one for single coil set ups, and two for dual/quad coils.

The Royal Hunter also comes with a black delrin 510 drip tip adapter so that you can use other 510 drip tips with this RDA, so I was happy to see this little bugger in the package.

RH and Kindred collage 3

The high flow drip tip has several holes drilled into the bottom of it, which is supposed to act as a sort of filter while vaping .. I guess to prevent splashback? I was worried that that Royal Hunter might lose some of its style without the complimentary high flow DT, but I think the atty looks just as good with the 510 DT adapter. It reminds of the Plumeveil minus the excessive body engravings.

RH and Kindred collage 4

BUILDING THE ROYAL HUNTER

The build deck is constructed with a “T” style positive post, and the negative posts are milled into the deck. The post holes are spec’d to handle 20+ gauge wire, and appear to be approx. 2.5mm in size. The catch screws are phillips head grub screws. The drip well appears to be nice and deep at around 4mm.

The 510 pin is what I would consider long, and I was actually pleased about that because that makes this atty a good candidate to use in hybrid mode with direct battery contact. At this point I was happy with the design and construction of the Royal Hunter RDA.

RH and Kindred collage 5

But then I discovered a defect that sent things a little downhill for me. I wrapped two coils with 26gauge Kanthal/2.5mm rod with the intentions of ending up with a .7 ohms dual coil build. Then as I was ready to install the 2nd coil, I could not unscrew one of the grubs in one of my negative posts. I proceeded to exhaust over an hour of time trying to get the screw out (freezing, hot water, different screwdrivers), and with no success — bummer.

So I ended up only using one of the coils that I built with a 1.5 ohm result, which is not the build that I intended. The truth is that I could have worked around this by using the same positive and negative for both coils however, after over an hour of fighting with that one screw, not to mention the time already spent photographing and setting up, I was OVER IT!

1.5 ohm single coil it is! I’ll talk about how it vaped a little later.

RH and Kindred collage 6

BUILD QUALITY/KINDRED II

I was really looking forward to this mechanical mod for one reason — stainless steel wrapped copper! :) Being a huge fan of this design principal since the Stingray X by JD Tech, I was happy to see it again here with the Kindred II.

The Kindred II is a single 18650 mechanical mod. There are laser printed logos on both sides of the body, as well as on the bottom of the switch. The aesthetic is clean, and simple, yet it is still attractive.

RH and Kindred collage 7

The Kindred II breaks down into 3 basic parts, the switch, 18650 battery tube, and the top cap. The threads on the switch, tube and top cap are all clean, and buttery smooth. In spite of that there are some minor issues with the joints between the battery tube and top cap, which I will elaborate on later.

The stainless steel outer tube, and copper inner tube appear to be welded together, and construction of the battery tube feels solid.

RH and Kindred collage 8

The top cap and switch are also constructed from stainless steel wrapped copper. Being that the threads are copper you will want to take care when installing and removing your caps. The thread pitch is not super fine, and it does appear to be larger than .5mm, but are definitely not 1.0mm.

The top cap uses silver plated dual adjusting contacts, with the lower contact being for battery contact/rattle, and the upper contact makes connection with your atomizer. At first glance the contacts appear to be solid however, there is an issue with the adjustable contacts that I will talk more about in performance section.

The switch is magnetic, and not quite recessed on the bottom. While I cannot clearly see any vent holes in the switch, I did blow through it and could feel an adequate amount of air passing through the bottom. The locking ring is reverse threaded however, it is not as smooth out of the box as I would like it. The locking ring is not crunchy, but it feels like some metal to metal friction when I engage/disengage it. But I feel this could be improved with a little lube under the locking ring.

RH and Kindred collage 9

PERFORMANCE

When I went to set up the Royal Hunter RDA with the Kindred II mechanical mod I ran into an issue with the top caps adjustable pins. The 510 pin on the Royal Hunter is a long one, so naturally I unscrewed the top cap pin by a reasonable amount so that I could mount the Royal Hunter. However, when I tried to flush up the Royal Hunter with the top cap, the adjustable pins popped out :( .. Sigh

Any attempt to reinstall the adjustable pins while the Royal Hunter is flush mounted is a FAIL because I cannot catch the thread while the Royal Hunter is flush mounted. How did Council of Vapor let this happen? The only way for the adjustable pins to catch inside of the top cap is if I back off the Royal Hunter and allow there to be a cap between the atomizer and top cap. The resulting gap is not that bad at only .5mm, but still. To have an atty and mod made by the same designer, yet are barely compatible with one another is not .. that impressive. One would think that these two pieces would fit like a glove, as though they were made for each other since they were designed by the same company.

Another minor issue is that the top cap is slightly off center with the tube, so there is a little over and under hang on both sides of the tube. This slightly disrupts what would have been a near seamless appearance between the tube and caps.

RH and Kindred collage 10

So now that I have covered some of the flaws and negatives of this set up, let’s talk about what is good about it.

The magnetic switch feel/action is nice and easy, and the throw doesn’t feel like more than a .5mm press when I set it up with a Samsung 25-R, and the Royal Hunter RDA. However, keep in mind that the switch throw is partially determined by the length of your battery, and atomizer 510 pin.

The Kindred II does not fire under its own weight when standing unlocked, and with an atomizer attached. It does have some wobble to it when first placed down unlocked, but it is not bobble head level wobbling.

Even though I did not have the build that I really wanted in the Royal Hunter RDA, the flavor produced was still what I would rate as good. Being that the chamber is not super reduced, I reckon that the flavor production would be even better than what I experienced with a dual coil build. I like the AFC because adjusting it is easy, and I did not find that the AFC moved easily off its setting.

When compared in size to my other 18650 set ups ( authentic GP Paps V3/Quasar, and MMV Nanos/OverOne), the Royal Hunter/Kindred II combo is tallest of them, and I do prefer my 18650s’ set ups to be as small as possible. However, once set up the Royal Hunter/Kindred II handles very nicely, in spite of the flaws that I mentioned earlier.

The voltage drop of the Kindred II is fantastic. When measured with a semi fresh Samsung 25-R at 4.12V, the voltage drop under a 1.5 ohm load was only .09v which is excellent. So the low voltage drop in combination with the flavor/vapor production of the Royal Hunter, and nice switch feel of the Kindred II, in the end made for a good vape.

RH and Kindred collage 11

OVERALL

I really thought that I was going to love this set up. While I am not a cloud chaser, if I were looking for a cloud chasing set up this would be the one I would choose on the strength of its aesthetic and material/construction values. However, due to the slightly flawed execution of the Kindred’s adjustable contact pins, and the defective negative post screw of the Royal Hunter, in the end this was a set up that I merely liked.

I believe that if these flaws were not present then I would have been near raving about this set up. The thought and intention behind the design of the Royal Hunter and Kindred II are very good, but this set up fell a little short in its execution and quality control which I feel should be higher at this price point.

I appreciate The Council of Vapors strive and mission to create original designs at a more reasonable price point. I think they are a modding outfit with a lot of potential. However, being more affordable does not translate into cheap as this whole set up will still run you between $110-140.00usd. That being the case, The Council of Vapor needs to step up their execution and quality control to a level that “exceeds” top China clone quality. In my opinion they are presently meeting eye to eye.

RH and Kindred final photo

PROS

  • ​Attractive aesthetic
  • check
    ​Multi coil configurations (Royal Hunter)
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    Adjustable air flow (Royal Hunter)
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    Reverse threaded locking ring (Kindered II)
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    Magnetic switch (Kindred II)
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    Smooth threading (top cap/switch Kindered II)
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    Doesn’t fire under its own weight (Kindred II)
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    Low voltage drop (Kindred II)

CONS

  • ​Flawed execution of the adjustable top cap
  • ​Flawed negative post screw
  • Exclamation Triangle
    Top cap slightly out of alignment with battery tube

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Where to buy the Royal Hunter RDA:

Where to buy the Kindred II mod:

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13 thoughts on “Royal Hunter RDA & Kindred II Review”

    1. Thank you very much William. :) I hope that you continue to find the content here on vaping cheap to be useful to you. Have a great week!

  1. Thanks for the review, you did a nice job. That royal hunter RDA definitely has my interest.

  2. Aaron Delavwrgne

    I just got notified by us posto office my royal Hunter I arriving shortly . I’ve got royal wires 20 awe in the package and I’m mounting the RH on an authentic AV skyline m 1 so today should be very cloudy indeed. Thank for the review.

  3. I’m loving my royal hunter with dual coils at .6ohm at 40 watts on my godbox180 its an all day vape 80watts it gets hot but manageable at 180 its like sucking on a blow torch but lol most attys are super hot at that power. Thanx for your review it helped influence me to get this awesome royal hunter that I’m happy to say has no defects

  4. I have a royal hunter now and had no problems you stated other than the terrible screws it has. Do you have any idea what size they are or where i can get better substitute screws? I need screws that fit but i can also screw in normally.

    1. No I don’t .. I would suggest contacting Council of Vapor directly, you can reach them on FB, they usually answer pm’s.

  5. I thing they have made a few changes since you wrote this review. I have had my Royal Hunter now for at least a month and the screw use a allen key instead of a philips (comes with it). As far as the Kindred II goes, mine just came in today. I have the same issues you talk about with the locking ring but I was easily able to get that flush look you where talking about with the post screws. Anyways great review and very informative.

  6. I have the royal hunter on a bully box mod, at times the vents line up to the side which is perfect other times it lines up towards the button (hand) how can I ensure the vents always line up to the side and away from the hand area

  7. Michael Quinones

    I love the way the royal hunter looks on my snowolf 200w box. It performs great but after 3 hits running at 150w the drip tip gets to hot you can’t Vape unless you run it under cold water or let it sit. I love the RDA but I had to go back to my troll beacuse of it. If anyone knows someone who makes custom chuff caps for the royal hunter let me know please!

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