The Bagga Mod from Wu Tang

You may recall that when we reviewed the Pisces Mini a short time ago, we mentioned we had received a couple of Pinoy mods.  The second was the Bagga, built by Wu Tang. Our is #11 of a recent limited-edition run purchased through a Facebook group buy.

Limited Edition Bagga Mod with VaporWerks Stratus Atomizer

The Bagga is a brass mod from top to bottom.  The body and contacts are all solid brass, though we had the option of a gold-plated center pin, which we used in our test runs. This gives it an exceptional level of conductivity — the Bagga, in fact, has shown to have less voltage drop in our load tests than any mod we’ve tested so far, and it’s less by quite a respectable margin.

The brass doesn’t just add connectivity; it also really makes the Bagga stand out in a crowd. Ours arrived with a shiny mirror polish, though we don’t expect that to last long, given brass’s tendency to tarnish quickly.  We look forward to seeing how the Bagga looks once it’s had some time to build up a little patina.  The tubes are engraved with Wu Tang’s logo, a serial number, and “Philippine Pride,” written in the ancient Tagbanwa script used in the Philippine islands until the 17th century.

[Editor"s Note: At least we think that"s Tagbanwa.  If any of our readers would like to confirm that, or let us know we got it wrong, feel free.]

It comes with two tubes: one for an 18650 battery, and a second tube for use with an 18350. While we were somewhat disappointed that there is no 18500 tube available, Wu Tang has stated that there will be one for his next mod, which he has said will be named “El Capitan.”

The Bagga has a bottom-mounted button that is quite similar in appearance to the style of button used on the newer iHybrid models.  The cutouts around the button, however, are more decorative than functional, as they’re really too small to fit a finger through. However, the cutouts do allow the Bagga to stand on end without the button being pressed, which we find a lot more practical than the locking ring used on many other mods: it’s definitely nice not to have to keep locking and unlocking the button just to be able to put the mod down.

The Bagga was extremely well-received by the members of our group buy, who almost universally praised it for its workmanship and performance, though there were some complaints that the black etching on the mod rubs off too easily.

The Scores

Build Quality: 8/10

The Bagga is a very well-built mod.  It’s got a very good heft to it, and the threading is extremely smooth. The button works very well, and we have experienced no misfires after adjusting the springless bottom pin to fit our battery. The top pin also easily adjusts to allow the atomizer to sit flush with the mod.

Looks: 8/10

The Bagga is a very good-looking mod, with its gold-colored brass body and intricate script ecthing. Deep rings cut into the body add an element of depth, though we’re not sure how much we like the knurling used on some of the rings. While it seems to have been added to ease opening and closing the mod, it’s not really necessary and we think it detracts from the mod’s clean looks slightly.

Given what’s happened to other Baggas from the same group buy as ours, it seems likely the etching on ours won’t be around long, which is disappointing. The archaic script is a unique and beautiful feature of the Bagga.

Flexibility: 7/10

The adjustable top and bottom pins (the top pin available in a gold-plated version) and the inclusion of an 18350 tube with the mod both give the Bagga a bit of welcome extra functionality, not only allowing the atomizer to cleanly sit on top of the mod, but also giving the mod an extra little bit of throughput by allowing it to be adjusted for any battery type. We do like out 18500′s here, though, since they strike a good balance of size to battery life. We’re glad to hear Wu Tang’s considering such a tube for his next mod.

Performance: 10/10

The Bagga is the first mod we’ve reviewed to receive a 10 in our mechanical mod performance tests. No doubt facilitated by the its all-brass body and gold-plated center pin, the Bagga exhibited an astonishing 96% voltage retention rating under load, surpassing any other mod we’ve tested so far by a fairly wide margin.  While the contacts will certainly need frequent cleaning to maintain that level of performance, the throughput when they are clean is truly impressive.

Price: 9/10

We paid $115 for our Limited Edition Bagga mod, including shipping from the Philippines  which we find more than reasonable for a mod with its craftsmanship and level of performance. We simply cannot think of many mods at that price point or lower that could compete with it on a performance level.

It seems unlikely to us that you’ll be able to get one at the price we did, however. As this was a limited run, there will likely only be a very small number of Baggas to be found on the second-hand market, and we suspect word of their stellar performance will spread fast, and make these mods very sought after, on the rare occasion that one should become available.

Overall Score: 8.4

The Bagga Mod from Wu Tang