One of the latest offerings from Wu Tang House of Mods — one of my favorite Filipino modders — is the El Sigilo. This mechanical mod features a unique design and fantastic aesthetics. The standard model available in brass and stainless steel, as well as a torched steel “special edition” covered in this review. It’s also available in copper, but with zodiac sign aesthetics rather than Filipino-style engravings. All models come with 18650 and 18350 tubes. The El Sigilio ships in a treasure chest that contains the mod, as well as tools for unscrewing the caps.
While I was enamored by the El Sigilo’s aesthetics and admired the minimalistic design, there were a few aspects of the mod that could have been a little bit better. Here’s the breakdown.
Design and Ergonomics: The most unique aspect of the El Sigilo is its physical design. Instead of using end caps that screw onto the main tube, this mod uses end caps that screw into the main tube. This gives the El Sigilo a wonderfully minimalistic look and makes it shorter than most competing mods. While I found it easy to manage the caps with my fingernails, Wu Tang House of Mods includes two sets of clips for unscrewing the caps.
The main tube features Baybayin engravings, while the special edition has an additional set of engravings on the opposite side (check the video for details). For those of you not familiar with Baybayin, it was the primary script used in the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization.
The El Sigilo’s button has a medium feel and throw. As someone that likes a short throw and light feel, I liked this mod’s button action, but didn’t love it. That said, I think that most vapers will be satisfied with the button feel.
With its uniquely Filipino aesthetics and minimalist, I love the way this mod looks. The physical design also keeps the mod shorter than most, whether you’re rocking 18650 or 18350. Wu Tang House of Modz knocked it out of the park with the El Sigilo, as far as design goes.
Build Quality and Construction: The build quality of the El Sigilo is very good, but a tad shy of great. On the outside, everything looks wonderful, with smooth lines and excellent engravings. On the inside, things could have been a little bit better. The threads on the caps and tubes feel smooth, but there are some visible burrs. Some vapers won’t mind that at all, but those that place a premium on impeccable build quality and top-notch performance might have an issue with the machining.
Performance: For a stainless steel mod, the El Sigilo is a strong performer. The silver-plated contacts and brass caps help conductivity. However, there are a few factors that prevent this mod from being an outstanding performer. Obviously stainless steel isn’t as conductive as brass or copper, but the (slight) performance issues go beyond that. As I mentioned before, the threads are good, but not great. Finely machined threads with high tolerances are an important aspect of maximizing conductivity.
If you like the El Sigilo’s design and want top performance then you should go with the brass or copper models over the stainless steel or torched steel models. Even then, there are a number of mods out there with better machining that translates to better performance.
Verdict: The El Sigilo is another hit from Wu Tang House of Modz. As a Filipino-American, I absolutely love the way the mod looks. I’m a fan of minimalistic mods and the El Sigilo can certainly be classified as such. The baybayin engraving is awesome and looks especially sweet on torched steel. As far as aesthetics go, this is easily my favorite-looking mod in my collection.
Having said that, there are a few things that prevent it from being my favorite overall mod. The performance is very good for a stainless steel mod, but the El Sigilo doesn’t hit as hard as various brass and copper mods I’ve used. The workmanship is also very good, but not quite great. Certainly Wu Tang is competitive with the majority of mod makers out there, but companies like Vapour Art, Super-T Manufacturing, and others are in another league.
I’m happy to own the El Sigilo from Wu Tang House of Modz. Looking at it always makes me happy and it always gets a fair amount of attention when I bring it to vape shops. Aesthetically, I adore it, but I just wish that the threads were perfectly smooth and that it hit a bit harder.
