A Brief History of Storz & Bickel
How Storz & Bickel Came To Be
Whether you’re a vapeconnoisseur or just a dabbler, you’ll no doubt recognize the name Storz & Bickel as one of the industry’s finest and most well-respected brands, bringing innovative vaporizers to the market that always exceed expectations.
This team represents the duo behind the famous Volcano vaping system and the Crafty & Mighty handheld vaping devices. But have you ever wondered about the story behind one of the most powerful partnerships in the vaping world?
How did a company founded by a graphic designer at the turn of the millennium become regarded as the most well-respected manufacturer of medical-grade vaporizers on the planet?
Read on to find out more about how this company rose to the ranks and why you too should give serious consideration to adding one of their models to your lineup of smoking devices.
How It All Began
Coming from humble beginnings, graphic designer Markus Storz began working on herbal vaporizers all the way back in 1996 if you can believe that. Well before “vaping” rose to the level of popularity it has achieved today.
After years of in-depth research, testing and development, the VOLCANO patent for the detachable balloon was registered and granted in 1999. Storz released his trademark Volcano Vaporizer in the year 2000. The removable balloon provided users with freedom of movement and ‘an application independent of the VOLCANO. The easy-valve balloon was (and still is) food-safe, heat-proof and odor-free. The advantage of the balloon was that the easy valve design made inhalation especially comfortable for the user.
The VOLCANO VAPORIZER
The Volcano vaporizer was a powerful and robust creation. It was by all accounts the first good, full-fledged herbal vaporizer and its innovative design and sleek look made waves when it entered the market. The Volcano was a desktop vaporizer with full hot air convection heating and the patented removable valve balloon system enabled inhalation with almost no draw resistance. Other advantages of the Volcano model included its large LED display and ease of use.
The VOLCANO impressed experts and it quickly advanced to become the ‘gold standard’, and the preferred vaporizer for studies, which it still is today.
Demand for the VOLCANO was growing and Storz’ company grew with it. In 2002 Jurgen Bickel joined the company as a partner and STORZ & BICKEL GmbH & Co. KG was officially founded.
Breaking Into America
In 2003 Storz & Bickel began to target the US market as a new and exciting demographic of vaporizing herb smokers began to flourish. Within two short years they succeeded. The release of their 110V Volcano in the US helped the company to establish a presence which grew quickly and in 2005, such was their popularity in America that they founded the subsidiary ‘Storz & Bickel America’ in Oakland, CA.
Going Electric
Not content with this, and with demand still growing, Storz & Bickel built the first factory for the manufacture of medical her Going Electric.
In 2007 Storz & Bickel released their first electronically controlled vaporizer, the Volcano Digit. In 2009 the company received a certification which guaranteed the safety of their products. This was a very important moment for the company. This certification for a quality management system according to ISO 9001 and 13485 thereby fulfilled the essential requirement for the manufacture of medical devices and made Storz & Bickel official manufacturers of medical-grade vaporizers.
The VOLCANO MEDIC
Storz & Bickel subsequently released the world’s first ever medical herbal vaporizer, the VOLCANO MEDIC. The vaporizer is certified and put into circulation in 2010. The VOLCANO MEDIC is distributed in Europe, Canada and Israel under the brand name VAPORMED.
The Plenty Vaporizer
In 2011 the company releases the Plenty Vaporizer. The Plenty Vaporizer was yet another of Storz & Bickel’s boundary-pushing innovations. The powerful and efficient heating, and cooling power of the Plenty, combined with the extra wide filling chamber offered a superior flavor experience for the user. It was the first vaporizer designed to use an international patented combination of air and radiation heat and is still one of the most popular handheld vapes on the market today.
The CRAFTY & MIGHTY
Having become the leading manufacturer of the tabletop vaporizer, Storz & Bickel turned their attention to the handheld variety. In 2014, the company released its first ever battery-powered models, the CRAFTY & MIGHTY. These were the most powerful vaporizers of their kind in the world and offered great pocket-sized performance. Not only this, but they were the world’s first vaporizers to contain a vibration alarm and a cooling unit.
The CRAFTY & MIGHTY were also equipped with a handy flappable mouthpiece and could be controlled with a smartphone using Bluetooth. These portable and highly efficient devices used a patented combination of full hot air convection heating, with additional conduction. This ensured efficient vaporization from the very first draw. They also offered a long battery life, containing two lithium-ion batteries to and a plug-in option to enable use any time of the day, even when the batteries run out.
The MIGHTY MEDIC
In 2015, Storz & Bickel followed this release up with another battery-powered handheld vaporizer, the MIGHTY MEDIC. The first ever battery-operated medical Cannabis Inhaler, the MIGHTY MEDIC was easy to operate using the plus and minus buttons and a very simple user-friendly LED display. The MIGHTY MEDIC is certified and put into circulation in 2015 making Storz & Bickel the only company in the world to produce a medical-grade herbal vaporizer.
Storz & Bickel – a brand worth checking out
And there you have it. The history of Storz & Bickel is an inspiring one, rising from a small startup with high hopes to one of the industry’s most highly acclaimed makers of vaporizers. A company that is truly leading the way in innovation for vaporizer technology. For those that have not yet added one of their impressive devices to their stash, now is as good of a time as any to take a look and find out why so many vapers recommend their products.
