I also own a herbalAire and I find that the loss of vapor issue without the valve isn't much of an issue as long as you're quick with a finger to cover it. It was a cheeper buy then then the Volcano and has done the trick. I also got a free vaporgeenie to give to my boyfriend for Christmas, he loves the thing.

The only drawbacks I have found for the HerbalAire are the slower pump and durability of the bag. We compensate for the pump by using two bags. We fill one bag, then as you're hitting it fill the other, as long as someone experienced can watch it you should be fine. The bags we had started to tear a little and loose the vapor so then we resorted to the direct pulling option and found it to be quite pleasant. I have heard of people adapting the Volcano bag to the HerbalAire mouthpiece but I'm wondering if I can just find something better to use that wont break down with a little bit of rougher use, it's not like they're overly expensive to replace.

We like the direct pull option because we hook up a spare pump hose to the mouthpiece and pull on it like it's a small hooka, pass it around, get's everyone fucked up.