Hello, about 2 years ago a friend came over to help me out with cooking pork shoulders for a big party. He brought 3 Weber Mini Smokey Mountains(the hacked together tamale pot thing)and when he left that day he let me keep one. I allowed it to sit outside for the rest of the season and never touched it. Last April I decided to buy a couple racks, some Thermoworks dots, charcoal, and wood and start doing shoulders and chickens. I did that all last year and decided it was time to upgrade to a real WSM. So last month I bought the 14.5" WSM. And yeahhhhh I already sort of regret buying the smaller one but I haven't had much of a problem yet. I spent all last year lurking these forums and the VWB site for recipe ideas and general advice. Well, now I'm registered and here to stay.