Part Three… Vape with me!

Welcome to Part 3 of CannaSavvy’s guide to different smoking devices. If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, We browsed over many different devices that you use to smoke your flower and concentrates. From simple pipes, to elaborate dab rigs, you don’t want to miss out on this info!

In this issue, we will focus on different kinds of vaporizers for smoking flower and concentrates, 510 thread carts used for smoking THC distillates, and vaporizer batteries that come in different designs!

Let’s get Savvy.

What is Vaping?

Vaping is the process of heating up cannabis at a high enough temperature that will convert the active cannabinoids and terpenes into vapour. Most vaporizing devices are made to heat cannabis products just below the point of combustion. They heat cannabis flower, distillates or concentrates to a certain point which releases the cannabinoids and terpenes without igniting the plant material. Since the cannabis flower or concentrate is heated at a lower temperature and no smoke is involved, When smoking cannabis, you can burn off many of the terpenes and minor cannabinoids present in flower. Using a vaporizer can activate more of those compounds before the reach the point of combustion.

Vaping vs Smoking:

When smoking cannabis, you combust/burn your flower inside of your pipe or bong. You get the desired effects from the cannabinoids, and flavours from the terpenes, but you are also combusting and inhaling very hot pieces of debris that irritate the sensitive tissue in your lungs. As you should know, smoke is harmful to lung health. When burning cannabis, toxins and carcinogens are released from the combustion of the materials. Smoke from cannabis combustion has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens as tobacco smoke.

Vaporizers on the other hand, do not burn anything. Instead, they heat up THC-products until they’re hot enough to create a vapour. Your cannabis doesn’t get to the temperature which it starts to combust. Smoking vaporizers produces a light cloud of vapour instead of a thick cloud of smoke like from burning cannabis. When comparing these two ways inhaling your THC, vaporizers can feel much smoother on the lungs .

Different Ways to Vape

Types of Vaporizers :

Dry Herb Vaporizers for Flower

Dry herb vaporizers have a chamber or ovens where dried cannabis flower is placed inside. The cannabis is heated to the correct temperature so that it doesn’t burn. This reduces any tar or carcinogens that you may inhale compared to using a bong or pipe which combusts the cannabis. Many dry herb vaporizers include temperature settings that you can change to help the user control the amount of flavour and vapour that is inhaled.

Table Top Vaporizers

Some tabletop vaporizers (like the Volcano) use a bag to collect the vapour which is then detached and then inhaled after the vaporizer fills it up vapour. Others vaporizers use a long tube that is attached to the heating chamber which allows the vapour to move directly from the heating chamber to the user. Most tabletop vaporizers of this style are used to vaporize cannabis flower.

Portable Vaporizers

Portable vaporizers are smaller, discreet vaporizers that work similar to tabletop vaporizers except that they are hand held devices. Portable vaporizers are made up of a chamber (often called an oven) to hold the cannabis flower, a heating element, and a battery. Most hand held vaporizers have variable temperature controls that are operated with the click of a button or turn of a dial. This activates the battery, which heats the element and vaporizes the flower inside the chamber, and through the mouthpiece for inhalation. Portable vaporizers allow for easy and discreet use as the device is compact and the cannabis vapour creates a less potent aroma and visual smoke.

Vaporizers for Concentrates

Hybrid Vaporizers for Dry herb and Concentrates

When choosing a temperature on your vaporizer, a good guide to follow is Low temperatures for more flavour, High temperatures for more vapour production. Experiment with the setting so find what setting you prefer. To get better flavour use a lower temperature around 350 degrees F. This will not produce huge clouds of vapour unless you crank up the heat. A temperature of 380 degrees F and higher will produce a bigger cloud of smoke, but reduce the uniqueness of your strains flavour. If you set your vaporizer to the highest setting you could result in a toasty almost burnt flavour that can be an acquired taste for some.

Vape Pens ( 510 Thread Cartridges )

Distillates:

A cannabis distillate is a highly refined oil containing pure cannabinoids and almost nothing else. The upside to using distillates in vaporizer cartridges is that the oil can be produced from a range of starting materials. Virtually any hash oil variety from CO2 to BHO and everything in between can be purified into a distillate. The downside to using distillates in vaporizer cartridges is that because there are no residual terpenes left behind, there is nothing to cut the viscosity of the material. In order for distillate to be used for cartridges, a thinning agent of some kind is often required. It is advised to only purchase vape cartridges on the legal market because non lab tested cartridges found on the black market often include unhealthy cutting agents inside that are not safe for inhalation.

Full Spectrum Cartridges:

Full-spectrum extracts are concentrates that aim to capture as much of the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of the raw cannabis plant as possible. Full-spectrum cannabis extracts go through more gentle extraction processes, resulting in a concentrate that has the maximum amount of naturally occurring components of the cannabis plant, in addition to cannabinoids. This means that it will contain every bit of the terpenes, flavonoids, and essential oils that are native to that strain specific plant.

When extracted from a cannabis plant, full-spectrum products contain all the included cannabinoids like CBD, THC, CBDA, CBN, and CBC. A full spectrum product offers you a more holistic approach to experiencing vape cartridges compared to distillates with added botanical terpenes. When you see a cart labeled as Full spectrum, you know that the extract process preserves the raw plant’s full terpene and cannabinoid contents. This allows each of the plants components to work together synergistically, maximizing all the effects in your body.

Live Resin Cartridges:

Live resin is a form of cannabis concentrate manufactured by taking freshly harvested cannabis and flash freezing it. Extractors flash freeze the cannabis plant at very low temperatures before and during the process of extraction.

Live resin concentrates are known for their high terpene levels, resulting in products with distinctively strong aromas. The flash freezing extraction technique leaves the terpenes behind so that they are able to interact with the cannabinoids to overall provide a much richer experience. This process ensures the plant maintains its valuable terpene profile. Moreover, it retains its original fragrance and flavor, resulting in a more qualitative product.

Difference between Full spectrum and Live Resin

Live resin is a full spectrum product. But not all full-spectrum products are live resin. The difference between live resin and another full spectrum concentrate is that live resin is made from a cannabis plant that was frozen instead of going through the drying and curing process. The typical drying and curing procedure can damage the flavourful factory molecules found within the trichomes. With live resin, extractors flash freeze the plant immediately after the harvest. Then, it is kept at freezing temperatures throughout the extraction procedure.

Thank you for making it to the bottom of the page! We hope to see you back next time for another Stay Savvy article soon.

Back for more?

Welcome back for Part 2 of CannaSavvy’s guide to different smoking devices. If you missed Part 1, we talked about various devices you can use to smoke your cannabis flower. Bongs, pipes, and one hitters all have their pros and cons depending on the experience you are looking for. In this issue, we will focus on different types or concentrate rigs and accessories that are used for smoking cannabis concentrates and extracts.

Let’s go!

Concentrate (Dab) Rigs

Dab Rigs with concentrates vs Water Pipes with flower:

Concentrates contain terpenes, which are highly aromatic compounds that determine the smell of many plants and herbs. Terpenes are responsible for flavours and aromas that are present in different strains of cannabis and concentrates (like pine, citrus, lavender, pepper, etc).

The difference between taking bong hits and taking dabs is about shifting your focus away from diffusion and towards flavour. With concentrates, the terpenes are more pronounced compared to flowers and dabbing tends to have a more potent effect than smoking flower.

When selecting a dab rig, you will see that they’re much smaller, have smaller water chambers ,and strait forward percs. Elaborate looking percs and larger water chambers actually dilutes your vapour and robs you of the full flavour of your concentrate. Concentrates call for a drag-free smoke, and require condensed chambers to easily send the vapour directly to your lungs.

When smoking flowers, the goal is to get a smooth, cool, and diffused toke. To achieve this, users have many options like Ice catchers, built in percs, and attachable ash catchers. Each pass through water and a percolator will diffuse and cool your smoke, making it more comfortable to inhale into your lungs.

However, for smoking concentrates, the approach is focused on terpenes and flavour. If you pass a dab through large water chambers with complicated percs and additional ash catchers, you defuse away your flavour. Also, by having a larger piece, it can be difficult to clear your concentrated vapour in just one breath. Leaving vapour inside your piece will result in stale tasting vapour that won’t be very terpy.

For taking dabs the goal is to cool down the vapour, not filter and diffuse it a lot. This is because most of the diffusion and filtering happens in the extraction process of the concentrate. You want to inhale the full quality of your concentrates, so a dab rig’s function is mostly to cool down the hot vapour by passing it through air and water.  If you still want a smooth and flavourful dab, there are some designs that include simpler percs and recycling tubes that adds to your smoothness without taking away much from flavour. Many concentrate users look for a dab rig with minimal diffusion, since it means less drag and a smoother dabbing experience.

So remember with concentrates, the rule of thumb is: drag- free smoke, and flavour over diffusion .

Types of Glass Dab Rigs

Recycler rigs get their name from the loop inside the piece, which causes the vapour to recycle during each hit. They are higher quality pieces with unique and aesthetic designs that stand out as a piece of art in your collection. The designs are both beautiful and functional as they recycle the vapour through the percolator and tubes multiple times before it reaches your lungs.

Most are rather large, usually over 8” tall, and have excellent craftsmanship. As a result, they usually are more expensive than traditional dab rigs. Overall, the recycler rig improves the smoothness of a dab, but also delivers the terpy flavours that are expected from the dabbing community.

Pros :

• Smoothest dabbing experience

• Beautiful customized designs

• Thick and durable glass

• Great as a centre piece

Nails and Carb Caps:

Types of Nails:

Banger: Banger nails have quickly become a popular nail for dabbing due to its large dabbing surface. It’s more efficient and extends the nail away from the user’s face. A banger nail looks similar to a swan neck probably because of the way it extends out like a curve. They are a great option for newbies in dabbing because of their ease of use and low price. Banger nails, are often made out of quartz and glass.

Quarts Nails: These nails are also referred to as quartz bangers. Quartz nails heat up rapidly but also lose heat relatively fast. Like ceramic nails, quartz nails are known for being very clean and not leaching contaminants.

Glass Nails: In general, glass nails heat quickly and hold heat well. Typically made of borosilicate glass, these nails are also typically the cheapest to buy. However, glass nails are the most prone to breaking and can sometimes shatter at very high temperatures.

Modify Your Bong into a Dab Rig

When buying a dab rig, you will notice that it they usually cost more money than an bong. If you have some glass pieces at home, you could try turning your bong into a dab rig. While it’s not the most ideal option, it is technically possible to transform a regular bong into a workable dab rig. The important thing is making sure you find a nail that fits into the downstem of your bong. It can be tricky because most bongs use a downstem placed at a 45-degree angle, which is very different from a dab rig’s usual 90-degree angle.

Dab Accessories:

A dabber tool is used to safely and accurately place your concentrates inside of your flaming hot banger nail.

A dab mat provides a rubber like surface that acts as a soft placemat to set your rig on. It also acts as a non slip surface to keep your rig sturdy and still. When heating nails at high temperatures, you want a secured rig to prevent it from getting knocked over and possibly burning your skin.

Cleaning tips: If you are using a quartz nail, wipe the inside of the nail with a cotton swab to remove any residual oil. This helps keep the nail clean, provides a more flavourful dab, and extends the life of your nail. If neglected, your banger bowl can create unwanted build up of residue that negatively effects the taste and cleanliness of any new dab you take. You can also shorten the life of a banger bowl if its improperly heated. This is called chazzing.

Cracking a banger is also possible if heated with a torch for too long. Monitoring your temperatures and cleaning your nails regularly, will extend the life of your bangers and keep giving you the best tasting experience with concentrates.

Thanks again for visiting out Stay Savvy Series! Make sure to return weekly to see more informative articles and video tutorials. As always, Stay Safe and Stay Savvy.

Where to start?

When it comes to customers enjoying their THC and CBD cannabis related products, the most commonly known method to use cannabis, is by inhaling (smoking) it. Choosing how you want to smoke your cannabis opens up many different selections that experienced and new users can be pick and choose between. This quick guide will introduce to you some different tools and devices that you can get your hands on to start your session the way you want it. If you are not sure whether you want a glass bong, metal pipe, vaporizer, or 510 thread cartridge with a battery, We will go through and explain each device to help you refine how YOU want to get experience cannabis!

Let’s get started!

Hand Pipes

 Pros:

• Hand pipes are great for portability if you are on the go.

• They are smaller in size compared to other smoking devices and can easily be stored in a pocket or purse.

• Hand pipes can be more discreet than other devices and are meant for smoking the flower form of Cannabis.

Cons:

• Hand pipes provide a dry hit that is higher in temperature and harsher on the lungs compared to a water filtered toke.

• If the pipe is short in length, it could be a burning hot hit.

• Be careful not to catch your bangs and eyebrows on fire.

• Like all smoking devices, leftover resin will dirty the inside of your pipe so you will need to clean it often if you want it to taste as clean as possible.

One Hitters

Pros:

• Great for a few small puffs or a quick sesh.

• It is discreet, portable and stealthy. More geared towards quick tokes outside or on the go.

• This device is a go to if you want to sneak a toke on your back porch while your family members are over during Thanksgiving dinner.

• Some one hitters are designed to look like cigarettes to anonymously blend in with smoking crowds. This was more significant before legalization and was a commonly used method to avoid conflicts with other people while you try to smoke your weed in peace.

Cons:

• One hitters are not really used for big sessions on the couch with your friends.

• They can only pack small sized bowls and with repetitive use, it can quickly clog it up with ash and resin.

• Like a hand pipe, a one hitter gives the user a dry toke that can be a bit harsher on your lungs.

• If you can smoke freely and comfortably, you may want to enjoy a different device when you invite your friends over for a sesh.

The Joint!

There are many kinds of papers available to fit the unique preference of many smokers. The choice between wood pulp, rice, hemp, or other fibres will result with a different  taste, smoking speed, rolling difficulty, and appearance. If you want even more options, you can experiment smoking your cannabis with blunt wraps, hemp wraps, flavoured papers, pre-rolled cones, palm leaves, and even rose pedals.

Here is list of some different materials and characteristics of rolling papers.

White Papers: usually have a chemical additive (chlorine or calcium carbonate) to help slow down the burn. This isn’t the case for all white papers. Most packs of papers will list if it’s bleached or unbleached.

Flavoured coloured papers: can also contain chemicals or natural substances that add flavor and can help slow down burning times. Mindful smokers may not want to inhale these substances that are added in.

Classic Wood Pulp: These are popular papers that have been around the longest. On average, these papers are thicker than newer types of papers that are available now. White wood pulp papers are bleached while brown ones are not. The texture of these papers makes it a bit easier to roll and shape. Great for beginners with those shaky sweaty hands.

Rice Papers: Good rice papers are made from all natural ingredients of processed and pressed rice. They are usually thinner than other papers which is good for your lungs but requires a bit more skill to roll with. Even though rice papers are thin, they burn slowly and are a better choice for your lungs that doesn’t give you external aftertaste.

Hemp Papers: Hemp papers hit it off really well with the cannabis community. Since these papers are made of hemp fibre, this saves many trees which would have been used in its place.The colour of hemp papers are usually brown and are not bleached. They are thicker and rougher than rice papers and provide a decent grip to roll with. They have a medium burn rate and provide a subtle aftertaste that doesn’t compromise the aroma of your cannabis.

Pre-rolled Cones and wraps: Sometimes it is too difficult to roll your joint and you want an alternative that still looks and smokes evenly. The good news is that you can get pre rolled hemp paper cones that just need to be filled and packed down with your cannabis. No rolling necessary! No time wasted trying to roll with failed attempts. No stress and No mess.

Go the extra mile and experiment with different preroll options… like a KING PALM.

King Palms are known for their slow burn and smooth hits. They come ready to pack and fit one gram of ground up cannabis inside perfectly. In the filter of the King Palm is a poppable terpene pack that infuses your wrap with your choice of flavour.

Pre-rolls: This last option provides the best convenience. You can just order yourself a pre-roll! There is a huge selection of pre-rolls that are filled with some of your favourite stains available. Pre-rolls can come in single packs or packs of multiples. Individual joints can come in different size like 1g, .5g, and .35g per joint.

Bubblers

Pros:

• Portable,

• Great for smoking a session inside or on the go

• Hits smoother than a hand pipe.

• No additional bowl or slides needed to work just add water.

Cons:

• Fragile

• If you’re on the go, it still needs to be filled with water and emptied after use.

• Can be challenging to clean if neglected.

• No removable pieces can make it harder to clean.

Bongs (Water Pipes)

 Here are some common styles of bongs and bong attachments:

If you are someone wants a really filtered and clean tasting toke, you  will want to invest in a bong like this. There is more of an upkeep for cleaning the interior percolators, but in return you get an expert level smoking experience. If you tend to be forgetful and never clean or change your gross murky bong water, then this might be too much for you to handle as the percolators will get clogged if used carelessly.

Their purpose is to diffuse smoke by pulling it through the small submerged glass tubes resulting in a crisper, cleaner,  cooler, and smoother tasting toke. Some ash catchers can be complicated with many tubes and holes and have an end where you slide in your bong bowl. Other ash catchers can be more simplistic with just one tube, a water chamber, and a built in bowl.

     Pros:

• You can customize your bongs by swapping out different percolators to match the quality of toke they are looking for.

• A damaged percolator can be replaced unlike internally made percolators.

• You can attach multiple percolators to each other.

• Your bong itself will stay cleaner because the smoke first passes through the percolator and collects ash and resin.

• They provide an extra pass through water that diffuses the toke more. They can be used together with percolators and will catch most of the residue left over which keeps bongs and percolators clean.

 Cons:

• Since percolators stick out, there is more of a risk of knocking it into something and breaking it.

• They require a good cleaning after a session or two, if neglected for too long, your quality of toke will suffer and you risk getting your bowls and attachments stuck together.

• Although ash catchers are not that difficult to clean,( thanks to the variety of liquid base cleaners that are offered today) you will have to clean it out a lot if you smoke often. But thankfully, that time spent cleaning a small ash catcher is time saved from having to clean out a large sized bong or intricate designed percolator.

Silicone Bongs:

Silicone bongs can bend and flex, which allows for easy storage at home or in a backpack for a road trip or bike ride. Silicone bongs come in various colours, shapes, and designs to suit a smoker’s needs. Along with bongs, you can also get  pipes and oil rigs available in silicone.

 Pros:

• It functions the same way as a glass bong so you can produce the same kind of hit you are familiar with.

• With a silicone bong, there is 0% chance of the instant fear you feel you when knocking over a glass bong.

• They are nearly indestructible… unless you plan on trying to smoke a bowl inside an active volcano.

• The pliability and durability of silicone bongs make them very portable and ideal for camping trips, festivals, and barbeque gatherings

Cons:

• Aesthetically, silicone bongs don’t look as appealing or  sparkling clean as glass pieces look.

• Some people do not like the unpleasant taste that comes from silicone bongs.

• Silicone bongs do not have to options to have percolators built inside of them.

• Some people like to see the size of their toke build up. It’s harder to tell when it needs to be cleaned.

Ice Catchers/Pinches:

They have become a fairly standard feature in new bongs because of the demand of this style over the years. Putting ice in your bong takes your bong’s filtration process to the next level. When smoke flows through the body of the bong, it will eventually hit the ice, bringing the smoke’s temperature down to an even more comfortable level.

Pros:

• It filters smoke and helps contribute to a nicer toke.

• It makes inhaling large amounts of smoke easier.

Cons:

• Ice melts at room temperature and will gradually raise the water lever in the bottom chamber.

• This can fill your bong up too much for your liking and even overflow water out of the bottom opening.

Smoking Accessories :

Glass and metal screens help keep your toke from sucking into the water chamber and helps with building up smoke until you are ready to pull out the bowl. Pokers will helps you clean out and unclog your bowls that get coated in resin. Glass cleaners are great to fill a bong and shake clean. You can also put small pieces with cleaner in a large sandwich bang and shake it real good. Rolling machines and trays make it easy to roll joints effortlessly. If you want a way to store and protect that joint you rolled, you can seal those cannabinoids and aromatic terpenes, by using a Doobtube.

Smoking accessories are convenient and provide helpful solutions to common problems that occur when having a smoke session. They can fix small issues and be a life saver. I always like to be prepared whether I am out and about or dwelling in a basement. I like to keep a small pack of assorted accessories on hand that acts as my emergency stoner kit. If I go out the door with a pipe in hand, the other hand usually has the tools that I find helpful to me.

Depending on your situation and smoking preferences, one device may better suit your needs over another. Whether it is smoking indoors on your couch or outside while you go for a walk, you can now choose the perfect device for you. If there are situations where you want to be discreet or moments you want to treat yourself and guests to something really nice, you can use this guide to get the experience you are looking for when smoking your favourite strains of cannabis. Make sure to come back for PART 2, where I will go through more devices that centre around smoking cannabis, as well as different concentrates and cannabis extracts.