How To
How To
My Vape Pen Won’t Charge: What to Do?
Is your vape pen not charging? Don’t panic. We’re here to help. Vape pens, although extremely portable and convenient, also tend to have issues when charging or producing vapor, especially when they’re older or made out of budget-friendly materials.
How to Use a Vape Pen for Weed
Looking to use a vape pen for weed? Now more than ever, vape pens seem to be everywhere. But, which is the best vape pen for weed overall? Which vape pen provides you with the experience you’re looking for? Here, we’ll go through our favorite vape pens. We’ll tell you how to choose the right vape pen, show you some of the best vape pens on the market, and explain how to use them. By the end of the article, you’ll know exactly which vape pen you need. Let’s get started! Can you use any vape for weed? It depends on what you mean by “vape pen”. In this article, we’ll refer to “vape pens” to any pen-sized device for vaping, a.k.a. anything electronic that you can vape out of. There are a ton of different vapes for different uses. A lot of the first vaporizers were developed for dry herbs originally, going from large desktop devices into the portable vaporizers of today. Nowadays, there are mainly three kinds of vape pens: Vape pens for cartridges: Also called “battery pens”, these devices connect to a cartridge to vape out of. Once the cartridge is done, it’s refilled, or discarded and replaced with a new one. Vape pens for concentrates: Developed for dabbing fans, these devices can be loaded with waxy concentrates to vape them on the go. Vape pens for dry herb: Usually more expensive than their counterparts, dry herb vaporizers can be loaded with a small amount of weed to be vaporized. As you can see, it’s not like you can get any vape pen and put some herbs in it. Choosing the right one is the first step in learning how to use a vape pen for whatever material you want. Step 1: Pick the right vape pen What do you want to vaporize? Dry herbs? Concentrates? Cartridges? All of the above? Some vape pens, like the Atmos Jump, can only vaporize dry herbs. Other devices, like the Flowermate Aura, can vaporize both dry herbs and oils, and there are some devices that can even vaporize concentrates and be used as a dab straw. Pick a pen that would ideally support the materials you like to vaporize the most. Step 2: Load your vape pen Once you have a vape pen, you want to load the material into it. For wax vape pens, you want to use a dab tool to collect the wax and place it into your vaporizing chamber. Never use your fingers only, since the oils on them can degrade the wax you’re handling. For liquid concentrate vaporizers, you can load the oil into the chamber drop by drop. If you only have a 510 threaded vape pen battery, you can still buy a separate refillable cartridge to use it to vaporize oil. That way, you can reduce your waste and your spending, since oil tends to be cheaper when bought separately. For dry herb vape pens, you’ll want to follow the instructions of the device to know if you should be packing the herb tightly or loosely. Close your vape pen chamber when you’re done reloading. Step 3: Use the vape pen’s button Now that you’ve loaded up your vape pen, you can start using it. Most vape pens have the one button. Here’s the “standard” way of operating a one-button vape pen: 5 presses – Turn on/off Long press - Heat up the chamber to take a draw 3 presses - Change temperature setting Although some vaporizers may have more or less options, most vape pens follow a variation of this navigation system. Battery pens and oil vaporizers usually heat up instantly with one long press, while wax pens and dry herb vaporizers may take longer to fully heat up the chamber. There are some buttonless vape pens, especially ones made for oil, that simply start as soon as the operator inhales. Ready to take a hit? Step 4: Learn to inhale Most vape pens, especially the more affordable ones, aren’t made for you to just inhale directly to your lungs. If you do, you’ll likely feel more resistance than you should. Learn to inhale through negative pressure, getting the vapor to your mouth by pulling your tongue from front to back, instead of inhaling through your lungs. Once you have a mouthful of vapor, inhale a large breath of fresh air and exhale fully. Vapor also feels different to your lungs than air or smoke, and can induce coughing, especially when vaporizing at higher temperatures. Experimenting different temperatures and different inhalation techniques to find your favorite one to use with each vape pen. Step 5: Clean and store It’s usually best to start cleaning up as soon as you’ve consumed all the material in your device. This will help you always have a device ready to go, instead of having to clean it every time you want to use it. Wait until your device has cooled off. Then, you can remove the mouthpiece and use a brush to remove the remaining debris. If you’ve vaped oils or waxy concentrates, you’ll want to clean the chamber with a cotton swab dampened with alcohol as soon as you’ve finished your material. If you’re vaping dry herbs, you may skip this step until you see any residue buildup. Make sure your device is clean and charged for next session—your future self will thank you. Final Thoughts about using vape pens Vape pens are awesome smoke-free alternatives. This leads to a cleaner experience with no ashes reaching your lungs, no flames, and far less odor. If you want a discreet and efficient way of vaporizing your materials anywhere you want, go check out our vape pen collection at Grasscity!
How to Hit a Bong: A Step-by-Step Guide
New to the game? There’s no shame! Follow these four steps to success and you’ll be smoking like a pro in no time.
10 Homemade Pipes To Make If You're In A Bind
Cannabis smokers are extremely innovative when it comes to making pieces with materials found around the house. If you ever find yourself in a bind and without a bong or smoking pipe, try some of these neat homemade pieces invented by creative, open-minded people like you. How to make an Apple Pipe Image Source: Imgur First off, we have this classic homemade piece. This apple pipe is great when you are on the go, and making it is very easy. But, how do you make an apple pipe? Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need an apple, mouthpiece, small tube to serve as a carb hole, a nail, a lighter, and of course, your herbs. Step 2: Take the fresh apple and poke a hole in the side of the apple with the mouthpiece until about half of the apple. Leave the mouthpiece in the apple. Step 3: Make a hole on the left side on the top of the apple; this will serve as a carb hole. Make sure the hole is deep enough. It should be poked to the middle of the apple, just as deep as the mouthpiece. Step 4: Remove the stem of the apple and use the nail to poke a hole till the middle of the apple. The hole should meet the hole of the mouthpiece and carb hole. Step 5: Load your bowl (which is the top of the apple) with your herbs, light it, and enjoy! An apple pipe a day keeps the doctor away, is how the saying goes, right? How to make a Gravity Bong Image Source: Imgur A favorite among cannabis connoisseurs, the gravity bong is great for conserving your supply and fun at parties! But how do you make a gravity bong? Let’s go over the steps. Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need a large container, a smaller bottle (2 liters), aluminum foil, scissors, a needle, a lighter, and your herbs. Step 2: Take the scissors and cut off the bottom of the 2-liter bottle. Step 3: Take the scissors and cut off the top of the container. Step 4: Fill the container with water. Step 5: Take the cap from the 2-liter bottle and make a hole as large as your pink in the cap. Step 6: Wrap a piece of aluminum foil around your pink and add it to the hole of the cap. Then press the ends of the foil around the cap. This cap will serve as your bowl. Now add the bowl to the 2-liter bottle. Step 7: Poke some holes in the foil with a needle. Step 8: Lower the 2-liter bottle in the water-filled container and load the bowl. Step 9: Light the bowl and sublingually pull the 2-liter water bottle up, so the smoke can form. Step 10: Remove the bowl. Step 11: Inhale the smoke while pushing down the bottle. Repeat this process as necessary. How to make a Pen Pipe Image Source: WikiHow This one can be constructed in less than a minute, so it’s a great one to use if you are in a time crunch. Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need a pen, a lighter, and adhesive tape (optional). Step 2: Take a pen that you can easily dismantle, then remove the ink chamber. Step 3: Place the nib on the tip the opposite way that it would normally fit on the pen. Step 4: Fill the nib with your cannabis and tape the nib to the pen for support. Step 5: light the nip and inhale through the opposite side of the pen. How to make Steamroller Pipe Image Source: WikiHow This is perhaps the easiest one to make, which is perfect if you don’t have a lot of time. We'll show you the steps on how to make a steamroller. Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need a discarded toilet paper roll, aluminum foil, a needle, scissors, and your herbs. Step 2: Take a discarded toilet paper roll or paper towel roll and cut a round hole in the side for the bowl. Step 3: Cover the hole in the foil, then poke holes in the foil with the needle. Step 4: Add your herbs to the bowl. Step 5: cover the end closest to the bowl with your hand, light the bowl and take a hit. How to make a Water Bottle Bong Image Source: Imgur The water bottle bong is another classic that is quick and easy to make. So, how do you make a water bottle bong? Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need a plastic bottle, a downstem, a bowl, scissors, and your herbs. Step 2: Take an empty, clean plastic bottle, and poke a hole about halfway up the bottle on the side with the scissors. Step 3: Stick a downstem in the hole or use a pen if you don’t have one available. Step 4: For a grommet, you can use a rubber washer or either modeling clay or electrical tape if you don’t have one available. Step 5: Add the bowl to the downstem or use a metal bolt or the nib of a pen if you don’t have a spare bowl. Step 6: Light the bowl and inhale through the mouthpiece. How to make a Frost Pipe Image Source: FrostPipe.com The frost pipe requires buying a kit online, but again it’s very easy to make once you have the kit and follow the instructions. Step 1: For making a frost pipe, you need a 3-piece freezer mold that lets you DIY your own smoking pipe our of ice. If you want to use it, you first have to put the included stopper into the mold. Step 2: Fill the mold with water and put it in the freezer, so it will freeze completely. This will take 6 till 8 hours. You can add colors to the water you put in the mold, for a crazy looking frost pipe. You can adjust the stopper if leaking is occurring. Step 3: Remove the stopper from the part of the ice mold that forms the bowl. Step 4: Take the frost pipe out of the mold. You can do this easily with running hot water along the sides of the mold, without the water touching the ice. Step 5: To get the ice pipe out, you can shake the frost bong or use the hole. But be careful, you don't want your pipe to break! Step 6: Put a screen in your frost pipe, and you're ready to smoke! How to make a Lego Bong Image Source: Pinterest I’ve never built a bong out of Legos, so I can’t verify how effective this piece actually is, but there are many videos on YouTube on how to construct one, so it must work pretty well. Smoking out of a Lego bong is probably something you’ve always wanted to do, right? Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need Lego, a downstem, a bowl, and your herbs. Step 2: Build a bong with the Lego. Step 3: Add the downstem with the bowl. Step 4: Fill the bowl with your herbs, light the bowl and inhale the smoke. How to make a Tic-Tac Bong Image Source: Pinterest This tiny bong fits right in your pocket! Which makes this the perfect self-made bong to take on the go. So, how do you make a Tic-Tac bong? Step 1: Gather your supplies. You need an empty Tic-Tac box, a downstem, a grommet, scissors, a bowl, and your herbs. Step 2: Drill a hole on the side of an empty Tic-Tac container. Step 3: Use a regular downstem, or a pen if you don’t have one, and add it to the hole. Step 4: Use a grommet, such as a rubber washer, modeling clay, or electrical tape, to make sure there is no smoke escaping from the hole. Step 5: Add the bowl to the downstem and fill it with herbs. Step 6: Light the bowl and inhale the smoke through the mouthpiece. How to make a Metal Pipe Image Source: MetalDetectingForum.com The homemade metal pipe probably will require a trip to the hardware store. How do you make a metal pipe? Step 1: Go to the plumbing section in your local hardware store. There you will find many parts that you can screw together to make a basic metal pipe. There are many ways to make one. Just go with what you think will work the best. I trust your judgment. If you don’t want to go through so much trouble, you can always buy a ready metal pipe. Liquor Bottle Bong Image Source: Pinterest The liquor bottle bong requires using a drill, so make sure that you take all recommended safety precautions. I recommend watching a video tutorial before trying this yourself. The construction of the liquor bottle bong is very similar to the water bottle bong. Unlike some other homemade pieces, you can actually use this one for a long time. Or, if this one is still a little too advanced for you, you can always buy a glass bong online. An essential part of the stoner experience is learning how to make your own pieces. It’s a fun way to learn rudimentary engineering skills. Constructing your own cool bongs and pipes gives you a sense of accomplishment, which in my opinion, enhances your high. Of course, making your own pieces comes with its own risk. Using a drill can be dangerous if you are not properly equipped, and smoking from tinfoil or plastic is harmful to your health and is done to excess. If you truly want to avoid the hassle and risk of making your own piece, we recommend purchasing our medical-grade products on Grasscity.com. If you prefer buying a bong or pipe that is ready to use the minute it arrives. We suggest checking out our cool bongs and cool pipes to impress your smoker friends. On a budget? Check out our cheap bongs. Featured Image Source: Flickr What have you used to make a homemade piece? Let us know in the comments!
How to smoke a bong in 7 simple steps
Smoking a bong or bubbler is one of the most fun ways to smoke. A bong allows you to take extra big hits because of the large amounts of air and herbs the bong can hold. The water filling the bong helps cool down the smoke. Cooling the smoke makes your hits way smoother, which means getting a sore throat after a couple of hits is a thing of the past. This article explains exactly how to use a bong in 7 simple steps. Happy smoking! Step 1: Cleaning your bong If you have used your bong before make sure to clean it out. You can do this simply by disconnecting all of the pieces and washing them with water. If the bong is made of glass you can also use a cleaning solution like Bong Cleaner to clean the bong. After you’re done cleaning, be sure to dry the pieces and carefully put them back together. Step 2: Filling the bong with water As said before, water helps to cool down smoke which is essential for enjoying smooth hits. Fill only the base of the bong till the downstem is just covered by water. This way the smoke has to go through the water. Don’t fill the bong up too high or you risk spilling bong water over your bud or yourself. The perfect height is about 1 inch (2,5 cm) above the bottom tip of your downstem. Step 3: Fill up your bowl Put in some herbs from your favourite strain. In some cases you have to use a screen to prevent the smaller pieces and ashes from falling in your bong. Check the instructions on the packaging or in your bong’s manual to be sure. Be sure not to put too much in at once as it makes it harder to burn and you don’t want to be left with half-burned herbs. Also make sure to grind the herbs before adding them to the bowl. Do this roughly so you end up with quite big chunks. Step 4: Close all holes. For the smoke to collect in the bong all holes should be closed. Do so by placing your lips inside the bong and the rim against the area around your mouth closing off the mouthpiece. Many bowls offer an extra hole to increase the airflow to clear the chamber when inhaling the smoke. This hole is called a ‘carb hole’ and should be closed by using your finger.Pro tip: Use a finger of your non-dominant hand to close this hole so that you can use your dominant hand to light up your herbs. Carb Holes make using your bong easier because you don’t have to lift up your bong and remove your bowl while taking a hit. This reduces the chances of your bong or downstem breaking. Bongs without a carb hole do pack a stronger punch and don’t require you to focus on making sure the carb hole is closed while inhaling. Step 5: Light it up This is where the magic happens. Get comfy on your favorite couch or chair. Lighting up is easy and can be done with a regular lighter. Be careful not to burn yourself. Keep your thumb away from the fire. Holding the lighter sideways makes this easier. We offer a couple of really cool lighters and some hemp wick that we think you’ll like. Check them out in our store. Step 6: Start to inhale You should start inhaling as soon as you light up the herbs. You’ll see the smoke collecting in the chamber of your bong. Keep inhaling till enough smoke has filled up the chamber. Be gentle as inhaling too fast might make your bong water end up in your mouth. Pro tip: If you want to make smoking a bit easier you should inhale and exhale a couple of times before lighting up the bong using your diaphragm (belly breathing). Doing so will increase the amount of oxygen in your body, making it easy to inhale more smoke through your bong without coughing or getting out of oxygen. Step 7: Release and take a hit Put your lighter away now and get ready to open up the carb hole that you have been closing with your finger or the bowl if your bong doesn’t offer a carb. Once the hole is open, air can flow through and clear the chamber. You can now inhale the smoke from your bong easily because of the extra air flow. Keep the smoke in your lungs for a few seconds before exhaling to maximize your hit. When you’re done smoking, throw away the bong water and clear the bowl of all the excess burned herbs. You can easily clean the bowl by giving it a quick rinse. Happy smoking!
4 (Pretty Much) Fullproof Ways to Prevent Your Bong From Breaking
There is no question that we all love our glass pieces. They’re fun to collect, fun to look at, fun to show off to friends, and of course fun to smoke out of. Sometimes tragedy strikes and then the unthinkable happens: your bong breaks. There are few things more devastating to a cannabis connoisseur than breaking a cherished piece. So how do you prevent this from happening? I strongly recommend that you try some of these (pretty much) foolproof tips. Get a Case for your Bong To prevent your bong from breaking, you should always have some kind of case or lock box for the pieces that are just a little more important to you. For bongs, you really cannot go wrong with a padded case, specifically designed for storing glass. For a pipe, a padded hard shell case is always a winner. If one is not available, wrap that piece in a pair of socks! Now you have something to do with all those orphan socks in your sock drawer! Always Remove your Downstem/Bowl A common mistake among beginners is not removing their bong or water pipe’s downstem and bowl before putting the bong away after the smoking session is complete. You see this a bit more with older smokers who are not used to glass on glass and grew up using a rubber grommet. Glass on glass is definitely the way to go, but you know what’s going to happen to that glass if you put your bong away fully assembled? It’s going to get jostled around, it’s going to smack together, and it’s going to break. Always remove the downstem and bowl, and always wrap them up separately! You will have to replace fewer downstems and bowls if you abide by this simple rule. Put Your Bong Away! In addition to putting away the downstem and bowl, you should make the minimal effort to put your bong away after you’re done using it. I’m not saying that you have to put it away after every smoking session, just at the end of the day when you’re done using it for the last time that night. Leaving your expensive water pipe out on your desk, coffee table, etc. invites accidents to happen, and there are so many different fates that could befall your bong. Your cat could knock it over, your kids could topple it (though I hope you’re not smoking your bong around your kids). Even you could have a klutzy moment (that’s what tends to happen to me, anyways)! Clean Your Bong Often Wait, what does keeping your bong clean have to do with preventing your bong from breaking? Quite a lot actually. If you don’t practice good bong maintenance, you will have to do more heavy cleaning sessions on your glass. This may require you to be a little rougher with your piece than you would be otherwise. This will likely lead to accidents, especially if there are percs involved. Rinse your bong out after each use and you won’t have tragic accidents! How do you prevent your bong from breaking? Tell us in the comments below!
How to Properly Smoke from a Bong
We all know there are many ways to consume marijuana. We can eat it, vape it, use it as a topical, or put it under our tongue as a tincture. There's also of course smoking it. Chances are at some point in your life you will smoke from a bong. Despite the multitude of ways to consume cannabis, one of the most popular ways to consume is by using a glass water pipe, sometimes referred to as a water bong, or most commonly a bong. Why Use a Bong? Why should you opt to consume cannabis via bong, as opposed to say a simple glass pipe? The answer is pretty obvious: it improves the hit considerably. The reason why is because of the water filtration. As you inhale, the water acts as a filter, cooling the smoke, and ameliorating the harmful effects on your lungs. Marijuana smoke is nowhere near as harmful cigarette smoke, but it's still not beneficial for your lungs. This is where percolators come in handy. Percolator bongs take the normal filtration that happens in say, a beaker bong, and enhances it by adding more air into the mix, hence that pleasant bubbling noise. There are a wide variety of percolator styles. A tree perc for instance, looks well, like a tree, with up to sometimes 12 long arms for cooling and filtering your smoke. A showerhead perc resembles a showerhead, but performs the same function: bettering the smoking experience. How to Smoke From a Bong Learning to smoke from a bong can look complicated to the beginner. How is a person supposed to know when to pull the bowl, or whether they even need to do so at all. Is there a carb hole? Does a high quality bong mean a higher quality hit? Suppress your fears, I will explain it all. Chances are the first time you take a bong hit, the bowl will already be loaded, so we will cover how to load a bowl at a later date. For now, we'll concentrate on what to do when the bong is handed to you. The first step is to locate whether or not there is a carb hole located anywhere on the water pipe. A carb hole is an indicator of whether or not you will have to pull the bowl in order to clear the bong. They are typically located near the joint on the front, back, or side of the bong. If there is a carb hole, simply place your thumb over it and release the carb when the time comes (more on that later). If there is no carb hole, you will have to pull the bowl out of the downstem when the time comes. When lighting the bowl, be vigilant about torching the entire bowl; everyone likes the taste of the green hit. Hence it is considered proper smokers' etiquette to only let the lighter come into contact with a small surface of the bowl, if possible. If you make a mistake and torch the bowl the first time, no one will eject you from the circle. Bearing that in mind, you should learn now to corner the bowl. Again, that is a subject for another time. It's time you learned to smoke from one of these. Image Source: Youtube How Big of a Hit do I Take? the first time you take a pull from a bong, you will want to take a smaller hit than you would take if you were smoking from a glass pipe. A good guideline for your first time is to fill your lungs slightly less than halfway. You'll eventually evolve to those much larger lung busting hits, but for now it is important not to overdo it! It's paramount to ensure that you leave enough room in your lungs to inhale your hit, lest you end up coughing it all out and wasting it! Clearing the Chamber As you inhale you will want to clear the the bong of all residual smoke. How does one go about doing this? If the bong or water pipe you are using has a carb, just release the carb as you inhale. If it does not, you will need to pull the bowl when the time comes to clear. Don't fret, this is easier than it sounds. The invention of glass on glass joints makes the action much more effortless than it was with a rubber grommet. Occasionally you might have an issue with the slide bowl and downstem sticking to one another, but this can be solved easily with what is called a keck clip, an ingenious little contraption that clips the downstem onto the joint. Fortunately, a fixed downstem completely eradicates this type of issue. Always Clear the Bong After you have taken your hit, it is considered good etiquette to "clear" the bong of any lingering smoke that remains in the chamber. No one wants a stale hit, and you might find yourself invited to fewer smoking circles if you are a repeat offender. Congratulations, now you know how to properly smoke from a bong. Now go practice! Add your tips for smoking from a bong properly in the comments below!
The Complete Guide to Hotboxing
Hotboxing means smoking in an enclosed space, like a car, tent, or small room, so the smoke stays concentrated instead of dispersing into open air. It's a way to get a stronger effect from the same amount of herb and turn a solo sesh into more of a shared experience. Done thoughtfully, it's simple to set up almost anywhere. Done carelessly, it comes with real risks worth knowing about first. Hotboxing is smoking in an enclosed space to concentrate the smoke. The best spots are ventilated but sealed, like a tent, bathroom, or parked car with cracked windows, never a moving vehicle. Keep sessions short, crack a vent for airflow, and plan for smell cleanup afterward. What Is Hotboxing? Hotboxing is the practice of smoking in a small, enclosed space to trap smoke rather than let it dissipate. Because the smoke has nowhere to go, the space fills up quickly, and the concentrated air means you're inhaling more secondhand smoke along with your own hits. It's a popular way to intensify a session or make a low-key smoking spot feel more social, but the enclosed nature of it is exactly why safety and ventilation matter more here than in a typical session. It's worth noting this is different from "hotbox" in the HVAC or industrial sense, a completely unrelated term that shares the same word but nothing else. 5 Best Places to Hotbox Location Why It Works Watch Out For Parked car Small, sealed space, quick to set up Never with the engine running or while driving Tent Naturally enclosed, easy to ventilate with a flap Set up somewhere private if not camping Bathroom Steam from a hot shower helps mask smell Needs a working exhaust fan or cracked window Small bedroom or closet space Easy to seal with a towel under the door Poor airflow if left closed too long Blanket or pillow fort Low effort, works almost anywhere indoors Least sealed option, smoke escapes fastest A parked car is one of the most popular choices since it's compact and available almost anywhere, but it also carries the most important safety rule of this entire guide, covered next. Whichever spot you pick, smoking from a bong rather than a joint tends to fill a small space faster, so factor that into how long you plan to stay inside once you start. How to Hotbox Safely The enclosed nature of hotboxing is the whole point, but it's also where the real risks live. A few rules keep it low-risk: Never hotbox a moving vehicle. Smoking while driving is dangerous and illegal in most places. If you're using a car, park it first, turn the engine off, and don't get back on the road until you're no longer impaired. Crack a window or vent. Fully sealing a space sounds like the goal, but a small gap keeps oxygen flowing and prevents the space from getting uncomfortably thick with smoke. Keep sessions short. Fifteen to twenty minutes is usually plenty. Longer sessions in an unventilated space just mean more secondhand smoke without adding much to the experience. Don't hotbox alone if you're new to it. Concentrated smoke can hit harder and faster than a normal session, so having a friend around, especially your first time, is a reasonable precaution. If reducing smoke and smell matters to you, a dry herb vaporizer produces far less visible smoke than combustion, which makes it a genuinely useful option for hotboxing without filling a space quite as fast. How to Get Rid of the Smell Afterward Smell is the most common complaint after hotboxing, whether it's a car, a bedroom, or your own clothes. A few things help: For a car: Crack all the windows once you're done and let it air out for at least twenty minutes. An odor-eliminating spray or an air freshener with charcoal or activated carbon works better than a basic scent spray, which just masks the smell temporarily instead of neutralizing it. For a room: Open a window and run a fan to clear lingering smoke, then follow up with an odor spray or a few minutes of an air purifier if you have one. Fabric holds onto smell more than hard surfaces, so curtains and bedding may need a wash if the smell lingers. For clothes and gear: A quick change of clothes helps more than anything else if you need to be smell-free fast. For your actual stash and gear afterward, smell-proof stash gear and a joint holder keep your supplies from carrying the smell with you once you leave. Final Thoughts Hotboxing is a simple way to make a session feel more intense or more social, but the enclosed setup means safety and ventilation deserve real thought, not an afterthought. Keep it short, crack a window, never do it in a moving car, and have a smell-management plan ready for after. None of this requires special equipment, just a bit of planning before you start and a few minutes of cleanup once you're done. If you're prepping for your next session, rolling papers and our how to roll a joint guide are a good place to start.
How To "Reclaim" Your Lost Dabs
If you have spent a lot of time dabbing, you've probably heard about Reclaim. It's not unlike most legends, the treasured wax was once thought to be lost, all used up by the stoners of the past, until one day, stoners of the new generation dug deep into the bottom of their nails and discovered a new source of THC, Reclaim. Reclaim is the left over concentrate material that doesn't vaporize during your dabs, and is a great thing to consider whenever you're running low on concentrate. Things you'll need: 1. Nail that you've dabbed with a significant amount. 2. A lighter 3. Wax paper or any concentrate storage container (like a NoGoo) 4. A scraping/collecting tool (optional) 1. Dab your heart out Well, to accumulate reclaim dabs you first need to actually use your nail for an extended period of time. You shouldn't be trying to grab reclaim out of your nail after every dab session, in fact I'd say wait until you've gone through a couple grams of concentrate between reclaim extractions. 2. Lay down your reclaim catcher You're going to need somewhere to keep your precious reclaim, so lay out some parchment paper or set out one of your silicone dab containers (again, have you heard of NoGoo?) There's no need to manipulate the concentrate once it's left the nail, so make sure you've laid out whatever you want to store your reclaimed concentreate in. 3. Heat up the nail You don't need a torch or a heating gun for this one, I actually discourage the use of either, since you're not trying to vaporize your dabs again, you're simply trying to liquify them. Grab your usual bowl-lighting lighter, turn your nail to the side, and let your flame go across the nail slowly as you turn it around. (You may want to use pliers or a heat-resistant glove for this, depending on how your nail retains heat.) If you're working with a quartz nail, you'll be able to tell when your reclaim starts to liquify because you'll see it move around your nail. 4. Guide the melted reclaim to your container Image Source: Youtube After about 10-20 seconds of your heating the nail heats up, you want to begin tilting it so that the nail is mostly vertical, right side up, with a slight turn so that your lighter still is able to heat the sides. Make sure the bottom of your nail is pointed down onto your wax paper or into your concentrate storage unit. If it has liquified, it should just fall right down onto the paper, if you're not sure that all of your reclaim concentrate has come out of the nail, use a metal scraper to see if there is any concentrate that has been loosened in the heat within your nail. 5. Enjoy The completed product should look fairly similar to most wax that you've seen, however will be much darker in color, usually ranging from a tan-brown to a black, but have no fear, it's still some potent concentrate! After the extraction, all you need to do is allow your dabs to cool and solidify again and you're back to dabbing! Featured Image Source: CannaHacker.com --- Who else loves their reclaim? Do you have an easier way to collect it, or to simply help us use more of our dabs the first go-around? Let us know in the comments!
Tired Of Searching For Hash And Dabs? Make Your Own!
Of course there are many ways that you can make hash or concentrates at home with the right materials and gadgets, but if you're not looking to spend a large amount of money to create a hash farm, you may just want to stick to these home methods to make yourself a personal stash! 1. The Easy Pollen Press Method (Hash) Image Source: Pinterest This method is my favorite when it comes to getting hash. It doesn't always come out as fine as when using an actual pollen press, but it will still get the job done if you've got a graving for hash whilst in a bind. To create Hash Pucks made out of your keef stash you will only need a few household materials: a couple unsharpened pencils, some paper, tape, and a stash of keef (duh). The process to build your homemade pollen press actually is quite simple, it's more making sure you're doing it right that may take a little practice. To construct your pollen press you'll first need to take one pencil and tear or cut off a strip of paper to wrap around it. Make sure you get enough paper to wrap around the paper two or three times (the extra wraps will help your pollen press's durability). After you've wrapped the paper around the pencil tightly, tape the paper to itself so it keeps its shape. At this time, you should be able to slide the rolled paper with a little bit of effort to the end of the paper. Slide it to the point where half of your paper tube is on the pencil and half of it extends into the air. Now, fill some of the negative space within the paper with some of your keef stash. I always recommend starting off with more than you expect, due to the airy nature of keef it might take more than you expect to be able to construct a good-sized hash puck. Image Source: DailyDabs420.com After filling the space in the paper, tap the pencil a few times to level the keef inside the press and press your extra pencil into the negative space in the paper roll. At this time you should have two pencils pressing your keef together within your paper roll. Now, you will press your pencils together to generate the pressure needed to create a hash puck. About 10-20 seconds of continuous pressure will likely provide you with a strong enough hash puck to get the job done, just remember that how long you maintain pressure and how much you apply will affect how your hash puck will turn out, so don't be afraid to experiment! Image Source: YouTube 2. The Rosintech Method (Dabs) Image Source: Twitter If you're someone who is looking to break out the nail, but can't seem to find any dabbable concentrates on the market, this is a way for you to extract dabbable concentrate straight from your buds, however requires a bit more finesse than the previous method. To make your own dabs easily, you'll need: non-ground nugs, a hair straightener, and parchment paper. The process to make dabs from these materials is actually fairly straightforward, you simply place your bud, or keef, onto a piece of parchment paper, top it with another piece, and compress the bud between the hot pads on the hair straightener. It shouldn't take much heat to get this going, and it will result in a dabbable golden-brown sap on the parchment paper. One thing you'll need to keep constant tabs on for this method is the temperature of the bud and heat-pads. Although most hair straighteners probably don't say what temperature they heat at, most cannabinoids activate at and above around 250 degrees Fahrenheit, so you definitely don't want to torch your bud on the high setting, as you might end up burning the bud or vaporizing the dabs. I'd recommend you start cool, practice, and work your way up to the perfect temperature to get as much dabbable material as possible. Image Source: Voat.co While this method is pretty much as simple as the method to make keef pucks, this one is a bit more dangerous, as it involves high heat and pressure, so make sure you practice safe baking! Featured Image Source: Imgur --- Making dabs and hash at home can be difficult to get right, and a bit of a hassle, but it's still totally worth it! What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments.
