Cones vs Papers The Guide

Who doesn’t love a good joint? It’s one of the most convenient and tasty methods of smoking your herb. But a poorly rolled joint -- be it too loose, too tight, or just not well put together -- can lead to a frustrated smoking session and even wasted weed.

For some, the ultimate solution to this is the cone. A cone is sort of like a ready-made joint. It consists of a paper rolled around a cardboard tip. All you have to do is chop up your herb and load it into the open end of the cone.

But are these pre-rolled cones really superior to rolling papers? Can a pre-made cone stand up to a joint rolled by skilled hands? Let’s find out.

Roll Your Own Or Stuff It Down?

Obviously, if you aren’t skilled at rolling joints, a cone has some serious advantages. Without even really knowing the principles involved in rolling a joint, you can easily produce something smokable. 

After all, all you really need to do is grind up your herb so it is loose enough to burn easily and stuff it down into the cone. If you can manage to do that (and who can’t, really?) you will get a decent joint.

However, this does bring with it some limitations of its own. While you can select various sizes of cone, you don’t have the freedom to roll joints a large or as small as you want, like you would when rolling from scratch with your own papers.

It also means you don’t have as much control over the end result of your joint. For example, if you want to do the classic “Snake in the Grass” track -- adding a thin “snake” of hash in the midst of your joint’s herb -- it is much more difficult when all you have to work with is a tube to pack with herb.

Convenience vs. Skill

Anyone who has spent their time honing their joint rolling ability will probably scoff at the use of a cone. They might tell you that cones can never be as perfectly rolled as a hand-made, tailored joint, and for the most part they are right.

When rolling a joint from scratch, you form the paper specifically to the amount and consistency of herb you’re working with.

In contrast, when you load up a cone, you are inherently limited to the size, shape, and depth of the cone. You can’t “work” the paper in the same way you can when rolling up from scratch.

All of this doesn’t mean much if you don’t have any joint rolling skills in the first place. Which makes cones awesome for beginners who just want to smoke, not develop a new skill.

But keep in mind: if you just buy cones and never give rolling any effort, you aren’t going to develop those skills at all! So maybe it is worth it to push through the initial frustration involved in getting a perfectly rolled joint.

Once you have the skill under your fingers, you’re unlikely to ever need to buy a cone again! Which is another benefit, because manufacturers tend to charge a premium price for cones, whereas rolling papers are dirt cheap and can easily be purchased in large quantities.

So Which Is Better?

As with most things in life, there are advantages to both cones and rolling papers. For a complete newcomer with no joint rolling skills, cone are the superior option to get you smoking quickly.

For the grizzled herb veteran who has rolled countless joints, a cone isn’t going to be of much help. Actually, it will just be an extra (and largely unnecessary) expense.

Our suggestion? Enjoy the cones for awhile, but don’t forget to learn to roll! It’s a skill that will come in handy -- and could be quite impressive at the right party.