Everything You Need to Know about Cannabis Vapes and Vaporizers

From the clunky, heavy-duty to the in-pocket winsome wonders, vaporizers are dominating the cannabis space. Much like rolling a doob, knowing how to vape, needs practice. Here is where we will give you a hand on how to get started. 

Different Vapes for Different Kind of Cannabis:

There are various vapes for the full spectrum of cannabis products. 

• Are you looking for a disposable vape that is packed and ready?

• Are you using flower, concentrates or dabs?

• Are you looking for a discreet, rechargeable vape with 510, Pax or catridges?

• Are you investing in a high-tech vaporizer like Puffco, Volcano or Divinci?

First, let's pick your product:

Dry Herb/Flower

Dry flower vapes are high-tech options for refillable and rechargable vapes. You grind the flower and pack the chamber yourself, controlling temperature and doses. They come in discreet portable devices like the Davinici, as well as tabletop plug-in options like the Volcano.

Concentrates and Dabs

Concentrates can be dabbed on an electric rig, it's a simpler and safer way to consume than using a blow torch to heat a nail. However, it is an investment. Unlike 510 carts or disposable vapes, these devices are high-tech, durable and customizable. You can set the temp, use an concentrate of your choosing and tuck them away for the next sesh. Popular dab vapes are Shatterizer, Puffco, and Dr. Dabber.

Disposable Vapes

Diposable vapes are prefilled with extracts and meant for single-use only. These are popular among new consumers but aren't environmentally sustainable as a battery gets tossed intstead of reused. 

Reuseable and Ready to Use Cartidges

Possibly the most popular version of vaporizers, along with disposable vapes, are already loaded with your fav extract. Catridges, such as 510 carts, are filled with extracts and screw into a rechargeable battery. You can pick them up straight from your local retailer. 

Here's how to pack a vaporizer

Keep this in mind. The vape should be turned off and not hot before packing in your weed. Otherwise, you will lose valuable vapour and possibly burn your fingers. You really don’t want to do that. Packing will be much easier when the oven or chamber is not hot. 

• Step 1: Double-check and triple-check that your device is fully charged or plugged in.

• Step 2: A fine to medium grind is recommended for most vaporizers. Some devices may allow you to use whole buds, but grinding is always a good idea when vaping weed, especially with conduction vaporizers.

• Step 3: Using a small business card or a weed scooper, place your dry herb into your vaporizer's oven or herb chamber.

• Step 4: Using a tool or your finger, pack the herb in and smooth out the surface. Conduction vapes require a firmer pack to maximize surface area, but it shouldn't be too tight — airflow must still be able to pass through (think of a well-packed joint vs. one that's not).

• Step 5: Turn on the device and select your desired temperature.

Here’s how to vape weed

You have been inhaling and are pretty much a pro at it. We’re talking about a whole different animal here, which is why we thought it’d be handy to let you know how exactly to inhale weed using a vape.

• Wait about 30 seconds after your vape reaches temperature before taking your first puff (for those of you that have portables - they take less than a minute to get to a smokable temperature).

• Puff a few times to prime the vaporizer.

• Drag the mouthpiece until vapour fills your lungs; exhale

• If the draw is too tight, strike it like a roach, with your lips loosely on the mouthpiece.

Worth noting most dry herb vaporizers are session vapes, which means they will cut out at some point, similar to a joint, but you can turn it back on for another round. Depending on your heat settings for the first session, the bud may have more life left, which is commonly referred to as already vaped bud or already vapes bud.

Cleaning your vape

• Make sure your vaporizer is turned off and not too hot.

• Remove the mouthpiece from your device.

• Remove any excess debris from the herb chamber using a brush.

• Dampen a cotton Q-tip with alcohol and scrub the inside of the chamber until it is clean.

• Dampen a pipe cleaner with alcohol and snake it through the vapour path until it's clean (hold the device up to the light to see if the walls get clean).

Sanitizing your vape

It is strongly recommended that you follow these steps before using your vape. Some newly assembled devices may contain residual machine oils used during production. It has an odd odour and taste that can ruin your trip. To be safe, sanitize a vaporizer before using it for the first time.

• Perform a burn-off. This means that it will remove residual machine oil by allowing it to run for 3-4 heating cycles with an empty chamber.

• Clean the vapour path by running a pipe cleaner or cotton swab through it.

• Cleaning the mouthpiece: Remove, soak in alcohol, wipe, rinse, and dry. You can repeat this process with any other non-electronic pieces that are removable.

• If you're using a desktop vaporizer, replace the bag when it becomes discoloured or sticky from the cannabis resin.