Dabbing for First-Timers

What You Need

Dab Rig – Varying in size, this piece resembles a glass water pipe, however the glass bowl is replaced by a nail and glass dome.

Nail and Dome – A nail or skillet made from titanium, glass, quartz or ceramic. This hot plate is usually surrounded by an open-ended glass dome to help hold in the vaporized extract.

Heat Source – You need to secure a way to heat your nail. Electric nails are great, because the nail is its own heat source. Electric nails also appear much safer than the other popular alternative, which is a blowtorch. However, many still choose to safely use a blowtorch with caution and proper ventilation. An experienced friend is also a plus.

Wand – A ceramic, metal or glass tool used to manipulate cannabis concentrate and drop it onto nail/skillet.

OR

A Vaporizer Pen – Vaporizer pens are a simple alternative to a dab rig, giving you a convenient and discreet way to vaporize your cannabis extracts while on the go.

Choosing the Right Concentrate

Options are always a good thing, and when it comes to cannabis concentrates, the options are seemingly endless. From budder and hash to shatter and wax, these different forms of cannabis concentrates are all great for dabbing, while the best cannabis extract for vaporizer pens varies from pen to pen.

Choose whatever cannabis extract is going to meet your needs, and be sure the concentrate will be easy to manipulate using a wand. For this reason, something sticky and pliable like budder, shatter or wax is going to work better than an oil when it comes to dabbing. On the other hand, you may have a pen that works best with oil.

When buying a concentrate, you definitely want to keep in mind that a little bit of product goes a long way. A gram of cannabis flower is much less potent than a gram of concentrated cannabis. Always start small and build slowly from there.

Seasoning Your Nail

If you have never used your nail before, you have a little preparation ahead of you before you can jump right in. You must “season” your nail, which means you need to burn any harmful fumes from the nail, such as machine oils or polishes.

In this process, you want to carefully heat your nail while it is on the rig until the nail is near red hot. Do not overheat your nail. Next, you want to coat the usable part of the nail with some concentrate, and reheat the nail. Once the extract has burned away, use tongs to move the nail into a bowl of water. Let the nail cool, and repeat the process a few times.

How it Works

Dab Rig

Add an appropriate amount of water to your rig, just enough to filter the vapor. Take your metal or glass wand, and scoop up a small amount of cannabis concentrate onto the end.

Put the nail onto the rig, and heat it either electronically or by safely using a blowtorch until it’s just shy of red hot. Then cover the nail with the glass dome.

Carefully drop the concentrate onto the heated nail through the opening in the dome. When the cannabis compound hits the heated nail, it turns into a vapor. You will want to gently inhale the vapor through the water chamber of the rig and into your lungs.

Prepare to feel instant effects.

Vaporizer Pen

Depending upon the type of concentrate compatible with your vape pen, add a small amount of cannabis concentrate into the designated area on your pen. Most pens operate at a simple press of a button. If you’re looking for even more convenience, some collectives sell pre-filled vaporizer pens.