How to Smoke Wax Using Different Methods
If you like smoking weed, you are bound to love smoking wax. Of course, wax is a type of cannabis, but it is quite a different experience than standard bud. Wax is especially fun to get into if you are already a certified stoner and have been smoking for a long time. And if you don’t know what wax is or much about it, you’re in the right place. This guide will tell you all you need to know about what wax is and the best ways to smoke wax.
What is Wax?
Wax is a form of cannabis made with butane to extract concentrate from the marijuana plant. It is essentially a more potent form of dry herb. It’s called wax because its consistency is thick wax-like liquid. Wax is several times stronger than both dry herb and edibles, one dose of wax has about 80% more THC than traditional marijuana. Wax can be enjoyed in multiple ways, but most notably it is smoked with a dab rig. Other than a dab rig you can also use a vape pen or simply add wax to a joint or a bowl. Each method requires different knowledge of how to smoke it in order to have the most efficient smoke session.
Dab Rigs
Dab rigs are the most popular method for smoking wax and other marijuana concentrates. Taking a hit from a dab rig is referred to as taking a dab– this often used verbiage is now sometimes mistakenly used with other smoking devices as well. Dab rigs work by using water and heat to create cannabis vapors (from the wax concentrate). They look very similar to bongs and are typically made out of glass.
In order to use a dab rig successfully, you'll need some dab accessories. you will need a full rig, your wax, and some way to heat the wax such as a torch. Note that the torch is not used directly on the wax, instead, it is used to heat a ‘nail’ where the wax sits.
The nail is the part of the rig that is designed to be able to handle the intense heat from the torch and transfer it to the wax. There are different types of nails and each of them has a different heating limitation (as well as taking different amounts of time to heat up).
After you have heated your nail enough (usually noticeable by a color change), you must use a dabber tool and place some of your wax onto the nail. Following this, you can simply inhale the created vapors through the mouthpiece.
The biggest advantage of dab rigs is that they’re the most smooth and effective way to smoke concentrates.
Dab rigs are also impressively clean, and some even claim that they are the healthiest smoking method. This is because dab rigs feature a rigorous filtration system on top of the fact that most people only need one hit from a dab to feel its effects. The highly filtered wax coupled with the fact that each person is only taking one toke makes it safer.
The downside of dab rigs is that they are intricate and expensive systems. This means they require a higher initial investment than other smoking methods as well as more care.
Dab Pens/Vaporizer
Dab pens, also called vaporizers, are another smoking device designed to allow you to smoke wax concentrates. They work similarly to the dab rigs in the sense that they heat the wax into a vapor.
This is all done by the pen though (usually by pushing a button) and there is no need to use a torch or place wax on a nail. In fact, this is the best part of vape pens, how simple and easy they are to use. There is no learning curve with a dab pen, anyone can pick one up and start using it immediately.
On top of this, they are super portable which makes them more convenient for travel compared to a dab rig. A vape pen can easily fit into your pocket and be taken out at a moment's notice whereas a dab rig requires set up and is too bulky to carry around with you.
The drawback of vape pens is that they aren’t as filtered or as potent as dab rigs are. They don’t feature any water filtration system so the hits are a bit harsher. They are also generally not as strong as dab rigs and so you will need to take more than just one hit.
Lastly, dab rigs usually offer more control regarding how much you want to heat up your dabs – as this affects potency and flavor. Though there are some vape pens that feature multiple different heating settings to accommodate for different preferences.
Adding Wax to a Bowl, Joint, or Blunt
Lastly, another common method of smoking wax is to add it on top of a bowl, joint or blunt. This is a great option if you are looking to add some potency to your herb without overdoing it. If you are now wondering how exactly to top off a joint/blunt with wax, I don’t blame you.
The truth is there are two methods to this, you can either 1) incorporate the wax into your bud when you are rolling your joint, or 2) coat the outside of your joint/blunt in the wax. Both ways will work great although adding wax directly to your bud will be slightly more efficient.
After you have topped off your bowl, joint, or blunt with your wax you can proceed to smoking as normal. Just make sure not to light too close to the wax; do not ever hold the flame directly to the wax.
Summary
Wax can be a great addition to your smoke sessions if you’ve been looking to up your game. Smoking wax will feel like how smoking weed for the first time did. It’s truly a very different and more intense experience than regular bud. Wax is the result of an extraction process that removes and compresses THC. Wax, put simply, is just overly compressed weed. It is on average about 80% stronger than standard kush. There are three main ways to smoke wax: with a dab rig, a dab pen, or by adding it to your bowl/joint/blunt. A dab rig is going to produce the highest quality vapors but is also more expensive and requires more care than the other methods. A vape pen is convenient because it is portable and easy to use but they are also harsher and less intense. Using wax as a topper to your regular bud is also easy but won’t create nearly as strong a high as either of the other two methods.
