Vaporizer Tips and Tricks

Today, we’re here with a compilation of what we think are the best ways to vape cannabis — sourced from our own experiences as well as looking for any other tips and tricks we’ve come across in our years of being in business. We released it because nearly every day hear how intimidating it can be to make the switch from smoking to vaping: whether it’s how they work or overall tips and tricks to get the most out of your cannabis, we are excited to help you out!

The one area we always hear concerns about is how to get them working their best. In this in-depth dive into our top vaping hacks, we’ll be able to make your life a little easier, as well as higher! We’ve thought long and hard to come up with an epic list for both new weed vapers and connoisseurs alike. It’s broken into a few different categories, so feel free to skip to the ones that will help you the most!

How to vape weed

1) Dry your Herb out

When it comes you vaping ground cannabis, you’ll get the best results when your cannabis is well-dried out. If there’s too much moisture in your cannabis, there will be a delay before your THC crystals boil off. The escaping moisture will also make your vapor not as potent as it could be.

2) Make sure that you grind!

When you grind your cannabis, you create a lot more surface area for your vape’s heating element to work with and cook up vapor from. You’ll also be able to fit a lot more into your oven’s chamber as we’ll explain in the next tip!

3) Tightly pack the oven

Especially when it comes to conduction ovens, the less empty space in the oven will lead to a more even cooking of your weed. Any empty spaces will lead to ‘cold zones’ that can hurt your THC extraction.

4) Temperature Step

When you start at a low temperature and slowly work your way up, you’ll be able to use your cannabis much more efficiently in the vaporizer. For example, start at 360°F, and then make increments of 10-15°F every few minutes until you reach the maximum temperature or end of your session. This will make sure you get all available terpenes from your strain!

5) Depending on the device, either use a long and slow inhale, or a short and powerful sip

Depending on free your airflow is in your vaporizer, they will work best with either fast or long inhales. Most vaporizers will have an easy airflow like the XMAX V3 Pro below will work best with slow inhales as it will allow for more hot air to pass through the chamber for more effectiveness.

6) Maintain your vaporizer

As you get to use your vaporizer more, you’ll begin to notice yellow or brown THC resin buildups in your chamber and on your filter screens. Don’t fret though – These buildups can easily be removed with some isopropyl alcohol from our cleaning sticks or cleaning wipes. All you’ll have to do is remove any parts from the mouthpiece and give them a quick wipe down.

7) Heat soaking / preheating your

Although you’ll be able to inhale as soon as your vape reaches its set temperature, some vapes will work best when you let it simmer for 30 seconds to a few minutes before you inhale. Especially with Arizer Vaporizers, their glass chambers work best with a bit of a ‘heat-soak’ as the heat from the oven transfers to the glass. In other words, your vapor will be much more potent after a little bit of patience.

8) Try using the sandwich method

If you want to use a little bit of concentrate in your oven, you’ll be able to put a few drops of concentrate in between two clumps of dry herb. You’ll get some added flavor, get some experience with dabs, and get a more potent high all at the same time!

9) Utilize Dosing Capsules

When you use vaporizer dosing capsules, you’ll have a much easier overall experience as they allow you to accurately control your dosing, as well as make reloading the chamber a breeze. With a vape case, you’ll be able to have many readily available sessions whenever you’re finished with a dosing capsule!

10) Use your reclaim while cleaning your oven

When you’re cleaning the different parts of your vape’s mouthpiece, instead of wiping off the resin, you might be able to scrape it off with a dab tool or scalpel so that you can use it in your next session with the sandwich method!

How to vape weed – Intermediate hacks

11) Try to not combust

Similar to another kind of busting, the goal is to not combust! The whole point of a vaporizer is to avoid combustion so they’re easier on the lungs. For this reason, try to stay below 440°F / 226°C.

12) Know the differences between smoke and vapor

Following up on the last tip, let’s review the differences between smoke and vapor. The vapor from a normal session is mainly produced from the boiling of the essential oils in your cannabis THC that you inhale. This is why many people consider vaping to be the cleaner high – You avoid a lot of the tar and carbon monoxide that lighting up produces. When your vapor begins to get a burnt or bitter taste, you might have accidentally combusted if you’re at a high temperature!

13) Understand the differences between conduction, convection, and hybrid heating

• A conduction oven works with a hot heating element to cook your herb right in the oven – Similar to food cooking on a hot pan
• Convection heating works by super-heating the air that will pass through the chamber – This hot air leads to a ‘cleaner’ feeling high and less smelly vapor
• Hybrid heating like on the Mighty+ works with a combination of both a hot heating element and hot air that will lead to very efficient and even THC extraction

14) See what kinds of oven materials you like

Although it might not seem like a big deal, the oven’s material can have a big effect on flavor and cooking. Common types of oven material include aluminum, stainless steel, ceramic glazing, or even gold-lined like on the Arc GTS. You can read more about this on our Best Portable Vaporizer category page.

15) Use Wax Cups / Liquid Mesh Pads

If you want to use your favorite distillates or a small amount of dabs in your dry herb vape, you can use liquid mesh pads or wax cups so that when they melt, they won’t fall directly down into the heating element.

16) Session vs. On-demand modes

With some vaporizers, you’ll have the option for on-demand heating. As opposed to the set timer that session vaporizers have, on-demand in simple terms will only rapidly when you want to have an inhale. Popular on-demand vaporizers include the DynaVap M 2021, as well as the XMAX V3 Pro.

17) Understanding heat-up times

We hear it from customers all the time in-store, some people despise waiting for their slow vaporizer to heat up – And there is a wide range of common heat-up times! Modern dry herb vapes will normally heat up around 30-40 seconds these days, but a common range is between 15-80 seconds, so be sure to check out the specs while browsing our portable vaporizers.

18) Get to love your favorite temperature

As you settle into the groove, you’ll begin to notice your favorite vaping temperature that works best for you! Personally, my favorite range is 180-190°C / 380°F. I’ll rarely vape beyond those temperatures unless I’m testing out a new portable vaporizer out.

19) Swappable vs Proprietary batteries

If batteries are important to you, then make sure you do your homework and buy one with the right capabilities for you usage. If you’re a heavy user, you might prefer a larger swappable mAh battery with USB-C charging, like the Arizer Air Max has.

20) Know when you’re done vaping

You’ll know when you’re done vaping as soon as your vaporizer is no longer producing vapor, or has a burnt popcorn taste to it. That’s when it will be time to knock out your bud, or change out to a new dosing capsule.

Tips for the connoisseurs

21) ABV / AVB (Already Vaped Bud)

Now that you know a bit more about ovens and heating elements, let’s get into extraction more. Just because a vaporizer has great specs, doesn’t mean it will always have the best results. For example, the Solo 2’s oven is generally considered weak, and won’t be able to fully extract your dry herb compared to other premium models. Look out for this category in our blog reviews to know how efficient your vaporizer can be!

23) Get to know terpenes

Different terpenes will have different properties and temperatures to be properly vaped at! Next time you’re at your dispensary, check if the budtender can give you any tips to get the most out of your selected strain!

Credit to 365Recreational

24) Upgrade your vaporizer accessories

Bigger brands in the cannabis vaping industry like Storz & Bickel will have a lot of different accessories like a short bubbler and long bubbler for you to upgrade to and customize your session with. If accessories will be important to you, make sure to check out available upgrades before you pull the trigger.

25) Air and Vapor paths matter

For advanced users, you’ll be interested in getting to know if your vaporizer’s airpath is separate from the electronics or not. Newer models like the G Pen Elite 2 has an isolated airpath as an upgrade from the original model that will equate to a much better vapor quality that won’t have any metallic aftertaste as some cheaper vapes have.

26) Holding your vapor doesn’t make a difference

It’s a myth that holding onto smoke or vapor will make you higher. It only takes a few seconds for your body to absorb the THC in a hit, and holding onto the hot air will only make you cough. Especially with weed vapes, you’ll get plenty of inhales for your body to get high from!

27) Use a SmokeBuddy for more discreetness

While some users may like to try to inhale into their shirts for more discreetness, a SmokeBuddy is a more effective method with activated carbon to help absorb the smell of your exhales!

28) Hide the odor of your sessions with a Smoke Killer Candle

If you’re living in an apartment complex or at a place where cannabis is frowned upon, then a Beamer Candle Co. Cannabis Killer Candle is going to be your best friend! With natural odor-killing enzymes, it will zap the smell instead of covering it up like cheap air fresheners do.

29) If you’re a heavy user, consider saving up for a premium model instead of buying a lot of cheaper ones

VAS is a popular term in the cannabis forums. AKA ‘vape acquisition syndrome’ – It’s a very real thing! If you love your first vaporizer, you’re going to want to upgrade almost immediately to a better one. That’s why for some people, we suggest literally picking up the best possible unit for yourself. If you don’t mind the lack of portability, the Volcano Hybrid is still the end game for weed vapes.

30) Invest in a good travel case or vape carrying case

Investing in a good vaporizer case/bag will be wise if you’re someone that likes to have their sessions on the go with a lot of accessories and product. Everything you need will be in one convenient spot and some are odor-free to keep everything discreet until your next session.

31) Consider a backup vape pen or dab pen

If you’re a heavy user, you might consider picking up a vape pen that will let you get more discreet sessions in while out in public for microdosing through your day.

The G Pen Micro+ will let you vape dabs and oil cartridges

Get more social with your weed vaping

32) Get involved with community forums like Reddit.com/r/vaporents & Fuckcombustion.com

These communal forums will let you share different ideas and setups with (mostly) friendly and like-minded individuals! They are a great way to meet friends and learn new ideas in the cannabis vaporizer niche.

33) Start utilizing balloon bags

For a better setup to share at parties, check out desktop vaporizers with balloon bags like the Arizer XQ2 or both Volcano models. You’ll be able to fill them with thick and milky vapor and be able to share tons of vapor with your friends, just make sure nobody has herpes!

34) Tag and post your sessions on Instagram

Similar to FC and /r/vaporents, tagging and searching relevant hashtags like #portablevaporizers and #cannafam will give you tons of community interactions and different ideas to try!

35) Buy an oil infuser or cannabis food easy bake oven

After your sessions, your weed will be considered decarboxylated and ready to infuse or cook with! One of the easiest ways you can use this weed is with a Magical Butter Machine. After a few hours, you can strain your infused butter and put it on anything to get you as high as you want while you eat your favorite foods!

36) Get involved on YouTube

On YouTube, there is an abundance of information that you can follow to learn more about your favorite vaporizers. Whether that be reviews to learn about the newest vapes, or just to learn about the newest third party accessories, be sure to give it a look!

General Tips

37) Store your cannabis in a dark and cool place

Other than your step son’s room, a dark and cool area like a basement will be the best place to store your containers of dried cannabis. A CVault Storage Container can also be super helpful as it will help to seal moisture much better than a mason jar can!

38) Use Boveda packs for longevity

A Boveda Pack is a simple hack you can implement to keep your cannabis humidity at a certain level. This is because they use 2-way humidity that you can recharge anytime you think they need it! No longer will you need to throw out any expired weed!

39) Pass-through charging & Battery Banks

With pass through charging, you’ll be able to use your vaporizer while it’s charging which can be a huge plus for heavy users. If your vape doesn’t have swappable batteries, you might be able to bring a battery bank with you in your vape case to make it a never-ending party with this setup!