While the majority of Americans are undoubtedly familiar with the dance craze known as the dab, now played out as even Ellen Degeneres has hit it, few know the reference behind it nor its etymology. Don’t be a statistic, know your dab history.
What is Dabbing?
In laymen’s terms, dabbing is the process of extracting the essential compounds from wax concentrates. This can be done through exposing the concentrates to high temperatures. Concentrates are inherently more resilient to heat than dry herb, so more extreme measures must be used in order to gain results. A benefit of wax concentrates when compared to dry herb is their inability to combust, meaning no matter how high the temperatures get, the user will not be subjected to harmful smoke consistent with dry herb usage.
How Do I Dab?
If you stare at a ball of wax, and really focus, like really, really focus your mind...absolutely nothing will happen. You need some serious fire power to dab like a champ. Traditionally, dabs are consumed by the user through a desktop dab rig. What’s a desktop rig you ask? It's a water pipe, outfitted with a nail for concentrates. Nails come in various construction configurations with various materials.
Dome-type Nails: These are the oldest type of dabbing nails, and feature a nail made of either glass or titanium and a glass dome which must be placed around the nail to capture the vapors produced from the concentrate.
Domeless Nails: These are more common practice nowadays, these feature airflow directly through the nail, so an additional dome is not needed. These can be constructed from titanium for strength and heat-retention properties, ceramic, a more inert material that doesn't rub off on the flavor of your vapor, or quartz, an even more inert material that also heats very evenly for a smooth concentrate experience.
Honey Buckets: A honey bucket is a sort of marriage between a dome and a domeless nail. The whole unit is one piece, which features a large bell attachment, usually made from glass, and a pivoting heating element, which can be heated away from the glass than pivoted into position for dabbing.
All of the above methods require the use of a butane torch to heat the nail or heating element to the desired temperature for combustion. Sound overwhelming? Does the thought of smoking something heated with a torch give you terrible flashbacks to your torrid love affair with Bobby Brown? There’s another option!
Vaporization: The Future of Dabbing
With the recent explosion of concentrate consumption, vaporizer manufacturers have been quick to capitalize, creating safer and more efficient ways to dab. While dabbing is essentially vaporization, you definitely don’t need a torch or a rig to enjoy all the benefits of concentrates. Most vaporizer brands carry vaporizers specifically designed for wax and oils. Vape pens and wax pens provide a much more discreet and portable way to take your dab with you. Modern wax pens even feature atomizers akin to their dab nail brethren, constructed from titanium, ceramic or quartz.
I know what you’re thinking, how can I chase huge fricken clouds with a vape pen? Fear not my friend, there is another way to vape dab. E-nails or portable rigs, feature all the bells and whistles of a dab rig with the same hit capabilities. E-nails are heated electronically, so there’s no need for a butane torch. Portable dab rigs feature mod batteries, similar to those used in high-end vapes, which provide huge amounts of power for massive hits. These rigs are for those who don’t want to compromise the instensity of their dabs, but are looking for the utmost efficiency.
As consumption of concentrates permeates, the tools used will continue to evolve. With a little knowledge, you can feel comfortable hitting a dab of your own. Until next time, dab thee well.
