How to: Maximize your Vaping session

Some of the many benefits to vaporizing your herb instead of smoking it are the great flavors, cooler temperatures and how economical it is on your stash; not to mention the numerous health benefits that vaporization offers over combustion!

Along with these great benefits there are a few tips and tricks that I would like to share with you on how you could conserve even more of your precious herb, make your vapor smoother, pump out massive clouds (for the cloud chasers), how to maintain great flavors throughout your session and what could be done to extend the life of your vaporizer. Remember that every vaporizer comes with a learning curve and only regular use will better your vaping experience.

Before we start its important to note that the tips will vary somewhat from vape to vape ie: conduction vs. convection will play a huge role in how to grind, pack and draw.

Vaping is not always as straightforward as we’d like it to be. There are times we don’t get the full experience and either don’t get enough vapor, or a strong enough affect from our herb, luckily, most of the time a simple adjustment could do the trick to improve your experience.

Okay guys and gals, take out your vaporizer, make sure it’s all clean and charged up and…let’s dive into it:

• The Grind. Firstly, make sure to use a good grinder (something like the Santa Cruz Shredders or the SLX) instead of trying to break up the herb with your fingers or cutting it up with scissors. Your grind should be very fine – finer than you think. You want your herb to have as much exposed surface area as possible. If you are using a 4-piece grinder than I would suggest holding the grinder upside down to grind your herb up more.

Tip: If your grinder cannot grind fine enough, put your medium ground herb in your vape let it heat up and take a few hits, then remove your herb (which is now very dry and crispy) and re-grind it to a finer level. The first few hits will be very tasty, while the rest of the hits will produce more vapor per hit.
My advice though is to invest in a Finishing Grinder by Magic Flight and you will be stunned to see how much better the vapor production will be!

• Check the humidity of your bud. Make sure that your herb is not too moist. The dryer your herb, the better the vapor production. You will get overall better vapor production and flavor if your herbs are really dry. I find if the moisture levels are too high you’re vapor will also be slightly harsher on the throat.

Tip: Leave your ground up herb spread out over a sheet of paper for a few minutes before starting your session. This will dry your herb out a little more. If your flowers contain a lot of moisture though (the center stem does not snap when you bend the flower) I would suggest putting the flowers in a brown paper bag for a couple of days and placing the bag in a dark and dry place (i.e your closet).

• Use Quality Herb. Buds with higher concentration of trichomes will produce more vapor. Yes this point is obvious, but you are not going to good vapor with poor quality bud. The more “crystals” on the flower, the more vapor.

Tip: Throw in some kief with your herb to increase potency and maximize vapor production.

• Pack your chamber just right. This will depend on the type of heating method your vape uses, Conduction or Convection.

For Convection ovens like the Firefly 2 or the Mighty vaporizer, a LOOSE PACK is required. Your herb should be light, fluffy and finely ground as explained above. This will allow the hot air to pass through and vaporize your herb evenly. The VapeXhale EVO and the Volcano are great examples of pure convection style desktop vapes that will perform at its best with a loosely packed bowl.

For Conduction ovens like the ones found in the PAX vaporizers for example, PACK TIGHT! A loosely packed conduction oven will result in poor vapor production and a harsh taste. However this goes hand in hand with grinding fine, because if you pack tight with coarse material you will restrict the airflow. With finely ground herb, pack your chamber firmly so the herb sits tight and the oven is full: remember not to pack it down so much that it prevents the air from passing through your herb.

Tip: once you’ve loaded the oven, whilst the vape is still OFF, try taking a couple of draws to make sure you are not restricting the airflow. If that’s the case, use a pin to stir up the herb inside the oven and remove the excess.

• Less is more…! This makes such a huge impact on your overall efficiency and heat distribution of your vape, a little can go a long way. However, don’t under-pack your chamber either otherwise all that will happen then is your loose leaf will just fly around inside your chamber which is a NO NO with any vaporizer.
• Temperature matters. Above all, this tip will depend on vapers preference, the higher you start your session the more potent (yet harsher) the vapor will be. Therefore, unless you are using a water filtration together with your vaporizer, I would suggest gradually increasing the temperature at a comfortable pace. Generally speaking, at a higher temperature you will get a smoke-like experience but ultimately you want to find the sweet spot where flavor is preserved and vapor is cool but of good density. Once the flavor and vapor production start to die down, your session is over. HERE you can read more on temperatures and their effects.

Tip: Once your device has reached the desired temperature wait an extra 10-15 seconds, this will create a nice flow of tasty vapor.

• Draw Speed and resistance. Find the perfect draw speed! This is different from one vape to the next and no matter what vape you use, it will take a few sessions to get the hang of it. But most vaporizers work better if you sip them like a thick milkshake through a straw, slowly instead of a hard and fast draw like you would do with a blunt. You want to draw in deeply with your lungs in a controlled manner, try drawing for at least 10 seconds and take a full breath in. If the draw resistance is hard, you may have over-packed your oven or your vape needs a clean. Do not hold the vapor in your lungs for longer than a handful of seconds as 98% of the THC and CBD contained in the vapor will take only 2 seconds to flow in your blood.

• Make sure your vaporizer is charged up. I’m not joking, this has happened to me… the worst part is a flat battery right in the middle of a session. Not fun. Some portable vaporizers come with a pass-through capability which means that you can still use the unit while it’s charging but chances are that this feature will not be available on an entry level vaporizer.

• Keep your vaporizer fresh and clean. Don’t be lazy. Clean after each session or at least once a week to keep it functioning properly. This is incredibly important. If you wait too long it will block up and stop delivering good tasting clouds, vapor will be thinner and harsher. It’s easy if done right away but if you wait the residue will dry up making it harder to remove. Remember a clean vape is a happy vape.

Tip: always clean your vaporizer whilst the unit is still warm, not hot but warm. If you wait for the vaporizer to cool down, it will take a lot more elbow oil and it will be a lot harder to get it clean again.

Over and above these tips and tricks you need to ensure you have the right vaporizer for you, if you are new to vaporizing or want to ensure you have chosen the right vaporizer read the article on, Choosing the right vaporizer HERE.

If you have any questions or comments on the above tips or are experiencing any issues please do not hesitate to ask, I will gladly assist where I can.

For now happy vaping…
Mary-Jane, Vape Store