Question about hempwick?

I decided to buy hemp wick as I haven't used it either and my questions are..

Does it matter which hemp wick brand you buy for smoking? I have heard Bee Line wick is considered the best but does it matter which brand?

Is 1mm too thin?

I think thats it, uhh is it worth buying? what are your experiences using hemp wick over lighters

If you want to get a feel for it yourself instead of solely relying on other people's experience(which isn't a bad thing), you can request a free sample from the manufacturer. I did this when I was switching from butane to hemp wick. Bee Line was happy to send me a sample pack, and so was Humboldt(I think they charge $0.60 for shipping now).

I ultimately went with Bee Line, but I've seen many people who prefer Humboldt. Bee Line has a more natural taste to me. And yes, I would definitely say it's worth buying. You get much better taste than with butane, the flowers burn better, and I noticed that I could take bigger hits without coughing. Also, I'm sure that with the lower temperature than butane lighters, more THC stays as THC.

Definitely check you the samples like ^^ mentioned. I tend to just buy whatever is in my LHS. Some people prefer thicker wicks, especially if your using it outside.

I personally usually forget to use it unless its a special occasion. It can be a pain if you just want to smoke for a while having to constantly re-light it. I highly recommend just keeping a candle by you if you can. Crazy convenient.

you can get it in different thicknesses
when it is thicker it just burns slower
Bee-Line is a name brand and is more expensive then regular hemp wick
All hempwick is hemp cord dipped in bees wax
Names do not matter and thickness is up to preference- thats what she said

I bought some thick Bee-Line from Amazon to smoke with my new pipe. I quit smoking pipes a long time ago because it used to choke me something horrible. When it arrived I tested the hemp wick and then took a toke with a Bic butane lighter. I almost vomited from coughing so much from the Bic. I can only imagine how much damage I have done to my lungs in my earlier years smoking away on pipes and coughing my lungs out thinking it was due to some good weed. So I will never smoke from a pipe without the hemp wick again. However, this shit is expensive - at least here in the USA since we can import it but not grow it - freaking insane laws. I hope I can find a cheaper source. I paid $17 on Amazon for 200 feet of the thick. Anyways - don't inhale butane and get the thick gauge.

I got some thin hemp string from a craft store I use some times. No wax. It's good for the taste I guess.

Don't use it for any "health benefits."

Butane burns clean and turns into co2 and water before you inhale it. Completely harmless, you breath it all day.

That's pure butane bic lighters are not pure so there will be other shit you're breathing in.

I don't think it compares to the shit produced from a low temp hempwick flame (or any other burning cellulose and lignin, do you put your head over a campfire and take a deep breath?). All kinds of nasty soot and other carbons. But it tastes smokey so it's fine right? No.

Hemp wick is NOT a "more healthy" alternative to good quality butane lighters lighters. That's nonsense. Do some research and you'll see.

Best way: Solar hits Or a soldering iron with a ceramic tip. Glass wand etc.

Edited by YoSmokinMan, 03 March 2013 - 05:42 AM.

I got some thin hemp string from a craft store I use some times. No wax. It's good for the taste I guess.

Don't use it for any "health benefits."

Butane burns clean and turns into co2 and water before you inhale it. Completely harmless, you breath it all day.

That's pure butane bic lighters are not pure so there will be other shit you're breathing in.

I don't think it compares to the shit produced from a low temp hempwick flame (or any other burning cellulose and lignin, do you put your head over a campfire and take a deep breath?). All kinds of nasty soot and other carbons. But it tastes smokey so it's fine right? No.

Hemp wick is NOT a "more healthy" alternative to good quality butane lighters lighters. That's nonsense. Do some research and you'll see.

Best way: Solar hits Or a soldering iron with a ceramic tip. Glass wand etc.

There is no such thing as 100% pure combustion so what you stated about butane is true in theory only. Since I am smoking marijuana, I would rather inhale the hemp than butane or any other gas. However, I would like to try one of those Zippo Blues or some type of butane lighter than burns with a blue flame. Perhaps that would burn clean enough to my liking. The Bic must use a pretty crappy butane cause it almost caused me to vomit.

Here's a past post on GOOD hemp wick, including why you shouldn't use anything besides items intended for smoking, INCLUDING the wrong kinds of hemp.


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(OP - Question asked about craft hemp & candle wicks....)


" It is not the treated hemp rope/twine you can get at Wal-Mart... if it's real hemp wick from a reputable vendor, the hemp itself is organic processed with consumption in mind (similar to cannabis & hemp seeds meant for smoking/eating), meaning that during processing it has not been bleached, cleansed or stripped with hazardous chemicals, then to maintain a clean flame it is dipped in organic beeswax because, unlike other waxes and most lighters, it's cleaner burning.


The junk at craft stores (*including regular candle wicks) and Wal-Mart has not been kept or transported with food grade ingredients, and where is not intended for inhalation or considered a food grade product in and of itself, that means the company often isn't necessarily even obligated to share its processing techniques or the chemicals they use, even if you ask. The majority comes from China and other areas overseas, which adds another layer of difficulty when it comes to getting a straight answer.




Fortunately, the folks at Beeline will send you a free sample or two (original and thick-wick)... you just have to email and ask.


The materials used to make hemp wick make such a huge difference in quality, that beeline will accept returns if you've bought from another company, and replace them with their own!


Using the wrong material to make a batch of hemp wick, can make using the crappiest lighter taste practically like a vaporizer It's a mistake that even some of the little organizations selling the stuff 'professionally' can make from time to time.



I get the thick-wick... $17 - $18 for a 200 ft spool, but if you split it down the middle as you use it, that's double the wick for the same price, 400 feet total.





And split, up close.. if it's breezy outside, I'll just use it as-is. Dual purpose.





Making your own is an option as well, if you're a grower, or if you save your stems... when we have the time and patience ( ) we water wash our own home grown organic stalks and stems in distilled water to flush away any potential salts, scrape, strip and mash mostly the outer layers, then hand-roll the dry mash back together with local, organic beeswax.


Those people who detect no difference in taste, when switching away from a lighter, are invariably missing out on a WORLD of flavor, and I don't mean just when smoking or using canna..

If someone can't taste butane, or the difference when not using it, they very likely may have a chemosensory disorder either genetically, or due to some other 'habit'! "

And another previous post on the health benefits of the switch...


(In short, all forms of combustion are NOT equal, and butane from a bic lighter absolutely does not, and was never intended, to burn cleanly!

Even tobacco smokers, don't inhale butane when lighting up and smoking their cigs properly... the initial ignition breath, when taken properly, is brought into the void of the mouth -only- and then it is expelled without entering the lungs; the action is often even repeated without inhaling, just to 'cleanse the tube or chamber or the tobacco roll of remaining butane impurities'.)

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Experiment time!


This is for those of you who have access to (good) hemp wick.



You will need:


- A kitchen spoon, wiped/cleaned between trials

- A length of wick

- A bic lighter (or more... the more you have, the better*)



Hold the flame of your hemp wick just below the bowl of the spoon, not quite touching, but almost 'licking' the bottom, for 15 seconds. Keep at least 1/8th of an inch between the colored flame and the convex base of the spoon.


If you have good wick, you should see no soot or ash, and there should be no odor.


When you hold the wick almost directly under the spoon, but without allowing the flame to touch (if you stifle a flame, it hinders the flow of oxygen at the surface of the flame, and combustion in an oxygen deprived environment WILL produce more waste), the spoon should have no color or odor.



Now.... try that with your bic.



You will probably see a sooty mark, anywhere from 1/16 of an inch, to an inch in diameter.


Smell it, too (you probably already can from where you're sitting; avoid holding it to your nose)... it's not pretty!



If you happen to have mutliple bics to play with, you will notice that the amount of soot remaining on the spoon varies with each lighter, and the variations are consistent when repeated.


This is because bics were not made for, and are not intended to disperse and burn butane, the lighter fluid, evenly.




I've done this a few times now, and I tried it again today as I was typing this using five different lighters.


Two produced virtually no soot, but left an odor, one created a quarter inch circle and smelled, and two created near-inch black sooty marks and stank.




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Hemp wick burns cleaner than hemp twine, because the organic beeswax facilitates a rapid and complete combustion that is less reliant on oxygen, resulting in fewer byproducts of pyrolysis, than hemp alone.



*** If performing the test (combined with your good common sense!) was good enough for you, I wouldn't be offended if you didn't bother to read the rest of the post.... this is an internet forum after all, and MUCH shorter replies are the norm.



The following I'll include for those who are interested in the details (with my apologies to those who may need to 'over use' their mice/scroll wheels).

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"Pyrolysis is a thermochemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures without the participation of oxygen"

Not only does an increased amount of partial pyrolysis or incomplete combustion occur with bic lighters, causing the soot (it occurs with the wick as well, eventually, and at a much slower rate, that is if you can manage to sit there trying for long enough), but not only that, you're also inhaling traces of entirely uncombusted butane due to the uneven burn!

This is absolutely a hazard to your lung and mental health, and in a MUCH bigger way than cannabis, for those who may have a less-than-concerned attitude of; "Who cares, we're already smoking something."


(This is especially true, considering that two largest studies of their kind on cannabis and its effects on lung health, performed by those with the most experience in the field, including a scientist who USED to work for the government with the anti-cannabis movement, and changed his mind after 30 years of studies, agree that most cannabis smokers have superior lung function in terms of oxygen delivered to the bloodstream per volume of air inhaled, AND we have larger lung capacities)!


Study: Smoking Marijuana Not Linked with Lung Damage | TIME.com


Top Anti-Drug Researcher Changes His Mind, Says Legalize Marijuana



Smoking plant matter certainly isn't healthy, and it's not for everyone... but the harm for most users is so low, that the simple benefits of our 'strength training' and deep-breathing exercises while hitting the bong, can improve our lung function while we smoke in spite of what common sense dictates!




Vaping is obviously better for your health, but why increase the potential for risk during combustion by participating in something, such as butane inhalation, that has a much less confidence-inspiring medical record.


Speaking of which, here's what butane can do...


[Toxicological and medico-... [Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol. 2011 Jan-Mar] - PubMed - NCBI


An autopsy case of butane gas abuse. [Soud Lek. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI


Bronchospasm and anaphylactic sho... [Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI


Is that really something you want in your lungs?


(Most deaths due to butane inhalation are admittedly related to butane substance abuse. But when weighing the two, just keep in mind that unlike butane, and in the case of cannabis, deaths due to toxicity or even lung related ailments are 100% non-existant, even when cannabis is dramatically over-smoked or 'abused').




Another point worth bringing up:



What most people don't understand, is how to properly light a cigarette... no, this isn't that off topic.




Bic lighers are meant for lighting cigarettes and cigars, and for other purposes that shouldn't involve directly inhaling the byproducts of the flame.


---


When you properly light a cigarette or cigar, properly, you (are SUPPOSED to, but many do not realize):

- Puff using only the suction created by the cavity that is your mouth, using your cheeks, and your tongue against the roof of your mouth, opening your mouth while closing of your throat.


---


The first drag or so taken in, while the lighter provides the heat, for the most part only enters the mouth and is then expelled, along with any foul flavors, soot, and stray lighter fluid, without ever reaching the lungs or airways!


This is proper lighting technique.


Many people do it instinctively, without even thinking about it.


It's performed this way, so you don't get that nasty butane flavor or the ill health effects associated with repeated lung exposure, and some also suggest that it promotes an even starting burn.



---





NOW, knowing how even tobacco smokers avoid butane... picture using a lighter with the way that we smoke... especially people who like to torch their bowls!


Most people don't exactly build up a cherry before they begin smoking, while wasting all the preceding hits taken with the lighter.



In the end, it stands to reason that if you must use a flame, then you should probably use one that produces the least waste and no off-putting odors.



Most people who try wick find they can take bigger hits, and that persistent 'post-session coughing fits' disappear, and even irritation while smoking decreases.



With a lighter, it can be startlingly black, it's greasy, and it smells like crap!




And as a bonus, not only do wicks burn cleaner due to the consistent and 'open' availability of their fuel source (rather than the release system used with a bic), but hemp wicks also combust at much lower temperatures, almost half that of the average bic! Keep in mind that when you are combusting, you are not just degrading, but outright destroying roughly 50% of your potency, give or take based on the temperature of the heat source. This means that you're degrading fewer cannabinoids before they reach your system!



Now, inert hemp plant matter and beeswax are not 'perfect' when combusted, either, as mentioned earlier pyrolysis does still occur (albeit at a much lower rate, as you'll note from your experiments), and if you let your wick smolder, which you ***shouldn't, you can risk inhaling wax fumes which have similar, but lesser, repercussions as butane fumes.



But that wasn't the question.


It was "Hemp Wick -vs- Butane", and I think we're beginning to understand the clear winner!



In the end, and the cleaner alternative of vaping aside, if you want a truly 'clean' smoking experience, as clean as you can expect from combusting plant matter anyhow:


A dollar store magnifying glass and the sun works wonders (wear sun glasses, aiming the sun-spot can be painful or even harmful for your eyes!), so do inert glass rods, and even ceramic soldering irons.



(*** And always snuff your wick completely!

If you kill the ember on the end with the flame rather than just blowing it out, then it is odor free!


I use my thumb and forefinger, but I've got pretty tough hands, others use the back of the wick holder, their lighter against an ashtray, or a similar method.

UPDATE - They do make 'Wickit Wands' now, that snuff the wick for you!)




Hope this adds to the discussion, and that it gets people thinking!


Have fun!

Edited by BadKittySmiles, 03 March 2013 - 06:00 AM.

I like humboldt wick the best

I like humboldt wick the best

Getting mine monday.

Bee line is the original hemp wick from Hawaii and is organic. Love it . All sizes work. Bigger line bigger flame. For bongs get thick line.

I might try buying from these folks next time. If I do I will review.
HempWick! Handmade By Hippies in New Smyrna Beach, FL!

I prefer bee line. One of LHS's only carries I-tal so i've been using that. I've found that it burns a little dirtier than the other brands. When I it use it in a group, I cut off a long piece and pass the still lit wick with the pipe (unsafe I know). When doing this I-tal burns much quicker through the line than the other brands.

Thanks a lot for the info in this thread, guys, especially BadKitty. I've always just used a lighter, and more often than not use a bong. But I'm pretty motivated to switch to hempwick know, because I don't like the taste of butane, and especially because of how I can get more from each bowl, seeing as the combustion temp is lower.