New To Vaporizing? Start Here

**Updated on 4/25/17 to be more relevant to current vaporizeres** -- Ren

Hey everyone,

I was going to make this a blog post but thought I would make it an actual forum post. Again, semi-bored at work, the bossman is out today, support tickets are manageable so figured I'd start posting this now. Plus just wanted to break the monotony of "what vape should I get?".

So about 3 years ago I started vaping. Within 3 days after buying my first MFLB, I spent over $500; after the MFLB I bought a Pax, then a VaporBlunt. The MFLB is all I needed, and I fell for the marketing on the Pax and VaporBlunt; both of which did not fit my needs. Ultimately I could've spent $120 and had some left over for herb. But due to poor research and my "spend money now ask questions later" nature, what happened, happened. In hindsight, had I come here first, asked many questions, and did a little research on Google, I could've saved $480.

A lot gets recommended on these forums, and many here will throw around the phrase “you get what you pay for”. That’s mostly true for vaporizers, however, you don’t have to break the bank to get something that’s effective and easy to use.

I know I'm not a vaporist with years of experience, but I do know and understand where most newbies are coming from. Hopefully this post helps and gets stickied, as the most common question asked on here is "I want to start vaping. What do you recommend?"

Here are my tips for aspiring vaporists:

Vaporizer Pens - Ok, this gets asked here a lot, so I'll start with these. Pens are a nice option for some people due to the form factor. They’re extremely portable and for the most part, easy to handle. I tend to steer clear of these as I haven’t had a good experience with a pen vape. Some of the popular ones you’ll see talked about on here are the Snoop Dogg G-Pen and the Grasshopper.


If you’re hell bent on a pen style vape, go with the Grasshopper since it has a better reputation for NOT breaking. The Snoop Dogg G-Pen, while many buy it (mostly due to marketing, not because its what I would call a good vape), it has its issues and some of them can be downright game breaking. The other thing with this vape is it can combust more than it vaporizes. While you can combust with all vaporizers, do yourself a favor, steer clear of the G-Pen and go with something else. If you have to have a pen, then Grasshopper.



Grinders - Before I start with the important vaporizer stuff, you're going to need a grinder. Almost ALL vapes out there like your herb to be grinded up. There are a few vapes out there that don't mind a full bud, but since I started vaping, my stuff gets grinded up almost immediately after I get it (or after I'm done checking out the buds for a few days). While that little plastic grinder with Bob Marley on it might be cool and a nice conversation piece, it might not grind up your herb to the right consistency. I had a little cheap plastic grinder when I got my first vape.

The next day I bought a Santa Cruz Shredder, which is a medical grade grinder due to what its made of and the process of manufacturing it goes through to remove contaminants. It set me back about $60, but it really grinds up and fluffs up the herb. I haven't ever regretted that decision. Some vapes like a very fine grind, others like a coarse or medium grind. And some you can shove a whole bud into. Either way, invest in a good quality grinder and avoid the cheap stuff. Reason being, if you have a grinder thats cheap and some metal shavings fall into the ground up herb, you could end up vaping that metal (or plastic), and inhaling some nasty fumes.
A couple of recommendations:

• Santa Cruz Shredder - made of medical grade anodized aluminum
• Space Case - made from high quality aluminum or titanium
• Magic Flight Nano Grinder
• Magic Flight Finishing Grinder

There are others out there, but those four stick out in my mind because of the materials they're made of, the way they grind, and I own the SC Shredder and Finishing Grinder. The Magic Flight Finishing Grinder is actually more of a companion grinder to go with your grinder, but more on that later.


Whats important to you? - Probably the most important question you need to answer. If you're coming from combustion which 99.99999% of us are, you don't really know how to answer that. Here are some tips and categories to start you off:

• Portability - Want something you can take with you? Or need to be discreet at home? Or can you get away with a desktop/plug-in vape that doesn't really move?
• Efficiency - Do you care how much herb the vape uses? While vaporizers are known for their efficiency, some are more efficient than others, and others promote efficient use. Also other vapes just aren't efficient at all.
• Stealth - Are you going to use the vape flat out in public? Are you going to use it discreetly in public? Or does you current home situation mean you have to keep things on the DL?
• Discreet - Do you want the world to know you're using a dry herb vape? Do you want to vape and have no one know about it? Again, not all vapes are created equal. Some are more discreet than others.
• Smell - A huge category right here. Some vapes produce more smell than others. But keep in mind: ALL VAPES PRODUCE A SMELL. It all depends on the level of smell you want. Between all the vapes I own, my wife can't smell them. She tells me it smells more when I load them up as opposed to when I'm actually vaping. So that tells me my smell radius is about 3 feet. Not too bad!

Cost - Now that you've answered those questions, what is your price range? For something decent you'll want to have AT LEAST $100 to $150 to spend on it. That will get you something off an online store if you so choose and it'll last you a while.

You don't need to spend over $200 to get a good vape to start, but then again it depends on what your tastes are. Some people like expensive things, others like lesser expensive things. Likewise with vapes; some vapes are expensive and are loaded with issues. Some don't cost that much and work fine the way they are. And some are expensive and work flawlessly.

Determine that cost factor to narrow things down even more.

Power - Do you want battery/electric power? Or do you want butane to power your vape? 90% of the vapes out there are electric. There are only a handful of butane powered vapes I’ve seen so far. If you're a beginner however, a good ol fashioned electric vape is where I would start, personally.

That being said, you can really start with any power type of your choosing depending on your situation. Remember that electric vapes require batteries to be charged or need to be plugged in to work (duh!); basically you'll need a power source nearby or make sure your stuff is charged (if using a portable). Butane however, does not have this problem. However, please note:

• Most of the butane vapes I've seen are manually controlled. Meaning, the vape doesn't constantly cook your material and you have to trigger it to apply heat.
• Butane vapes tend to have a learning curve that can be unforgiving if you apply too much heat to your herb.
• Electric vapes can be manual or set it and forget, which is why some of them could be more appealing to new vaporists. I started off with a manual electric vape so, manual control is my personal preference.

Form Factor - Are you looking for a portable vape? Or a desktop vape? How big do you want it to be? Form factor is also a huge deal when it comes to a vape, especially a portable. Some portables are bigger than others; they can range to be the size of a small pencil sharpener or as big as a smartphone. Desktops can take up some real estate on your desk depending on what you pick. You can either get something bigger, or get a log vape that takes up a small amount of space. But if you're in the market for one then chances are you already have some space cleared up for it. From what I've seen most desktops aren't super large, and can be stashed away nicely.

Either way, figure out what type of form factor you like to further narrow down the choices.


Heating Style - How would you like your material heated? Conduction or Convection? A combo of the two? Those are tough questions to answer when you're new to the vape world. I know when I bought my first vape, I didn't think about heating style until I actually started using and enjoying my vape. Over time, I've found that I like convection most of all because of flavor and efficiency. How do you, the newbie vaporist figure out what you like? Here are some guidelines to help with this. But regardless, your material will be vaporized.

• Conduction - The material is in contact with the heating element and gets slowly heated to the desired temperature. Most of your set it and forget ivapes are conduction based, whether they're portable or desktop. It's a fairly common heating technique, but keep in mind that, at least with portables, the flavor factor takes a dive pretty quick.
• Convection - The material is somewhat suspended in a place in the vape that holds the material, be it a stem or a capsule or a bowl. The heat source heats up, and either a fan or your breath surrounds the material with the heat, thus heating the material and producing vapor. Convection gives the best flavor in my opinion, and also great efficiency. You'll find convection based vapes in portable format and in desktops.

With all that being defined for you, understand that some vapes use a combination of conduction and convection. The Magic Flight Launch Box is a good example of this due to its design. There are many vapes out there now that offer a conduction heat, convection heat, or a combination of the two. Remember: Conduction heating means your material is in contact with the element, so flavor won’t last as long. Convection heating takes a little finesse to get the hang of, but in the end the flavor and efficiency are worth it.

Delivery Methods; How do you take a hit?
Another important thing to know about vapes is the delivery method of the vapor. It doesn't differ much from combustion methods honestly; just everything is a lot cleaner. Delivery methods will be very familiar to you, but just to cover them here they are:

• Direct Draw - Just like you're hitting a bowl, pipe, bubbler etc. Put your mouth on it and take a hit. It might be from a stem, a little nub that pops out of the vape, or just a hole on the vape itself. Either way, its just like hitting your favorite combustion piece, without all the negatives of combustion. This method is very common amongst vapes however, depending on the length of the vapor path, the vapor could be a bit harsh.
• Whips - You use these to punish the vape when its being bad. Seriously, its just like hitting a hookah. Crank up your vaporizer and when its ready take the whip and take a hit off it. Whips are typically made of silicone, but keep in mind, just like a hookah, they'll get dirty and you'll have to clean it. The vapor isn't as harsh coming out of a whip as the whip is the vapor path, and whips are usually 8 inches (or so) or longer.
• Bags - Ok, I've only used these a couple of times as most of the vapes my friends have are direct draw or whip based. I do have a couple of friends who have bag vapes but they always end up wanting to use mine when I visit go figure. Bags are nice because they're virtually idiot proof; so they're perfect for a party. They are a little silly, in my opinion, for individual use. They are easy to use; attach to the vape, let it heat up and fill the bag and when its full, detach and stuck drawing in the vapor. You don't have to worry about vapor path on these since it's, well, a bag. Keep in mind condensation can build up in these a bit more than the other method; this is due to the fact that the vapor has more surface area to settle on as opposed to a stem or whip.

Tip: Keep in mind surface are and vapor path all play into the overall picture. The more surface area you have, the more condensation will be allowed to form, thus taking all the actives away from the vapor and having it end up on the surface of the vapor path. You want this as short as possible for best results, but also know that the shorter the path, the hotter the vapor. I prefer a 5 inch stem for my desktop; my portables, I just conform to how it wants things done.


Portable or Desktop; which is better?

Some vaporists will tell you that a desktop is better than a portable. Desktops have a more stable power source so they get a nice steady voltage going to them and can hold a steady temperature. Also, they're built with heat retention in mind (obviously) and can hold their heat very nicely. The results are usually nice thick and potent vapor clouds; and depending on the vaporizer, very tasty too! Desktops can also be very efficient, but that also depends on the specific desktop.

That being said about desktops, you shouldn't think that a portable is substandard when compared to a desktop; especially if your situation at home mandates that you have a portable. Like desktops, some are better than others. Portables nowadays are really good at holding their temperature, maintaining their temperature, and vaporizing nicely. Of course this does depend on the portable. Some can maintain their temperature and produce clouds that are almost on par with a desktop, while others give more of a wispy cloud that's tough to see, but still getting you where you need to be.

Being both a portable and desktop user, I definitely enjoy my E-Nano desktop log vape when I’m at home. On vacation, my portables take very good care of my needs. Really, neither one is better than the other, again, depending on your needs and situation. But, if you’re exclusively using a portable, then decide to get a desktop, you’ll notice the difference.


Bottom Line, how do I pick?

If you want to pick a vaporizer that works for you and your needs, use this guide as a baseline for everything. Look over the questions and see how you answer them. Determine what your needs are starting from desktop or portable. Then look at the other categories I've outlined at the beginning of the post. Once you have all of that gathered you can start asking specific questions in the forums and it will allow us to better assist you and give you some recommendations that might work well for you.

While this may seem a little over the top, and you're wondering why you have to scrutinize a vape and vaporizing so closely; just remember this is different from combustion. You're not just going to the head shop and picking out a piece of hardware that's going to do the same thing regardless of how it looks. All vapes are created a bit differently, and understanding those differences will help you pick. Most importantly, and the biggest thing, is it helps you out on the forums as far as asking for help on it. While my 3 portables and 1 desktop all vaporize and get me where I want to be, they each do it differently and behave differently.

If I had a post like this to read before I started, I'd be $450 richer right now! So knowing all of this, you can now get on the forums and ask more specific questions that will help you select a vape easily. Nowadays, there is enough variety out there for you to make a decision and not feel like you just screwed yourself over.

Enjoy!

**There's more to come! I'll be posting adding sections on Vaporbonging, ABV, and quality of vaporizers in the next few days**

Change log 9/2/14 - Added Grinder section, added Delivery method section
Change log 3/27/17 - Cleaned up the article from the site conversion finally.
Change log 4/25/17 - Made the article relevant to 2017 standards

 

 
Excellent idea. I'll add that in get it edited later or tomorrow. I know there's a few more bits of info we can drop in there. Besides delivery methods, can you (or anyone else on here) think of anything else you'd like me to throw in?

 

 
That was mostly the reason why I started writing it. It started off as a piece about vape pens and how they combust, but it evolved into this. I figured, if I'm going to write about "vape" pens to clear up the mystery, I might as well give them the thought process on what to think about for a vape.
 
Plus writing about this stuff is just fun for me. Still need to figure out how to get it to pay me haha!

 

 
Ha! Good ideas there @[member="POTatato Head"]! I'll get those worked in as well. And keep them coming. I'll update it as I see them posted.
 

 
I thought the same thing as well... Another excellent idea @Hated.. Grinder's will get added too.

 

 
Yeah I might have to do that... Thanks for the suggestion =)