disposal vape pen for first time

After decades as an occasional weed smoker, used a disposable vape pen for the first time yesterday. In fact was my first experience with modern concentrates other than smoking hash. Bought a $35 Gold Flora Gold Rush with 300mg Chemdawg at 94% THC. Was surprised how small these products have become. The above metal cylindrical product is just 3.4 inches (86mm) long and 0.4 inches (10mm) in diameter. So about as long as a cigarette and slightly wider. This product was an aesthetic shiny metallic gold.

My primary reason for trying it was not because I expected to get any higher versus smoking as I've been using highest THC content flower. But rather for the sake of concealment use out in public. Unlike many enthusiasts, I have never smoked much at home and am a decades old expert at finding places to smoke flower on the sly even in dense cities like San Francisco. Since one does not need a lighter, using a disposable takes up less pocket space than even a chillum one-hitter.

Although there are web sites including youtube explaining how to use these products, they tend to be too simple without explaining some things a never ever might wonder about, like which end is the mouth end haha. On some product that may be obvious but was not on mine. I searched online and found a single diagram showing what was inside. One end contains a cylindrical battery while the other end with a short chamber showing a clear window with oil inside, is where one draws from. I was surprised the mouth end was so close to the chamber as I expected it might become warm or hot when heating the chamber? That later proved to not be the case at all as during use I could not sense any temperature changes on the outside of the metal. The mouth end contains a small white plastic plug that needs to be removed for use. Initially wondered why that end looked blocked until playing with it to find the white piece was removable (and easily lost if not careful).

This was day 4 of a t-break so tolerance was nicely low for the test. So about noon was in San Francisco on its north shore at a green lawn of Aquatic Park that was full of people with the bay full of boats and ships beyond out in the bay. A great place for an interesting fun high. Sat down in a shady spot and cautiously started with a small easy draw. Did not know if that actually did anything until noticing there was usefully a white LED at the battery end that illuminates with any draw. Nice design! Then waited a couple minutes to feel any effects. Well felt much like taking a first small toke on a J. Ok did that again and same thing so apparently did not need to worry about being overwhelmed by the THC content. Noticed smoke vapor when exhaling though did not have much smell and what there was reminded me of the smell smoking hash. Then increasingly took stronger draws. It did not take long to reach as strong a high as I've gotten this year with any flower smoking sessions. Also strong draws cause some smoke to rise from the pen itself but one can draw smaller if that needs to be on the sly.

Because the disposable is so small, I could easily totally conceal it out of any view in my palm and then bring it up to my mouth without anyone nearby aware my hand held anything. I've seen fancier non-disposable vaping products that are longer so these smallest products have a significant advantage for concealment by hand use. After maybe 3 or 4 hours additional use and its subsequent tolerance build up, was no longer bringing me to the terrific level of high so was time to let it wear off so I could get a couple plus hours in before driving my vehicle. 8 hours later back at home after the high had worn off and was still in a minor haze, took a few more draws that brought on a weak limited high I could see was not worth pursuing in the future in similar situations.

 

Friday morning now, day 2 of next t-break and surprisingly already feel like I normally would on day 3. Tomorrow will be back up in SF to draw on the vape pen some more. Saturday is the day of the week that the north SF waterfront streets are swarming with large crowds having fun.

 

Yesterday while walking about San Francisco north shores used the vape pen again after a shorter 3 day tolerance break. After about 15 minutes of casual draws was not able to quite reach the same level of highs that confirms what I've been experiencing over the past few months that there is a noticeable difference between 3 and 4 day t-breaks. Later on 6 hours later during the evening had a chance to test how high it was possible to reach after smoking earlier in the day. Thus vaped the 90% THC for awhile till was confident I would not be getting any higher regardless of how much and how long I smoked. Well I was modestly high but a long ways from where I had been at mid day when I started smoking that confirmed what I already knew and advocate that without a tolerance break, highs are severely limited regardless of how much concentrate is consumed.

Image above is across the yacht harbor with Chrissy Field beyond where my car is parked. One of the few places on the north shore of the city where one can park all day for free. Unlike most of the US that is in a heat wave, the high temperature was just 67F due to the marine air and yes that is fog moving in above the buildings.

 

An update as I continue to explore vaping. The $35 Gold Flora Gold Rush disposable pen 300mg of oil gradually emptied and finally stopped producing vapor even though I could see some viscous oil still in the chamber. Heated the whole thing with a hair drier that melted the oil that re-flowed onto the heating element. That added several more decent draws before it was over. Overall didn't think my money was as well spent as on high THC flower.

Then bought a $25 black Gold Flora Naked AF Indica disposable pen with 500mg of 76% THC. This disposable with more oil was longer though still easily concealable. Used that Wednesday after a 4 day t-break up in SF and produced an excellent strong high. For a couple hours was as lively walking around as usual but then as it wore off, noticed I seemed to be less lively even after a couple more draw sessions. This may have been the first time I've noticed what others have been referring to as couch-lock etc. 6 hours later tried another session but continued to just feel lethargic. Chamber still has a lot of oil left so will test this more during the next few weeks.

After doing online homework on vape pens and cartridges, next bought a $15 Metrix Variable Voltage Button 650ma-hr battery with a 510 thread and latest in vape design. The product box had inadequate information about the meaning of the LED displays so had to go online and look up user information that Youtube showed seemed to be minimal on all these products as numbers of users apparently have been wondering too. All tended to have basic info on turning the devices on off on and drawing but otherwise there are functions not covered like what is displayed when fully charged or is there any indication when a battery gets low. It did come with a stub USB charger so charged my battery and through trial and error discovered behavior of the 3 colors of LEDs and various blinkings. Noticed the charger and battery both turn on red LEDS and when charged the LEDs turn off. Found if one depresses the button, if the pen is powered up, the voltage LEDs around the button illuminates at the current voltage setting while if the pen is off nothing happens until one does the 5-click power on action.

Bought for $26 a Select 500mg cartridge of Super Lemon Haze (Sativa) with 84% THC that I screwed into the Metrix battery. Then vaped that yesterday Thursday just 24 hours after using the Gold Flora Naked AF pen. A quite strong high considering the short t-break though not surprisingly did not last as long at the peak level versus Wednesday when I was fresh off the t-break. Interestingly I didn't seemed to be as nearly lethargic 2 hours later when the high began wearing off so maybe have for the first time noticed some difference between Indica and Sativa? Vaping more brought the high back up some though I could readily feel that it didn't matter how much or how long I did so as I was not going to reach the earlier high.

Although the combination of battery plus oil cartridge is longer than either disposable, one can unscrew the two to more easily fit in a small pocket. The battery thread end also comes with a small white plug. In the above image, the small pocket silicone pipe has been modified. In order to block the considerable weed smell after use, I glued closed the carburetor hole and added a custom shaped red foam plug to the draw end. Note the bowl end came with a cap.

One thing I've learned drawing on these high THC pens is to not draw too strongly as the vapor seems to cause a strong reaction at my throat cough center. When smoking flower I am careful not to draw in too much smoke, especially when beginning a smoking session as coughing can really ruin the experience by causing my sinuses to start clogging with runny mucous and that makes further coughing probable. But it is trickier vaping than with a joint of bowl of flower because the vapor is not as readily noticeable while actively drawing, instead becoming noticeable a few seconds later.

 

Another update as we approach Thanksgiving. Have a collection of 10 high THC vape pen cartridges now though half are near empty. Last week bought a 1 gram cart of 76% Sour Diesel and an 84% 1/2 gram cart of a hybrid. Have successfully figured out how to use a hair drier plus a small butane torch to melt remaining goop in cartridge chambers that otherwise tends to not heat up, especially when against the outer glass container. One needs to have the battery end downward so the oil flows down towards the heater element holes. I hold the carts with a small vice grip pliers and am careful while using the torch not to get it too hot as the pen seals may melt.

Prefer to start a smoking session by smoking high THC flower and then hit cartridges. At this point unsure whether that results in a stronger high. Have also continued to try mixes of Sativa and Indica flower and cartridges that to this point I still don't experience a noticeable difference from though have an open mind that could change. Coming off t-breaks as I regularly do, it doesn't seem to matter beyond THC levels what I smoke as am very lively. It is only a few hours later when a strong high is wearing off that continued consumption only results in the usual increasing groggy sleepy effects.