Dabbing 101; everything you need to know about concentrates

There are many reasons why the marijuana industry has been exploding like crazy over the last few years. A lot of research has come out about the efficacy of cannabis in helping deal with many different ailments such as depression, epilepsy, anxiety, chronic pain, stress, lack of appetite, and a few eating disorders. Since it has been legalized in many places for medicinal and recreational use, more and more methods of consuming this psychoactive plant are coming out. One of the important ones is the process of dabbing. These use extracts and concentrates that have been taken from the plant to smoke. For this, you usually have to take a small amount of extract to get you high, really fast.

What are dabs?

Any form of concentrates or extracts such as budder, shatter, wax, crumble, honey oil, and even sauce. There are many names for these, based on their methods of extraction and their look and feel. These can be vaporized using a dab rig, an apparatus that you will need to smoke. These are usually much more potent than the flower they were extracted from and on average can have more than 80% THC, compared to an average of 20% of most buds.

These are also quite flavourful since they contain extracted terpenes and cannabinoids. If you learn how to not combust your extract but slowly vaporize it, you can get the best taste possible. There are also other forms of this such as live resin and butane hash oil.

Tools

Taking a dab hit is great, but it needs certain accessories. There are a few tools you should know about for a proper dab hit. The most important ones are a hand-held torch, the main rig, and the nail.

The rig

The rig is the main part that includes a chamber of a glass water pipe. Rigs and bongs can be considered the same, connected to a bowl or a nail.

Nail

The nail is where you put your concentrate for it to be vaporized. According to experts at The Dab Lab, you should have a good and sturdy nail made of either glass or metal. Some nails even have a vacuum-sealed jacket that can help retain heat.

Torch

You most definitely need a torch if you want to heat the nail sufficiently. Unless and until you have a very expensive, self-heating rig, you need the torch to dab at the right temperature. Go for a butane torch, not a propane one.

More facts about dabbing

Dabbing offers a more potent high than its dried counterparts. This is quite flavorful and has immediate effects, as soon as it enters your system. Surprisingly, the smell of extracts does not linger as long as the smell of buds does. This can help you with discretion as well. Remember to not heat your concentrate too much, or you will end up burning it, leaving behind a very hard-to-clean residue.

If you want to enter the world of dabbing, it is important to know certain things about the product as well as the process. This can help you make a well-informed decision before you try it out.