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Submitted by: Korey Fayard
Lately, whenever someone breaks out weed in my presence, those marijuana delivery devices of my youth-the joint, the bong, usually the one-hitter camouflaged like a cigarette-are nowhere to be found. A whole new trend has consigned them to the pinnacle shop clearance bin. Today, everybody’s vaping.
Vaporizers heat your “herbal material” (this euphemism pops up in all public vape discussions, but, let’s be truthful, hardly any folks are jazzed about huffing lavender) until it hits a temperature that turns active ingredients in to a light, inhalable mist. Studies suggest that vaping is less damaging to you than smoking, because lighting things on fire throws off toxins that you really oughtn’t usher in your lungs. Indeed, New York state’s medical marijuana legislation actually disallows smoking weed and instead advises that patients either eat or vaporize their analgesic ganj.
I’m not averse to the odd recreational puff. I’ve even occasionally been proven to harbor an eensy little bit of weed during my apartment. If it’s time for you to discard my rolling papers and my ancient, hand-me-down pipe and boldly embrace this brave new methods of blazing, a growing number of, as friends have the change to vapes as well as the health advantages become obvious, I’ve wondered.
But may I overcome my deeply held belief that getting stoned should not require batteries? Am I a cannabis curmudgeon? Or am I willing to graduate into a higher-tech high? To determine, I decided to borrow several vapes and put them through their paces.
First, a key decision: desktop or portable? When I took a peek across the marketplace, I saw a bunch of giant, forceful vapes that dominate your coffee table, plug in your wall, and work by billowing marijuana vapor into massive airtight sacks that you then suck out from-like inhaling helium from the birthday party balloon. This felt a tad aggressive for my purposes, similar to owning a 4-foot glass bong dotted with Phish stickers. (To become clear, I don’t think the presence of a huge, tabletop vaporizer within your house means you own an unhealthy relationship with marijuana, any longer than I feel owning a big, fancy wine refrigerator making you an alcoholic. However I wouldn’t purchase a wine fridge, either. It’s a point of self-image.)
Instead, seeking something using a slightly lower profile, I gravitated to smaller, cordless vaporizers with rechargeable batteries. These offer both daintier proportions and more modest dosages. You might even tuck one out of a pocket and bust it among friends at a barbecue, or about the back nine of the woodsy golf course, or behind some grassy dunes on that barren stretch of beach.
Vaporizers encourage a techie, gear-focused mindset vaguely at odds with all the Zen mojo of classic stoner culture.
The portable vapes I attempted all required the same basic prep routine. First, you mill a pinch of weed-using a “grinder”-until it’s almost powdery, which ensures it would cook evenly without any oversized nuggets will receive singed on top while remaining raw at the center. You shake this powder into the vape’s heating chamber, start up the unit, and wait 30 seconds or thereabouts for this to warm up. Then you commence inhaling. Feel free at this stage to successfully pass the vape ‘pon the left-hand side.
The 1st two vapes I tested were both created from plastic and gave off a displeasingly cheap, RadioShack vibe. The Vapir NO2 ($149.99) would look right at home on Batman’s utility belt. It’s matte black, having an LCD readout as well as a phalanx of buttons to regulate its temperature settings. The Arizer Solo ($224) was similarly encrusted in indicator lights. These vapes will do the trick, functionality-wise-the Vapir especially had no problem serving up thick clouds of pot mist shortly after I switched it on-but they weren’t my style.
I much preferred the simpler vapes with one-touch controls. The Ploom Pax ($249.99), made by a pair of dudes with Stanford grad degrees in product design, was easily the smallest and lightest device I borrowed. It’s a piece of cake to work with. You click open its mouthpiece, and as soon as its signal light has turned green, you’re all set. To me it felt a bit fragile, even though Pax was actually a favorite among vapers I canvassed. The latch that opens and closes the mouthpiece was already starting to stick right after a week.
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