Marijuana in the flower plant form has been around for thousands of years. It has been used recreationally and medicinally throughout the many different cultures that exist around the world. In the past 30 years, the race for the highest THC content started and it’s only been increasing exponentially since then.
The THC percentage has been rising because of the advances and efficient cannabis growing methods that we have discovered. Some people have switched their cannabis grow lights while others have changed their soil and moved more towards indoor growing. As growing has been getting bigger, new cannabis products have been sprouting too. One of those are concentrates and waxes.
What Are Wax Concentrates?
Wax or concentrates are a concentrated form of marijuana that consists of much more potent THC. For example, marijuana in the flower form goes up to about 29% THC whereas wax can get potencies percentage levels to upwards of the high 90s. Concentrates are created through different methods and processes and they come in different forms. Some are softer and break apart easier while others are stickier and harder.
What is a DAB Pen?
A dab pen is the perfect portable device that you can use to vaporize your waxes with a simple click of a button. Although using a wax pen can be a bit more complex than using most other smoking devices, it has a very small learning curve. The way it works is actually very easy to understand. It has a battery case where it attaches to an atomizer coil encased in a chamber. Then you have a mouthpiece that goes on top of that.
To load your wax onto your coil, simply use a dabber tool. Dab some wax onto the coil. Coils are usually a flat ceramic dish or a ceramic or titanium rod tied around a steel wire. The ceramic dish or steel wire heats up to melt the wax. It melts it into vapor where you then inhale it from the mouthpiece.
Benefits
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- Portable: A dab pen has the portability aspect that the dab rig does not. Although you can take the rig out of your house, it is usually glass which makes it riskier. They can easily fall and break and they are pretty bulky. A wax vape can simply be put into your pocket and taken out without being noticed.
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- Easy to Use: Although there is a learning curve to deal with at first, you will get the hang of it very quickly. Simply just dab your dabber and put a bit of wax onto your coil. When you close your mouthpiece, press the power button and inhale the vapor.
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- Discreet: One of the best parts about owning and using a dab pen is the discreet aspect. It’s so small, you can put it in your pocket without it even being noticeable. You can even take it out and use it without anyone around you really noticing.
Disadvantages
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- Needs to Charge: Unlike other ways to smoke, you don’t really need to charge anything. With a vaporizer, you need to make sure the batteries are charged and ready to go. Charging can take 1-3 hours and you can generally use it for a couple of days. The bigger the battery, the less discreet it is.
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- Can Malfunction: Although it doesn’t happen so often, vapes are electronic products which means they can mess up. Whether it’s a short circuit wire or you drop it and it breaks, vapes can stop working and it’s definitely not the best feeling.
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- Requires Coils: Coils are the annoying part of a vaporizer. Coils can often burn out depending on which dab pen you have. If you use them too much, you will need to buy back up coils.
What is a Dab Rig?
A dab rig is one of the more intense ways to smoke your concentrates. It’s not only intense because you need a torch but the high it produces is much stronger. A dab rig looks similar to a regular bong but it has a different stem and instead of a bowl, you put a nail or banger. Another difference between using a regular bong compared to this wax water pipe is that with a regular bong, you need to pack the bowl first then light it up. With this, you simply heat it up first with the torch then dab the dabber tool onto your nail or banger.
Benefits
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- Clean Smoking Experience: One of the aspects of vape is that you use the same coil over and over until it stops working. With a dab rig, you use a torch which heats up the nail a lot. This removes the old resin because of the heat.
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- Intense High: You cannot get an intense hit from any other way of smoking then with a wax bong. The heat mixed with the concentrate gives the best of both worlds.
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- Cool Glass Designs: Vapes have different designs but they generally come in a few different forms. Wax water pipes come in different materials like silicone and glass along with the different designs. Glass blowers like to create intricate designs like microscope rigs, dragons and much more.
Disadvantages
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- Price: One of the things that makes people shy away from dab rigs is the price. Prices can vary with them and sometimes they get so expensive, it’s not even worth using it. If the price is too little, the material can be bad too. Bad quality usually means thin glass which can break easier.
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- Can Break: Another disadvantage to having a dab rig is simply for the fact that it can break. Silicone is a great material to help stop this but not everyone likes smoking out of silicone. Glass is the most popular and a simple waist level drop can shatter it.
Which Ones Better?
If you are thinking of getting a dab pen or a dab rig, ask yourself what’s more important? discreet and portability or an intense high and a great smoking experience. Being able to serve the reason you want it for is going to be best for you. At the end of the day, these are both devices that will get the job done well.
The American Lung Association has 
