A “dab” is a concentrated type of cannabis that typically takes the form of either a waxy substance or a liquid. Because it also contains concentrated levels of THC dab will get you higher faster than smoking dry herb. Dabbing is the hottest thing in cannabis consumption but how does a beginner enjoy cannabis in this form if they don’t already own a dab rig? Well, they could buy a dab rig from the Puffr wholesale head shop, or they could use any of the dabbing hacks we’re about to lay out in the article below.

What is a Dab Rig?

A dab rig is a variant of the tried and true water pipe that produces THC-laden vapors for the user to inhale. The dab rig has the equivalent of a bowl, which is referred to for some unknown reason as a “nail” even though it looks nothing like a nail. The nail is usually made of glass or quartz, with the rest of the body normally made of glass.

But if you don’t have one of these custom glass pipes does that mean you won’t be able to enjoy concentrates? Not necessarily. As we said at the outset there are numerous hacks available that will allow you to dabble in dabbing without a proper rig. Let’s look at them now.

Precautions

If you’re going to try a dabbing hack keep the following things in mind:

Four Ways to Dab Without a Dab Rig

Okay, without further ado here are 4 hacks from the team at the Puffr wholesale smoke shop that will let you enjoy your concentrates if you don’t have a dab rig available.

Use a butter knife

If you thought a butter knife was just used to butter bread, spread peanut butter or stand in for a screwdriver, think again. You can also use it to dab. As you might imagine dabbing with a butter knife is not exactly an elegant process, but it works and when you’re in a bind that’s all that matters.

What you need:

• A water or soda bottle with the bottom half cut off
• 2 butter knives
• A butane torch

How you do it:

• Put the wax on a plate
• Heat both knives using the butane torch until the tips are red hot
• Put the mouth of the bottle in your mouth and hold it there
• Grab the wax between the red hot knife tips and lift it toward the bottle
• Using the bottle as a funnel catch the vapor and inhale it

This is easier to do if there is one person to hold the knives/wax and the other person can hold the bottle to their mouth using their hand. But one person can still pull it off.

Use rolling papers

Ah… rolling papers. Is there anything they can’t do?

This is by far the simplest alternative method for enjoying your wax. There are a couple of ways you can add wax to your joints. The first is to smear the wax on the inside of the rolling paper and then add your usual dry herb and fire it up. The second method is more involved and more dangerous. It involves adding a dab of concentrate to the tip of the joint and then firing it up with a hand torch. We do not recommend this method as it can be unwieldy and comes with an increased fire hazard.

Use a bong

If you have a standard or custom bong you can easily enjoy your concentrate without having to go out and purchase a dedicated dab rig. You don’t have to change anything or make any modifications to your bong.

How you do it:

• Fill your bowl halfway with herb
• Then drop a dab of wax onto the herb
• Then top off the bowl using more dry herb
• Then fire it up and enjoy

The reason you surround the wax with herb is that you don’t want a flame to come into direct contact with the concentrate. This will make the whole experience much harsher. The beauty of this method is A) its simplicity and B) the fact that if your weed is not of the highest quality the concentrate will add considerable zip to it.

Use a vapor stone

This method works best with oil, not wax.

A vapor stone, also known as a health stone, is a kind of porous glass that somewhat resembles a Brillo pad. Place the vapor stone in the bowl of your bong or pipe. Place some oil onto the top of the vapor stone and heat the stone using a portable dab torch. This will cause the oil to vaporize and create a nice big cloud. Be forewarned, however, that vapor cloud may be pretty harsh.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed these dabbing tips and if you're in the area stop by the Puffer brick-and-mortar store for retail or wholesale glass pipes, customized water pipes and countless cannabis accessories.