by Ed Rosenthal
The Kiss Shatter.
Photo: Mel Frank
Since 2009, concentrates have surged in popularity in the medical marijuana epicenters and have been spreading to others. Dispensaries that once carried a shelf of water hash now have three shelves of concentrates. At marijuana festivals, the once-ubiquitous vapor bag for large groups had nearly disappeared by 2014, replaced by an oily dab rig and bud tenders doling out dab after dab to an endless line of enthusiasts.
“THE CLEAR” CONCENTRATE
A concentrate so pristine, “clear” is in the name, The Clear first began appearing in Bay Area dispensaries in 2013 and has since shot to the front of the class. The Clear is an ultra-refined, very viscous, oil-like concentrate that is transparent with gold or yellow tints.
The Clear is used in vape pens or as dabs, because the product tests at 75%–80% THC. It smells sweet and hits incredibly smoothly with immediate effects. It also comes in a number of strains: Jack Herer, True OG, Trainwreck, and Headband.
The pure quality and high percentage of THC in The Clear means that you can eat it, but the raw taste is unpalatable. However, its evanescent flavor profile is ideal for hyper-potent edibles that don’t taste weedy. It’s already been decarboxylated, so don’t worry about that step. Just dilute it in oil or alcohol.
The Clear creation process is proprietary, but the manufacturer says that the process involves heat and pressure. It claims that no residual solvent is detected at the parts-per-billion scale. The company says that it captures the terpenes, decarboxylates the extract to activate it, and then returns the captured terpenes to the mix.
The painstaking process is both the advantage and the drawback. By removing and re-adding terpenes, The Clear tastes like a next-gen extract, with very little of the nose of high-quality bubble hash or BHO. Very much akin to CO2 extract, the thin smell makes sense after the intense extraction and decarboxylation process. It’s also very sticky and tacky at room temperature, yet liquid under heat—so it doesn’t work well alone in a normal pipe. Paired with a vape pen or an oil rig, The Clear is among the most potent, clean hits in weed history.
Photo: Nadim Sabella Photography
Accessories for using concentrates are specifically adapted to the special properties of hash. Marijuana concentrates don’t vaporize or burn like raw flowers. Bubble hash can catch fire, or melt down into a bowl. Solvent hash of all kinds turns to a liquid under heat and coats the sides of a standard pipe. You need special tools to consume such products safely and efficiently.
Sitting safely to dab.
Photo: Saucey Santos
That usually starts with a globe and nail, also called a dome and nail. The two pieces affix to the downstem of standardized borosilicate tubes (bongs) and bubblers. Newer nails don’t require the dome, and the nail has been eliminated in some versions in favor of a bowl with a shallow outer moat that holds the concentrate as it vaporizers. Tiny holes allow the vapor to be drawn into the tube. These pieces also pair with “dab rigs,” which are bubblers of varying sizes that are specially designed for use with hash.
HBC WAX
HBC is a solvent-free wax made, as the name describes, in a hyperbaric chamber. What was once only used for decompressing divers and oxygen therapies for the ill is now creating wax with clean and delicious terpene profiles. Similar to other wax-making processes HBC uses cool temperatures to remove cannabinoids. Hyper-barometric pressure with a reverse nitrogen boil work to pull the cannabinoids and terpenes off of plant matter. Once liquid, the concentrate is filtered through several filters sorting trichomes by density, and then is turned to wax by reversing pressure several atmospheres. This process retains both lower and higher level terpenes and produces a product that is fragrant as well as potent. For some there is no going back to solvent concentrates and this is the only item they look for, often coming up empty handed due to still very low volumes on the market.
“HBC tastes and smells stronger than any other wax. People are often surprised the first time they inhale it because there is such a huge difference in the amount of flavor you experience. When dabbed, it feels less hot than expected, and you notice the effects immediately as you exhale. It melts down nicely, leaving little to no residue. HBC is the only thing on the market comparable to Clear when it comes to THC levels and solventless concentrates.” —HBC Wax enthusiast
Photo: Nadim Sabella Photography
Nails require a heat source to achieve surface temperatures suitable for vaporizing hash. The choices are external, using a small butane torch, or internal, heating the shallow bowl electrically. Skillets, also called swings, which fit into a bong or bubbler, are less popular. Health stones are porous, inert ceramic rocks or puffed glass that fit into specially designed pipes. Waxes and oils are temporarily trapped in the structure as they melt so they can be easily vaped.
DAB GEAR
Nails
Nails are the workhorse of the dab world. They get their name because they look like a standard construction nail: they’re long, thin metal objects that fit into a bong’s downstem on one side, with a wider top section for vaping hash. They come in a variety of standard widths, like 10 mm, 14 mm, and 18 mm, to fit into different downstems. Nails are made from a variety of materials that are used because they do not create fumes at working vaporization temperatures. The most common materials used are quartz, titanium, and ceramic.
These titanium nails retain more heat and disperse concentrates evenly. DYD Titanium nails are elegantly machined and fit into most dab rigs.
You heat up the nail with a torch, which is usually a six-inch or larger butane torch, with flame control, a safety lock, and a flame lock. Affix the nail in the downstem (wide side up), flick on and lock the torch, and touch the flame to the nail. Inhaling air that has been superheated by a nail is not healthful, so most dabbers are attached to water pipes that cool the vapor. Remove the torch as the nail shows the first faint signs of glowing, then place the dab on the nail. The dab flash-melts and boils, generating vapor. Inhale.
Pipes for the connoisseur of glass, these JAG x Hitman collaborations use various scientific filtration methods for a unique experience.
Photo: Hitman Glass
Nails come in two main varieties, domed and domeless. The dome helps corral the hash vapor and force it down the stem, but it requires that you place it onto the hot nail, which is an extra step. Domes can also get quite arty and beautiful. Domeless nails contain holes in the nail and other design tweaks to force the vapor down during inhalation and prevent it from escaping into the room.
A quartz nail inside a Pyrex dome. Nails are heated until they are hot enough to vaporize concentrates.
Photo: David Downs
A dome cap makes the rig more efficient. It is placed over the dome immediately after the dab has been dropped on the nail. It prevents the vapor from escaping from the dome top and slows any burning by making oxygen scarce in the dome.
Necklace dab rigs, like this one from idab, are made for dabbing on the go.
This handheld vertical vaporizer is a spill-proof double bubbler. Heat the glass tip and dip into an extract. Nectar Collectors clean and cool the vapor while allowing you to control both heat and dosage.
Photo: Wasatch Glassworks
Dabbing Rigs
While nails are designed to fit into a wide variety of downstems, they often fit the best with “dab rigs,” bongs, and bubblers specially designed for consuming hash.
Dab rigs tend to be smaller than water pipes for flowers. Since hash smoke is so much more potent, you don’t need to fill a huge chamber with smoke to achieve the desired highness. The length of the system is actually a liability here, as solvent hash condenses along the route of delivery. The longer the route, the more condensation, and hence, waste.
Consequently, dab rigs tend to closely resemble traditional, handheld bubblers.
Dab rig design is divided into two general classes, “scientific” and “heady,” though plenty of artists seek to fus
e the two. Scientific designs hew toward a minimalist, lab aesthetic and often feature clear glass and shapes that evoke beakers and test tubes. Form follows function in scientific glass. “Heady” dab rig designs embrace the imagination, taking on the shape of mythic creatures and pushing the boundaries of color, pattern, and materials.
At the larger end of the scientific dab rigs are units like the Sheldon Black medium rig with Ti nail. Fourteen inches tall, sleek and minimal, the Sheldon Black downstem ends in a diffuser, which helps cool and filter the vapor. Scientific dab rigs can get incredibly technical, with multiple levels of diffusers and percolators.
Heady dab rigs vary just as much in size and shape, but the trend is toward smaller rigs. Pendant rigs that fit on a necklace are popular. Heady designers are in a permanent arms race for the newest glass colors and coolest-looking designs and materials. Dragons, robots, cartoon characters, and monsters abound. Designers regularly use metallic fuming to bind different elements to the borosilicate glass, creating deep, rich, luminous colors, sparkles, and interference patterns. Mothership Glass offers some of the most intricate designs, and artists like Snic are pushing the envelope, incorporating external electroplating for steampunk-like designs. The artists designing these rigs are creating a new genre of art that will be used in daily life, but also saved as collectibles.
Mothership Glass.
Electric Dabbers
Many people are turned off by the butane torch, which looks so industrial and primitive at the same time. Electric dabbers heat a nail or stage without using a flame. Companies offer plug-in electric heating elements that affix to a nail and heat it up in seconds.
Handheld electric wands such as Embur or Phedor function on the same principle, using electrical resistance to heat the tip to red hot, which can be applied to instantly vaporize hash on a cold nail.
Health Stone Glass features the Vapor Stone, a ceramic insert that holds concentrates so they are easily vaporized in its labyrinth of cells.
Photo: David Downs
Skillet rigs are easy to use and do not need attachments to vaporize. Dabbing with a skillet from idab’s glass line is easy; just heat and swing it under the opening, add concentrate, and enjoy. No nail required.
Health Stones
By far the simplest, easiest way to smoke solvent hash harkens back to using a handheld pipe. With a health stone, the bowl is fitted with what looks like a rock. Vapor stones are 100% inert ceramic rock, so they don’t fume. Under heat, solvent hash melts into and vapes out of the porous, rocky matrix. The company Health Stone started in California in 2010, and makes the stones, as well as the glass pipes and bong fittings they go into.
Skillets (Swings)
Skillets, also known as swings, are tiny titanium pans the size of a postage stamp, held below a vapor intake by a metal wire (the “swing” part). You heat up the skillet with a torch, swing it under the nozzle, then dab the hash on the skillet while inhaling. Skillets come as attachments for bongs and bubblers, or as part of heady dab rigs.
Wands (Dabbers)
Working with concentrates can get very sticky. They range in texture from granular, sand-like bubble hash to some of the stickiest tree sap imaginable. Nonstick surfaces, usually parchment paper or silicone (not wax paper, which transfers wax and will make your hash taste like a candle), are used to store and transport concentrates. Dabbers are used to manipulate the material, titrate dosage, and apply hash directly to hot surfaces.
All dabbers must be able to withstand high heat without generating fumes. The most popular materials for dabbers are titanium and quartz. Sometimes dabbers look as cruel and utilitarian as a dental pick, or a thimble with a flat-head extrusion. But dabbers and the dishes they come with are often treated as works of art in their own right, and can cost hundreds of dollars. Quartz dabbers are made to look like Bic pens and yellow #2 pencils. Dabbers and dishes often tie in thematically to dab rigs to create visual harmony and lend self-expression to the ritual.
This electric dichro flower petal dish and dabber from piper GingerELA lends a feminine elegance to a dab session. Dip inside for a morsel of nectar.
Photo: David Downs
Wish your dab tools wouldn’t roll away? Square, ergonomic tools from Mystic Timber are handcrafted using wood from sustainable forests.
Photo: Mystic Timber
Nothing sticks to NoGoo silicone containers and trays. They are a must for storing and transporting concentrates since they eliminate the mess and loss of material to other containers.
Photo: NoGoo
DANGERS OF DABBING
Dabbing has an inherently dangerous look to it, and that may be part of the attraction for some dabbers. Butane torches put people off, as do the red-hot nails, and the sight of strange-looking substances boiling off into glassware. Many people consider dab culture a liability to the overall legalization of marijuana, noting how the media have dubbed it “the crack” of pot. The analogy is incorrect. Dabs are more like the espresso or hard liquor of pot.
Unlike liquor, there is no lethal dose for marijuana. However, you can pass out from flowers or a dab. THC lowers blood pressure, so dab sitting down. Overdosing on THC, while not toxic, can be uncomfortable, causing anxiety and even nausea. Don’t dab unless you’re an experienced marijuana user. Even then, dabs aren’t a contest. Do small dabs and enjoy yourself. Huge dabs increase your tolerance, can result in acute intoxication, and can be part of a constellation of behaviors that could ultimately lead to harm. Keep temperatures as low as possible to vaporize extracts. Sudden exposure to very hot, dry air can cause your throat to close up, as though you were choking. Prevent any physiological damage to your lungs and throat by using a pipe cooled with water or ice.
And of course, use care and common sense when operating a torch, as well as handling potentially hot nails, wands, etc.
DYD Titanium
Company Spotlight
As enthusiasts and patients have turned to the potent, purified concentrates that have become more widely available, specialty companies have emerged with purpose-built products for smoking or vaporizing them. Today’s connoisseurs prefer special rigs designed to make the most of small amounts of concentrate, minimizing waste and maximizing flavors and effects. That’s where DYD Titanium comes in.
DYD Titanium’s signature product is the dabbing nail, machined in the United States from domestic Grade 2 titanium for superior heat retention and performance. Titanium is inert, making it safe to handle the temperatures required to vaporize concentrate. Since the Northern California company was founded in 2010, they have refined their design to precisely sculpted nails that easily adapt to different rigs. DYD Titanium chooses its material for both form as well as function—together, these provide an aesthetically and physically beautiful experience.
Each of their adjustable nails features a goblet-like head cup with thin, machined walls for rapid heat-up, and a thick base that maximizes heat retention. The innovative counterweight does more than keep the nail upright in the rig. It is a machined 9 mm head in its own right, quick heating and perfect for catching smaller dabs of oil.
The slim threaded shaft of the midsection also differentiates the DYD Titanium design. Its narrow diameter allows superior airflow, and the threaded, finned 18 mm midsection adjuster lets you position the nail head at exactly the right height for any rig.
DYD Titanium offers unique tools designed and engineered in collaboration with local artists. The company thoroughly inspects and hand polishes every piece before it’s shipped, and takes pride in the fact that everything offered is made in the USA. DYD Titanium’s nails can be found in hundreds of stores throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan.
Mothership Glass
Company Spotlight
Some of the world’s most innovative borosilicate glass art comes out of Mothership Glass, launched in 2012 as a collaboration between Scott Deppe and Jake Colito. The two have carefully selected more than a dozen skilled artisans
to work at their facility in Bellingham, Washington, where the emphasis is on exploring new processes and techniques made possible by state-of-the-art equipment.
Deppe and Colito have a combined experience of more than 25 years on the torch, but they put two years into research and development of scientific glassblowing, perfecting the company’s unique percolation system before they turned to color and pattern work. That paid off their first year, with two awards at the American Glass Expo, the industry’s largest trade show.
Their products are as functional as they are artistic. Many pieces reflect sacred geometry in their percolation and diffusion systems. The designs, which take anywhere from 12–18 hours of work to construct, have made Mothership Glass an industry leader, backed up by superior customer service and a no-flaw guarantee. Careful work makes it possible. Some parts have tolerances as tight as 0.25 millimeter, and even the logo etching is deep and distinctive. Every piece passes through the hands of 9–12 artisans on average.
As concentrates became popular, Mothership Glass debuted its honeypot design. It uses a free-moving swing arm with either a titanium or quartz bucket, eliminating sticky joints from the rig. Just heat up the bucket away from the bowl and then swing it inside. The D-cut on the bucket creates even air flow. The OFZ cap accessory adapts it for vaporizing.