What is a Dab Pen, and How Do You Use One?
Dabs are a stoner’s best friend: powerful, quick, and dank. But one thing they don’t bring to the table is convenience. Sure, you can load and use a dab rig pretty quickly, but there’s no getting around all of that setup. Plus, burning yourself with an open flame doesn’t exactly make for a fun evening. That’s where a dab pen can help you out.
Dab pens make vaping cannabis concentrate easy and approachable. But what are they, exactly, and how do they work?
What is a Dab Pen?
A dab pen is a device that helps you heat and consume cannabis concentrate. Unlike a dab rig, dab pens are portable. They fit neatly into the palm of your hand. Dab pens can differ slightly in construction, but all have three key components: a battery, a mouthpiece, and a heating chamber.
Dab pens for concentrate also have an atomizer tube, which is where you place your cannabis product. Let’s look at an example.
This Yocan Magneto Wax Pen has all the essential bits ‘n’ bobbles and then some.
How does a dab pen work?
Dab pens work a lot like traditional dab rigs. But instead of creating smoke, they create vapor. Dab pen batteries power a heating element, usually a quartz or ceramic coil, to transform the concentrate into those beloved inhalable clouds.
Many dab pens allow you to adjust the temperature you use to vape your concentrate. Since many different concentrates can be loaded into a dab pen, it’s important to be able to tweak your equipment. Wet and light concentrates, for example, tend to like lower temperatures. Plus, temperature control helps ensure you don’t cook the flavor and cannabinoid goodness out of your dabs.
What Do You Put Inside Dab Pens?
The better question might be, “What don’t you put in dab pens?” If it’s a cannabis concentrate, it will probably work in your dab pen. Some examples of products you can use include:
- Live Resin: Made from bud that’s been frozen right after harvest, live resin is packed full of trichomes that give dabs flavor
- Sauce: A thinner concentrate that’s wet and a little sticky
- Batter or Badder: A thicker and spreadable concentrate
- Shatter: A glass-like translucent material
- THC Diamonds: A pure form of THC
- Rosin: A concentrate extracted with minimal solvents
- Crumble: A dry, sand-like concentrate
How to Use a Dab Pen Like a Pro
Learning how to dab with a pen is very different than with a rig. The process is simple; just make sure you prep your pen on a safe, clean surface to avoid spills.
- Charge your dab pen’s battery. You need some juice to heat things up! Most modern dab pen batteries use USB chargers, but some have external batteries. If the latter is true for you, take the battery out of your vape and place it on the charger.
- Disassemble the dab pen. With a charged battery, you can prep your pen by removing its cap and unscrewing the atomizer.
- Load your wax, shatter, etc. Use a metal dab tool to transfer your concentrate of choice directly into the atomizer chamber. Be careful not to overfill!
- Reattach the atomizer and chamber. Put everything back together and screw the cap back into place.
- Turn on your dab pen. If your dab pen has a power button, go ahead and press it. If yours doesn’t, it should turn on automatically when you inhale.
- Start your dab. Put your lips on the mouthpiece and begin inhaling. Most pens have a button you need to press to heat the coil as you breathe in. Take a gentle draw for about one to three seconds, then release the button.
- Cool down and pack up. Once you’re satisfied, turn off your pen and let it cool for a while. Then, disassemble it and put each piece away, taking care not to spill any remaining product from your atomizer.
What is the best temperature to vape wax?
The best temperature for vaping wax is usually around 350° and 400° F. However, your ideal dabbing temperature will depend on the type of concentrate you’re using and your preferences.
If you’re unsure what’s best for your concentrate, start around 300° F and gradually work your way up. You should hit a sweet spot for both flavor and vapor output.
Dab Pen vs. Cart: Different Tools, Different Effects
You’ve probably heard the terms “dab pen” and “vape pen” used interchangeably, but they describe two distinct devices. While dab pens and vape pens are similar in design, they differ in how they get the job done.
A vape pen is a device made to heat vape cartridges, or “carts,” as well as vape pods. These carts are filled with cannabis oil, which can have some crazy high cannabinoid counts.
Meanwhile, a dab pen does not use pre-filled vape cartridges. You’ll need actual concentrate, just like you would for a dab rig, to use a dab pen.
So, which is best? It depends on what you want out of your vaping experience. Vape pens are user-friendly. Some are even disposable. All you have to do to use one is twist a cartridge onto the pen and press a button. But these easy-to-use carts are often stripped of other cannabinoids and terpenes during manufacturing, giving them a sort of “flat” effect.
Dab pens are great for getting the most flavor out of your product since concentrates are usually full of the goodies that trigger the entourage effect. They also allow for more customization; you can use a different concentrate for each hit. But they can be messy, and they might not be as easy for beginners to navigate. So, if you’re new to cannabis, you might want to opt for a vape pen over a dab pen.
How to Clean a Dab Pen
A vital part of using a dab pen is keeping it clean. Concentrate residue can get sticky and gross pretty fast. Plus, your mouth brings a party of bacteria to your pen that you probably don’t want to entertain.
In a perfect world, you should clean your dab pen after each use. But once a week is a good bare minimum. Of course, the more frequently you use the pen, the more often it will need to be cleaned (and vice versa). Luckily, the process is pretty straightforward.
What you’ll need: Cotton swabs, rubbing alcohol, warm water, paper towels
How to clean your dab pen:
- Set the pen to the highest temperature and place it upside down on your paper towels. This will allow the heating elements to melt off any residue.
- Fill a small glass bowl with alcohol.
- Once the atomizer cools down, disassemble the device. Separate the battery, atomizer, and mouthpiece.
- Soak a cotton swab in the alcohol and wipe down the insides of the heating chamber, but avoid touching the coils. If you need a deeper clean, place the atomizer in the alcohol. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Use the tip of another cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the battery’s thread. Also, take some time to wipe the mouthpiece and remove any residue.
- Rinse everything with warm water and allow it to dry before reassembling.
Dab Pen Safety Tips to Keep in Mind
You’re almost ready to dab to your heart’s content; just make sure you keep some essential safety tips in mind.
- Mind the temperature – Vape pens can get hot. Hot enough to burn you. Stay away from the hot bits of your pen after a vape sesh, and remember to give things plenty of time to cool down before you put it away.
- Start slow – Concentrates are highly potent, so it’s best to start with small doses and work your way up. Too much too fast never spells a good time.
- Check-in with a doc – New to dabbing? It never hurts to double-check that cannabis is safe for you with your doctor.
A Dab Pen is Nothing Without Concentrate
You deserve some top-notch products to put all of that new knowledge to good use! The Green Dragon CBD is your source of dab concentrates and tools that you can trust. We know that transparency and quality are important for unregulated products like cannabis – that’s why we only partner with brands we believe in.
Whether you’re hunting for the best cannabis products or simply looking to learn more, you can count on us to help you out. Feel free to reach out for a free consultation with our team or ask any questions you may have about choosing the right products.
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Dabbing is legal if you are using legal cannabinoids to dab. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, Delta 8, Delta 10, and other hemp-derived cannabinoids are legal if they contain less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC by dry weight.
Dabs, also known as a "wax dabs", are a concentrated form of cannabis. These concentrated forms come in different textures like waxes and budders. Regardless of texture, dabs are typically used by being heated and then inhaled through special equipment, such as a dab rig or pen. The concept is like vaping or smoking - you are inhaling the vapors created by heating the dab. Inhaling is the most effective and quickest way to get the effects of your choice cannabinoid.
1.Add water to your dab rig’s chamber.
Test the waterline by inhaling with no banger in the downstem. If water backsplashes into your mouth, you have too much water in the rig. You need to pour some out.
Use your torch to heat the banger until it gets red because it’s so hot. You want to apply the torch to the outside and bottom because that’s where you’ll load the concentrate.
2.Wait 30-45 seconds for it to cool down once the banger is hot.
If it is too hot, it will scorch your concentrate, and that’s not how you do dabs.
3.Apply the wax onto the banger with your dabber, then slowly inhale it through the mouthpiece.
Rotate the dabber tip on the hot banger to avoid wasting any wax stuck on it. Use a long, slow inhale because most of the concentrate doesn’t vaporize instantly.
4.Cover the dab with a carb cap and finish inhaling.
The cap helps regulate the airflow and gives you a better hit. This is how to hit a dab rig.
5.Exhale the vapor and repeat the process.
Remember to be cautious when you first begin dabbing. You don’t want to over-consume the concentrate and green out. It’s easy to do when dabs are so potent.
Read about the different types of wax dabs here.
Check out our blog on how to clean your glass here.
Yes - you can feel the psychoactive effects of the cannabinoid you choose if you dab them. However, if you are using CBD dabs, it will not get you high.
