What is Dabbing - The Beginner's Guide

What is Dabbing – The Beginner’s Guide

Today, concentrates are at the leading edge when it comes to cannabis experiment – both in consumption as well as research. While dabbing is the most interesting and innovative one of the last few years, let’s dig a little deeper to understand the following question: What is dabbing?

What is a Dab?

Dab is basically a substance that has a waxy or oily consistency and that has a high concentration of cannabinoids in it. This concentration is acquired by extracting the plant material with solvents (such as water, butane or carbon dioxide).

A single inhalation from this concentration is roughly equal to about 5 to 10 hits from the same weight of an herb. Keep in mind that concentration of CBD or THC of oil is approximately 60 to 90 percent. The level of concentration depends upon the method of extraction, as well as the kind of cannabis strain that was used. The end result is a product that is a dense viscous oil known as shatter, wax, crumble, butane hash oil, or honeycomb.

What is Dabbing?

A dab can be inhaled in two ways. During the past few years the vaporizer market has manufactured many devices that can be used with concentrates. The pen vaporizer, for example, has various techniques of inhalation and different heating methods, construction materials, and size of bowls.

For instance with the Boundless 710, it is possible to inhale a huge amount of vapor clouds by simply applying the heating element directly onto the silicon or glass urn. Traditional dabbing pens such as the Dabstrom 2.0 or Dr. Dabber Aurora consist of several materials and accessories to cater to a variety of preferences and concentrates of inhalation intensity. The major advantage of this pen vaporizer is that it is a portable device and has an accurate temperature setting with no open flames.

However, the latest ranges of products that have hit the commercial market include dab rigs or oil rigs. These devices operate on the principle of introducing a dab onto a metallic, ceramic or glass spike (nail) with a torch, which is attached to a water pipe. In order not to waste any of these precious vapors it is highly recommended to use a glass dome, which is then placed over the nail in order to steam the vapor in the rig chamber.

Though the glass chambers are not very portable, they offer the best taste and quality of materials. Vapor that is inhaled from the glass water pipe gives the purest and best flavored vapor.

Not all beginners, however, are comfortable in handling hot devices that are operated on an open flame, especially under the condition of being high!

How to store dabs

Since these extracts are very pure and potent (and usually expensive), it is unlikely that you will be using the entire quantity of material in a single session. Hence, it is necessary to think of an appropriate storage container to preserve these concentrates. Silicon containers such as the Red Eye Tek Dab station are the most recommended ones for this purpose.

These containers can withstand about 300°C, as they are made out of flexible material that creates a tight seal and provides freshness and odorless protection.

Controversy

Like any substance that has such potent effects – and which are not regulated yet – there are certain issues that need to be considered and debated.

Firstly, the quality. If the extraction has been produced with a low quality of butane, it is likely that certain contaminants or residual solvents could be the resultant product. Sadly there is no conclusive way of determining the exact quality of a dab with a proper lab test, which usually just shows the purity as well as the cannabinoid content of the extract.

Additionally, it is essential to remind potential dabbers that the high level of concentration of cannabinoids such as THC will not necessarily suit everyone. Hence, it is recommended to always start small when it comes to a new substance so that one can be safe as well as know where to draw the line.