Vape vs bong

d42zero

Well-Known Member
Hi guys,

I bought a cheap vape pen recently, an Aristech Herbva 5G: airis Herbva 5G Dry Herb Vaporizer Pen

It seems to do an OK job for the price, but I notice that a) I don't really get any visible 'vapor' from it and b) I seem to be smoking a lot more weed. I'm not really worried about the visible vapor but I just wasn't sure if I was supposed to be getting it or not... if I *am* supposed to be getting it and I'm not, combined with using more weed, I guess that might indicate it's not hot enough or something. But when I dump the contents after a couple of sessions (I usually have two good sessions from one chamber) it's nicely browned so I think I'm heating OK. I'm usually heating on the mid setting which is supposed to be 390degF but I can't vouch for the accuracy.

To be fair I'm going through more weed but I'm also getting way more stoned haha. When I smoke through a bong I seem to get bad anxiety quite regularly; I get tightness in the chest, my breathing sucks, and I get sort-of claustrophobic in my flat (it goes away if I go outside)... it happens for about 15 minutes after nearly every bowl. But through the vape I can smoke ALLLL night and I don't get that feeling at all, despite feeling more blazed. I do, however, seem to notice that the high doesn't last as long but subsequent hits of the vape seem to compound a lot more, so even one little hit when I feel like I'm coming down puts me right back up there.

So I guess I have two questions; is the lack of visible vapor normal and does anyone else notice real differences between the high from a vape and the high from a bong?
 
So further to the 'more weed more high' thing, the thing is that I can smoke more without feeling anxious so I'm getting higher, but I feel less high for the same amount of weed.

I just had a chamber-full and I feel roughly as stoned as I would from having one bowl, but I'd normally put maybe 1/3 the amount of weed in the bowl to feel this stoned. The difference is I could quite easily smash another whole chamber and feel twice as high as I would if I'd smoked one bowl (without any of the anxiety I'd normally get), but I've gone through way more weed to get there.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense lol I'm a little baked :volcano-smiley:
 
Normally you'd get visible vapor. I think something is wrong if you don't get that. With my vaporiser I get barely visible vapes at 160 C, but all temperatures above that will produce cloudy vape. And normally you'd use less weed when vaping compared to smoking. I start at 160C and finish at 227C.
How do you grind your weed? The finer it is ground, the better vape you get. If you can grind it down to a powder you'll get the richest vape possible. Also, a second grinding after you don't get any more vape out of the weed will give you another shot. I always grind my bud twice when vaping. A good grinder makes a massive difference.
 
Normally you'd get visible vapor. I think something is wrong if you don't get that. With my vaporiser I get barely visible vapes at 160 C, but all temperatures above that will produce cloudy vape. And normally you'd use less weed when vaping compared to smoking. I start at 160C and finish at 227C.
How do you grind your weed? The finer it is ground, the better vape you get. If you can grind it down to a powder you'll get the richest vape possible. Also, a second grinding after you don't get any more vape out of the weed will give you another shot. I always grind my bud twice when vaping. A good grinder makes a massive difference.

Thanks mate, that's really useful info! The vape claims temps of 390/405/420degF (198/207/215degC) but at the price I wouldn't be surprised if it was wildly inaccurate. At the low setting I get a vapor that's only visible when I breathe out directly under a lamp, middle I can just see it without the lamp, at the high setting I get a pretty sad little cloud definitely nothing like what you would call 'vaping.' I'm not in it for the 'vape' but if a cloud is a sign of proper combustion then I guess I should be getting it :p

I have a hand grinder but it's rubbish, tonight I bought a cheap electric coffee grinder which will be capable of a crazy fine grind. I did try a couple of different grinds but didn't see a huge difference, although like I said my hand grinder is rubbish. EDIT: I just whizzed up a bud and it ended up a powder about as fine as talc! Maybe a little too fine lol as I think it'll pull through the screen... anyways see how it goes in a minute :D

That's an interesting trick with the second shot, I might give that a go. Do you keep going after you get that sort-of popcorn-ey taste?
 
I've got a vaporized and should use it more often, but I'm used to my bucket made of two empty plastic bottles worth a few cents or dollars. I don't get a lot of vapor from dried flower, though I get some. Barely any vapor from the first hit but more after the second. A note on grinding up your weed, some vaporizers you shouldn't grind it to dust and they work better with pieces about the size from a hand grinder. Part of the reason suggested for mine was so the mesh filter would prevent tiny bits going in and clogging up the vaporizer.
 
Thanks mate, that's really useful info! The vape claims temps of 390/405/420degF (198/207/215degC) but at the price I wouldn't be surprised if it was wildly inaccurate. At the low setting I get a vapor that's only visible when I breathe out directly under a lamp, middle I can just see it without the lamp, at the high setting I get a pretty sad little cloud definitely nothing like what you would call 'vaping.' I'm not in it for the 'vape' but if a cloud is a sign of proper combustion then I guess I should be getting it :p

I have a hand grinder but it's rubbish, tonight I bought a cheap electric coffee grinder which will be capable of a crazy fine grind. I did try a couple of different grinds but didn't see a huge difference, although like I said my hand grinder is rubbish. EDIT: I just whizzed up a bud and it ended up a powder about as fine as talc! Maybe a little too fine lol as I think it'll pull through the screen... anyways see how it goes in a minute :D

That's an interesting trick with the second shot, I might give that a go. Do you keep going after you get that sort-of popcorn-ey taste?

At those temps you should get plenty of clouds as long as the weed quality is ok. Shitty weed will produce very little vape.

My vaporiser fills balloons with vape, and just as Lightworker says, the first one produces very little clouds, but it is on the other hand the absolutely tastiest one and is therefore my favourite. My theory is most of the terpenes get vaped at first.
I keep going for as long as my balloons get cloudy enough, about 7 - 9 balloons on a load, plus one or two extra after a regrind of the herb. I have a Volcano and it is known for producing tasty vape, so the burnt popcorn taste is not as bad as some other vaporisers.

Try this:
Fill chamber and vape at low
Regrind herb and continue vaping at medium. You should get clouds. Vape at medium until not cloudy enough and then continue at high for as long as you get clouds.
Do you still not get any clouds?
 
As nickeluring just mentioned, try drawing slowly from your vape. The difference between a vape, and a bong is kind of like wine, and beer. A beer you just slam it down, get the job done... A wine you sip, enjoy the flavours, and aromas. You take the time to taste it in small amounts at a time.
Vaporizing is like wine. You sip it. I have a PAX 2 and a PAX 3. They are great but they have to be drawn slowly and not just inhaled like it's the last high you will ever get again. You have to give time between sips for the oven to regain temperature in order to keep producing better clouds. I believe that the handheld units like my PAX, and many other smaller units have a smaller oven so if you haul on it hard you are passing too much fresh air through the oven that never had a chance to heat and mix with the vapour.
 
Thanks guys, I'll try a few of those things and see if they help.

Weed quality is pretty good, not my own stuff but decent. I ground some extra fine last night and that didn't really make much of a difference, if anything it made it harder to pull as the screen seemed to clog up.

I'm drawing slowly - I did read something about that when I first got it so tried not to rip it like a bong. Slow draws definitely do seem to make it better but I still don't feel like this is working like it's supposed to.

Try this:
Fill chamber and vape at low
Regrind herb and continue vaping at medium. You should get clouds. Vape at medium until not cloudy enough and then continue at high for as long as you get clouds.
Do you still not get any clouds?

This is sort of what I already do - I let the thing warm up on low and stay at that temp for a minute or two before bumping it up to medium, once it's warm at medium I take the first one or two pulls, then I jack it up to high and keep going. I still wouldn't say I get a 'cloud' at all, I get the kind of smoke you would see after taking a little tiny puff off a joint and holding it in for ages until almost nothing comes out.. hard to explain but that's probably the best description I can come up with lol
 
Stopped reading at "vaporizer pen"

Vaporizer is different than vape pen is different than bong.
I bet google knows why...
I bet the search button on this forum also knows.
 
Vaporizer is different than vape pen is different than bong.

Seeing as though I linked to the exact product, whether I'm getting the terminology right is irrelevant.

Thanks for your pedantry
:thumb:
 
Seeing as though I linked to the exact product, whether I'm getting the terminology right is irrelevant.

Thanks for your pedantry
:thumb:
if he were listing model numbers, it would be pedantic.
he was being a dick, but not a pedantic dick :)

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