What Are Dabs?

The phrase “doing dabs'' has become one of the most popular ways of describing cannabis consumption. In this chapter, we discuss dabs and give an overview of the technology.

What Are Dabs?

Dabs is a phrase used to describe consuming any kind of cannabis concentrate found in the other chapters of this guide. The term is a dab because only a small amount of concentrates are needed. Dabs can be done with a dab rig, a dab pen, out of multi-use vaporizers, or smoked in a bowl with flower.

How Are Dabs Consumed?

One method of consuming dabs is with a dab rig. A dab rig is most often a glass piece, which is similar to a bong. Rather than a bowl that you pack with cannabis flower in a bong, there is a piece of the device there called a nail. To consume dabs this way, you heat the nail with a torch, add the dab to the hot surface, and inhale the vapor.

Another popular way to do a dab is with a dab pen. A dab pen is also called a wax pen and is manufactured specifically for concentrates. Cannabis connoisseurs who love concentrates seem to agree that the vapor from a portable dab pen is less flavorful than its dab rig counterpart. But dab pens are convenient, discreet, and very user-friendly.

Many vaporizers will also allow you to vape cannabis flower or concentrate. Be sure your vaporizer is equipped to consume concentrates. If you try to vaporize a concentrate out of a device that’s designed only for flower, you could damage the device, and possibly cause bodily harm.

The Evolution of Dabbing Concentrates

Consuming cannabis concentrates has come a long way, with notable advancements occurring with recent state policy forwarding legalization. Dabbing has evolved so much that the first forms of concentrate consumption seem quite antiquated now, and in fact, are downright dangerous.

This method was known as “hot knives” which involved heating butter knives on a stove and then putting hash on top of them and inhaling the smoke. This method was wasteful since the hash burned fast regardless of whether you were able to inhale all of the smoke. This was also a very dangerous way of consuming cannabis and should be avoided today.

Domeless Nails

As dabbing evolved, the next step in its evolution was domeless nails. Consumers utilized a heating element made of metal and a glass dome. Although this method was simple, it was a significant upgrade over hot knives. After heating the metal, the glass dome was placed on top, then took a dab tool to the nail with their concentrates. After quartz bangers were invented, domeless nails became quaint and fairly obsolete as well.

Quartz Bangers

The next step in the evolution of dabbing saw the widespread emergence of quartz bangers. Quartz bangers have a high heat tolerance as well as retention thanks to their silicon dioxide materials, providing a much safer and enjoyable concentrate experience. The risk of burning down your kitchen to take a hash dab also dissipated.

Nowadays, dabbing usually involves a quartz banger and a carb cap. The carb cap acts as what old-school consumers used to call a “shotgun”, which restricts and opens airflow to control the intensity of the inhale.

Borosilicate glass is the most common material used for dab rigs now, as this glass is one of the strongest and most resistant types of glass, necessary for the high temps needed for dabbing. Although quartz bangers made dabbing safer as they removed the need for hot knives, the danger was still involved due to the use of blowtorches.

Using a blowtorch to heat your concentrates is not only dangerous, but it’s also sketchy and off-putting to non-consumers. Fortunately, we saw the invention of eNails which replaced blowtorches. eNails utilize electric heating coils similar to that of a soldering iron, making blowtorches unnecessary today.

The Future Of Dabbing Technology

At-home dab rigs can be bulky, awkward, heavy, and not exactly portable. Portable dab rigs like the Puffco Peak don’t need an eNail, can be taken basically anywhere, and still offer a nice representation of the cannabinoid and terpene profile of your favorite cultivar. The downside to portable dab rigs is that they’re expensive. A quality portable rig will cost $200 or more.

Dabbing technology has come a long way. Concentrate consumption is much safer and more cost-effective than in decades past. As the deeply entrenched layers of cannabis prohibition in the U.S. are peeled back, we will no doubt see more incredible dabbing technology emerge. We’re already seeing dabbing technology evolve beyond what many of us ever thought possible.

What We Learned: What Are Dabs?

Learning and understanding What Are Dabs and how to consume them is an important part of becoming a cannabis consumer. Here’s what we learned in our What Are Dabs chapter:

• Dabs is a phrase used to describe consuming any kind of cannabis concentrate.
• The term is a dab because only a small amount of concentrates are needed.
• Today, dabs are typically consumed using either a dab rig or a dab pen.
• The history of dabbing technology is dangerous, starting with hot knives. This method heated knives on a stove to inhale hash.
• As dabbing evolved, next can domeless nails. These utilize a heating element made of metal and a glass dome.
• Dab rigs today use quartz bangers and carb caps. Quartz bangers have a high heat tolerance as well as retention thanks to their silicon dioxide material.
• Portable dab rigs like the Puffco Peak don’t need an eNail, can be taken basically anywhere, and still offer a nice representation of the cannabinoid and terpene profile of your favorite cultivar.

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