Buying a vaporizer isn’t the easiest thing to do if you’re new to vaping, and a lot of that has to do with the sheer variety of devices available. What exactly do you want to get out of your vaping experience? Are you looking for a vaporizer that provides the maximum possible potency in the smallest possible package, or would you rather have something that recreates the traditional cannabis smoking experience in vapor form? No matter what type of experience you’re looking for, you can find a vaporizer that fits your needs perfectly. Before you can do that, though, you need to understand what the different types of vaporizers are and learn about their unique strengths. That’s where this article is going to help.
There are three main types of vaporizers: oil vaporizers, wax vaporizers and dry herb vaporizers. Reading this article, you’re going to learn what all three of those types of devices are and what they do. You’re also going to learn the benefits of each type of vaporizer – and learning this information will help you choose the perfect device for your needs.
Oil Vaporizers
Cannabis concentrates come in many different forms. A concentrate that’s loose and runny enough to be dispensed with a syringe is an oil, and a concentrate that’s more solid than liquid is a wax. As the name implies, oil vaporizers are designed to work with oil-based concentrates. You use an oil vaporizer by connecting an oil-filled vape cartridge to it.
Vape cartridges come in two forms. Here at Hamilton Devices, we sell both refillable and disposable cartridges that you can fill with your own oil. Depending on your state’s laws, you can also buy cartridges filled with cannabis distillate or Delta-8 vape oil online or in local dispensaries. A good oil vaporizer is generally compatible with all of the different types of oil cartridges as long as it has 510 threading. All of the oil vaporizers sold by Hamilton Devices have 510 threading.
Best Oil Vaporizer for Beginners
We offer several terrific oil vaporizers here at Hamilton Devices. If you’re new to oil vaping, though, we think you’ll be particularly happy with the CCELL® Palm. Thanks to its sleek design and recessed threading, the CCELL® Palm is an incredibly compact device. It works with virtually all 510 vape cartridges, and it has a puff-activated firing mechanism. Just charge the 550 mAh battery, connect a cartridge and enjoy.
Benefits of Oil Vaporizers
One of the biggest benefits of oil vaporizers is that they’re extremely easy to use. All that you need to do is charge the device and connect a cartridge, and you’re ready to vape. Oil vaporizers are also among the smallest and most discreet vaporizers on the market, producing small clouds – and almost no scent – during use. Many oil vaporizers have threading that’s either hidden or retractable, which helps to make the devices even smaller and more portable.
If you don’t want to bother with keeping your device charged, disposable oil vaporizers are also available. You can buy empty disposable vapes and fill them with your own oil, or you can buy pre-filled disposable oil vapes at your local dispensary.
Wax Vaporizers
Also known as dab pens, wax vaporizers are designed to work with solid concentrates that are too thick to load into a small oil cartridge. A wax vaporizer works with a wax coil, which is much larger than an oil cartridge. You load the coil by placing a small portion of wax directly inside it with a small metal tool called a dab tool. After loading the coil, you’ll pulse the coil to soften the wax, and then you’ll vape as normal until you’ve used all of the material.
One of the fun things about wax vaporizers is that they don’t necessarily have to be single-purpose devices. If you have a wax vaporizer with 510 threading, it’ll probably also work with oil cartridges. That’s sometimes not true of oil vaporizers, though, because wax coils are often too wide to fit on devices with hidden or retractable threading.
Best Wax Vaporizer for Beginners
If you’ve never owned a wax vaporizer before, we suggest taking a look at the Nomad. This all-purpose device comes with its own replaceable wax coil, and it has a built-in 650 mAh battery for all-day vaping. The Nomad has three selectable power levels, and it comes with its own glass mouthpiece for superb flavor quality. For extra smoothness, you can use the included glass bubbler. A glass water pipe adapter is also included in case you’d like to connect the Nomad to a bong. Best of all, you can store all of the glass accessories in the included case when you aren’t using them. Like all of the best 510-threaded vaporizers, the Nomad also works with most oil cartridges.
Benefits of Wax Vaporizers
The biggest benefit of wax vaporizers is that wax concentrates are often very potent. You don’t need to store a huge amount of material because a single rice-sized dab is usually more than sufficient for achieving your desired state of elevation. A small jar of wax will probably provide enough material to keep you happy for quite a long time.
Wax vaporizers are also fairly simple to maintain because the coils are easy to clean. To clean a wax coil, all that you need to do is immerse it in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes and rinse away any remaining residue in the sink.
Dry Herb Vaporizers
While oil and wax vaporizers are designed to use concentrates, dry herb vaporizers work with whole herbs in their normal state. If you’re a cannabis smoker, a dry herb vape provides the familiar flavor and scent of cannabis without the smoke. To use a dry herb vaporizer, you’ll grind your herbs as you normally would for smoking, and you’ll load the ground herbs into the device’s oven. When you turn the device on, the oven heats up and warms the herbs to the point at which the active compounds vaporize. When your session is over, you can eject and discard the spent herbs.
Best Dry Herb Vaporizer for Beginners
With dry herb vaporizers, you never want to skimp on quality because having a device with a good heater is extremely important. Your device’s heater needs to be strong enough to heat the herbs completely – all the way through to the center of the oven – without burning them. We suggest the Auxo Calent vaporizer. The Auxo Calent uses a dual infrared heater for consistent heating, and it also features a zirconia air path for maximum flavor quality.
Benefits of Dry Herb Vaporizers
As we mentioned above, the biggest benefit of dry herb vaporizers is that they allow you to enjoy the benefits of your favorite herbs without the smoke. A vaporizer gives you a completely smooth experience without all of the coughing and sore throats that you get from smoking. You’ll also find that vaping is much better than smoking from a flavor standpoint, since there won’t be any harsh smoke covering up the tasty terpenes in your herbs.
Dry herb vaporizers are also great for those who find cannabis concentrates a bit too potent. If you find that oils and waxes flood your system with too much THC and leave you feeling anxious and irritable, you’ll probably appreciate the more traditional experience of using a dry herb vaporizer, which feels comparable to smoking – without the smoke.