How to Smoke Dabs Without a Rig

Dabs have become the go to choice for weed aficionados these days, with or without a rig. Some people say that there is no wrong way to smoke weed, those people are wrong and have probably never had to suffer at the hands of a freshman who thought it would be a great idea to add incense to their blunts. In order to ensure awesome, non-throat closing highs, we're going to give you the lowdown on how to smoke dabs without a rig.

What Are Dabs?

Basically dabs are concentrated cannabis extracts that get you very high, very quickly. There are a bunch of forms of concentrated THC, with wax being the most popular, followed by oil, budder, shatter, dust, and bubble.

What Is a Rig?

Dab rigs, oil rigs, or you know, just rigs, are similar to bongs in a way. They are funky looking glass pipes with a vertical compartment/chamber and of course, a mouthpiece. More importantly it has a small nail made from quartz, titanium, or glass.

How Does Dabbing Work?

First things first, water is added to the chamber. This is essential, otherwise you're burning your fun for nothing. A hand torch is used to heat up the nail, with the flame pointing away from the pipe, otherwise the glass could crack. It's time to pull the torch away when the nail starts to glow an orangey red. Using a metal dabber, like a wand or any other safe pointing instrument, dab the shatter, wax, or oil onto the nail and inhale.

But what are you supposed to do if you don't happen to have a rig in your possession? What if you:

1. Didn't know you needed one
2. Can't afford one yet or
3. Accidentally aimed your torch right at your pipe and cracked the glass?

Never fear! There are many decent ways to smoke dabs without a rig, and which one you choose will depend on what you have to hand and/or your ability to improvise.

Smoking Dabs In a Joint

This has to be one of the easiest methods. All you need is weed, wax, and rolling papers, a basic smoking starter kit! You start off by preparing your joint like you normally would, papers lying out, crease side up, with some green spread alone the paper. Don't forget the roach, otherwise you're just being wasteful. Now for the important bit, dab some wax along the center of the marijuana, making sure that the wax doesn't touch the end that you're going to light. The last thing you need is an open flame touching that, hell no.

Remember, wax is sticky, so be careful when rolling the joint, or instead of a sweet high all you're going to have is ripped paper stuck to your fingers and a ball of wasted weed.

Dabbing in a Bowl

Smoking dabs without a rig is a breeze with a bowl. Be it with a spoon, bubbler, or bong, it's practically foolproof. All you have to do to bake this cake is have the right ingredients. The very first thing you'll want to do is half pack the bowl with weed. This is to protect the wax, let's not forget that an open flame coming into contact with the dab is bad news. You want to smoke the dab, not choke on it.

So you've got your layer of green and your layer of wax, the next thing you want to do is top it off with some more weed, like a weedy waxy sandwich. Not only is this ridiculously easy, if you're in a bit of a pinch, you can even use a lesser quality weed than usual, because the dab is the star of the show here and more than makes up for it.

Smoking Dabs with a Healthstone

That's right, a healthstone (not hearthstone) is another great way to dab. Healthstone glass is a unique type of glass, as it is porous and often known as a vapor stone. The vapor stone sits in the bowl of the pipe or, if you're feeling especially feisty, inside the lower part of the titanium nail.

The wax or oil is dabbed onto the vapor stone, the insert is heated, and then it's time to puff puff pass, unless you don't feel like sharing. Rude! In all seriousness though, remember a little goes a long way here, literally.

Vaping with Dabs

Finding the right vaporizer is key here. You see vaping with dabs isn't particularly difficult in and of itself, but you do need the right tools for the job. Let's face it, you don't use a toothbrush to paint a fence.

When choosing a vaporizer, you have to make sure it has the right heating element, more commonly known as the atomizer. This usually means going for an older model of vape pen, because vaporizers usually have four parts: the atomizer, the cartridge, the battery chamber, and the mouthpiece, but newer models tend to have the atomizer and cartridge Frankensteined together as a single piece.

If you want to use vape a dab, you need to make sure that you can easily get to the heating element. If the cartridge is attached then the heating coil would be blocked off, which is no use to anyone. Effectively you're looking for an older model for efficient wax vaping.

When you have the right piece of kit, you need to disconnect the atomizer from the battery chamber and dab the completely cool and definitely not warm in any way heating element without hitting it with your particular choice of metal dabber. Safety first guys.

Turn on the vaporizer and once you're sure that it is on and ready for use, re-attach the atomizer to the battery chamber, then the mouthpiece, and get ready to sip.

Dabbing with Hot Knives

Hot knives are the only way to dab if you lack any or all of the necessary tools. This is probably the most MacGuyver method of smoking dabs without a rig; all you need is a heat source and a butter knife.

It's really simple, you heat up the knife by placing it on your heating element, like an electric stove, gas heater, or hot plate. Once the knife is hot you dab some wax onto it and inhale, which is easier said than done. Unlike a pipe or bong, there's no enclosed space, so when the wax vaporizes instantly, you lose some of your hit.

This can be counteracted by using half a plastic bottle, a straw, or even a funnel, which is extremely useful and yet rarely thought of.

Do Not Dab with an Electric Car Lighter

Seriously don't even try it. Some people do, but it really isn't the smartest idea, because unless you're

1. An octopus, or
2. Jason Bourne

this will not end well for you.

Not only do you have to heat the lighter twice just to make sure it gets hot enough, cover it with half a plastic bottle, dab the heated coil with wax and inhale, you have to do all that without managing to set either you or the car on fire.

There you have it, deciding what's right for you depends on what you have on hand and of course, how dangerously you like to live. So no matter what you have, or your budget, you have at your disposal these cheap, simple, and effective ways to smoke dabs without a rig.