Vaporization: The Tolerance Killer?

Just curious if anyone else had the experience of vaping raising their tolerance above and beyond where smoking had you?

I recently purchased babby's first, and the first week or two was great. The first time I used it I accidentally got TOO vaked and had to put off work for a bit.

About a month in, and it takes 2-3 stems to get to where I'd like to be. I've also smoked a handful of times since picking it up, and it seems like I also need to smoke more.

I guess this would make sense, since vapors are mostly actives in higher concentration than smoke... but I've never seen/heard anyone comment with the same issue. Is it just part of the territory that comes with vaping? This isn't a slight increase, I'm vaping double what I initially had to (was regular combuster prior to that) and even when I smoke now I'm having to fill a second bowl to get where one would put me before.

The first few days or first week or so of owning my NO2, I could hardly finish a chamber's worth. I found myself having to put half a scoop in (it comes with a scoop which is the recommended amount of herb's worth).

Now it takes two or three chambers run through a bong to get there.

Not to hijack a thread or anything, but does anyone that occasionally combusts find that they can take huge bong rips of smoke now without coughing or even being phased (aside from that nasty bonfire taste of smoke)? Like bigger rips as opposed to pre-vaping.

Try altering the technique.

Is the vape a variable temp? Have you tried waiting longer between doses to evaluate the response properly? Have you switched to combusting and tried going back? Are you varying strains or curing times?

There's a lot of factors involved, it isn't as simple as most people make it sound.

For instance, I've never had tolerance issues, but I don't vape like most people.

Actually for me, it was quite the opposite. My consumption was cut wayyyyyyyy down when I went from combusting to vapor.

Do you just medicate more often in general now that you vape? I know when I started vaping, I wouldn't necessarily use more herb per session, but I did find myself medicating more often simply because I enjoyed the overall experience and high better, not to mention I kept telling myself that "vaping won't cause me harm like combusting." So my tolerance shot through the roof because my one session a day turned into 3-5.

OO said:

Try altering the technique.

Is the vape a variable temp? Have you tried waiting longer between doses to evaluate the response properly? Have you switched to combusting and tried going back? Are you varying strains or curing times?

There's a lot of factors involved, it isn't as simple as most people make it sound.

For instance, I've never had tolerance issues, but I don't vape like most people.

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How do you vape? Always like to learn new techniques and MO's.

My consumption initially went up, and then it started to drop.

Could it be that you are missing the couch-lock effect?
The vaping process allows for a more "even" and "unchanged" distribution of biochemicals, namely THC CBN and CBD, with combustion most of the THC is prematurely transformed into CBD and at 230C a lot of "couch-locking" chemicals are vaporized that you don't get to vaporize because that is the combustion treshold. Also, you don't loose any chemicals to pyrolysis.

I found over the years that if I partake in any certain strain for too long that my tolerance goes way up, and is why now I normally have either 3 strains on the go to choose from or at least different intake methods (bud, kief, hash, oils) to intermittently break up the chance of effect resistance.

green2brown said:

Do you just medicate more often in general now that you vape? I know when I started vaping, I wouldn't necessarily use more herb per session, but I did find myself medicating more often simply because I enjoyed the overall experience and high better, not to mention I kept telling myself that "vaping won't cause me harm like combusting." So my tolerance shot through the roof because my one session a day turned into 3-5.

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This is my experience I used so much less herb at one time with vapor I was able to spread it out and have more sessions. So my consumption still went down quite a bit but my tolerance skyrocketed. but of course it didnt help my tolerance having nothing but high quality bud... My tolerance cant be THAT high yet though. Ive taken a T break since then and its mostly built back up but just the other day I had my first dabs with vacuum purged bho so I'm sure you all know how that was!

smokum said:

I found over the years that if I partake in any certain strain for too long that my tolerance goes way up, and is why now I normally have either 3 strains on the go to choose from or at least different intake methods (bud, kief, hash, oils) to intermittently break up the chance of effect resistance.

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Yup, I notice same thing. Switching up strains helps a lot, or...........just make a salad.

lwien said:

Yup, I notice same thing. Switching up strains helps a lot, or...........just make a salad.

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This probably is what's going on then. Our local selection isn't as wide as others, unfortunately. There may be 3-4 different strains floating around town, but don't get to see them side by side on a shelf unfortunately =/. There are a few local-ish growers, but it's mostly just going to someone's house and seeing what they have. If I find something I like I'll pick up a good amount of that, and then a little bit of 1 other to switch off every few sessions. Recently it's just been one kind, so maybe that's the easy answer.

For anyone who asked, no my vape is not variable control (log vape - UD) but that is another piece I'm looking to pick up once I've got everything settled for the holidays. I spent about a week trying different screen positions, as that seemed to matter the most for the end result ABV color (I wanted to keep it on the lighter side for cooking, etc) and draw technique really only seems more important for hash/kief.

OVERALL consumption is still less than when I was smoking (down by 15-25% depending on the week), and yes I've started sneaking combusting somewhere in the weekly routine. Usually a couple of joints spread over a few days after work or something to break the routine. BUT, when I initially got the vape my usage was more like 30-50% of what I'd go through smoking.

The best way I can explain is, pre-vape combustion amounted to 1/4 - 3/8 oz per week. The first week of vaping, only went through an 8th, and now back up to around 1/4 (~1 month after starting vaping).

Even with the increase in sessions, I still consume much, MUCH less herb than when I used to combust.

What I wanted to really say in this post is thanks to all the tips thus far given. Changing up the strains made a huge difference. I never thought the body could get used to a particular strain. Interesting stuff...

In my experience the hardware you use is much more of a factor in heavy vs. light consumption. Big hits, whether smoking a bong or using a big hitting vape, are going to increase tolerance, while using a device with a small bowl and therefore taking small hits, will result in using less. I've been using some combination of small bowl and big bowl/big hitter for years, and the evidence is clear for me, especially when I was using a bag filler on a daily basis. If I use nothing but my CRZ, my usage tends to be very low. I just get to the point of sufficient 'highness' where I simply don't care to fill another bowl and puff my way through it, even though I'm not as high as I would have been by vaping a good sized Cloud bowl. It's like eating oysters when you have a poor tool for opening the shells. If it takes you several minutes to open a shell, you're probably going to eat less than if someone is opening them for you and just dumping the ready to eat oysters on your plate. At some point you're going to feel full enough so that you longer feel the urge to fight with more shells, while if you can eat them as fast as you want, you're likely to eat a lot more.

Although the general consensus is overwhelmingly in favor of vaping stretching your supply, some do use more when switching to vapor just because it's more enjoyable (for most people) than smoking. At the end of my smoking days I hated smoke. My lungs just didn't like to deal with it anymore. Since vapor was so much kinder to my body, I used considerably more because I enjoyed both the process and the effect, while the smoking process sucked, for me, and the smoke effect wasn't as enjoyable as that from vaping either. This really isn't a true vapor vs. smoke comparison though, since it amounts to a disability with one method, vs. fully functional ability with the other.

So Max, being that both the CRZ and the PD are no longer available, and being that both of those vapes have smaller bowls than either the UD or the HI, would that indicate that there are no vapes currently on the market that would be as "efficient" as those two?

lwien said:

So Max, being that both the CRZ and the PD are no longer available, and being that both of those vapes have smaller bowls than either the UD or the HI, would that indicate that there are no vapes currently on the market that would be as "efficient" as those two?

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Hammer vape?

that herb guy said:

The best way I can explain is, pre-vape combustion amounted to 1/4 - 3/8 oz per week. The first week of vaping, only went through an 8th, and now back up to around 1/4 (~1 month after starting vaping).

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Hmm, you're still using amounts in great excess to what I find to be necessary, but everyone is different.
Try finding a grinder which will emit powder, and try using higher temps, push the limit until you combust, so you know exactly the temp range you seek. do it with the ubie, it has a very narrow chamber, so you can apply heat evenly to very small amounts, this should really help cut back. for reference .025 even at the unnecessary twice a day interval only amounts to .35/week. and often you may find .025 to be unnecessary.

I wish I could suggest a good grinder to you, as the one I have is a Vic Firth. I recently tried to stock up on them, and unfortunately their quality has dropped so severely that they aren't worth bothering with. I've heard very good things about coffee bean pulverizing style grinders, maybe they will do the job.

since vaping exclusively, i seem to not get very high from combusting anymroe... not sure if its because combusting being just not very enjoyable for me anymore and it seems that way or if its because combusting is just not very efficient while vaporizing is totally efficient.. i would say that vaping has increased my tolerance because its most efficient, while at first it seemed i needed less because i wasnt used to it.. Playing w/ different temps/techniques like OO recommended always works well to battle tolerance. over all i find Combusting Stinks, now haha, seriously i can smell things i never could before and im glad i dont smell like that anymore... haha

I don't get very high from combustion anymore either, but in my case I wouldn't attribute that to tolerance, since even if I smoke a lot I still barely feel it, but with only 2 hits from a vaporizer I already feel more as after a whole joint.

my tolerance has increased sine I started vaping, but that's because vaping is just so much more enjoyable than combustion(so I vape more often), but I think(guess) that what used to last me one night when I combusted, can still last me a week(or more) now(so effectovely that's the same, since back then I only smoked 1-2 nights a week)

lwien said:

So Max, being that both the CRZ and the PD are no longer available, and being that both of those vapes have smaller bowls than either the UD or the HI, would that indicate that there are no vapes currently on the market that would be as "efficient" as those two?

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Tons of different stem options for the HI, including a stainless steel tip/bowl for the glass stem that makes the HI function pretty much the same as a PD. Pics of some HI stems here: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/the-hi.4693/page-50#post-217614

Great link. Thanks, OK.

A single water pipe full of LSV produced vapor seems to do the trick. It helps to alternate between vaporizing and edibles or tincture, also I only partake at night. I'd say for me vaping vs. combusting both will produce tolerance quickly if done through the day or a lot. A couple day break once in a while is great for resetting tolerance.

Actually, I understand what you are saying completely.
I have noticed my tolerance go way up since I started vaporizing a year ago.
I am currently in the midst of resetting my receptors.
I got to a point where I can vape 6 bags from my Volcano digit and I don't even get "that" high.
I tried everything, joints, bongs, nothing gets me there.
A while ago I read the post about receptors here, I have decided to give it s go.
So yesterday I did not smoke, currently I am on the second day of not smoking, then tomorrow I will consume half of my usual dosage and start the cycle again.
What I am doing is:
2 days break=>3rd day smoke half quantity=>2 more days of not smoking=>6th day smoke half quantity.
We will see if it works and maybe I will make a thing out of it, like doing this every 6 months.

One packed Solo stem can do me in on a wake'nbake or after a long day at work. Uusually two stems gets me right where I need to be. With the latest Pink Kush I picked up, two stems is almost too much for me.

The real tolerance killer imo is the enjoyment of vaping, particularly through a waterpipe.

My tolerance definitely went up when I started vaping, however my usage is still far decreased from what I would need when I was combusting.
This is because we aren't destroying nearly as much of the active chemicals as we would otherwise be.

Plus I save my ABV for use with making either edibles, tincture, or hash oil. No matter how I look at it I am getting way more bang for my buck then when I was simply smoking. This makes me a happy person indeed.
The extra money I save always goes towards new vaporizers and the like though, so I guess in the long run I'm not really saving? I do get a lot more new toys though!

Changing strains also helps for me, I find that if I smoke the same strain for more than a few weeks I don't really feel it, perhaps because I am too used to it. Same with kratom