Advice for at home one person Vaporizer!

Hey everyone, happy Monday to you all!

I have a question, and could use some advice here. The situation is as follows. My significant other partakes in the act of combustion, and has every day for the last 5-6 years. She is starting to get a real tight chest, gets sick pretty often(bronchitis, congestion, weak immune system), has a nice hacking cough and really weak lungs, she is pretty addicted to the entire act and ritual of rolling and smoking a joint, but recently she started making an effort to switch to vaporizing for her current health and for the benefit of a healthier future. I don't smoke but enjoy research, and obviously care greatly about her well being, she started recently asked me to do some research, because who doesn't love science, and knowledge, I found this website and it really is full of some pretty awesome stuff. I have actually spent hours reading through it, from the different temperatures releasing different things to combat different issues, to reviews and tips for different vaporizers.

I guess what it boils down too, is finding a vaporizer for her wants and needs, to be used at home daily that will work for her. She has a lot of body aches and pain from competitive dance over the years, and her back isn't in the best shape, so she definitely enjoys the relief from the pain, it helps her with eating and her appetite, and even a little bit with helping her talk and communicate as she gets a bit nervous and struggles to open up at times. She would be the only one that used it, she has personal goals to battle towards, one of which is to get off combustion and eventually to only using it on weekends, but I think we should be looking for a vaporizer that she could use a few times a day, to hit her needs and help her.

She does care about the material it's made out of, so the healthier for her the better, I'm not sure what would be the best for health, when it comes to vaping from a bag vs whip and if it's better to have one made of glass vs plastic etc so every opinion counts for sure. She has a pretty high tolerance from smoking every day for the last half dozen years, I've looked at the Volcano, but don't think I can justify $800+ dollars for one person, but it's an option non the less that will obviously be considered. We live in Canada too if that matters?

P.S. Any tips for how to go about using it too, she's mostly set the dial to a temperature, let it heat up, grinded her goods to a find grind before placing them on the loading tray, she's tried to inhale right away and also let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Is there a right way, step-by-step wise, to vaporizing as far as loading and heating and how long to wait and what to do first etc? Or is everyone different and generally you feel out what works for you?

Thank you!

P.P.S. She wants to vaporize the herb, not any liquids like oil or dabs or anything like that.

Welcome to the forum!

There are MANY vaporizers out there which should work perfectly for her. However, price certainly does NOT correlate to performance/quality. While many people think of the Volcano as the "ultimate vape" - it's actually no longer the "king of vapes".

Few things to note
1) Every vaporizer is different, the method to pack/use/clean is different. Some require a dense pack, others require a slow draw, others require constant cleaning to ensure they work. As such once you've selected several possible vapes, I suggest you read the appropriate thread on this forum for that vape (if you can't find an official thread on this site, I'd skip that vape!) - yes some threads can be VERY long, perhaps only read the last 30-40 pages of content.

2) There are several options for using a vaporizer - Bags and whips are only two options - you can also use direct-draw (usually a short glass stem mouthpiece), or you can use a "WPA" (Water Pipe Adapter) to connect a vape to a waterpipe/bubbler for additional cooling & moisturize the vapor. Many of us prefer this method for the smoothest hit (Note, the adapter is usually vaporizer specific - don't research these until you've chosen a vape - we also have a huge thread of cheap high quality glass where you can find many nice waterpipes for under $40 or $50!)

3) If she's never really used a vaporizer before, she will probably be "underwhelmed" by a vaporizer. The trick is to have her commit to vaporizing exclusively for 2+ weeks. Once she's completely stopped combusting for a while, she might NEVER look back (after 1 week, I was sold on vaporizers, never looked back at combusting!)

I know it's a portable, but it's a great price, and has years of history on this forum. Check out the Arizer Solo - it's a great vape for beginners - easy to use, and can be used on the batteries, or while plugged into a charger.

I personally like the feeling of my Lotus vaporizer, it gives me that feeling of the good-old days packing a pipe and lighting it. Except instead of lighting the load, I'm heating a metal plate. Many of my combusting friends enjoy that vape since it's a hard hitter. But it is extremely difficult to use as a beginner. And even harder if you're new to vaporizing - so I wouldn't suggest that to her as a beginner vape.

Good luck in your search, you've come to the right place!

Thank you so much for the information, so I have a little update and could use some guidance or direction. She has tried using her friend's vape for the last 3-4 days, and has struggled a bit. She mentioned the high not lasting as long, sometimes the buzz is gone after an hour or so, and it being a different style of high, which I'm to understand is more of an uplifting body buzz as opposed to a couch lock buzz? I should mention she is currently sick with a pretty wicked cold, but she also mentions having a tight chest and I know she's coughing up quite a bit when vaping, HOWEVER she has gotten better as the days have gone, actually she coughs a lot less but when she does get a tickle and cough it can be quite violent and painful, I'm assuming that's partly because her body is adjusting to the change and cleaning out the remains of all the combustion damage, as well as the sickness wearing out.

You mentioned the first two weeks to be the toughest, and she has hit the bong a few times, actually used some ABV in the bong and got quite ripped from it haha. Is the above quite normal, the vape kind of looks like the original vape brothers in all black, the dial goes from 200-400 and it has a whip. Just concerned for her well being, trying to cover all areas and make sure the struggle is honest and real for everyone.

Thanks!

First, not all vapes work the same and perform the same. Even more so, I too had a VapeBrother's knockoff vape YEARS ago, and it sucked - didn't convert me from combusting. She should try using a real vaporizer and see what happens. I'm sure she wasn't getting maximum extraction from the herb with that vape.

Also, she has to give vaporizers a few weeks for her body and mind to understand the difference between a THC high, and a toxic combustion high. If she keeps smoking while vaping, she'll never convert.

If she desires a "couch lock" buzz, she needs higher temperatures - I suggest trying between 400F and 430F for a more couch-locking effect.

Trust me, there are a lot better vaporizers which will produce the effects she desires from much less herb

The plan is to find one to purchase, something like the EVO cloud or the Solo, we will keep doing research to figure out what's best for her, I was just making sure the coughing and such isn't dangerous to her health, I kind of figured it was a cheap knockoff, thanks for confirming!

Once we find the right one, she will go 100% to vaping and put it to the test, thanks for all the information you guys rock.

Thrasher52 said:

I've looked at the Volcano, but don't think I can justify $800+ dollars for one person, but it's an option non the less that will obviously be considered.

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The Volano's price has been $539 US (just over $600 in Canadian $) as long as I can remember, and can be found for less, but it's not necessary to pay that much. You don't get better or more vapor with it, and as Ratchett says, reliable models at much better pricing are widely available. If bagged vapor is what you want, I'd recommend the herbalAire. The company is based in CA and has great service. The vape will do bags or direct draw.

Higher temps are beneficial for sedative and pain relief effects, but high temp vapor is also more harsh. Combine that with the big hits from a whip, and it's not a good combo for vaping without taxing the lungs. Adding water filtration will do a lot to smooth the hits.

Thrasher52 said:

something like the EVO cloud

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Although expensive, you can get big hits that are also pretty easy to handle, and the learning curve is very low. You do have to be careful since water and glass are involved, but unlike a lot of models, the EVO accepts big hits just fine. No worries about 'over hitting' and driving the temp down too much.

Thrasher52 said:

I was just making sure the coughing and such isn't dangerous to her health, I kind of figured it was a cheap knockoff

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It's more the design, with help from high temps perhaps, vs. the quality. A high quality whip model like the SSV can also bust your lungs. THC is also an irritant, which can contribute to coughing. I think the EVO would be ideal if you can handle the price.

Thrasher52 said:

She mentioned the high not lasting as long, sometimes the buzz is gone after an hour or so, and it being a different style of high, which I'm to understand is more of an uplifting body buzz as opposed to a couch lock buzz?

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Many of us cook edibles with our ABV to extract whatever additional medicine isn't released through vaping. The high lasts a long time and is perfect for relief of symptoms such as: pain, insomnia, tension. Personally I use a combination of vaping and edibles throughout the day and night for various effects. For example, I might vape at a lower temperature in the morning (for energy and creativity) and then eat an ABV brownie at night (to battle insomnia). I like to think of edibles as the "bass" control and vaping as the "treble."

I agree with the recommendation of the Arizer Solo as a good one-person beginner vape. It has 7 settings so you can experiment with the medicinal effect of different temperatures.

Here is a chart showing effects by temperature: [vaporpedia link removed due to malware]

If your S.O. has access to different strains of cannabis (i.e. through a dispensary or trusted grower) then you might want to visit leafly.com and research which strains work best for her symptoms. A nice Indica will provide plenty of couch lock!

I did like the Solo, the idea of her being able to take it outside on a nice day is awesome, not too mention being able to use it anywhere in our house without having to be locked into one area. Would the best bet be to begin with just the Solo, or should I immediately look into getting her accessories such as the f-Bomb bubbler with PVHEGonG combo to help with soothing her throat? I will also look into the solo thread for similar answers.

Thanks guys!

P.S.

For ordering in Canada, what would be a more reputable source, planetvape.ca/vaped.ca/vaporizers.ca

I suggest that your girl get more than one vaporizer, something like a log vape or a Solo. A Solo can be used plugged in and fits easy to a water tool. A Water tool maybe something to look into also, it's easy on the throat. Try the cheap class thread. DHgate is a good starting point for glass. You would need a glass adapter that will fit to the vaporizer. There's 2 sizes 14mm and 18mm.

@Ratchett is right she needs to commit just to vaping for 2 to three weeks. After that time she will notice that combusting will no longer be something that she wants to do. I have the Solo and I really like it. The Solo is only $160 at PUFFITUP and is a portable unit too. It's the better made than some of the portables, a very sturdy device. It's kinda big on the portable scale of things. It's about the size of a can of Red Bull. It fits easily in a bag. Check out the thread. Read through the last 25 pages or so. It's 1200+ pages long, what does that tell you?

What a wonderful significant other (boyfriend) you are. I can tell you really care about her. Good luck and I wish you well. Do your studying, FC is the place to be. There's a lot of thoughtful people as yourself here.

Personally I have no problem hitting my Solo directly at temperature settings 1-5. It's very smooth and tasty.

For settings 6-7 it is nice (but not necessary) to have water filtration in my opinion.

From a "harm reduction" point of view, even an un-filtered vape is 100x better than smoking J's.

CarolKing said:

The Solo is only $160 at PUFFITUP and is a portable too.

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Or, even better for a Canada resident, (same price) on planetvape.ca

Smoking is tough to beat, I wish you the best for the conversion.

Solo on Massdrop. $120+ mailing.

hope she converts.
Some fun facts that have been researched for her and you;
-smoking cannabis yields 90% combustion by products, like burning your lawn grass and 10% THC and the other good compounds. Plus, the combustion also destroys some of the THC
- cannabis vapor yields 90% THCand the good compounds and 10% misc.
................................................................................................
As Roger mentioned, smoking is a different high. What it is, is all the toxic chemicals (benzene etc) hitting your lungs and bloodstream and your body going into the "invasion reaction mode" . "What a rush"
Yes, but it was mostly some nasty @ss crap. Vaping is the true high.

Efficiency: no comparison. I know vaping my bud extends my stash at least 10X

Taste: OK, here you go smoking. Smoking has more taste BUT it's bad bad taste
With a quality vape you can get many tastes and many effects out of the same bowl
by varying temp.

Which vape? There are many quality pieces. Sometimes it can be best to jump into a top tier piece
as opposed to going thru several starter vapes and ending up spending more.

Good luck, get her converted and she'll be thanking you and wondering why she didn't discover vaping sooner!!

Firstly I want to wish you all the luck and say that you did the right thing coming here for help!!!
Quitting smoking and vaporizing has helped me a lot over the years!!
Lungs and chest feel so much better!!!

Your girl is going to be coughing up some pretty nasty stuff for a while as she quits smoking.
Vaping herb acts as an exptorant so it will make her cough up more of the nasties that have settled in her lungs from smoking. This is a good thing but can be quite painful at times!

I would recommend the E-Nano for her!
An amazing Vape that is very versatile as it can do low temp hits or high temp hits, easy to connect to a bong so the feeling is still there of smoking through glass, dry hits are super smooth and tasty and water filtered hits can be insanely huge!! Think almost combustion clouds!!
And it fits in with most home decor and can also be used as an essential oil vaporizer to make your house smell good!!

My advice is to stick with it and be her aid!!
Find a nice, powerful Vape that will help her deal with her pain.

Also you can PM the makers of many log style vapes and ask them for advice!!
All of them are super people to deal with and are willing to help you!!

I will sit down and go over the e-nano vs the arizer solo for her and decide ultimately if she would rather something portable or the desktop log style vape. They both look like they will meet her needs, I have had a few issues finding the e-nano on Canadian vaporizer websites, what's my best bet if she goes that route to getting one shipped to me in Ontario, epicvape.com?

Thrasher52 said:

I have had a few issues finding the e-nano on Canadian vaporizer websites

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Sorry you wasted your time. Log vapes are hand made and rarely available from dealers. Another Mass Drop sale is due soon, but you can always get a discount on the epicvape site with the 'FCLOVE' code.

Thrasher52 said:

I will sit down and go over the e-nano vs the arizer solo for her and decide ultimately if she would rather something portable or the desktop log style vape. They both look like they will meet her needs, I have had a few issues finding the e-nano on Canadian vaporizer websites, what's my best bet if she goes that route to getting one shipped to me in Ontario, epicvape.com?

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I live in Ontario and just ordered of the EpicVape website!
Quick and easy and shipped I my door!
Check out the other log vapes as they will all ship to you!

Very good advice from more knowledgeable folks than myself. All I will add is that I find it beneficial to have a backup vape. Any electrical device has the possibility of failure, no matter how high quality it is. I highly suggest a low tech, butane powered vaporizer for that possibility such as a VaporGenie, Lotus, Vapman, Daisy, etc. I bought a VaporGenie as a cheap backup, because yes, once you fuck combustion you don't want to go back to smoking- at least that has been my experience. But then my Pax broke and I was without it for a while, so I bought a VaporGenie. What I found was I really, really like butane powered vapes. I now use the $55 low tech VaporGenie about 90% more than my $250 high tech Pax. Just food for thought.

max said:

Sorry you wasted your time. Log vapes are hand made and rarely available from dealers. Another Mass Drop sale is due soon, but you can always get a discount on the epicvape site with the 'FCLOVE' code.

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I don't believe he wasted his time. Andy would be glad to ship it to Canada and I'm sure the shipping wouldn't be high at all and totally worth it. You seem almost negative in some of your posts?

I meant he wasted his time looking for it on a Canadian website. It's Epicvape, or Massdrop occasionally.

wax said:

Andy would be glad to ship it to Canada

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Which is pretty much what I said. I really don't understand your post, as a response. You clearly didn't understand mine. And after 6+ yrs. and 9000+ posts I'm sure you can find at least a couple of definitely negative posts from me. Here we encourage the use of PM for off topic discussion and the report button for anything you feel, assuming you're familiar with the rules, needs to be reported. Let's leave it at that.

I would go with the enano OP it'll give your lady(former smoker) the easy transition from smoking to vaping!

I could throw in my 2 cents (which is the Arizer EQ with water filtration attatchment) but it would just confuse you. There are so many that I have not tried and I am sure would be better for her needs. I do hope you find something that works for her though, you sound like a caring and thoughtful partner!