Was I expecting too much?

[BallerBum]

Hi guys.. my first post here, so I"ll throw in a quick intro. I'm 22, been smoking for maybe 6 months now, daily for the past couple months.. but I don't consider myself a heavy user, most days it's just a bowl or two at night before bed. My tolerance is not that of a new smoker but it's not too high either.

I just got my DBV after a bit of research. I'm happy with the actual vape - it works fine, quality looks good, no problems. I have used it a few times, I got it on Friday. Everything seems the way it should, but I just read some crazy stories like a 0.3g bowl getting 4 heavy smokers high and things like that, several times on these forums. Or hitting a bowl that size like 25 times. Cutting consumption in 1/2 to 2/3, etc.

So I just did an experiment, I pretty much got the hang of it by now. I wanted to see how high a 0.3 bowl would get me. So I grinded it, made sure it's exactly 0.3 and put it all in the wand. I started at just past 12 o'clock, hit it maybe 5-6 times. I inhale very very slowly, hold it for 5 SLOW seconds, and then slowly let out over a few seconds. There is some visible vapor but not too much (from what I read this is correct as if there's a big cloud it's wasted..). Then I turn it to like 2 o'clock, get maybe 2-3 hits, stir again, put it to 3 o'clock, get 2 more, and that's it. All of it is now dark brown so I put it away in a jar. Took maybe 10 hits total.

It's been more than 30 mins now since I did this, so it fully hit me (by the way do you guys notice that it takes longer for the buzz to hit you when you're vaping or is it just me?) and I'm .... pretty high. I'm definitely feeling a good buzz, everything is great but I'm not stoned out of my mind or anything. If I smoked a 0.3g joint I would be very high as well, around the same I woudl guess. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less.

So... does this sound right? Because I kind of expected it to require much, much less weed to get much higher than with joints and stuff. I smoked a blunt that had maybe 1.2g in it with 4 other people yesterday and we all got a good high off that.. and that breaks down to less than 0.3g per person... so I thought it would only take me 0.1-0.2 to get higher off a vape.

On Friday when I just got it I got super high, but I smoked like 0.5 maybe. That's a lot of weed to myself, I don't even smoke joints that big usually. But if I did it would be a similar effect. I chalked it up to user error since it was my first time but it seems like it sounds about right after I just did this..

Thanks for any help

Edit: Okay, it's hit me a little more just a few minutes after this post - I'm pretty stoned now, so I guess it does get me higher than a comparable joint would - but it is still nowhere near what the stories I read said. There is no way that this would get two people very high, for example. So were people just exaggerating or what ??

 

[Beezleb]

I use the same amount than when I smoked and most people I know in real life who vape also use the similar amounts compared to when than when they smoked but where only talking a handful of people so take it for whats it worth.

It is economical in a sense if you use little amounts and for some this works out but I think for most people their is not much a true noticeable difference. Next time you read what peoples usage is, look to see if their usage matches yours and then see if others agree with that.

I have a DBV and I use normal sized bowls and get anywhere from 20-30 draws of it depending on quality. Not over flowing bowls, not under sized, right at the top of the hourglass regular bowl should give you comparative results.

Vaping does take longer to hit you, a handful of minutes or so.

Just a little DBV conservative tip:
I always prepare enough for just one wand at a time. Almost always if I think I need more by the time I prepared the second wand I am good.

 

[BallerBum]

Thanks for the thurough reply...

The bowl I loaded was around halfway between the screen and the tip of the wand, it was fluffy though (which it should be as far as I know). From a youtube tutorial it says you're not really supposed to fill it much more than that. I can't get more than 10 hits off that. To be honest I'm not sure how it would be more efficient in smaller amounts because I tried smoking some during the day and I just got less high heh so it seems to be proportionate.

I do love that it doesn't smell and feels much healthier though.

By the way I'm using good mids.. not DANK but it's pretty good weed.

 

[vtac]

Sounds like you might be over thinking things. Give yourself some time to get used to the vape, sometimes it takes a while with a manual draw vape.

nowhere near what the stories I read said. There is no way that this would get two people very high, for example.

You should take claims with a grain of salt, way too many factors involved. Your herb, technique and tolerance, for example aren't the same as someone else's.

 

[lwien]

All I can tell ya is with the exact same herb that I smoked out of a glass spoon, I was able to cut my consumption in half when I got the VaporGenie, and then cut it in half again with the Purple Days.

Just relaying my experience.

 

[max]

I agree with all the above. Good tips and points. There is an adjustment to both vapor and using a vape. There is a tendency to be a little disappointed in the vapor high, but you have to realize that some of the smoke by-products that people consider to be part of the mj high are low doses of poisonous compounds. If you want the couch lock high you get with smoke you have to be willing to go with a less healthy high as well. With the DBV you can always increase the heat to get that high temp vapor that will more closely resemble the smoke high. I would give the healthy vapor range a good shot though, before you decide that vapor's not for you. I've been almost 100% smoke free for years now, and I don't miss it at all.

 

[bluntfaced]

If I'm using mids I notice I use just as much vaping as smoking. Probably because smoking either way I smoke the same amount but vaping I stop when I'm cool.

 

[BallerBum]

Thanks everyone.

I do know that the high is different, I don't mind that it's more of a head high at all - I just honestly wasn't super high, after smoking 0.3 all to myself. Maybe I'm over thinking it, but I'm just trying to compare my results with that of others. Does what I'm doing sound right though?

That's the thing, from what I am reading my technique seems to be correct. But even Beezleb said that he gets 20-30 draws off a "normal" bowl. My 0.3 bowl took up half the wand, so I'd consider that a normal bowl. I mean, you're not even supposed to put much more than that in there as it will fall on the heating element. But I got 10 draws, just doing slow steady draws, and getting decent hits but nothing crazy..

 

[Beezleb]

Here is what I do.

I make a normal size wand chopped up with scissors. For thicker draws make finer.
I take 3 to 5 draws, the second and third draw will be the best.
I stir with the stir stick, once the vapor starts to taper, normally by the 5th draw,
I do this on average for about five to six times. Towards the end their will be little vapor after a stir
I increase the temperature a setting or so and crush the bowl with fat end of your marble stir stick.
Then stir and take a draw, it will not taste like much but it will be a much bigger draw than you think you got. You might get one or two smaller draws and the wand is cashed.

Save of ABV for later use.

Generally one wand is more than enough. I also tend to use medium grade.

Hope that helps you some, other than that im out of ideas besides wondering if the type of plant you have just does not vape well. I have had some, for me its rare, weed that just would not vape well but I would not bank on that being the issue to the rarity for which I have experienced that but it is a thought.

 

[Frickr]

ive noticed when vaping, spending a few bucks more to get the dank buds is worth it. once again, this is my personal opinion. with lower grade weed, i would find i perfered smoking it due to the fact the vapor lacked alot of thc, and the stone i was getting off of smoking it felt stronger, whether that be from the toxins formed from combustion, or from the higher temp canabionals im not sure.

While with some good dank. i would get higher vaping X amount, then i would smoking the same X amount. i went back and forth many-a-times between vaping, then go smoke. when i would smoke normally (with the same weed) i wouldnt feel near as high as i would vaping. and would always be wanting more to get me to the same levels. so comsumption for me goes down with better weed, and the expence also goes down. where an 8th of good weed, would last me 3-4 days stretching it, i could easily smoke a whole week (7 days) on an 8th.

 

[taggs]

I've posted this before, but it might help you out.

I had a very similar experience switching from smoking to vaping, in fact I bought my PD months and months ago and only got into using it exclusively (well my SSV arrived today, so it might have some competition!) about 3-4 weeks ago.

I never felt as 'high' vaping as when I smoked. I used to mix my herb with tobacco to make it go further which I'm sure was part of the problem. But as Max has pointed out there are other things in smoke that aren't present in vapor that are actually toxins. I'm no scientist but I'm told this is why smoking generally makes you much more lethargic whereas most people would say vaping gives you a 'cleaner' high.

As with everything though, YMMV. What works for some may not work for others.

But my PD has cut my herb usage down dramatically. Used to go through 1/4 every 1-2 weeks, now I'd be lucky to go through that in 1-2 months (by current estimates ).

edit: Oops forgot to mention, what helped me eventually make the switch was taking a few weeks off smoking herb and allowing my tolerance to chill out. When I tried vaping after that I found it gave me a fantastic sensation, and one I ultimately prefer to smoking now. This was recommended to me by another member here, Chubba... hi-5!

Oh and also read up on vaping tips and tricks, I didn't dry my herb out properly when I first started vaping which would have also lessened the efficacy .

 

[BallerBum]

Thank you again everyone... I'll take a little break, grab some dankity dank and do it again. All the help has been great and will help for sure.

 

[BallerBum]

Holy crap - I have no idea wtf is going on, but I'm stoned as hell.

I picked up more weed, my dealer didn't have dank again (the second time he's ever not had dank in the year that I've been buying from him, and last week was the first..) so I just got mids again. Cheap, I figured I would just smoke it in blunts with friends.

But anyways, I vaped it, and it got me high as hell. I only packed a small bowl (maybe 0.10 - 0.15?), took a few hits and they were huge. I'm already high and there is so much of the bowl left (70% at least).

I have no idea what is up because if anything this weed is a tiny bit LOWER grade than the other one, so maybe the other one just didn't vape well for some reason. I wonder how it would be if I had dank in there now

 

[Beezleb]

Happy Vaping!

I am glad it all worked out for you, I can imagine it was frustrating.

 

[max]

I have no idea what is up because if anything this weed is a tiny bit LOWER grade than the other one, so maybe the other one just didn't vape well for some reason.

There have been a few reports from experienced vaporists that a particular strain/batch of very good herb just didn't vape worth a crap, but smoked just fine.

 

[B.]

I have been fortunate enough to have gone years only smoking fairly high end stuff, followed by nearly 2 years of vaping the same. A while back I was in another city for work, and was only able to procure some average goods. When I vaped them from my SSV i loaded a fairly large bowl, and not knowing what to expect, I went to work.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how mediocre MJ is considerably better when vaped. My theory is that in order to get good off of regs you need to go though more than if it were, say, Jack Herer. So when I used to smoke that regualr stuff i used to look down on, I had to inhale sooooo much more of that plant material combustion garbage that I can now avoid, so I get to enjoy the THC of the average plant. The comedown is also infinitely smoother.

I will always prefer the kinder strains, but it's good to know that the cheap stuff is so much kinder through a vape.

Balller, vaping seems to be one of those things thats too good to be true, except it is

 

[yolky]

Wow, what a great thread I stumbled upon. What a great community of posters too. Quick background on me. I've smoked for the past 7 years now. I've played here and there with vaping and have purchased several different kinds (that bubblegum dispensing looking device with a heat iron in the middle, I used a heat gun to the water pipe method, i've bought and then quickly sold a digital Volcano , I recently picked up an IOLite (which i really like), and tomorrow a Vriptech Heat Wand is coming. The device I liked the best, excluding my iolite was the old school version of the vriptech bowl/ heat gun device. That being said, it was my buddies setup and I only used it three times.

What I've noticed is exactly what you guys are talking about. I "feel" higher when combusting compared to vaping. I'm a fairly educated person though and I understand that all the different by-products produced from combusting is adding to the overall effect of the high. This doesn't make it a good thing! I have also noticed that when vaping, the quality of the high does seem cleaner and consequentially the come-down is much smoother.

I'm really hoping that the heat wand converts me one-hundred percent to vaporizing. I'm fairly confident I will be happy with this purchase. I've discovered the term vapor/air ratio, thanks to this forum and it seems I prefer a high vapor/air ratio and it seems that the Heat Wand will give me that. I'll let you all know soon.

 

[max]

What I've noticed is exactly what you guys are talking about. I "feel" higher when combusting compared to vaping. I'm a fairly educated person though and I understand that all the different by-products produced from combusting is adding to the overall effect of the high. This doesn't make it a good thing! I have also noticed that when vaping, the quality of the high does seem cleaner and consequentially the come-down is much smoother.

I'm really hoping that the heat wand converts me one-hundred percent to vaporizing. I'm fairly confident I will be happy with this purchase. I've discovered the term vapor/air ratio, thanks to this forum and it seems I prefer a high vapor/air ratio and it seems that the Heat Wand will give me that. I'll let you all know soon.

There is definitely a process you have to go through when going from smoking to vaping, especially for heavy and/or long time combusters. First response is usually 'something's missing' meaning you're not getting as high. If you love the effect of the smoke byproducts, it can be tough to switch completely. It does help (did for me anyway) to know you're not missing much in the way of cannabis effects, just poisons that would put you in the morgue in large enough doses. I think it's easier for older people to switch-those who have started to feel the effect of many years of smoking. I was on the verge of giving up mj completely because my lungs couldn't take the smoke anymore. It was an easy switch for me, yet I still was tempted to take the daily pipe hit or two at first. But once you adapt to vapor, it's not that hard to stick with it if you appreciate the pluses it provides.

 

[sneezyjesus]

I know what you mean yolky, I'm rather new here too and the info and the people here are great
I've smoked for a year and a half now, but never heavily until I got my first vape, the Vaporstar bong attachment.

Weirdly enough, when copared to everybody else's experiences, I have felt SO MUCH HIGHER when I vape. It took almost four months to realize the right way to use my vaporstar, but the first time I did it the right way was with a buddy in his car. We decided to go a little longer than normal, past light green and light brown all the way to dark brown, but still unburnt, bud. About a minute after our second hit each we knew something was up. As soon as I put the bowl away after we were done, we both looked at each other and said "Holy shit. We've been doing it wrong."
Vaped a kief bowl over this last summer for the first time and was curled up, comatose on my bed. I think it was one of the few times I had ego loss. It was amazing.

I never really was a fan of the body high though; smoking always gave me that "burnt" feeling, which always distracted me from the "high" that I valued. I totally know what you mean about the easy vaping come-down; I always seem to have a click moment when I just realize what just happenned, and the hours after that just have a glowy feel, nothing come-down-ish.

Let us all know on that Heat wand, I looked into those for a little while before I decided they were out of my price range. The hits I've seen on them are always MASSIVE

 

[sneezyjesus]

What I've noticed is exactly what you guys are talking about. I "feel" higher when combusting compared to vaping. I'm a fairly educated person though and I understand that all the different by-products produced from combusting is adding to the overall effect of the high. This doesn't make it a good thing! I have also noticed that when vaping, the quality of the high does seem cleaner and consequentially the come-down is much smoother.

I'm really hoping that the heat wand converts me one-hundred percent to vaporizing. I'm fairly confident I will be happy with this purchase. I've discovered the term vapor/air ratio, thanks to this forum and it seems I prefer a high vapor/air ratio and it seems that the Heat Wand will give me that. I'll let you all know soon.

There is definitely a process you have to go through when going from smoking to vaping, especially for heavy and/or long time combusters. First response is usually 'something's missing' meaning you're not getting as high. If you love the effect of the smoke byproducts, it can be tough to switch completely. It does help (did for me anyway) to know you're not missing much in the way of cannabis effects, just poisons that would put you in the morgue in large enough doses. I think it's easier for older people to switch-those who have started to feel the effect of many years of smoking. I was on the verge of giving up mj completely because my lungs couldn't take the smoke anymore. It was an easy switch for me, yet I still was tempted to take the daily pipe hit or two at first. But once you adapt to vapor, it's not that hard to stick with it if you appreciate the pluses it provides.

Too true. Thankfully for me the part that was missing was the part I didn't like, but I bet it can be quite tough for people who get used to and enjoy that burnt stone.
Something I would reccomend to anyone and everyone coming from smoking to vaping is one of the butane-powered vapes on the market. My Vaporstar can get right up to the edge of burning, (through months of practice and technique), that releases what I would say is virtually all the cb and cn without any of the bad shit.
The Vaporgenie, Vapman and Supreme are all good choices too if such a seggestion is to your liking

I know you've already been long on the road of vaping max so the butane-vape suggestion probably wouldn't apply to you, (a guess), but curious, what vapes do you use yourself?

 

[luchiano]

Wow, what a great thread I stumbled upon. What a great community of posters too. Quick background on me. I've smoked for the past 7 years now. I've played here and there with vaping and have purchased several different kinds (that bubblegum dispensing looking device with a heat iron in the middle, I used a heat gun to the water pipe method, i've bought and then quickly sold a digital Volcano , I recently picked up an IOLite (which i really like), and tomorrow a Vriptech Heat Wand is coming. The device I liked the best, excluding my iolite was the old school version of the vriptech bowl/ heat gun device. That being said, it was my buddies setup and I only used it three times.

What I've noticed is exactly what you guys are talking about. I "feel" higher when combusting compared to vaping. I'm a fairly educated person though and I understand that all the different by-products produced from combusting is adding to the overall effect of the high. This doesn't make it a good thing! I have also noticed that when vaping, the quality of the high does seem cleaner and consequentially the come-down is much smoother.

I'm really hoping that the heat wand converts me one-hundred percent to vaporizing. I'm fairly confident I will be happy with this purchase. I've discovered the term vapor/air ratio, thanks to this forum and it seems I prefer a high vapor/air ratio and it seems that the Heat Wand will give me that. I'll let you all know soon.

What is happening is when you smoke it activates your immune system because a lot of the chemicals are toxic and your body needs to get rid of it and this is what you feel.

Here's a tip that will get you blasted while still vaporizing and being healthy.

1-Mix your herb(you don't need much. .25-.5 a gram is good enough) with lemon juice and an avocado and eat it plain or with a meal. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. A nice dip with chips is good enough. You can also just eat the cannabis with some nuts and seeds. If you eat a vitamin B-6 pill with the nuts and seeds or avocado the affect will be more potent due to decarboxylation.

2-Let the effects hit you and then vaporize. You will be high as hell while still feeling it in the body and not just the head and the effects will last all day.

The reason why eating gives a strong body high is because when you eat herb especially with some good fats, most of it goes to your lymphatic system to be distributed throughout your body and this system is a major part of your immune system. You will also be healthier because this system relies on good fat to stay healthy and cannabis mixed in with good oils is a good fat.

The immune system and "feeling" is why some experience more pain than others. If you have less proinflammatory cytokines you will experience a low level of pain and guess what lowers this cytokine while raising the anti-inflammatory version. Cannabis and good fats.

Hope I helped you and everyone else looking for the effects they got form smoking while still enjoying the major high from vaporizing. Peace.

BTW, for the health nuts, check this article:

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/2753

Very-Low-Fat Diet May Compromise Immune Function, Increase Infection Rate in Trained Runners, UB Study Finds

 

[luchiano]

Holy crap - I have no idea wtf is going on, but I'm stoned as hell.

I picked up more weed, my dealer didn't have dank again (the second time he's ever not had dank in the year that I've been buying from him, and last week was the first..) so I just got mids again. Cheap, I figured I would just smoke it in blunts with friends.

But anyways, I vaped it, and it got me high as hell. I only packed a small bowl (maybe 0.10 - 0.15?), took a few hits and they were huge. I'm already high and there is so much of the bowl left (70% at least).

I have no idea what is up because if anything this weed is a tiny bit LOWER grade than the other one, so maybe the other one just didn't vape well for some reason. I wonder how it would be if I had dank in there now

Chances are some of the thc degraded into cbn and it activates the immune system which is why you "feel" it more.

It also is probably the reason why you got more vapor because cbn vaporizes at a lower temperature than thc.

 

[Skunkypete]

Weirdly enough, when copared to everybody else's experiences, I have felt SO MUCH HIGHER when I vape.

Same here I was a heavy smoker for 15 years and just couldn't get really high anymore no matter how much i smoked. In comes vaping and it was like I had never smoked before , I felt high again like I had went on some sort of T break or had just started smoking. This was like an epiphany , like a where were you all my life moment. Haven't looked back since.

 

[vape4health]

Shunkypete , I was in the same boat , smoke 3-4 bongs in a row and be like Now with the vape , one nice bowl in the E and its And you get ABV instead of black tar shit , make some abv brownies for that blasted movie buzz .

I had a small moment of " shit , you know how much herb I wasted smokin it all them years "

 

[rayski]

It also is probably the reason why you got more vapor because cbn vaporizes at a lower temperature than thc.

I don't think that's correct. wikipedia doesn't agree:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporizer