IME, from a hashmaker's perspective, hard hash cannot necessarily be assumed to require breaking up. I have 5 and 6 star hashes that feel like shatter and are rock hard, like quartz almost. They melt like water with a little bit of heat - AND MUST ABSOLUTELY NOT BE HEATED PRIOR TO USE! Heating hash to crumble it up will degrade the flavor of the hash. When one uses hash of the quality that I always use, this is a terrible waste!
There are two ways to vaporize good hash. One is the crumble and grind it up to expose more surface area to convective heat in the bowl. The other is to tightly pack as much as you can in a bowl and stuff the rest of it with SS wool (which conduct and keeps the heat immediately wrapping the hash for better conduction and heat build-up inside the load). I prefer the latter which is why I was AFAIK the first at FC to be using SS concentrate pads in the vapcaps/omnivap.
One thing to appreciate is that cruder, lower quality hash that may be hard and does not melt when vaped will require much larger loads to get the good clouds. The stuff that melts enough to dab, use a small amount like a dab
I don't mix bud and hash in a vape because the bud will be spent long, long before the hash will. The taste of overspent bud really spoils the flavor of vaped hash, which can very easily far surpass flower vaping IME.
BTW, I am a hash user who has a vapcap M and an omnivap. I prefer the omnivap a little bit for its heat properties, but the vapcap M is so cheap I can't not recommend it.
The thick vapor is indeed to be relished! That is very much the beauty of hash vaping. Hash creates clouds that you'll never get from any flower, and can be even cloudier than dabbing oil!
You need to use water if you are having huge thick rips from hash like this regularly, as you'll notice these hits are big enough to choke you out when you hit it dry! It'll leave you very parched!
I would not vape large plumes of hash near kids in covered areas, since IME somebody sitting near very large amounts of concentrate vapor for a while can get a little giggly and vaked. Developing brains should not be exposed to cannabis except for in the event of medical necessity where the balance of outcomes has been carefully considered by a medical professional (if at all possible). You're a good Dad for being conscious of preventing this man! Kudos to you!
Many of my adult friends who do not partake do not mind being indoors when I medicate, some actually really enjoy the gentle psychoactivity that sitting near somebody vaping hash can provide
If your wife is not into cannabis at all, then best not to vape around her either for those big cloudy exhales!
Agreed, hash needs more heat for sure.