done bowl or not

[crawdad]

greetings. im relatively new to toking at all and very new to vape, used my new vg glass about 5 times now and could not be any more happy with it. i wanted to have you all let me know if what is left in my bowl looks properly vaporized or not. my first few times i was going too far with it and ended up black but i think im closer to what is expected.

love the taste and effect vaporizing provides and im so stoked about how little i need to get a partial flight. i simply snip with scissors and gently let it fall in the bowl, tapping it in between tokes. i get about 2 solid hits with 2 small ones to finish it up, darn i see a green spot!

the pic is a close up, not actual size ha! anyhow thanks for looking.



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(edit) non close up being added now



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[pakalolo]

Disclosure: I do not own a VG and I have never used one.

This material looks a bit overdone to me. You are trying to get an even dark brown color, without any black. Also, my reading here tells me the VG doesn't like a fine grind but it does benefit from some grinding. This stuff hasn't been ground. I think you'll get better results and a more even color with a bit of grinding, or even scissors/shot glass treatment. I would try to get more consistency in the particle size.

See this post: http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?pid=16640#p16640 for more.

 

[Vayu]

Yeah I think you burnt it dude! Black is evidence of combustion. If you can tweak the heat a little lower or draw air faster you'll be good.

 

[hemp;)goofy8cheerio]

it lQQks ok tu me, about chocolate brown that a mflb can get, with my eQ i like lite vape 360-395 just about lite tan

 

[pakalolo]

Yeah I think you burnt it dude! Black is evidence of combustion. If you can tweak the heat a little lower or draw air faster you'll be good.

Good advice, but black means near-combustion, too near as far as I'm concerned. I don't think he actually burnt it. Actual combustion leaves ash, which will be grey and I don't see any in that picture. (I'm not a believer in that black ash/white ash thing, never seen anything but grey.) Combustion is easy to detect because a) there will be smoke not vapor, and b) the smell and taste are dead giveaways.

 

[steiner666]

The VG is a very hard, if not THE hardest, vape to mast IMO. It's the 5th vaporizer i've used and definitely the hardest for me so far. This is because there are a lot of variables to factor in, more than most vapes. Theres your hit speed, the size of the flame, the proximity of the flame, plus of course the moisture and density of your herb like in any other vape. IMO its a horrible vape for a new vaporist. Even with my previous experience w/ other vapes and knowledge on how the whole process works, i still find myself scorching the bowls in my VG. I think that it has as much to do with the technique used as it does with the vape itself. Because i know that mine, at least, has a hot spot where the herb gets cooked a lot more than everywhere else. So if i get it to where the majority of the herb is at ideal vaping temps, the herb in that spot is well above what it should be. It kinda looks like yours may be doing the same thing. Any vape where the abv has black, brown, and green in it indicates uneven heating. In order to get that last bit of green out you'll probably end up scorching more herb to get to it.

I know there are ppl out there who say they've mastered the VG, but i really cant see myself every using mine enough to get there. I never want to risk burning the herb that i have lol

but try grinding finer, and stirring between hits

 

[stinkmeaner]

Those prickly things look like those things that get stuck to your socks while hiking in the woods.

 

[crawdad]

appreciate the feedback, will cut/grind it more and do a stir. what is in the pic is all i used to achieve what i wanted so i was cool with it, but do want to become better at it.

when i first started with the vgg i was certainly in combustion as it was indeed black and almost a powder, taste was rough but now its just smooth and very favorable.

ha, no stickers in there i promise. i was surprised how it all looked on close up as well, that pic real size is barely an inch.

 

[darkrom]

IMO that is WAY too overcooked. I prefer to vape lighter though and that's just my opinion.

I would recommend you try vaping one with significantly less heat and see how you like the effects. Back in the day before any commercial vapes were known to me I used a light bulb DIY vape and even then I rarely let it get that black. I just enjoy the effects of not scorching it better. Let us know what you think if you manage to get it lighter. Post pics to compare the change.

 

[aesthyrian]

it was done awhile ago man haha

and wheres the bud? That herb looks no fun, I send my condolences.

 

[charliedontsurf]

That's on the very well done side of things. If it were a burger I'd consider sending it back.

The vaporgenie takes alot of practice to make those end bowl hits pleasant but not toasty. Personally, my classic is gathering serious dust - mflb is the on the go vape, gigantic SGT sherlock with vapobowl and torch for sit down vape.

 

[danalee48]

I consider myself to be a bit of a "master" with my VG's, and it honestly doesn't look like you did too bad for not having ground your herb!

My method is to just grind it fairly fine (finer than suggested), and then stir it at least twice for every bowl. That usually ensures that no green is left and that there is fairly even heat distribution. And my bowl is usually a dark brown shade before I claim it to be done, but it seems that I like to cook my bud a bit more intensely than many others! Oh well, to each their own. There is also the general rule (with ground herb) that if you try to empty the bowl and not all/none of it comes out, the bowl ain't done yet! That's why I stir instead of tap the bowl, because if the bud is ground properly tapping won't properly distribute the vaped bud with the bud that still has some juice left

Either way, the fact of the matter is you have only used it 5 times and for being so new to the glass VG you seem to be getting the hang of it! It took me a month of almost daily vaping to get my method down flawlessly, so I commend you for your early successes

 

[vape2win]

I personally always like to vape until my herb is that dark, but of course that's just a preference. Some people don't like the taste, but I usually hook my whip up to a bubbler full of something tasty like orange juice (its the real breakfast of champions ). However, for me to get it that dark it usually takes 6-7 good rips, but again I like to take it slow and stir a lot.
But yea, I agree with the previous posters: always grind before you vaporize. If you havent already, I would look into purchasing a nice 4 piece grinder (mendo mulcher FTW). That way you get to save up some kief, and you don't have to deal with annoying scissors or sticky fingers. Happy vaping and stick with it, you'll be pro in no time

 

[crawdad]

appreciate the kind words and constructive criticism. ive done a couple more bowls since my last post but i just cant cut it any finer than i have already so will check into a grinder and post back once ive done that a few times. i finally found a sweet spot for this thing to vape it slower (flame distance and draw strength) and get a good 5 hits before it all goes semi-dark.

 

[pakalolo]

crawdad: To clarify, you are trying to achieve even heating, not so much a particular colour although black is to be avoided. The dark browns in your picture are fine.

If you don't have a grinder yet try drying out your load first, then finger-crumbling it. You can also try dumping and crumbling it after a hit or two.

 

[crawdad]

sorry i dont have any pics of my changes, but i am getting a much more even burn now and its less dark and i appear to be getting either less or no smoke now, just vapor...i can tell by taste and coolness.

my changes :

1) finger crumble only now, no more scissors. been doing quite a bit of reading on here and saw many were reporting no real difference in feeling either way and since i prefer things simple and closer to natural anyhow (why i dont use batteries, but im not trying to debate it mind you), using my fingers made the best sense.

2) harder draw, less flame. this took some patience to work out as the vape process took longer and likely impossible for my SO to do due to asthma (oh well i guess) but it allowed me to reduce the combustion to nearly (or entirely) none and my hits of vapor were increased by about 3 hits or so. i can tell with different lighters (flame differences) it will continue to be a learning curve so im thinking of possibly one of those hemp wicks, the flicking of the lighter is actually distracting me from my herb zen moments anyhow.

overall the reaction took a little longer to set in by about 15-20 minutes (vs a high heat and some combustion) but the effect itself was pretty much the same...seemed a little more subdued than before but that was about it. knowing is nice since it allows me to alter how i hit it for what i want to feel. the effects did wear off after about 2.5 hours vs 4-5 hrs when i was hitting some smoke.

to respond to "wheres the bud? That herb looks no fun" im not sure what to tell you, i use every part that i have and sometimes its more leaves and stems than anything but the reaction i get is always the same, the only way i increase the level of high is if i do more than one bowl.

im started to keep my abv as id like to use it for cooking but since i dont vape but maybe 2-3 times a week i might be in for a long wait before i can use it.

 

[crawdad]

before and after, this is what im getting out now...still getting what i want out of it but clearly there is something left that i can use later in some oil for brownies or similar, im thinking...cant remember exactly but id say that is about 5 bowls of abv there.

wife is getting the handle on it as well finally (the vgg (or is it gvg) that is) and loves the effect way better than combustion, so im real happy about that.



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[pakalolo]

before and after, this is what im getting out now...still getting what i want out of it but clearly there is something left that i can use later in some oil for brownies or similar, im thinking...cant remember exactly but id say that is about 5 bowls of abv there.

If that's five bowls you are using teeny bowls

The colour looks pretty dark but not quite overdone, so good work there. If I were putting that in the LB I'd still want a finer grind, but it would probably be okay in my Extreme. Also, I'd finger-crumble after a couple of hits, but I don't know the VG (that's the recognized abbreviation) so maybe it likes coarser grinds.

 

[crawdad]

yeah, with the strain i have it seems i dont need much and i like that although in that pic it is a bit piled up in the bag. and i have the glass vapor genie. i did a bowl real fine (not quite coffee grinder, but close) and noticed no difference in results so its finger or if not dry enough scissors. i really like the simplicity of fingers (that sounds bad i know).

anyhow, thanks.

 

[crawdad]

bumping an old thread, but wanted to add something.

i have recently ground the herb in a coffee grinder (been doing finger or scissors previously) and indeed i can use even less herb for the same high. it makes sense to open up more surface area so will continue to do so. im having to conserve more than usual now anyhow. :/

and i can get a light brown or very dark brown color at will now, nice to have finally got a good handle on the device so i can now "dial in my preference" just like the electric folks.

 

[djonkoman]

are you using a torch or regular flame?
I switched to torch a few months ago, the first few times I tried it I didn't do it again for a while, but then my regular lighter broke and all I had left was a torch...
and after some practice it gives better control then regular flame, with a regular flame there's only a slight difference between combustion and too cold, with the torch it's (almost) impossible to accidently combust, if you're used to it, a while ago I tried a regular flame again and I was unable to avoid combustion, gotten used to the ease of the torch

 

[crawdad]

with a regular flame there's only a slight difference between combustion and too cold, with the torch it's (almost) impossible to accidently combust

tested this out this past weekend, same results. thanks for mentioning. not entirely sure why this is the case but was interesting nonetheless and the heat up time is diminished quite a bit.