Enail Base - Male or Female?

[Shooby]

I was wondering what you guys prefer and why? Male or Female base for your Ti Enail.

I am asking because i am going to purchase a couple of drop downs adapters. My last one just broke after a month. My Mininail enail came with both 14mm male and 14mm female adapters and they both fit tight and snug.

I have used both and I am not sure myself. I like the look of the male joint going into the female glass but i noticed its harder to remove the enail compared to female base.

I also think there is less heat being absorbed by the glass as there is less contact with the male joint compared to the female joint.

Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[ichibaneye]

On your heat comment. I have to kindly disagree. No matter if it's a female sliding into a male joint or vice versa both make the same amount of contact with one another. So the heat will be the same for the both of them.

I personally prefer male joints. I'm male so sticking it in the female comes natural for me.

As for your harder time extracting a male joint from a female joint. Ehhhh this is mostly moot to me.

The difference is so small comparatively if you do this. Just wiggle the old male back n for a couple of times like you would with mr snake after a pee. Then pull out Ahhh yes!

 

[Likes2vape]

I much prefer a male fitting going into a female glass fitting. Only because I hate how male glass joints get all gooey after a couple of dabs. The main reason to go with a male joint is if you're torching a ti nail you have to worry about thermal expansion of the metal breaking the glass. The glass getting hot won't afffect the glass itself.

 

[ensabbahnur]

Id think the contact area would be similar with both but the male joint allows the female nail to radiate more energy and heat, might be slightly cooler but id think only a few degrees at best.

Both of my daily driver nails, Liger and Halo, i use their female joints, with direct inject to mitigate the gooey adapters, and use a male to male with female joints on the rigs also. this allows me to keep a section of glass between the nail and the rig and takes all risk of thermal expansion of the nail totally out of the setup.

 

[SamuraiSam]

I flat out refuse to purchase male jointed pieces due to the immediate oil seepage. there is far more surface area that is dirtied with reclaim when a female jointed heated thing (e-nail, banger, etc) sits on a male joint, than the straight down drip of a male jointed device inside a female joint.

 

[Marihuana]

I have always preferred male jointed nails in both aesthetic and function. Some people might not like the possibility of getting their nail stuck in a female glass joint, but to me it's a non-issue. But for real, I feel like the only reason why rigs are still getting made with male joints instead of females is because it's a vestigial design feature from the period where domed nails were THE way to dab... Female glass all the way.

 

[dabselector]

When heated, glass and titanium expand at different rates. and cooling the glass narrows faster. So that if a drop of water gets around the joint, the glass will quickly narrow and the titanium will remain enlarged. And this is what will happen:

I try to avoid female joints

 

[herbivore21]

A few things:

I hate dropdowns. I don't want some jenky glass jutting out from my rig to keep the heat away from my piece. I actually have an incredibly expensive rig that came with a matching dropdown which is even more unfit for the purpose - the dropdown itself is worth well into 3 figures - basically, I need a dropdown to protect my expensive dropdown!

At the same time, I would never put any enail directly onto the joint on any of my rigs. The above picture by @dabselector is one reason why we shouldn't put nails straight into our rig's gong joint.

For me, the solution is to get a rig which allows for reasonable placement of a small gong adapter in between your e-nail and rig, so that any breakage of the glass GonG is just a cheap scientific adapter. I have some rigs with 14mm female worked gong joints and for these, I use an 18mm female to 14mm male gong adapter, sitting the nail in the 18mm female joint on the adapter and connecting the 14mm male part of the adapter to the 14mm female joint on the rig. As a rule, I use the lowest profile adapter that I can to get the hot nail off of my bubbler (although I draw the line at using low profile 18/14mm reducers to connect a nail to an 18mm female jointed rig, since expansion that breaks this kind of reducer may also cause breakage of the surrounding 18mm female gong on the actual rig).

On my male jointed rigs, I always use a female to female adapter to allow my nail to connect to a female GonG. Joint lock is brutal when you use a male gong and a female based e-nail. Female GonGs are definitely better for preventing the base of the nail sticking to the gong.

I flat out refuse to purchase male jointed pieces due to the immediate oil seepage. there is far more surface area that is dirtied with reclaim when a female jointed heated thing (e-nail, banger, etc) sits on a male joint, than the straight down drip of a male jointed device inside a female joint.

This! lol

Also in reference to comments from others above: I've never had joint lock in a female GonG joint with a male jointed e-nail base. I clean my rigs more frequently than many here though. No e-nail rig of mine goes longer than 1-2 days without full disassembly and cleaning.

 

[Marihuana]

Spot on. Reducers are absolutely essential in protecting one's favorite glass. I'm also glad and surprised someone spoke up about drop downs in that light. Even if they're designed to match a piece, I feel uneasy around all those additional appendages hanging about, almost begging to be broken.

 

[Shooby]

Thanks for all your inputs and i may just drop the drop down in general and go with what @herbivore21 is doing with the gong adapter(not the low profile). I am shocked I haven't thought of that myself. Its a cheaper glass accessory, direct smoke for best air flow and still protects the rig. I guess the only negative would be the rig receiving more reclaim which for me isn't a big deal since i do ISO rinse my rig 1-3 times a week depending on usage.

I will pick up a gong adapter today at lunch. Im excited to try this and drop the drop down as it was making my Baby Jesus incycler front heavy which is annoying.

Here is another questions, do you guys leave your HOT enail on your gong adapters when you're not using it? I am trying to get into a habit of putting the enail on the enail stand after using but I tend to forget.

 

[Marihuana]

I try to make an effort to keep my enail out of my joint just because the hot glass and water make subsequent hits really harsh. I haven't noticed any downsides to leaving my nail in for (virtually, minus water changes) 24 hours a day at times, but now I can't imagine letting my glass get that hot.

 

[nosmoking]

I agree with what seems to be the majority here so far. Female is the way to go. I have all sorts of adapters but I also tend to like one of these-
https://www.shopxhale.com/products/8281
I have a bunch that are 18/18 and some 18/14 and 14/14. I also like to put a screen or two in the bulb area to help collection. When it gets too gunked up I swap out for a clean one. The dirty glass gets torch heated and all that drips out is recollected for nighttime dabs.

 

[Baron23]

I ahve a couple of Bates diffusion rigs with male 14mm joints, but most of my glass is female and I prefer female joints on my glass.

Now, unlike @herbivore21, I do like a drop down. Not the N or Z form factor but the ones I like curve 180 degrees to drop down straight and then back up. In addition to protecting my glass, I like this type drop down because it also gets my dab surface back down to where I can see into it. Just a better position for me (and no, I don't use really really rigs so there is the why of it, I believe).

The GonG's are a good idea if you dont' want to re-position your dab surface but to me they are just drop downs without the drop! LOL

 

[mrbonsai420]

I go back and forth. I only like female joints on my rigs, but I do have a few male to male drops that have me using the female Liger adapter. If they are direct inject like the liger there is no more mess on the male joint but that's usually the issue with them. So I would say Female joints are my preference but I do uyse a few male to male drop downs.

Also, my use of drops isn't really to keep the heat off of the joint, even though that's a plus. I would rather break the $120 drop-down than the $1000 piece. But for me it's the ability to capture my reclaim before it hits the rig. The reclaim collects in the dropdown and I get it out with a little heat and it's ready for edibles!! No iso required.

 

[Baron23]

I go back and forth. I only like female joints on my rigs, but I do have a few male to male drops that have me using the female Liger adapter. If they are direct inject like the liger there is no more mess on the male joint but that's usually the issue with them. So I would say Female joints are my preference but I do uyse a few male to male drop downs.

Also, my use of drops isn't really to keep the heat off of the joint, even though that's a plus. I would rather break the $120 drop-down than the $1000 piece. But for me it's the ability to capture my reclaim before it hits the rig. The reclaim collects in the dropdown and I get it out with a little heat and it's ready for edibles!! No iso required.

Hi Bonsia...where you been? Hope all is well with you and yours.

 

[mrbonsai420]

Hi Bonsia...where you been? Hope all is well with you and yours.

Things are great man!! Sorry I have been away so long, I am ruled by my heart and I was going through lady trouble. And then an extreme LACK of lady trouble that kept me even busier!

 

[Baron23]

Things are great man!! Sorry I have been away so long, I am ruled by my heart and I was going through lady trouble. And then an extreme LACK of lady trouble that kept me even busier!

hehehehe....yeah, my life has been mostly run by the smaller head of the two also. LOL

Glad to see you back on the board a bit. You were extremely helpful to me and others and your glass collection makes me green with envy.

Take care, my friend.

Cheers

 

[Gigsabits53]

I ahve a couple of Bates diffusion rigs with male 14mm joints, but most of my glass is female and I prefer female joints on my glass.

Now, unlike @herbivore21, I do like a drop down. Not the N or Z form factor but the ones I like curve 180 degrees to drop down straight and then back up. In addition to protecting my glass, I like this type drop down because it also gets my dab surface back down to where I can see into it. Just a better position for me (and no, I don't use really really rigs so there is the why of it, I believe).

The GonG's are a good idea if you dont' want to re-position your dab surface but to me they are just drop downs without the drop! LOL

I use a drop down on my rig. I like using them because it keeps my rig so clean. I have a male joint on the rig and that thing used to get so gooped up and sticky that I could not get the glass adapter off the joint. Ended up breaking one adapter (brand new too) and cutting the shit out of my finger.

 

[Baron23]

I use a drop down on my rig. I like using them because it keeps my rig so clean. I have a male joint on the rig and that thing used to get so gooped up and sticky that I could not get the glass adapter off the joint. Ended up breaking one adapter (brand new too) and cutting the shit out of my finger.

Yeah, if your nail doesn't have direct inject (stem extending down into your drop down or glass), the males will indeed goo up.

If you get stuck again like that, might want to try some gentle heat until the reclaim loosens...maybe? Just speculating, I haven't had that exact problem but have had lots of goo'd up vape parts.

Cheers