The Golden Age of Dry Herb Vaping?

[TigoleBitties]

First my bona fides. I've been using the weed since 1967. Mostly as a daily user, though took off a year plus for one job and two years for another. First couple of years I had small-time dealer friends and I was their guinea pig because I had a high tolerance and a natural skepticism. I still remember my only foray into dealing, copping a pound of Lebanese hash in 1971. I spent time back then in Mexico, spending six months just outside of Michocan, Mexico's first "Mecca". I too think this is the Golden Age of Cannabis.

Number one reason this is the Golden Age of Cannabis: Legalization in the states next to me, Mass and Maine, and decriminalization here in NH. As well, I spend nearly half of each year in Canada, where it is legal everywhere. In Mass and Maine and Canada the stuff is not only legal, it is tested for potency and noxious chemicals and biotics. As a testing bonus, some places also list the tested terpenes. Number two reason: the competition in the legal market has resulted in huge increases in potency. First couple of years we'd get 15-18% THC; now I've had 30% and more both in Canada and in Maine. And there's just fantastic tasting stuff. Number Three reason: Concentrates. First there were these fantastic resins, butters, crumbles, sugars, and shatters. Now there's multiple styles of rosins that are even tastier, stronger and possibly cleaner. I couldn't have even imagined some of this stuff ten years ago. Delicious, stony, and extraordinary varieties.

Related to the development of potent, tasty, and interesting product, the vapes have also gotten better. I've been exclusively vaping for ten years now. Each generation of vaporizers seems to do a better faster job of extraction while both enhancing taste and cooling/moderating the vapor. Now if I could only knock a dozen or so years off my life! At 75 I just can't vape the stuff fast enough anymore.

Great post. I didn't even think to mention the progress in the product we all love (Cannabis) aside from the advance in vaping tech.

I'm up in Canada and was a child of the 80s. I remember buying terrible weed from shady dealers and it was always so unpredictable how much you could score and what the quality would be like. Hash was obtainable but unpredictably so.

Now I can order world class BC (British Columbia) bud (and concentrates, edibles, etc...) from Canada's west coast in my pajamas and have it arrive at my door in 2 days via airmail. I can get bud locally here in Montreal but BC bud is generally better.

As you mention, the potency, quality and selection is unreal. I recently scored 2oz of Cotton Candy Kush AAA+ smalls for an incredible price, $70 CDN!

I usually prefer even higher quality, top shelf stuff (AAAA and above) but that deal was insane. They have <$100 CDN deals on ounces regularly (link).

 

[Hms34]

A good comparison would be eliquid vaping in 2014-15. Great time for the DIY people and hobbyists.

My following take is probably too mainstream for this community, and there's lots I don't know, given my 3 month smoking history.

As it stands now, a newbie vaper watches reviews, thinks all is great, and spends $100. He or she then finds it takes a lot of effort to get minimal results, and it's a messy affair. Also, the need to reload after every session makes it equivalent to dripping into the RDA's back in the day. Doing this right as a new consumer takes a combination of luck, patience, and slightly deep pockets.

Local smoke shops have Pax, DaVinci, the occasional Volcano, some cheaper little pens, but more of the dab rigs. Mostly bongs and pipes. You can't try before you buy. And a lot of the shops in my area are no place anyone over 25 wants to be. Captain obvious, I know.

There has been tech progress, but not so much in the mainstream.

As for portable ball vapes, I don't know if they will reach the mainstream consumer the way Dynavap did. Are there liability issues with higher-powered equipment?

As for tinkering, there are fans, but only so many.

Tempest looks great; will there be a feeding frenzy among hobbyists, vs a sporadic production, like with microbrand watches?

In the mean time, I will do the best I can with devices like the Roffu and Rogue. It helps my medical issue. For that, I am grateful.

Send a Tempest at a fair price, support it, put a manual online, treat it like it's something a new or mainstream consumer can live with, fix any initial bugs, warranty it, keep up with production, etc. Assuming that's the goal, and it might not be. It's Mad Heaters prerogative, whatever they decide.

Why can't someone produce a Mighty equivalent with replaceable batteries that doesn't look like it came from Home Depot? I'm sure that's been asked ad nauseum, so I apologize.

Increased legalization is on our side, though certain US politicians could wipe out everything and everyone, as they've been trying to do with ecigs. But nicotine is federally legal.

Pharmaceutical, alcohol, tobacco, and casino industries will continue to do all they can to stave off what they believe to be competition. Then there's the federal illegality issue, and relentless drug testing to satisfy the insurance industry. Fortunately, I am semi-retired.

Golden age? Guardedly optimistic,. We shall see. I would not be buying cannabis from a plug if I weren't in or near a legal state. I am the new dispensary customer at this point.

 

[Durbandream]

It's true. I know there will be more advanced vapes than these... but how much will it really matter? We already have near zero heat-up times and super efficient extraction. How much more is there exactly?

There will be more advances but maybe only largely incremental ones. Finer temp control. More miniaturization. Super-ultra-fast heat-up times... Ok, but will it really be a radical change from the advanced vapes of today? I'm not sure.

I know there's a huge leap between the vapor from the OG Solo and a ZX. But can you really make another such quantum leap from the ZX?

The only thing I can think of would be a radically new way to vape.... like some weird nose-plug type membrane you put up your nostrils and snort ground flower directly, where the membrane instantly vapes the plant on contact and filters the AVB?

There's still a long way to go. My TM2 is a technological marvel and without question my best all-around vape, but it isn't my favorite vape or the one I would pick if I could only have one, that would go to either my 18mm quartz cap or Terpcicle, two butane vapes. The vivid flavor, dense, cool vapor and intense effects those two can produce are one or two steps above what any portable vape I've encountered is capable of, and I assume the technological advancement needed to squeeze that performance into a portable with on-demand capability is significant.

 

[Gorf]

I think this is it. With ball vapes we understand how to build a convection thermal battery that fully extracts in a single rip. Getting that tech pocket-able is the next move.