The Herbalizer

[WeAreVenom]

I've found a coarse grind actually works better for me in the herbie. Don't ask me why I don't know but it just does. I usually pack her between halfway to 3\4 but never more and I also never tamp it down. Keep that shit fluffy. I find the whip doesn't really offer huge clouds but if you get a WPA and attach your herbie to some glass or a nice 18mm steamroller and you can really milk those hits. If you're going to stick with the whip I would recommend getting some 3\8 silicone tubing and using that over the stock herbie whip. For some reason the stock whip herbie offers really sucks but if you get some silicone tubing and stick it over your bowl and just use that instead you should find you'll get greatly increased airflow.

The 3/8" tubing really does make a difference.

The standard whip offered with the herbalizer has so much draw resistance that it really turns vaping into a huge chore. I ordered a 3/8" whip and it really made a difference for me. The only thing about the 3/8" whip is that it has more weight to it than the standard tubing that is included with the herbalizer. I have tipped over my herbie a few times while sitting down. I have also tipped over my friends bong using it (it didn't break though which was good). As far as clouds go, I generally get my thickest clouds on the first few hits and then it's wispy until it's done. I generally fill my bowl up 3/4 way I also use a domed screen to prevent the top screen from clogging. This significantly improves airflow throughout the session. My general temperature settings are 360-375 for the day time. I do 395 in the evenings to unwind after a long day. 430F puts me straight to sleep. The light colored AVB threw me off too but nah son, that shit is really cooked thoroughly.

I can say this. I never fail to get high with the herbalizer. Which makes it an awesome and efficient product in my eyes. I never have to worry about running the risk of combusting the plant matter (like with my MFLB). My experience is customizable from temperature to duration and consumption. I have owned my Herbalizer for about a month (order placed Nov. 26 and shipment received Nov. 30) and it is still working JUST as well as when I first purchased it. It's just that it's kinda dirty and needs to be cleaned.

With the MFLB I will have a good session then somewhere along the line I just draw too slow and it gets too hot. Before I know it, it fucking combusts, made my weed taste like total horseshit. My screen gets burn marks and overall I just have a bad time. Now that I have a herbie it's time to save for a fucking Mighty so I can vape on the go without worries. I don't have VAS but if I'm saying, "fuck combustion" why am I using a vaporizer that runs the risk of combustion if I use it "wrong"? That's retarded! Why not just save my money up and purchase a vape where it's impossible to fuck up? Then those batteries...son! MFLB feels like some cave man shit. With that said, they make awesome accessories (such as the finishing grinder, orbiter and delta box).

 

[showman]

Are you ordering legitimate EZ Valve Chambers from Storz & Bikel?
There are sellers that sell Volcano valves that are after-market ... and decidedly inferior.
After working with Volcano Chambers for MANY years, I find one would be hard pressed to discover a way to break off the legs. ( 7 years and over 50 volcanos distributed)

Look again, the bags re NOT silicone.

Yes, I got them straight from Storz and Bickel. I'm a long-time solid valve solid valve user, and I just picked up some of the new Easy Valves with Filling Chamber Reducer, the dosing capsules that can be used with the new easy valve reducer, as well as some of the new Easy Valve Adapter Balloons. You'll notice by the way, that S+B no longer recommends using the solid valve, since they claim the new easy valve does everything the old solid valve did and more, now that balloons can be replaced easily on the Easy Valve, and on their claim, Easy Valve leaks less (which seems plausible to me, there are way too many parts on the solid valve.) In any event, I don't have any dry herb right now, so I've been running them with the liquid pads in the dosing capsules, in the filling chamber reducer at Max Temp, which is the best way to run concentrates, I think. Very quickly, within weeks of use, I had both multiple plastic legs break off both the easy valve filling chamber housings I ordered. S + B was kind enough to send me a new housing, but my sense is the plastic easy valve housing isn't really robust enough to withstand repeated use at max temp with concentrates. I'm telling you the legs break off quite easily, and if you haven't experienced this issue, I wager it's because you're either not using them with concentrates and dosing capsules, or you're not using them at max temps.

I've actually been experimenting with a modified easy valve with chamber reducer using no housing and a stainless steel clamp to hold the two pieces together. Personally, I think this works better than the crapppy black plastic housing that comes stock since there's nothing to break, but you may want pliers or tongs or tweezers or something to pick up the chamber since it gets somewhat hot (not sublimator hot or a temp that would burn you, but modestly unpleasantly hot to touch unless you grab by the orange plastic part). I also haven't quite figured out a way to clip it to the heating unit, but gravity is usually sufficient. The main obstacle to my envisioned setup is that I can't find a source for non-plastic vaporizer bags. I don't mind the idea of vaporizer bags, but I don't see why they should have to be made of plastic. I may try experimenting with some food-grade silicone bags for sous-vide cooking or something that can be heated but isn't crappy plastic.

Are you sure the Herbalizer bags are not silicone? I could swear it says they are food-grade or medical grade-silicone on their site, which is actually my only interest in the herbalizer. Or did I misinterpret, and it's just the valve that's silicone, while the bags are still plastic?

Edit: Here, I found the claim: "The Herbalizer’s SqueezeValve balloon system is simplicity defined. Squeeze, attach, and fill with pure, flavorful vapor. When you aren’t squeezing it, the valve seals in the vapor so you never loose a wisp. It is made of medical-grade silicone, feels smooth, and is quiet – no loud crinkly noises."

So this just refers to the valve? Can anyone confirm whether or not the bags themselves are silicone?

 

[Vitolo]

Are you sure the Herbalizer bags are not silicone?

The hoses are medical grade silicone for sure, as is the green valve.
A call to them in the morning will answer that questionfor us all.

I wager it's because you're either not using them with concentrates and dosing capsules, or you're not using them at max temps.

Different folks find different issues, I am sure.
I use the Volcano daily and have for years.
Concentrates a few times a day, at TOP temperature...
and Herbal use throughout the day, at 377 to 393.
The volcano EZ Valve the Police took last year saw this daily use for 5 years, and never broke.
My recent EZ valve has been used for 560 days with no issue (thank God!)
I tested 4 different bag compositions for Herbalizer, and the most recent is very quiet indeed, but did not feel silicone-like to me.
As I said a call will answer that.. I sure want to be in the know!

 

[showman]

Yes you can replace just the bags. There have been a couple tutorials posted in this thread.

Thanks. I'll search for these. With what do you replace them, though? When it says "food-grade silicone" on the Herbalizer site, does this just refer to the valve, or are the bags also this silicone material? If the bags are

The hoses are medical grade silicone for sure, as is the green valve.
A call to them in the morning will answer that questionfor us all.

Different folks find different issues, I am sure.
I use the Volcano daily and have for years.
Concentrates a few times a day, at TOP temperature...
and Herbal use throughout the day, at 377 to 393.
The volcano EZ Valve the Police took last year saw this daily use for 5 years, and never broke.
My recent EZ valve has been used for 560 days with no issue (thank God!)
I tested 4 different bag compositions for Herbalizer, and the most recent is very quiet indeed, but did not feel silicone-like to me.
As I said a call will answer that.. I sure want to be in the know!

Ok, I'll try to e-mail them. Btw, I just reaized the solid valve has no legs (which is why it doesn't "clamp" on like the easy valve) so maybe that's why this is the reason I've never experienced this issue. Storz and Bickel seemed to think it could be coming from leaving the Valve on the heating unit in between uses (might do this sometimes if I forget), or from not cleaning enough, or overfilling the liquid pads. They seemed quite familiar with the issue and told me that the plastic housings are considered "wear and tear" , but they were good enough to send me a free one. Then a second one broke and I became frustrated!

So you've tried the herbalizer balloons with the easy valve? or the cool grips/squeeze valve with the volcano? or just have experience with both units! I'll e-mail Herbalizer to clarify on the balloon material and will post my findings.

Anyway, it's not the quietness that I'm after-- I already have the Reynolds turkey bags which are perfectly silent, and come pre-tied at the end, although somewhat strangely shaped in a way that makes them more difficult to try to clear quickly, if you need to. I'm looking for a non-plastic vape bag; I suspect you are right now that I've re-read the Herbalizer site, and they are just saying the Valve is silicone, and the bag is the usual food-safe plastic. Will be good to find out though. At the least, the silicone in the valve beats the volcano's orange plastic valve, though I don't know if the squeeze valve has the nice "check valve" the EZ valve now comes with, though you can also get one in the silicone lip pieces S+B now sells...

 

[Madcap79]

Thanks. I'll search for these. With what do you replace them, though?

I used turkey bags (not recommended). S&B makes bags that are probably the best option. No idea what material they are though.

 

[lazylathe]

Just tried a S&B dosing capsule in my Herbie and WOW!!!
Smaller loads in a metal container and the experience is so much better for me!

Today's Wake and Bake was some Strawberry Cough and boy did it taste like strawberries in the Herbie!!
A few awesome hits and then tapering off as always. great taste throughout the session!
Also used my wide bore tubing over the stock whip!
And the bowl stays super clean!

I was going to try the domed screen idea but this is just so much more easier and cleaner.

Would love someone else to try and report back with results!

 

[WeAreVenom]

Man just when I think I am going to save money there's some cool new shit for new shit for me to try out.

I just googled the S&B dosing capsules and now I have to try them. Anything to not have to clean my herbalizer screens as often. I am also just an experimental son of a bitch when it comes to this marijuana thing.

 

[Southern Chef]

Just tried a S&B dosing capsule in my Herbie and WOW!!!
Smaller loads in a metal container and the experience is so much better for me!

Today's Wake and Bake was some Strawberry Cough and boy did it taste like strawberries in the Herbie!!
A few awesome hits and then tapering off as always. great taste throughout the session!
Also used my wide bore tubing over the stock whip!
And the bowl stays super clean!

I was going to try the domed screen idea but this is just so much more easier and cleaner.

Would love someone else to try and report back with results!

I've been using the dosing capsules in my Herbie for a while now. Bowl stays super clean and I've convinced myself that it raised the already outstanding efficiency. It's the only way I load the Herbie anymore.

 

[Winegums]

Man just when I think I am going to save money there's some cool new shit for new shit for me to try out.

I just googled the S&B dosing capsules and now I have to try them. Anything to not have to clean my herbalizer screens as often. I am also just an experimental son of a bitch when it comes to this marijuana thing.

VAS is a terrible addiction as well as its cousin VAAS. I fell victim to my cravings and bought a Vapcap Ti and a GR8TR vape grinder this christmas.

 

[Vitolo]

As I said a call will answer that.. I sure want to be in the know!

I just placed a call to Herbalizer Customer service, and also to the head Engineer. Both indicated I would get a call back within the hour.
Ready to gain some info!

 

[lazylathe]

@biohacker

You may want to try this new method out!
When i loaded the bowl in the regular way, i would end up coughing a lot and this ends with me packing Herbie away for months at a time. Not good for such a large investment!

With the dosing capsule, i do not cough either dry or with a WT.
I am wondering if by adding slightly move conduction to the bowl i am evening out the delivery?

And even half full capsules vape evenly and a darker brown!

I will bring Herbie along to the next session!
For science... and that wicked clean Herbie High!

 

[Vitolo]

I just placed a call to Herbalizer Customer service, and also to the head Engineer. Both indicated I would get a call back within the hour.
Ready to gain some info!

The bags ARE NOT silicone

Are you sure the Herbalizer bags are not silicone? I could swear it says they are food-grade or medical grade-silicone on their site, which is actually my only interest in the herbalizer. Or did I misinterpret, and it's just the valve that's silicone, while the bags are still plastic?

Yes I am DEAD sure.

Look again, the bags re NOT silicone.

I was called back AND received an email form Herbalizer.
They told me:

Hi Vito!
Thanks so much for reaching out. Just the valve is made of silicone. The actual bags are made of medical grade plastic.
Hope this helps and thanks for looking out on FC.
Happy Holidays,
C. L. (name initialized for privacy)

 

[Winegums]

The Bags are made from Mylar and the valve is made from Silicone.

 

[showman]

The bags ARE NOT silicone

Yes I am DEAD sure.

I was called back AND received an email form Herbalizer.
They told me:

Hi Vitolo! I got the same message. You were correct! I misread and assumed the bags were silicone.

I'm still curious as to whether the bags might work with the volcano easy valve chambers, as I'd be interested in at least upgrading the plastic easy valve to the silicone squeeze valve.

If I could then find a heat-safe silicone cooking bag in the right size and shape, I might manage to remove all plastic from the volcano airpath.

 

[showman]

I used turkey bags (not recommended). S&B makes bags that are probably the best option. No idea what material they are though.

I'm pretty sure the volcano stock bags are polyester. I have both the volcano stock material and the reynolds bags; i kind of like the Reynolds bags because they are silent, and don't need to be tied at the end. But on the other hand, I don't like the shape which makes it hard to clear a bag quickly and looks strange. Why do you not recommend the Reynolds? I think they might work better with a goose bag instead of a Turkey bag, but just wondering what youe experience has been.

 

[Winegums]

I'm pretty sure the volcano stock bags are polyester. I have both the volcano stock material and the reynolds bags; i kind of like the Reynolds bags because they are silent, and don't need to be tied at the end.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoPET

Volcano bags are made of thicker Mylar than stock herbalizer bags.

 

[Madcap79]

I'm pretty sure the volcano stock bags are polyester. I have both the volcano stock material and the reynolds bags; i kind of like the Reynolds bags because they are silent, and don't need to be tied at the end. But on the other hand, I don't like the shape which makes it hard to clear a bag quickly and looks strange. Why do you not recommend the Reynolds? I think they might work better with a goose bag instead of a Turkey bag, but just wondering what youe experience has been.

I believe the top recommended temp on the turkey bags are lower than the top temp on the Herbie. Whether anything 'bad' happens because of this, that's up for debate I suppose. I personally am not worried. I'm around hazardous stuff at work anyway. Haha.

That's the only reason I 'don't suggest them'.

 

[sixstringsmash]

I agree completely with @Madcap79 .My reynold's bags say not to exceed 400f, which is 45 degrees lower than the herbalizer's max temperature. Now I'm not sure if its unhealthy or not going past that 400 or not with bags. Maybe it's totally healthy and I'm avoiding them for nothing but I at least know for a fact that my volcano/herbie bags are guaranteed to be safe up to their maximum temperatures every time and for the little extra cost that brings to me I think that's completely worth it!

 

[MinnBobber]

I agree completely with @Madcap79 .My reynold's bags say they are safe for up to 400f, which is 45 degrees lower than the herbalizer's max temperature. Now I'm not sure if its unhealthy or not going past that 400 or not with bags

.......................................................................
Please consider that bags likely never see temps over 160 F (estimate). The best example is my miniVAP with the 2" plastic mouthpiece to highlight a super -short vapor path. A temp of 130/135 F will burn your mouth/throat so it's not above that temp, even at 440 F setting. Throw in another 30 F cushion and I think the bags never see a temp above 160 F.
That leaves a lot of safety margin below the 400 F safe mark IMO.

 

[sixstringsmash]

.......................................................................
Please consider that bags likely never see temps over 160 F (estimate). The best example is my miniVAP with the 2" plastic mouthpiece to highlight a super -short vapor path. A temp of 130/135 F will burn your mouth/throat so it's not above that temp, even at 440 F setting. Throw in another 30 F cushion and I think the bags never see a temp above 160 F.
That leaves a lot of safety margin below the 400 F safe mark IMO.

I think that you are completely correct and I really don't think there is any harm to the oven bags but at the same time until someone does proper testing on them I personally rather would just not want to risk it. The materials in the Volcano and Herbalizer bags are used because the companies have done extensive testing with them and found them to be safe for vaporization temperatures. The oven bags are probably the same but until somebody tests and proves that they are safe I would just rather assume they are unsafe.

 

[invertedisdead]

I feel you, but I've actually melted the solid valve housing, locking the valve in place to where the spring wouldn't work. Never had an oven bag do anything weird like that... Even the bag attached that duration I forgot about, so who knows, it might be safer than the valve...

 

[yadoofer]

I think that you are completely correct and I really don't think there is any harm to the oven bags but at the same time until someone does proper testing on them I personally rather would just not want to risk it. The materials in the Volcano and Herbalizer bags are used because the companies have done extensive testing with them and found them to be safe for vaporization temperatures. The oven bags are probably the same but until somebody tests and proves that they are safe I would just rather assume they are unsafe.

Oven bags. I use a brand called True Liberty Bags I get from the dreaded Amazon. They are 12"x20". They come in a lot of sizes, though, and in packs of 10, 25, 100. They are durable, thicker than most. Keep in mind that they are made from food safe nylon. They can take the heat. Generally, they get sticky before they get brittle. I add a little bit of ISO to the bags, swish it around in the bag on a flat surface and then empty them, rinse with water, dry them with the help of the Herbalizer. Good for another week. They fit the silicone herbalizer valve with a little persuasion. I think they are cost effective, safe, and, for me, just the right size.

 

[Tex]

After using a Vapexhale Hydratube with my Herbalizer for the past 2 years or so, I'll never go back to bags or a whip. The hydratube is so much better in every aspect, IMO.

 

[kcmochris]

After using a Vapexhale Hydratube with my Herbalizer for the past 2 years or so, I'll never go back to bags or a whip. The hydratube is so much better in every aspect, IMO.

@Tex Tried the steamroller? I'm sure you're thinking why, if you're already doing a similar method with water filtration, but posing out of curiosity.

 

[sixstringsmash]

Steamroller is definitely my preferred way to vape not just on my herbie, but on pretty much any vape I'm using nowadays that I have an adapter for. The long air path cools the vapor enough to make it easy on the lungs but the lack of water retains the flavor miles better than water does! I can't really see myself going back to using hydratubes now that I've seen the steamroller light!