What causes harsh hits?

[Green420]

I have this same piece, and I get this exact thing. I've monitored it to the best of my ability to figure out how to counteract it and get the best experience with this piece.

The "burning" happens from a few things in my experience. These variables directly affect it, ESPECIALLY with the Small Inline. I don't get these issues on my larger piece.

-Too fast of a draw
-Too high of a temp
-Too long of a draw

High airflow convection vapes are going to be a lot harsher. Putting my Herborizer Ti on the Small Inline, I can't draw fast or crank up the temp and draw out my hit. If I keep it to a short burst, I can manage it. Once I draw it out though, it gets very hot like I just burned my throat. To the point if I really tried, I could make it rather unbearable.

My Nano XL is much more gentle. On the Small Inline, on a higher temp, I can do just fine, even with huge hits.
The issue starts to come when I pull significantly too fast (which one never really would with the Nano XL), but more specifically with too long of a draw. This turns what would usually be a smooth experience on a small piece, to something hot on my throat.

The throat can handle some heat, but it's the long exposure to heat that starts to burn in my experience.

The Small Inline is not great for cooling. There is basically no chamber for the vapor to cool down in, and for the most part goes straight to your mouth with little glass contact, and barely any water.

It is still a fantastic piece though, and I'm using it daily still next to my huge piece. I use it on my lower airflow vapes like the Nano XL or Dynavapes, and even my Herborizer still if I know I'm not going for huge rips.

Try to adjust these variables, most importantly for me the length of the hit. A higher temp shorter hit is easier on my throat than a lower temp long hit in my experience.

Or, get a larger piece with more contact with glass to help cool it down further. Having the options are nice, and glass can be so cheap through dhgate.

I hope you still enjoy your Small Inline despite this, and are able to find a way to make it more enjoyable. I absolutely love the function and design of mine, just need to consider how the small piece affects me and adjust accordingly.

Thanks for the insights. I think one solution I've found to the "too high of a temp" problem recently seems to be working so far. I've had luck with a new cap. I think what was happening is my old cap just doesn't click at the precise temperature anymore, whereas the new one, even if you hold the torch right on the bottom of the cap, to heat it slower, it gives less vapor and doesn't get as close to burning temperatures. I've had success with it so far. I have been enjoying the small inline a lot more lately.

 

[GoldenBud]

If you're not using the Ti tip, you may want to consider it. it weighs 3.2gr instead of 5.9gr the Stainless tip, and it felt healthier to me...

 

[GoldenBud]

@El Magico
the day I was putting an end to bad weed was in Feb 2020:

Here's March 2020:

GG4 x GSC
god bless USA genetics!!

 

[JohnnyUtah55]

I pretty much strictly use DynaVaps and the only time I get those monster harsh hits is when using a single flame torch and a steel tip, I’m usually uncomfortably high after. Almost never happens when using my titanium tips.

 

[El Magico]

@GoldenBud That's mold and has nothing to with genetics but everything with the grower.

 

[GoldenBud]

@GoldenBud That's mold and has nothing to with genetics but everything with the grower.

yeah ofc! i didn't mean anything about the genetics of the moldy, probably the drying process failed too

 

[El Magico]

You're the one that said "God bless USA genetics"

 

[GoldenBud]

just an additional info
but you see the color of the moldy bud? same color as Green420's buds color...

 

[weedidas]

I only have experience with DIY light bulb, test tube, and glass straw vaporizers (and no, i've never done crack or meth lol) which can be pretty harsh so I've spent a lot of time and research to find solutions.

Things that reduce harshness:

• Baking the herb in an oven at 100'C for 20 minutes before vaporizing. This made an unusable harsh strain smooth.
• Objects in the vapor path, dimpled glass, screens, balls, etc. A cotton or hemp filter in the vapor path is even more effective than making the vapor path significantly longer.
• Using a larger vapor chamber where the vapor can swirl around more freely. A small test tube or bulb is much harsher than a large one.
• Convection/radiation seems to be less harsh than conduction. The same test tube + 100mm glass straw that's extremely harsh when vaping herb at the bottom of the tube with a flame (conduction) is no longer harsh when putting the herb in glass straw inside the test tube (a DIY vaponic, convection/radiation). In this case, the size of the vaporization chamber does not make a difference.

But I think most harshness simply comes from inhaling more vapor than one can handle.

Various ways to obtain smoother hits, such as decarboxylation before vaporizing.

I get very harsh hits off just 0.005g (crumbs) vaped in a test tube, yet 4x that amount in a larger glass bulb has very little irritation.

One strain CBD Skunk Haze was unusable because of how bad it irritated my lungs, but after baking in an oven it stopped being irritating.

If you're not using the Ti tip, you may want to consider it.

I pretty much strictly use DynaVaps and the only time I get those monster harsh hits is when using a single flame torch and a steel tip, I’m usually uncomfortably high after. Almost never happens when using my titanium tips.

Tip, cap or both?

 

[GoldenBud]

• Baking the herb in an oven at 100'C for 20 minutes before vaporizing. This made an unusable harsh strain smooth.

that's right because the oven will start converting THCA to THC, the Carboxyl group will be gone in some amount, CO2 gas will be released, like some kind of decarboxylation, but also some amount of the terpenes will be gone, 100C for 20 minutes will oxidize the material. the user will get less gases to inhale, but less fun too

Tip, cap or both?

there is only a Ti tip manufactured, all caps, as of today, are made of Stainless Steel

 

[Planck]

also some amount of the terpenes will be gone

I think for me reduced terps is the most important part to reduce harshness.
I prefer well aged flower (6 month to 2 years in my stash now, so smooth and still hits nice especially in the CH flower pots.

I've been meaning to try the oven trick on fresher flower.

 

[GoldenBud]

I've been meaning to try the oven trick on fresher flower.

i think you're gonna miss a lot of fun..terpz are fun! but report back

 

[Haze Mister]

That's the deal with torch fired vapes sometimes- I recommend trying another recycler bubbler with easy airflow and not taking long tokes. Throat irritation with a bubbler usually kicks in after inhaling vapor continuously for at least 4 seconds (depending on bubbler). A 2 second break between each 3-4 second toke (more or less) will get you just as medicated with less throat irritation. Also check how dry the herb is and reduce heat accordingly.
Moisturize throat with honey is the traditional Turkish hash smoker's advice.

 

[Madri-Gal]

just an additional info
but you see the color of the moldy bud? same color as Green420's buds color...

It's the mold that's the problem, not the color. There's a huge range of color in cannabis, and the color will change with time. It would be nice if you could glance at the color to tell if there is mold, but what you need to look for is mold. It's there, or it's not.

 

[GoldenBud]

There's a huge range of color in cannabis

yeah I guess I just hate the dark colored buds.. I don't like the outdoor weed

 

[Shit Snacks]

yeah I guess I just hate the dark colored buds.. I don't like the outdoor weed

What about the purps?!?

 

[GoldenBud]

What about the purps?!?

so rare here

 

[Madri-Gal]

yeah I guess I just hate the dark colored buds.. I don't like the outdoor weed

Everyone has preferences. No requirement to like outdoor weed, but that doesn't make it moldy. I'm fortunate to enjoy, and prefer, sungrown, and I like indoor, just not enough to pay for it. The color doesn't have anything to do with outdoor vs. indoor. Initial color is genetics, and it all tends to darken as it ages and/or decarbs.
For me, harshish hits come from either not cured long enough, too high heat, not enough filtration. Time, lowering heat, adding water to a piece, changing waterpieces, smooth things out, but I can't say I get harsh hits much. I do have a few waterpieces, such as my GRAV Helix bong and my Stundenglass, that smooth things so much, I switch up just to get a bit more edge for variety, but if I had real harshness, I'd get better weed. Some things can't be fixed.