Buyer's Guide to Vaporizers (for Beginners)

Liquid-- Often called essential oils or e-juice, this low-viscosity concentrate is typically found in cartridges (or “tanks”) that are either reloadable or disposable. You’ll want to get a device with a threading that matches your preferred cartridge brand, 510 being the most universal.

Glass -- This solid extract is wax in its sturdiest form (pictured above), usually shattered into smaller pieces and praised for being easier to work with than wax in a honey form. It can typically be used with any wax concentrate vaporizer.

Wax -- Thick, viscous, and honey-like. Called “glass” in solid form. Waxes work well with eNails and portable/pen vapes. Wax-friendly devices often include a glass dome or attachment. Because wax thins into a liquid when heated, many engineers have added spill-proof designs such as Cloud Vapes’ “Generation Snap” technology to protect your pocket.

SECOND: How Portable Should it Be?

View Now

Couchsurfers and outdoor adventurers may have a different opinion in how travel-ready they need a vaporizer to be. The three main levels of portability include the stationary desktop vaporizer, the battery-powered portable vaporizers, and-- most portable and lightweight -- are vape pens.

Desktop Vaporizer --Vaporizer technology all began with trendsetting desktop vapes like the timeless classic Volcano by Storz & Bickel. These devices plug directly into a wall outlet. This makes for unmatched cloud power that doesn’t dwindle over time, but does sacrifice movement.

Portable Vaporizer -- Portable and ultra-portable vaporizers are the in-between of desktop and pen models. Models like the Storz & Bickel “Crafty” deliver more power than a slender pen while still boasting the battery power that allows you to take it anywhere. In general, portables use your uncontained dry herb or concentrate, rather than a threaded cartridge.

Vaporizer Pen --If you’ve used the writing utensil before, these are easy to distinguish. Most vape pens feature a slender silhouette for on-the-go vapor. While a few pen models offer dry herb compatibility, their strength typically lies in concentrates. If you already have a favorite cartridge brand, find out what threading and battery/temp matchup they recommend in a pen. Concentrate-makers can have a specific recommendation the way brewers believe a certain beer tastes best out of the right shape glass.

E-Nail -- eNails and eRigs are for waxy concentrates and aromatherapy dabs only. These devices use electronic heating instead of a torch like the Triple Jet Flame Torch by Cinderwitch pictured above.

THIRD: Quality Parts & Features

View Now

These are the bits and pieces you may want to customize to your own vape style. When you’re just starting out, you’ll just want to have a basic understanding as to what these do.

Atomizer -- This is the heating chamber that turns concentrates to vapor. Beginners will probably prefer a popular clearomizer pen that uses disposable cartridges in which the heating device is included and doesn’t need to be maintained. If you are opting for a refillable concentrate tank, it’s good to know that ceramic atomizers are generally most popular. While dry herb atomizers do exist, the technology still tends to put your herbs at risk of burning.

Forced Air -- Forced air vapes typically propel clean vapor through a “balloon” or “whip” tube using an internal fan. Some advanced devices even allow you to control this airflow. You’ll most commonly find this feature in a desktop device, but engineers have begun to introduce forced air into portable technology.

Coil -- This is one of the most integral elements of your atomizer, typically crafted from titanium. You’ll want to be careful not to injure your coil in cleanings as it will compromise your device. You can see a variety of coil-atomizer combos pictured below--the coils is the piece that looks like a spring. A “rod” or “wick” feeds your concentrate through the coil for even heating. If there is no coil, it is called a “dish” used to directly load in thick concentrates.

Thread --These are the parts of your vaporizer that look like a screw, and the thread is the measurement we use to match it. You’ll probably find most vaporizer pens, attachments, and battery bases fitted with universal 510 threading. However, it’s best to double check before you accidentally purchase a more obscure size that’s hard to match at the cartridge store.