What Are Considered Cannabis Accessories?
We at The Source+ dispensaries define cannabis accessories as tools that help to assist you in consuming various types of cannabis/marijuana products. There are a variety of materials, technologies, and methods from which they are made, and some are specific to the type of product you are trying to consume, while others have multifunctionality. We are going to give you a brief overview of what you can expect to see when starting out your collection.
Flower Pipes and Tools
There are two types of pipes: dry or water pipes. Pipes and other accessories may be made of a variety of materials: glass, quartz, titanium, silicone, or even wood.
Dry Pipes
As the name implies, dry pipes allow you to consume herb without water by simply adding a flame to your flower.
Spoon Bowl
- What it is and why you should use this: A handheld pipe that allows you to pack in dry herb. This is the traditional glass piece, it’s great for beginners looking for an entry level piece.
- How to use: Inhale from the mouthpiece while you place a finger on the carb. Allow smoke to fill the neck by lighting your dry herb in the bowl with a flame.
- We recommend this with: Dry herb, level up by adding concentrate too!
Sherlock
- What it is and why you should use this: A glass piece with a longer neck. It has a larger chamber than smaller bowls, allowing the user to inhale more smoke per hit and more cooling as it travels up through the neck.
- How to use: Inhale while holding the carb and add flame to the flower. Release the carb when you’ve reached your desired amount of smoke.
- We recommend this with: Flower
Chillum (One-Hitter)
- What it is and why you should use this: A portable, convenient glass piece that as the name implies, is used for small seshes and little hits. These are great for on-the-go use or if you only have a little herb to smoke.
- How to use: Pack in flower at the end that’s shaped like a bowl, light it and inhale.
- We recommend this with: A little flower, you can sprinkle in kief as well!
Steamroller
- What it is and why you should use this: This is glass with two open ends, and a bowl on top. This has more capacity than a one-hitter, so it enables you to take longer, deeper tokes and allows the smoke to cool with more surface area.
- How to use: Cover one end with the palm of your hand, add a flame to the flower on the top, and inhale until the chamber fills with smoke, release the palm of your hand to take a hit.
- We recommend this with: Flower
Glass Joint
- What it is and why you should use this: A piece of glass that is filled with flower and turned in a corkscrew motion to remove the excess burnt flower. This is used without paper or other combustible materials, and can be cleaned and reused when finished.
- How to use: Pre-load it with flower and light the open end and inhale.
- We recommend this with: Flower
Water Pipes
Water pipes use water for additional filtration and percolation. Bongs, the gold standard of water pipes, come in a variety of shapes- you can find beakers, straight-tubes, percolated bongs, or recyclers. Percolators, additional chambers that filter and cool smoke by creating bubbles as the water passes through, come in donut, showerhead, or coil varieties. Some bongs have nice enhancements, like ice catchers, which hold ice in the tube in order to make your pull smoother and cooler. The parts of pipes that connect one part to another, called joints, may come in male or female styles, and common sizes include 14mm and 18mm joints.
Bubbler
- What it is and why you should use this: The happy medium between a bong and pipe. This is like a dry pipe but has the added benefit of water filtration.
- How to use: Add enough water to cover the downstem, place your finger over the carb and light the flower before inhaling.
- We recommend this with: Flower and sprinkled in concentrates.
Bong
- What it is and why you should use this: The classic water pipe. Water pipes could be healthier than smoking just dry herb, as the water helps to filtrate out particulates from the flower.
- How to use: Load your bowl with flower, make sure to put in enough water to cover the percolators of your downstem. Light the bowl with a lighter or hempwick and inhale from the top of the tube. Pull out the bowl when enough smoke has filled the chamber for you and take a deep inhale to clear the chamber.
- We recommend this with: Flower, you can add concentrate or kief to your bowl of dry herb too.
Bowl
- What it is and why you should use this: This is used in conjunction with a bong, it’s inserted into the downstem. Since it’s removable it’s easier to clean than a bubbler, for instance.
- How to use: Load it with flower and place in the slide or downstem of a bong. Pull it out when you see enough smoke in your chamber and inhale to enjoy.
- We recommend this with: Flower and hash.
Downstem
- What it is and why you should use this: This can be a removable piece that goes in a bong and holds your bowl of flower. Some bongs may have the downstem built in, while others require an additional piece to function. The benefit of having a separate downstem is that taking it out it makes cleaning it easier.
- How to use: Insert into your bong where the opening at the base is, then place your bowl of flower inside.
- We recommend this with: A bong.
Ash Catcher
- What it is and why you should use this: An additional glass piece that connects to a bong, typically with additional percolators. It allows smoke and particulates to pass through water and percs before reaching your bong. This acts as an additional filtration method, and helps to keep your bong cleaner and catch ash before going into your water pipe. This is a serious upgrade to a bong setup and will be sure to impress and make less mess.
- How to use: Connect this to your downstem, and place a bowl in the top opening. You should be sure to cover any percs with enough water at the bottom. After you light the flower in the bowl remove the bowl and inhale to take your pull. Watch as the burnt plant matter collects in this chamber and not in your bong!
- We recommend this with: Your bowl and bong.
Blunt Bubbler
- What it is and why you should use this: A blunt bubbler is a piece of glass that you can place a joint in to help cool the smoke from a burning wrap. The water and chamber allows for additional filtration as well.
- How to use: Add water to the bottom, start the pre-roll before inserting it into the open end then inhale from the other side.
- We recommend this with: A blunt, pre-roll, or cannagar.
Cannabis Smoking Tools
Grinders
- What it is and why you should use this: A multi-compartmentalized tool to assist you in shredding dry herb. This may be quicker and cleaner than using your hands, and also works to help you save kief (trichomes) if there’s a kief collector in the bottom.
- How to use: Place nugs in the top compartment, twist and turn until there is no longer resistance between the two pieces. unscrew the middle compartment to see your ground flower and pack into a bowl, pipe, or pre-roll.
- We recommend this with: Flower.
Hemp Wick
- What it is and why you should use this: A spool of hemp rope designed to light bowls and pre-rolls. This is an alternative to using a butane lighter, which can sometimes taste like the chemical when you breathe in.
- How to use: Light the end with a match or lighter, and touch to your flower or pre-roll while inhaling.
- We recommend this with: Flower.
Rolling Accessories
Rolling Papers
- What it is and why you should use this: The timeless classic for rolling joints. Most packs come with papers with adhesive edges and some may even include tips (also referred to as crutches or filters). These are your cheapest, most plentiful and economical option in terms of rolling your own.
- How to use: Open the paper, add in a tip and fill the crease with freshly ground flower. Then lick the adhesive edge and wrap the paper around your tip and flower.
- We recommend this with: Flower, feel free to mix in hash or wrap the outside with concentrates from an applicator.
Cones
- What it is and why you should use this: The more modern version of papers, these come pre-adhered with a crutch and ready to go! These are beginner friendly and are super easy to use.
- How to use: Simply pour in or scoop in your flower, and pack it down periodically before reaching the top. Twist the open end to keep your herb in before lighting it.
- We recommend this with: Flower
Palm Wraps/Organic Material Or Paper Alternatives
- What it is and why you should use this: Natural leaves from the Cordia family of trees, wrapped around a corn husk filter. These have less taste compared to traditional paper wraps and allow you to enjoy the flavor of your flower more.
- How to use: Stuff with your favorite flower by scooping it in or using a funnel to guide in your cannabis.
- We recommend this with: Flower.
Cannabis Concentrate Pieces And Tools
Dab Rig and Setup
To start dabbing, you’ll need the basics: a rig, a nail, a carb cap, and a torch. Using a dab rig means vaporizing concentrates through heating a nail and dropping concentrate onto a hot quartz piece of glass before being filtered and percolated through water. As dab technology develops, various styles of bangers (nails) are entering the market, like inserts, core reactors, and vacuums. You may see nails made of materials other than quartz, including ceramic and titanium. Enails, electronically heated coils connected to a nail, are a popular option for those who want to gauge the exact temperature of their nail.
Dab Rig
- What it is and why you should use this: A dab rig is smaller than a traditional bong, and users report enhanced taste and flavor due to the size of the glass. A “banger hanger” is a style of rig that’s popular and appropriate for beginners, and as the name implies your banger (also known as a “nail”) will sit atop the opening at the base of the dab rig, much like a bowl does in a bong. This is a standard setup as it’s easy to use and convenient.
- How to use: You’ll place a banger in or on the opening at the base of the rig, and drop your concentrate into the banger after heating the bottom of it with a torch. Inhale and use a carb cap to maximize your pull. When you’re done with your dab take a q-tip and clean out any residual or leftover wax in the bottom of your nail.
- We recommend this with: Concentrates of many different consistencies and extraction methods.
Nail or Banger
- What it is and why you should use this: A quartz piece that connects to a dab rig and is heated up with a torch. Quartz heats up quickly and provides excellent taste.
- How to use: Insert into or on your rig via the connecting male or female joint, then heat with your torch. Wait for it to cool off briefly then add your concentrate into the bottom of the banger and inhale.
- We recommend this with: Concentrates.
Directional Flow Cap
Bubble Cap
- What it is and why you should use this: a carb to adjust and control how much air is pulled into the banger while dabbing. This will help to distribute the wax evenly throughout the bottom of the heated nail and prolong and enhance the flavor of your dab.
- How to use: When you inhale during your dab, place this on top of the banger and twist it around using your fingers. You can leave it on and pull to fill the chamber with vapor, and pull the cap off the banger when you’re ready to clear the rig too!
- We recommend this with: Concentrates.
Tools for Concentrates
Torch
- What it is: A butane filled lighter that blasts a flame at an adjustable rate. This is better than using a flambé torch or camping torch as it is the proper size and design made for dabs.
- How to use: Remove the safety cap and twist the knob to release the butane. press the button to spark a flame and light the torch.
- We recommend this with: Concentrates.
Dab Tool
- What it is and why you should use this: A picker used to pull out as much concentrate as you’d like to dab from a jar or wax paper. They’re made of heat-resistant materials and can withstand the hot temperatures of your banger or nail. This is more precise and less messy than dropping in concentrates using your hand.
- How to use: Pick out a dab then use your tool to load your banger after you’ve heated it to the right temperature.
- We recommend this with: Concentrates.
Vaporizers
Vaporizers are intended for use with both flower and concentrates. People look to vaporizers for their perceived potential health benefits compared to classic methods of smoking, which rely on combustion and create potentially harmful smoke and byproducts. You may see chambers or ovens for flower, and atomizers or coils for concentrates.
Desktop Vaporizer
- What it is and why you should use this: This uses a convection heating system that forces hot air through a heater to vaporize the chemical compounds in dry herb cannabis like THC and other cannbinoids. It fills a balloon bag full of clean and pure tasting vapor. This is generally considered one of the healthiest inhalation mediums or methods available at this point in time.
- How to use: Adjust the temperature to a low heat level, and gradually increase the temperature throughout your sesh to ensure efficient vaporization. Remove the bag from the base after it has filled with vapor and squeeze the top of the balloon to inhale.
- We recommend this with: Flower.
Portable Vaporizer
- What it is and why you should use this: A more portable and convenient way of dabbing electronically. This vaporizes concentrates by heating coils through battery power. After adjusting the temperature you can enjoy concentrates just about anywhere conveniently and without much mess or too many moving parts.
- How to use: Pre-load wax or flower on or in your coil, then proceed to press the button to activate the heat from your battery. Inhale when you see the coils turn red or smoke releasing from the chamber.
- We recommend this with: Wax, like budder, badder, or shatter
Nectar Collector
- What it is and why you should use this: A way to dab concentrates that uses a torch to heat the end of the quartz or titanium to vaporize your wax. This is portable and easy to stash away when you’re done smoking since you can place the hot end of the tool back into it’s lid.
- How to use: Heat the end of the quartz tube with a torch, touch it to your concentrate in a glass jar and inhale from the open end.
- We recommend this with: Concentrates
Cleaning
In general, we recommend using 91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol to remove resin and plant matter from your glass, titanium, or ceramic. Experts generally discourage owners from using salt to clean accessories as the salt dries out and can form cracks in glass over time. Keeping your accessories clean is important, as it ensures optimal taste and function with your cannabis.
Thank you to House of Smokes for contributions.