All About Vape Pens

I’m sure you’ve seen those big billows of vapor coming from someone’s mouth; a perfect white cloud that smells slightly sweet. They’re likely because someone is using a vape pen, which fills the lungs with vapor instead of smoke. And yes – the rumors are true. Vaping is healthier to do than smoking, and here we’re going to discuss everything you need to know about using a vape pen.

Just to clarify, the main reason vaping is better than smoking is because the temperature is controlled and cooler than smoke. When you smoke, you’re inhaling fire-hot air – sometimes reaching up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit which can disintegrate the cannabinoids in cannabis that you’re trying to get into your body. That’s not good – and neither is singeing bronchioles or alveoli. Let’s not forget carcinogens, or cancer-causing compounds. While vapor still contains some carcinogens, smoke beats it by a long shot.

A vape pen works when it’s charged, turned on, and the consumer pulls a drag while holding down its button. The smaller vape pens that look more like cigarettes might not have a button, and only require being charged – then you just take a drag without using any buttons. Generally, vape pens only allow you to take a drag that is maximum 10 seconds long, but this varies based on brand. The reason is because you don’t want to take too big of a hit, as well as accidently use up all your product too quickly.

When purchasing a vape pen, take into consideration you can either buy a pen that vapes cannabis concentrate or vapes cannabis flower. The best way to decide which one fits your lifestyle better is how often you want to purchase your cannabis product and how much you’ll be willing to spend on it each time. Concentrates are obviously going to be more expensive than flower, and will usually come in set prices per cartridge, providing anywhere between 100-200 pulls. With flower, on the other hand, you have options for how much you want to purchase and spend with the ability to change the strain in your pen whenever you like.

Flower pens are bigger, since you basically load a collection of product into it. Concentrate pens can be smaller, therefore more convenient or discreet – but harder to load when you’re on the go if you have to load either budder or shatter into it.

One final difference between vape pens are whether they use a conduction or convection heating system. Conduction means there is no motion in the transfer of heat, so think of metal heating metal or in the sense of a vape pen, when a metal chamber heats ground flower. Convection requires liquid or gas to transfer heat, so think steam. Convection vape pens heat the product using hot air.

All vape pens are comprised of a few components consumers should know about.

Working our way down the pen from the mouthpiece, is the tank or cartridge – the place in the pen where the product is loaded. If the vape pen is refillable, taking oil, shatter, or budder, it’s normally called a tank whereas if it’s intended for a single use or is replaceable, it’s a cartridge.

The tank is then attached to the atomizer as a single unit. The atomizer is the miniature heating component that uses either a conduction or convection system.

Just below the atomizer are the sensors and software that tell the atomizer to heat – either when you take a drag or push on the power button as you take your drag.

And finally, there’s the battery which detaches and can be connected to its charger. It’s the biggest part of the pen, being a rechargeable lithium ion battery. On many pens, its bottom will light up when the sensors are activated and the heating element is on.

These are the important facts pertaining to vape pens, which should come in handy when you’re at a dispensary wondering which one is right for you. Keep in mind that while they’re discreet and don’t smell like your typical cannabis product when used, consuming cannabis in public is still illegal so be careful and enjoy your product with caution.