Portable Vaporizers
Browse the most popular portable vaporizers available, from the best value brands to the most expensive feature-rich devices. Vaporizers heat your cannabis to the optimal temperature to extract the essential oils without creating nearly as many toxins as smoke. Read More...
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What is a Portable Vaporizer?
A Portable Vaporizer consists of three main parts, the mouthpiece, the oven, and the battery. The cannabis herb is ground and placed into the oven, powered by the battery, where the material is heated to a set temperature to release essential oils. Plant material is baked and not burned, leaving your herbs intact after vaporization, releasing fewer toxins than smoke. Our Vaporizers Buyers Guide goes into more depth if you want to learn more about portable vaporizers.
What’s the Difference Between Conduction and Convection?
When it comes to portable vaporizers, there are three main methods of heating:
Convection portable vaporizers use hot air rather than direct contact to heat your herbs like an oven. Convection-based portable vaporizers often have better airflow and produce better flavor throughout a session. You can see a complete list of the Best Convection Vaporizers available here.
Hybrid portable vaporizers use a combination of convection and conduction to heat your marijuana, utilizing the best of both worlds to provide a happy medium of vapor production and flavor. Check out our conduction vs convection article for more info.
Conduction portable vaporizers use direct contact with a heating source to generate vapor, much like cooking on a frying pan.
Why Choose a Portable Vaporizer?
Portable vaporizers have become the industry standard. They are versatile, small, and discreet. Even though most people will use their vaporizer mainly at home, they often choose a portable one for several reasons.
They are great for single-user sessions but can also be shared, depending on how much herb you place in the chamber.
They are versatile. You can use a portable while watching Netflix or enjoying the sun on the patio. They are small and easy to travel with. You can bring them when you take the dog for a walk or go to a friend's BBQ.
They are more convenient than other smoking methods; toss your ground marijuana in the chamber and turn it on. They are more discreet than smoking, impart less odor, and can be kept out of sight of prying eyes.
How Do Portable Vaporizers Work?
Portable vaporizers are seen as a small pocketable oven. First, grind your herbs, place them in the heating chamber, and set a temperature. Some devices have pre-set temperatures from the manufacturer, while other vaporizers have a display that allows you to set the temperature down to the degree.
Once the temperature is set, the chamber begins to heat. Once the vaporizer reaches temperature, essential oils are vaporized and inhaled through the mouthpiece.
This leaves the plant material intact while boiling off the essential oils, creating a vapor. The plant material does not reach a temperature high enough to burn and thus does not release as many toxins.
For medical patients, in jurisdictions where medical cannabis is legal, we have an article on Vaporizing Cannabis, which explains exactly how Cannabis vaporization works and what the benefits are.
Do Weed Vaporizers Smell?
While portable vaporizers do not eliminate order during use, the odor produced from vaporization is less intense than the smell produced by smoking.
Where smoke coming from the burning weed is constant, a vaporizer relies on your draw to help produce the vapor.
While a vaporizer is on and operating, the smell is minimal compared to combustion. It's because a vaporizer does not burn the plant matter. It just boils off the essential oils.
Some people associate the smell of vaporized herbs with overcooked popcorn. Our article on vaporizer smell and odor found that the smell from vaporization lingered for up to 10 minutes, while the odor from smoking could last up to 2 hours.
What Affects Vapor Quality in the Weed Vape?
Vapor quality is crucial when choosing a vaporizer. As we mentioned above, the type of heating impacts vapor quality, so choosing between conduction and convection is important to consider.
The chamber's material and mouthpiece are vital as they can directly influence the flavor and heat transfer.
Units that utilize gold, glass, or ceramic in their heating chambers do a better job preserving your herbs' flavors.
The mouthpiece material is also to be considered. Glass provides good flavor and is easy to clean, but it is incredibly fragile and will require replacements. Plastics are more robust but can mute flavors.
Is a weed vaporizer less harmful than smoking?
A survey of customers like yourself found that they felt better when switching to vaporization.
This coincides with research in the medical community that vaporization is an effective harm-reduction alternative to smoking. Vaporization allows the plant material to remain while turning essential oils into vapor, releasing fewer toxins.
How Do You Clean a Vaporizer?
Vaporizers require a certain amount of care to keep them operating properly. A good cleaning solution and some proper tools are all you need to get the job done. Alcohol soaked wipes and sticks are also very useful for cleaning the grime left behind by vaporizing cannabis.
We have put together a handy guide on how to clean your vaporizer, along with some helpful tips to care for your unit over time.
Can You Save Money with Vaporizers?
Yes, a portable vaporizer can actually help you save money and even use less herb at the same time!
Vaporizers can preserve more of the essential oils usually destroyed by smoking, meaning you actually get more with less.
We break down just how much you can save by switching and how it can pay off your device.
How Much Does a Cannabis Vaporizer Cost?
There is a vaporizer for every budget, from the value-driven device to the top-tier system with all the bells and whistles.
Beginners who don’t want to spend a ton on starting should check out our Best Budget Vaporizers article. These devices are great for introducing you to the world of vaporizers.
The top-of-the-line units may cost more, but they provide outstanding vapor quality, tons of useful features, and high-quality craftsmanship, making them excellent investments.
What Are the Features Important in a Portable Vaporizer?
Typically, most users will do well with a device with pre-set temperatures, allowing you to easily switch from low, medium, and high heat.
Users with more conviction may want to pay close attention to the vapor quality rating of the device and what materials have been used to ensure pure flavor. Many expensive components are needed to make vapor great. The cheaper plastics and components leave a slight aftertaste that is generally much better than smoke but still not optimal.
Battery life is one of the more important features of a portable vaporizer. After all, you are getting a portable one, so you are not constantly tethered to a power cord.
Choosing a third-generation dry herb vaporizer is the most advanced technology. Such devices allow users to swap pods rather than swapping the weed, which is much more time-consuming and messy.
Can You Use a Weed Vape for Extracts?
Yes, some vaporizers, known as 2-in-1 devices, can vaporize cannabis and extracts like live resin, shatter, budder, caviar, etc. To use extracts in a portable vaporizer, you need a canister or pad to act as a vessel without compromising your chamber.
These devices make great all-around vaporizers, allowing you to easily change from one material to another quickly and easily without carrying two units at once.
Consider getting a dedicated wax pen if you use concentrates a lot. We’ve listed some of the best wax pens and e-nails in the industry if you’re interested in learning more.
What Temperature Should I Set My Vaporizer To?
Portable vaporizers typically offer two different options for setting temperature:
The first and most straightforward way is pre-set temperatures. The manufacturer sets these temperatures in the appropriate range for vaporizing dry flowers.
More sophisticated devices that usually have onboard displays offer precise temperature control. This means you set your vaporizer to an individual degree for maximum customization.
The rule of thumb for temperatures is the lower the temperature, the better the flavor, but the thinner the vapor. The higher the temperature, the faster the flavor diminishes, but the vapor production increases.
You may ask yourself, well, what temperature do I set my vaporizer to? Luckily we have an article that discusses the best temperatures for vaporizing cannabis.
When Are You Done Vaporizing?
There are three indicators, the flavor of your vapor, how thin your vapor is, and the color of your spent weed. If your flavor has taken on a cooked quality, your vapor has become thin, and the color of your herbs has changed from green to brown, you are most likely finished.
If you would like to learn more about how to know when you are done vaporizing, you can check our in depth article here.
What Do You Do with Your Leftover Cannabis After Vaporizing?
That leftover herb is commonly referred to as ABV or “Already Been Vaped”.
There are several things you can do with your ABV besides disposing of it. Most people tend to cook with it, squeezing out the last drops of essential oils.
We have a list of handy recipes you can try out with your ABV.