Intro to Cannabis: Essential Smoking Accessories
Whether you’re a seasoned cannabis aficionado or a new cannabis user, there are some essential cannabis accessories that will either make it possible for you to consume your cannabis, or make the process of consuming your cannabis more efficient and enjoyable.
In this Intro to Cannabis blog, we’ll be looking into the essentials when it comes to smoking cannabis, as well as some handy devices that increase efficiency or are simply fun to use!
The Essentials
When is comes to smoking cannabis flower, there are two major pieces of equipment that you need to get the job done: a smoking apparatus and a source of fire.
The Smoking Apparatus
In order to smoke cannabis, you need something to smoke it out of! Fortunately, there are plenty of options, which means you just need to figure out which one(s) you prefer. Breaking it down to the most basic forms, there are two types of smoking apparati — pipes and papers/wraps
Pipes
When it comes to cannabis pipes, there are myriad options. Most commonly, you’ll be smoking out of pipes that are crafted from blown glass; however, it’s also common to encounter stone and wood pipes.
Beyond the materials used to make pipes, there are a few different types of pipes that you can use. The first, and perhaps most classic, is the handheld pipe or bowl. These are pipes that have an area to pack your cannabis flower, a mouthpiece to inhale the smoke, and occasionally what’s referred to as a carb, choke, or shotgun, which is a hole that, when covered, allows smoke to build up inside of the pipe, and when released, allows the smoke to exit through the mouthpiece in a concentrated cloud.
The next step up from a regular handheld pipe is a bubbler. Bubblers are also handheld pipes; however, underneath the bowl where cannabis is packed, there is a small reservoir of water that filters the smoke before it exits the mouthpiece. These can be less convenient than a standard pipe, as they require water in the reservoir to function properly. That being said, because bubblers filter the smoke through water, the smoker receives a cleaner hit of cannabis smoke.
The top of the line when it comes to pipes is the bong, or water pipe. These operate similarly to bubblers, as they have a water reservoir to filter the cannabis smoke. However, bongs are more or less stationary pieces. Your average bong will stand about a foot tall, the mouthpiece being at the top of the apparatus and the reservoir being at the bottom. The classic bong resembles a volumetric flask or boiling flask that is used in chemistry.
To further discuss the anatomy of the bong, towards the top of the bulbous water reservoir, there will be a hole that houses what is called the downstem. At the end of the downstem, you’ll find a removable bowl where you pack your cannabis. The downstem is the component of the bong that transports smoke from the bowl (after the packed cannabis is ignited, of course) to the water in the reservoir. After the smoke enters the water, the suction from the smoker causes the smoke to filter up through the water, and then into the smoker’s mouth.
Depending on the bong, there may be additional filters called percolators, but we’ll discuss those later.
Papers/Wraps
The next type of smoking apparatus is the rolling paper or blunt wrap. These are a great method for smoking cannabis, as they offer the smoker a slow and steady stream of smoke — not to mention they’re hand-held!
The main complication with papers and wraps is that the smoker needs to know how (or know someone who knows how) to roll cannabis into a joint or blunt. If you don’t know how to roll, ask a friend with the skills to teach you, or watch some YouTube how-to videos. You’ll catch on with practice!
Rolling papers or wraps is an extremely straightforward way to smoke cannabis considering that after they are rolled, one just needs to ignite the front end of the joint or blunt and proceed to inhale from the unlit back end.
Additionally, there is a wide variety of rolling papers and blunt wrappers to choose from. In terms of papers, there are a variety of different materials you can choose from as well as flavors. The same goes for blunt wraps. Although the classic blunt wrap is a natural tobacco leaf or cigarillo, you can also find blunt wraps that are made without tobacco.
Fire Sources
Having a smoking apparatus means diddly-squat if you lack a fire source. That being said, these are easy to acquire. You just need to ensure that you have a lighter or pack of matches in tow any time you’re planning on smoking cannabis, and you’ll be able to spark up!
Not Necessary, But Nice
In all honesty, we could write an entire book on the different types of cannabis accessories that make the process of smoking cannabis more efficient, and even more enjoyable. But for the sake of your time (and our sanity) we’re just going to cover some of the basics today that will be more than enough to get you started.
To continue with our theme from above, we’re going to break down a couple accessories that are great to have when smoking cannabis out of pipes, and a couple accessories that are extremely helpful when rolling cannabis.
The All Encompassing
Whether you’re smoking out of a pipe or smoking rolled cannabis, these two accessories will come in handy any (and every) time you smoke.
The Grinder
A grinder does what its name implies: grinds your cannabis. Essentially, you pack your cannabis flower into a compartment that has a variety of teeth, place the top of said compartment on the grinder, and proceed to grind your cannabis.
Depending on the style of grinder, there may be one, two, or three compartments. Regardless of the grinder’s composition, they’re great to have because they turn a cannabis bud into a fine consistency that speeds up the process of rolling or packing a bowl, while also enabling an even, consistent burn throughout the entirety of your smoke-session.
The Rolling Tray
Although the name implies that this device is only useful for rolled cannabis, the rolling tray is helpful when smoking cannabis out of any medium. The rolling tray is very simply a tray that is intended to catch any cannabis you may accidentally drop while rolling or packing a bowl.
The great thing about rolling trays is that they prevent you from losing any cannabis that you may accidentally drop during the process of preparing your bowl, joint, or blunt.
Rolled Cannabis Accessories
While these are not essential, they’re quite nice to have if you’re frequently consuming your cannabis via joint or blunt.
Joint Filters
In the same way that you can purchase a package of rolling papers to roll joints, you can purchase a package of filters to use when rolling. Filters are great to have in joints because they a) give you something to hold onto throughout the duration of your smoking and b) provide a barrier that will prevent your fingers from getting burned once your joint burns down to a roach.
PRO TIP: If you’d rather not spend money on a package of pre-cut cardstock, you can use an index card or old business card to make a homemade filter. Simply rip off a small rectangle of the sturdy paper and roll it into a cylinder. Ba-boom! You have a filter.
Roach Clips
Along the lines of a filter, you can purchase a roach clip to prevent burning your fingers while smoking rolled cannabis. Roach clips are little spring loaded clips sometimes attached to a handle that you use to secure your rolled cannabis.
After securing your rolled cannabis, hold the roach clip by the handle and inhale! Now there’s no need to fear burning you fingers because you’re not holding the actual joint.
Having trouble picturing the device? Watch the famous bathtub scene from The Big Lebowski — The Dude abides the use of roach clips.
Joint Rollers
If you’re not interested in learning how to roll a joint by hand, you can always invest in a joint roller! Once you have your joint roller, you simply pack it with cannabis, close it, and insert a rolling paper. The device will create a cylinder out of the cannabis, and then roll the cylinder in a paper once it is inserted. Just remember to lick the adhesive on the rolling paper so it stays together after you remove the joint from the joint roller!
Pipe Accessories
While the different accessories you can incorporate into your pipe-smoking are essentially limitless, we’re going to cover two that we’d almost consider essentials.
Pipe Cases
No matter the type of pipe, be it a handheld, bubbler, or bong, you should invest in a protective case. Considering that most pipes are made from glass, investing in a protective case gives you a safe place to store your pipe as well as a safe way to transport it!
And, you can find a protective case to fit any sized pipe, whether it’s a 2-inch long handheld pipe, or a 6-foot tall bong.
Additional Bong Percolators and Filters
Bongs are great because they filter the smoke that you inhale, making for a healthier, cleaner hit. What’s even better is that you can invest in additional percolators and filters for your bong. The benefit of this is that it further cleans and filters the smoke you’re inhaling, exponentially raising the quality and cleanliness of your smoking experience.
The only requirement is that you ensure the accessory will fit into the bong that you have. After that, feel free to experiment with different types of percolators (honeycomb, turbine, tree, circular, etc) and filters.
Genesis Grow Corp.
At Genesis Grow Corp., we’ve thoroughly enjoy all things cannabis. From cultivating cannabis that is constantly advancing the industry as a whole to writing these blogs to inform the uninformed, we pride ourselves on being authorities of cannabis culture.
If you’re interested in learning more about what we’ve been discussing today or if you’re interested in trying out luxury cannabis projects, contact us today!