I have been enjoying cannabis for a long time and I always like to try new ways of consuming it. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of dabbing; especially in legal states in the US where concentrate is widely available.
About three years before writing this post, I started researching and trying all types of dabs and concentrates to find out the differences. I even made my own concentrate at home. In this post I want to share with you what I have experienced, what I have learned and answer all the questions you may have.
Below I provide you with an index so that you can jump directly to the content that you are most interested in knowing in case you do not have enough time to read the entire post.
What is the difference between a Dab Rig and a Bong?
Dab Rigs and Bongs differ from each other in many ways:
A dab crew uses dabs to smoke. This stuff is more potent than dried herbs. When smoked in a bong, the buds are lit to produce smoke. In smoking dab rigs under, the concentrate is placed on a preheated nail or banger. In terms of size, dab rigs are smaller. It is believed that they lose less THC in the combustion process due to the less distance the smoke has to travel.
Regardless of your choice, choosing between a dab rig and a bong comes down to user preference. Some prefer stronger flavors, others prefer a cleaner flavor. If you prefer dab rigs, we have written about the best places to buy dab rigs. But if you choose bongs, we write about the best bong brands for this year too.
What are dabs?
When I started my journey into the world of dabbing I didn’t know where to start researching. Although I have smoked buds and hash informs years and knew how to bong, I wasn’t quite sure which articles were actually talking about dabbing.
A dab is a concentrated form of cannabis. Therefore, it is much stronger than any weed you have smoked before. Dabs can have up to 90% THC. For comparison, the average weed you can get today has a THC content of between 10% and 15%. The best varieties that are only available in the legal states of the USA or Amsterdam can have, in extreme cases, up to 25%.
Since when are dabs a thing?
As there is archaeological evidence that cannabis has been used by various ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians and the Greeks, some sources claim to have evidence that the concentrate was also used in those times.
I don’t want to delve too much into those speculations because there are already several articles about it. My favorite article is this other one. Go check it out if you want, but be sure to come back to learn more about the platforms.
Personally, I think those statements are most likely true, as the production of primitive concentrates can be done with very basic tools and limited scientific knowledge. One of the earliest documented uses of cannabis concentrate in the present century dates back to World War II, where cannabis in concentrated form was used alongside LSD in biochemical interrogation programs.
Ideas from these programs were adopted in the famous MK ULTRA program run by the CIA, in which drops of concentrated cannabis were applied to cigarettes and then given to interrogated individuals to lower their cognitive abilities making them more prone to tell information that they had to keep secret.
The first article published on the Internet describing the production of dabs using the butane vaporization method was in 1999 in the Erowid online psychoactive library under the name “Hash Honey Oil Technique”. However, it took another 10 years for dabs to gain popularity, resulting in the availability of concentrated products in dispensaries in legal states in the US, as well as in the Netherlands.
Today, concentrated cannabis products are approaching the dominance of the American marijuana industry, making up more than 35% of the entire market. Experts speculate that the concentrate market will reach $8 billion in 2022.
Dab textures
Dabs can come in very different textures ranging from rock hard, brittle and dry to super sticky, wet and smooth. There are different names for each type of texture and appearance of dabs and I will explain them all so that you can express yourself as an absolute cannabis connoisseur starting today.
