Vape pens are one of the more popular new ways to enjoy cannabis products. They're inexpensive portable vaporizers and easy to get started with, making them a natural choice for newbies.
Wax pens are probably more common than dry herb vape pens, because they offer a stronger experience. Vaping wax concentrates will hit harder than traditional cannabis flower. Like the name implies, concentrates are a concentrated form of marijuana, and have more cannabinoids (THC and CBD) compared with dry herbs.
But just because you enjoy cannabis concentrate doesn't mean you don't also want to vape dry herb sometimes. Can you use regular weed in a wax vape pen? What if you don't have a dry herb vaporizer pen?
The short answer is generally no, you can't use wax vapes as if they were dry herb vapes.
That said, there are differences between vaping devices, and it might be possible to use your vape pen for dry herb vaping, even if it wasn't designed for it. But you probably shouldn't. It all comes down to how vape pens work, and the damage that you can do to wax coils.
Putting Ground Cannabis in a Dab Pen
In general, a vaporizer will be designed either for concentrate or dry herb, and not both. The reason is that you want the right style of heating chamber for the two products.
For example, concentrates will melt into a liquid form and can damage the sensitive parts of dry herb vaporizers. Also, the herb chamber will be really difficult to clean afterwards. But some dry herb vapes can vaporize concentrates too, without any mess or problems.
Similarly, using dry herb in a concentrate vape won't produce vapor (at least not strong vapor), and can do damage to your vape. So although you could in theory put dry herbs in your dab pen, your vaporizing session will suffer from uneven heating.
Only the parts of the bud that are in direct contact with the coils will heat fully. In fact, they'll probably burn and produce smoke. The residue will make for a tough cleaning job, and you might be stuck with a burnt taste from your device going forward.
Wax vape coils are also delicate, and there's a good chance using ground cannabis in the chamber will ruin the coils of your device. Vape pen coils will eventually die, it's true, but there's no reason to accelerate this process.
Differences between a wax pen and dry herb vape pen
If you're confused because you’ve seen people using vape pens to vaporize dry herb before, it's probably because they were using a dry herb pen.
Proper dry herb vaporizers are higher quality and more durable than dry herb pens, but it's still totally possible to use ground weed in a vape pen, if it's been designed for it.
In general, dry herb vaporizer pens still give you the health benefits of vaping vs smoking, being easier on your lungs than when you inhale smoke. But the vapor they produce isn't of the highest quality. They don't heat herb as evenly, are more difficult to clean, and also have poor battery life.
Usually, vape pens lack optimal temperature controls, making it tough for you to control the strength and flavor of your sessions. And over time, the lower price of a vape pen won't actually be cost effective because you'll be spending more on bud to achieve the same effects.
Which Dry Herb Vaporizers Work Best With Wax?
If you want to vape dry herb, it really makes sense to have a device with actual herb chambers. Not all dry herb vapes are bulky desktop vaporizers. Many portable vaporizers are quite compact.
They might not be as tiny as a wax vape pen, but they'll be more durable, have longer battery life, and have more control over temperatures. But if you're into wax concentrate and oils, you'll want to make sure you get a dry herb vape that works with concentrate. Otherwise, you won’t be able to enjoy concentrates safely.
For starters, this means buying a vaporizer that can hit higher temperatures. Most marijuana concentrate vapes at a higher temperature than flower.
With many devices, you can put a bit of concentrate in the center of a bowl of dry herb, without risking liquid spilling into sensitive parts of the chamber. But it's a bit of a waste: both the weed and the concentrate won't heat evenly, and you won't get full effects.
Vaping concentrates in a dry herb vaporizer
A better option is buying an accessory to allow safe concentrate use. You can also get a swappable oven vaporizer like Furna, which has both dry herb and concentrate ovens, letting you switch between the two whenever you like.
Some dry herb vapes have accessories available that let you use concentrates. Usually, this will take the form of a liquid pad that you insert into the heating chamber. You put a bit of concentrate inside, and then you can't safely vape it without risking damage to your device.
Although it's safe, it's not exactly convenient on a regular basis. Cleaning liquid pad inserts is a pain, and it's frustrating to have to wait or deal with hot parts if you want to reload the vaporizer.
With the Furna vape, you can pre-pack your ovens in advance, letting you instantly swap a finished oven for a fresh one. It makes sessions with groups of friends go smoother instead of constantly having to clean and reload.
Because you can swap between dry herb, concentrate, and even 510 oil cartridges, Furna gives you a portability no other dry herb vape or wax pen can compete with. You can stay discreet and avoid reloading your vaporizer in awkward locations. Check out Furna swappable oven vapes and see what you think for yourself.
