It has been almost 4 years now since I discovered the joys of vaporizing cannabis. After more than forty years of inhaling and consuming cannabis in various forms, I did not expect to find any new ways to imbibe in my favorite herb.

It was a cold, dark and damp September evening in Amsterdam. I was a guest at the oldest artist squat in Holland for a warm meal. The Squat was huge, an abandoned military installation that was once warehousing, offices and dormitories. These were now split up to house some 50 squatter families, maybe 150 people in all. The squats restaurant served meals on Thursday nights and the table was set.

While we waited for our meal I noted a rather colorful chap, albino hair, blue eyes, and rainbow colored jacket, just finishing his meal. He began to assemble some instrument near our table, some kind of bong. It consisted of a large glass jar, a big cork on top, with two holes drilled out of the cork. Stem and bowl in one hole, and glass tube with a styrene inhalation tube attached to the other. I watched the whole process with great curiosity and amazement. Placing a small pile of shredded cannabis into the bowl, he pulled out what looked like a hair dryer. Putting this into the bowl, heating the cannabis, capacious amounts of “smoke” began to fill the cavernous jar. The rainbow-jacketed albino inhaled the fumes. What came next changed the way I live.

The aroma in the air was so overpowering my mind started to waver and control was lost. I had to get up, wander over, and introduce myself. I had to find out what this was. The scent of pure bud permeating the air; I was offered my first hit of pure THC vapor. The flavor of the Kali Mist entered my mouth and lungs, as it is when I smell it on the plant. The oils now coat my lips, tongue and lungs with pure flavor. I am in total bliss. The flavor, the taste, the head, clear and direct, was now permeating my being. The THC vapors now penetrate regions hither-to unknown.

The colorful fellow turned out to be Yohab. A Dutch college student, he was tall, thin, blue-eyed, white haired, cleanly dressed in bright blue pants and a rainbow colored windbreaker. Yohab was now my guide, introducing me to the joys and procedures for pure vaporization. The vaporizer model he was using was from the originators in Holland, Everett, and I was directed to go to Any Day Café to try them out. This particular unit used a heat gun with temperature and heat regulation to bring the THC to its' boiling point, 170-189 degrees Centigrade within a Pyrex bowl.

By using the THC boiling point and inhaling the boiled vapors you get a clean high you cannot reach in other inhalation methods. THC is the only substance inhaled giving you a cerebral high. No other cannibidoids, cannabinoids, CBD's, other dangerous chemicals, or carcinogens are present with the vaporization technique. Care should be taken when heating cannabis, as the next chemical you will vaporize to the boiling point is Benzene, at 200 degrees Centigrade. You get the cough from that one! When your vapors smell bad you are done. The carcass is a dull yellow brown or brown and smells like shite. It looks useable, but throw it out; it contains nothing you want to use.

Why is the high so great? Well, when you smoke, you burn (read carcinogen) all the chemicals present in the material and inhale them. As you burn cannabis, tar, carbon dioxide, and some 200 other chemicals are released, none the least is Benzene. Now, who wants to smoke Benzene and what the HELL will that do to your high? Some studies show that other things present in cannabis make you paranoid, hungry etc. When only the THC high is in inhaled these things do not enter the mix. You are delivered only the THC high, and nothing else toxic to pull you down, left, or right, just upward. It is a MUST DO!

After that first hit I spent the next 3 months of my life in a search to buy the parts I needed to duplicate this process. The search led to several vaporizing solutions, the best and worst of which I will try to review below.

The first was the typical soldering iron type vaporizer. In its various forms it has one thing in common, no control for temperatures and they are made from parts of a heating iron of some sort (read soldering iron here). These are a sad form of vaporizer, and if you have tried one then forget the notion that you have tried vaporization. You have merely slowly carbonized your pot and probably got a headache doing it. My suggestion for these instruments is to toss them in the bin as soon as possible. They are notable with a brass bowl on a metallic stick with a glass or plastic bowl you put over the unit to capture the vapor. You usually have some flexible tube to inhale the so-called vapor from the b. Stay away from them, A high profile example is the BC Vaporizor,

The next type was the new model O2 Vapir. Coming in a slick carry kit, battery or AC power it seems the solution for the moving stoner. Well, after watching their DVD and attempting to get a good hit on their offering for a full week, 7 of my mates and I could get nothing worthy of the stiff price tag from the unit. It took almost 20 minutes to get to proper temperature. Once you insert the expensive herbs they do start to vaporize. The problem is that it sends the vapor out of all its seams and little from the neoprime hose fitted for the job. The internal heating element is a gem of a heating element and is a far cry better than the shite heating iron style units. But the power issues plague the unit, the hit takes too long to make and reload, as well as getting all the vapor into the inhale tube rather than leaking out the seams.

We also ran afoul of the O2 company when we tried to sell the Vapir on Ebay. They had Ebay close the auction for trademark infringement. We sent quires to the company asking why both from my friend whose auction was closed, as well as from me as a writer doing an article on vaporizors and neither of us got any response. The Ebay auction never mentions drugs as a use for it as Ebay would forbid that. We also omitted the part where it was not a good unit for use, as that would not help getting rid of this dog. It was auctioned as a New Age Aroma Therapy unit, just as the unit was designed for. We headlined it as “O2 Vapir Vaporizer for vaporizing” and it would seem the O2 people do not want anyone to sell them after they find out what shite they are. So be warned!

	Next came the Volcano. This unit is a masterpiece of German engineering. Easy to use, and the parts are professionally manufactured with one specific use in mind, vaporizing substances. There are reusable trays to hold the herbs, and a temperature unit with accurate temperature regulation. It does not have a digital setting and you have to find the proper temperature for melting hit or miss, but once you find it you are there. The Volcano heats the herb to the melting point and allows the escaping vapor to collect in a large plastic bag (which you can customize to the size of your party). Once the bag is full, you disconnect it from the Volcano unit, attach the inhalation adapter, and off you go. Now you can pass it around your friends and each take hits of pure vapor. The Volcano is a real nifty unit with a very steep price tag of 500 euros.
	Last I found a company in California, VripTech. They had a re-designed glass type bong that would sit on a table without tipping. It had a specially designed neck to hold ice. The two important glass parts were the sliding stem, which has the bowl for the herb on it, and the heating chamber unit. The two units together were called a VCB. The heating chamber of the VCB was a venturi designed tapered glass piece, fitting snuggly over the stem piece. The other end of the heating chamber fits standard heat gun output apertures. I purchased a Steinel HG2003LCD heat gun to complete the kit.
	The VripMaster kit was by far the best hit, taste and cheapest of the units that actually delivered the real vapor. Total cost was less than 270 euros for the whole deal. The feature that is most important is the instant delivery. Rather than wait around for 5 to 20 minutes for a heating unit to reach temperature, the heat-gun would bring to the proper temperature in about 4 seconds. Using a Steinel heat-gun with digitally controlled Swiss thermal technology and ceramic element, reaching the correct temperature is fast and accurate. The proper distance of the heat to the herb scientifically calculated and embedded into the venturi design funnel of the VCB, heating the herb perfectly. The ice chamber design of the advanced Pro bong was great as it chilled the vapor instantly and added moisture to the dry heat needed to boil the THC.
	Recently, many more vaporizer designs have hit the market. One of them, a compact little item, is from a woman in Florida, VaporTech. This little unit uses a medical standard heating element and is very compact. To use it you fill little vials with a tiny bit of herb or crushed solid hashish, attach the vial to the neopreme hose and stick the vial part into the heating unit. Instantly you can take a very clean and tasty hit. Their heating element stays at a constant 250 C. Now at first glance you may think that is too hot. But by design, the unit's holding capacity is so small the hit is instantly vaporized and you are done before the substance can match the elements heat. Ingenious to say the least. OK, I recommend this for your bedside table for those last hits, or by your TV table for commercial breaks. The VaporTech does not lend itself to serious smoking, or parties, due to the small hit it provides. However with Hashish, it can produce a longer amount of vapor. Its low price makes it very attractive at about US$150.

Another is the Aromed Vaporizor. We have not tested this unit as none were available to us as of this writing. It heats with a light element that is supposed to give perfect temperature control. This would put it in the realm of the acceptable vaporizors.

Three important things for a healthy vapor hit:

1. Excellent temperature control over the material
2. A fast speed to atain that temperature
3. A method to cool the vapor to acceptable temperatures for your lungs prior to inhalation.

In conclusion, I choose the Vripmaster. It has the makes the best of all three criteria. I travel the world with my Vriptech vaporizer in a special case. I keep seperate sets of them in the USA, England and Spain to prevent problems with customs and excise people. I don't need to bring one to Holland anymore. Several people, I among them, take the cause of Vapor to the extreme. I convert almost everyone I meet. My good friend Eagle Bill is another great proponent. Eagle Bill uses the system invented by Evertt. A heat-gun forcing heated air into Pyrex glassware. Eagle Bill dedicated his live to paving the way for everyone to know and understand the way of Vapor. You can find him, as well as Everett at most of the major European Cannabis events surrounding the cannabis culture, or in Amsterdam. Look hard enough and you may even see me there!

One hit off a great vaporizer and you will not want to smoke again.

So, my suggestion: get out and get a good vaporizer, go try them at a festival or at a friends home. Then get out and buy one. You will be happy for a long time. Most of the units recommended will last you a long time and Steinel heat-guns come with 3-year warranties! All of them are available on the web. Well? What are you waiting for?

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