On Saturday I put the bongs & blunts down in lieu of THC vapes.
As most of you know, I'm not a vaper. I use a dry herb vape, which I adore and I like a dab but I have never taken to liquid/cartridge vapes. To be honest I am a little suspicious of them. By now we have all heard horror stories of badly mixed extracts, popcorn lung and scams. With luck you find a reliable and trustworthy brand who you know you can rely on to not be secretly poisoning you or selling you duds. I’m not a tech person, I am an analogue gal. They seemed expensive and intimidating.
I hadn't tried THC vape carts but have used the occasional CBD cart when they've been sent by my sponsors Black Sheep Dispensaries or by other brands for reviews but never hand a chance at a THC one. Sods Law, 4 come along at once. One from Peng King Extracts and 3 from Peng The Magic Dragon.
As I have been asked so many times about THC vapes, I felt that with the variety of strains to hand why not try swapping my usual method of consumption for this very modern one for a day and reporting back.
When asked in an Insta poll of 89 answers, 60% said they used THC vape carts vs 40% who had not tried. Is this down to availability and trust of vendors or for the same reasons I had not thought to purchase one before?
What am I using?
Here’s a little run down of what I used:
Peng King Extracts
- RainBow Cake (Hybrid) Cart
- Penking Branded device
- Charger
Peng The Magic Dragon
- Grape Ape (Hybrid) cart
- Zkittlez (Indica) cart
- OG Kush made with diamonds (hybrid) cart
- Standard Pen Battery
- Charger
Let’s get to know these brands a little more before I report my day & findings…
Peng The Magic Dragon and I had a phone call so they could tell me a bit more about their brand and how to get the most out of your vaping experience.
What brought you to cannabis?
I smoked it when I was in school. At 18 I started using it because a friend said it would help pass the time while I lived alone. It became daily and routine. Over the years circumstances have changed in life, mental, emotional and physical. Cannabis has helped me through and been what I needed it to be at the time. A friend healer etc. I have been making carts for 3 yrs.
I started vaping because I was told off for going into the office smelling of cannabis. I went through the different dry herb vaporizers but nothing hit the same for me. I found carts were much better. If I was in the office or at family functions I'd use the vapes. They are perfect for stealth smokes.
I'll be honest with everyone, I found my tolerance went up when I started using carts. But I realised it was the concentrates. I found they are 3-4 times stronger than flowers on the market.
Whether you’ll get on with vaping depends what you want to use it for. If you want to replicate a doob or dab hit, you wont get that from this. If you want to stop smoking or substitute it or try something else like trying extracts, I think it's a good way to be introduced to them. If people say they want a dab I tell them to get a rig. If you need stealth or to just cut back your flower, it's great.
How do you make your vape carts?
Propylene Glycol (PG) is the cutting agent that turns your concentrates into a liquid. I personally stay away from shatter and solvent extracts. When I make the carts, I use my own ratios, i don't use what it says on the tin.
I went through different carts to arrive at the ones I use from CannaVapeTec. I always go for quality over quantity. I won't use cheap carts, I don't make beautiful extracts to put into cheap carts.
So start with a standard pen battery is good to see if you like vaping. Keeping it always topped up on battery and using a low temp setting for the best flavour. When you have a better idea on your feelings about vaping you can opt for a better piece of kit to get the most out of your carts.
Advice for first timers?
Don't chain hit. When you take a hit, you really need to wait a minute for the coil to cool down again before taking another, otherwise you're burning up your coil, the terps and the all important cannabinoids..
If you'd like to chain hit, get a handful of carts, have a toot, swap the cart out. Have a toot, swap the cart out. Or use a few different devices to use so you're not double hitting the same cart when the coil is hot. 8-10seconds per toke or even less, hold it in and release. Any vapour still being exhaled is wasted vapour. (These things aren't designed for big clouds, if your getting clouds, your doing it wrong)
Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me and for sending these delicious carts.
You can find Peng the Magic Dragon on Instagram here.
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PengKing Extracts and I had a video chat to discuss their cannastory, what's in their vapes and the advice they give newbies.
How were you introduced to cannabis?
I was raised by hippy parents who both smoked so its all I've known to an extent.
How did you get into making vapes and how long have you been doing it?
We started out making our own hash and the curious nature led us to making our own extracts probably getting on around ten years ago now. We only use our own BHO shatter, run on a closed loop and have a consultative approach to helping our customer base. People want access to a high quality extract without additional carriers and that’s what we’ve stuck to from the beginning there’s methods to ensure quality and that ultimately comes down to the flowers used. Terpenes are an essential component for many of this plant's potential benefits and we prioritise this as there’s many alternative options in the scene. Education is vital.
What advice do you give newbies to vaping?
I would always advise people only to pull what they can hold as all expelled vapour is essentially wasted, that’s why we have a tutorial video in our bio (watch the video here), to help get newbies started and to maximise the pods potential.
What's in your carts?
Carriers are a contentious issue within vaping. We don’t promote the use of PG/VP etc. as they come with negative implications especially MCT. Our pods are all plant, it's a full extract BHO shatter, no nasties. Our pods are 0.5ml and are good for approx 100 pulls.
Thank you so so much to PengKing Extracts for taking the time to talk to me and run through their products. I’m thoroughly enjoying the rainbow cake! Find their Insta here.
THC VAPE CART ONLY SATURDAY
Wake & Bake: How it started?
Since quitting tobacco 3yrs ago I don't have that pull to smoke as soon as my eyes open. (Whether you think you're addicted to tobacco or not, that is the tobacco talking. You really do smoke less flower when you quit that shit).
I made my coffee ready to accompany my smoke. I love sitting down to enjoy that first blaze of the day, the ritual of prepping the bong, the bowl etc..I didn't need to do any of that. The device was charged. I selected Grape Ape for a fruity start to the day. I picked it up at 8.45am and started tooting away…It was only later learned ‘chain hitting’ the vape is vaping done wrong when I spoke with Pen The Magic Dragon. The habitual ritual wasn't complete, I was nicely high but my hands were not satisfied.
10am Feeling restless, I plugged in the Rainbow Cake cart, took a couple of toots and enjoyed 30mins of morning yoga in the sun. The high was really fresh and floaty. I had the lift I needed to get through the exercises. I felt the meditative breathing and the carts lighter high worked beautifully together.
I went straight from yoga into content creation and creative work. I had felt inspired and had the sort of high which makes hyper focus quite easy. Happily worked for a couple of hours without wanting to toot anymore.
12pm I had a few more toots on the Grape Ape before switching it over to the zkittlez. I don't think I am a fan of the flavour of the Grape Ape although it is effective and not an overpowering flavour, I just have never really been a fan of grape flavour things, it tends to give me a headache. If you are a grape fan you’ll go ape for this…..hahahaha! I continued with my creative work, played with Dank and sat down to learn a bit more about vaping and the cartridges I was medicating with.
Afternoon Delight
I've definitely been feeling wavy all afternoon without any lethargic feelings. It isn't as heavy a body high as I feel combusting can be. I haven't been as easily confused or as easily distracted...I don't know if that is a symptom of using the vapes or the combination of strains/terpenes. In fact, I was a little too restless with not much to do. My usual downtime tasks didn't feel as appealing without nursing a doobie or ripping sporadic cones. Reading a book without a doob or rocking in a hammock without my bong...mmm nah.
I'm high, but I don't feel my ADHD is under control with the vape carts, I wanna do things but can't settle on one thing so although I am experiencing a pain free day, I don't think its hitting the adhd off switch.
Because it's not my usual method of consumption I forget about it, the devices are small and I keep forgetting where I put it. I have a history of losing these pens..another reason I don't use them normally. I don't think I was as medicated as I normally would have been.
Taking the dog out for a walk when the town is busy with tourists can mean no schmokey for Buddy but thanks to the stealthiness of the vape carts and lack of ‘weedy’ smell you can be sat in a busy beer garden and no a soul would know. Muhahaha. I really can see the benefits for those needing to be a little more discreet with their consumption. Whether you're medicating at work or trying to prevent nosey neighbours harshing your buzz, these would be worth every single penny.
Good Evening Buddy…
The THC vapes are great, I was high all day...But I still missed my bong all day. After using these pens all day and learning a bit more about how to use them I decided what I want from Cannabis in the evening, I'm not gonna get from a vape. I didn't need to be stealthy and I wasn't trying to conserve my flower so let myself enjoy bongs with a couple of toots on the vapes. I was ripped and got the munchies, happy Saturday night!!
The Carts
Peng The Magic Dragon parcel arrived fast and discreet. The battery was already charged up and set to the lowest setting, I just selected the cart and screwed it in. The Grape Ape, although not super strong, was too much grape for me, it gave me a medicine box kinda taste but that's totally down to personal preference. It certainly was still effective. I found the Zkittles to be a very very light aromatic fruity flavour. Both these carts did give me a little cough on the exhale but nothing heavy. This, I am told by Peng, is the PG. If you’re a dabber, you’d be fine. I think my favourite out of the 3 was the OG Kush cart made from THC diamonds. It definitely had a bigger clout than the other 2. Fragrant greeny leafy taste. The size of the device is a bit long, but this can be rectified with purchasing a better device to use. This a great starting point but it doesn't travel well unless I'm dismantling it into 2 smaller pieces and carrying around the containers for the carts to and it all gets a bit too much. It doesn't fit into a pocket.
PengKings Extracts Rainbow Cake was delicious. The branding and packaging was on point, slick as fuck. The device is a toke activated one that takes a tougher than usual toke but delivers a smooth hit. It tasted how a bag of pick and mix sweets smells. A blend of jelly sweets & cheap white chocolate jazzies. A vanillary sugariness that was creamy in the mouth. It's really light on the chest. It didn't take long to charge this tiny device. The pods are 0.5ml and good for approx 100 pulls. You can purchase replacement pods for the Pengking device or you can buy the same extract in a 510 thread cartridge to fit universal devices. Pengking also makes CBD carts. I like that idea of less ingredients, nothing extra than needed. I loved the side of the branded device , it can be pocketed easily but on the other hand, it could also be lost as easily.
Summary: What did I learn?
- First thing I learnt is that when you’ve got a reliable brand, they are damn effective. There’s no doubt I was hiiiigh all day Saturday. But it wasn't as heavy on the body as combusting can feel.
- What's your intention? These are not designed to replicate combustion or flower so know why you're wanting to try it.
- DON'T chain it! You’ll burn out your coil and possibly even your cannabinoids and terps, wasting your time and money.
- Perfect for stealth smoking. There’s no weedy pong to the carts so you can get high on the sly.
- Great for cutting down flower consumption. I didn't touch my flower all day although I missed my bong. As it's a concentrate, its ⅘ times stronger than flower so you don't need as much. For someone who maybe a low to med cannabis user, 1-2 toots would be all you’d need for hours.
- Carts will be perfect when I am in a pain flare, the fast and effective method to take a high cannabinoid dose with minimal disturbance to the position I'd be in when it hits. When I'm really bad, getting a bong or dab in me can be impossible and waiting for caps to kick in can be a nightmare and sugar exacerbates it so edibles aren't ideal.
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