One of the questions I constantly find myself being asked is: “Which of these vapes works with oil and herb?”
While it’s a super valid question, the answer I give often leaves a number of people confused, hence the need for this post.
Portable vaping has taken off exponentially in recent years, with desktop vaporizers taking a bit of a backseat, making way for some truly phenomenal handheld devices.
Now, when we’re talking about the difference between dry herb vapes and concentrate vaporizers, there are three key differences that need to be first addressed.
- Heating Style & Elements
- Battery Life
- Price
First, however, I’m going to go ahead and tackle the topic of hybrid vaporizers and how effective they can be in vaping both of your blends!
Hybrid Vaporizers
Devices like the Haze V2 Portable Vaporizer pictured above are referred to as ‘hybrid vaporizers’, which is to say that they are capable of vaporizing both dry herbs and concentrates.
The Haze line of portables all come equipped with multiple chambers so that you can vape your concentrates or liquids in the same session as your sticky green and enhance the experience.
While I would recommend using the included liquid baskets for some DIY eLiquid, I am a strong believer in using separate devices for your herb and concentrate.
Vaporizers like the X Vape FOG, Volcano Digit, and the Vapir Prima pictured above all come equipped with stainless steel liquid pads for use with concentrates.
While they are capable of producing some super terpy low temp dabs fresh from the box, after a couple of sessions of dry herb vapor there will be a definite residual flavor when you consume concentrate.
The vapor path has to be expertly maintained to ensure for optimal hybrid vaping, if not you’re gravely affecting the flavor of your expensive concentrate by tainting it with dirty res from your herb!
Another note on these liquid pads, the method of vaporization most decent dry herb vapes utilize to bake your herb differs greatly from that of a concentrate vape, so you’re not going to be consuming your wax efficiently.
In a recent article, I explained the difference between convection and conduction vaping and how it affects vapor production. This is the major difference between herb vapes and wax pens, as a convection vaporizer is usually unlikely to produce visible concentrate vapor.
Convection heating is an edgy topic in the vaping world, with much discussion being put into the true definition of a ‘full-convection vaporizer.’
Basically, it’s just a device that heats the air you pull through to atomize your herb as opposed to just heating the chamber surface and making contact with the herb like a traditional lighter would.
Wax pens, dab pens, concentrate vapes; there are a bunch of different names that these little buggers go by, with more and more different style of pen popping up on the market each year!
The devices above are all ready and willing to get you dabbing, and utilize what’s called a conduction heating method.
Think of a conduction oven. The oven uses a heating element to heat the contents, and with concentrate vapes, it’s basically the same deal.
Simply glob a tiny amount of wax or distillate onto the end of your tool and wipe it inside the walls of the chamber and against the element.
As mentioned above, there is also a big difference in temperature between herb vapes and concentrate vaporizers, with the latter reaching red-hot temps!
Dry herb vapes, like the Ald Amaze WOW pictured above, are awesome at generating herb vapor, but struggle with liquids and concentrates.
These herb vapes generally have a top temperature of between 210°C (410°F) and 240°C (464°F), whereas concentrate vapes can reach up to a staggering 550°C (1020°F)!
Battery life is also a significant factor when considering the differences between dry herb and concentrate vaporizers, with the latter being far more economical with its consumption.
This is largely owing to the high levels of juice needed to pump huge clouds of heated vapor which most of the dry herb vaporizers are capable of doing!
Concentrate vapes are just heating the singular element, basically like a car cigarette lighter, and so use far less battery in the process, only needing to be charged about once a week if that!
If you’re a vaping hobbyist that’s looking to get into both concentrate and herb vaping, I strongly recommend spending big on the herb vape and picking up a cheap wax pen on the side.
We have a bunch of wax pens in the VapeFuse store as well as one of the largest selections of herb vapes on the net! Drop me a line below if I can help you find the perfect vape for you!
Happy Vaping!
