May The Fourth Be With You.

While the origins of the lisped phrase date back to 1979 and a congratulatory advert placed for Thatcher becoming Prime Minister, I'm thankful to the internet for reclaiming it as a celebration for Star Wars fans (should that also be lisped as Thar Warth Fanth).

I believe the first official fan based event was 2011 somewhere in America. I can't remember when I first joined in but it was certainly some years ago. This is not my first time.

Star Wars Events

There's usually a couple of things going on locally for the day but this year it's a bit light. None of the local cinemas are showing any historic Star Wars films and I wonder if it's due to the pending terribly named Mandalorian & Grogu movie releasing later this month; they don't want the Star Wars fans to spunk their film viewing cash too early to ensure they'll pay to see the Mandalorian film.

Not So Excited

I'm of an age where I've seen every Star Wars film at the cinema including the first one. I must admit I'm not really that excited for the new film. The trailers don't seem to show much in the way of an actual storyline and the whole thing looks like a jaunt through various fan favourite characters that Disney will sell toys of. The last trilogy of films 7-8-9 hasn't helped to ease my concerns either as they got progressively worse as they moved through those.

The lacklustre and completely literal character title very much backs up this impression too. I feel if they had a story to tell then the film would be called after the story. I hope I'm wrong. I'm curious if anyone reading this is excited for it? I will of course still go to see it. It'll be a sad day when I finally give up on Star Wars.

Maul

I've enjoyed the Maul series so far and I'm looking forward to the concluding two episodes on May 4th. That will kick off Star Wars day nicely for me.

I assume there will be a setup for season two but I hope they complete the running story rather than stretch it.

The series is well worth watching (so far). If you wonder how Maul survives after the Phantom Menace the full answers are in the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels series but you don't really need the detail to enjoy it. While it's a stretch of a tale, he's such a cool character that I honestly don't care. I'm glad to see him back and I always felt that disposing of him so quickly was a mistake.

Cannabis Realisation

It was only a couple of years ago that I realised that loads of potheads actually celebrate Star Wars day. If you're reading this perhaps you are one of them.

I had visited my local shop on the morning of May 4th to pick up essential supplies - OCBs and Munchies - when the shopkeeper exclaimed, "What's going on I've sold two boxes of OCBs this morning already!"

I Am Not Alone

At that point I realised that a whole bunch of us were getting ready to blast into space. I was not alone. Honestly, as a complete weirdo, I always find it reassuring to discover there's other oddballs like me out there doing the same stuff. I feel less weird and alone in the world as a result.

Prepared

This year Star Wars day fell after a bit of a tough month and payday was not perfectly timed. I saved a bit of cash back to stock up but I couldn't get everything I wanted. Is that a small violin I hear....?

No Smoking

I'm no longer smoking / combusting my weed but I vape, dab and consume edibles to make up for it. I've grabbed a couple of bits of weed from Green Cat as they must be one of the most cost effective vendors on LB - and generally very fast at deliveries - including this time.

Stocking Up

I picked up some Blue Dream and the bargain priced Galactic Warheads. I also kept back some Studio 54 and Lemon Snow Leopard from a previous order so I've got a little selection.

Blue Dream

https://littlebiggy.org/link/UVxJun

Blue Dream is essentially a Blueberry Haze but I can see why they swerved the haze name. It's interestingly genetically close to the original landraces so it ticks some old school boxes nicely. It doesn't smell especially hazy like you'd get from a lemon or silver and instead leans more on the blue. It vapes nicely with a blueish flavour note. The stone is also pretty chilled and feels more indica as I didn't notice any flighty haze buzz making my brain manic. Overall it's a nicely balanced high.

Galactic Warheadz

The Galactic Warheadz is all small buds which personally I don't mind so long as it smokes well. It's also very cheap. The genetics could be one of a number of mixtures according to the internet but it tastes like a sunset / kush mix I think. There's hints of cookies and gelato in there. It's a sweet taste and produces some lovely thick layered vapour.

Distillate & Extracts

I also grabbed some D9 from Dr Distillate along with a 3.5g mix n match bargain extracts deal (that violin is really shrinking isn't it). The order arrived in two parts which threw me a bit as I first thought I had something missing. I guess they're sending from multiple locations now. It all arrived though.

Candy Runtz Badder

https://littlebiggy.org/link/I3UrPr

So far I've only tried one of the extracts, the Candy Runtz, which is lovely. It's very clean in the dab rig. Flavourwise it's got a core flavour note like a Blue Gelato and an immediate high followed by a creeper of a stone.

I've had extracts from the Dr several times and they're usually pretty decent and clean.

Edible Aims

I've also got some RSO in stock so I'll be making mixed D9 & RSO cookies. I won't be repeating my terrible chocolate edibles but I did appreciate all the advice I got from LB on my recent topic and I will be back to make another batch in the future following the top tips I was given.

Space Regrets

I suppose I should have gotten space themed bits in like some Skywalker OG, Star Dawg or some Moon Rocks (that's no moon). Skywalker would probably be my preference for a blue leaning strain over the Blue Dream too although purists may prefer the Dream. However I didn't do any of that. Not least as I've only just thought about it. It's probably too late for you too. I do have the Galactic Warheadz though so we can pretend it was part of a deliberate space themed plan.

I Always Want More

I really wanted to pick up the RS11 bud from the Wizard of Oz now they're back from their holiday. It's one of my favourite strains and when it's done right it tastes like a whole sweetshop of flavours. I expect twoz will have a lovely variation of it.

Two Bucks Short Of An Order

Unfortunately I was in that annoying position where I was about two dollars short in my crypto wallet to pay for everything in my cart. I've been advised on LB before that if your payment is within a small percentage of the amount due that it gets marked as paid. However I've never done that and it feels a bit wrong. I expect to get what I pay for but I also expect to pay for what I get. That's fair and feels like the honourable way to conduct oneself on a marketplace such as LB.

What Are You Doing?

If you've plans for Star Wars day I'd love to hear about them in the comments. I'm curious how many LB folk are fans. For me it's always a bigger stoner day than 420.

Thanks For Reading

As always thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. Please get involved in the discussion section if only to reassure me I'm not the only Star Wars fan.

Cookie Monster

I regularly make strong cookies using either RSO, D9 or ideally a mixture of the two. I like to max out the amount of RSO I can cope with and add D9 for a bit of extra oomph for a full ranging stone that really puts me on my arse.

Full Spectrum Edibles

For those who've not experimented with full spectrum edibles, they are - in my opinion - much nicer than pure D9. Unless you take too much. Then it can get pretty rough and will have you significantly questioning the life choices that led you to this moment. Whereas with D9 if you take too much you tend to just doze off. D9 is much more forgiving of overdoing it. I find a balance of these two gets me where I need when I want to be fully spangled on cannabis.

The Right Idea

As it's a bit of a faff having to make cookies each time I want an edible buzz I decided I'd make some chocolate bars that I could store long term. Then I'd just need to eat a few squares from the fridge to get my edible buzz on. A very efficient and convenient way to live. This was the theory.

Essential Ingredients

I stocked up with some D9 and RSO. The D9 was from the Wizard of Oz who get batches of really powerful distillate in. It's highly recommended and they're a fantastic vendor. I've a lot of love for twoz. I also had some Thai RSO from Myconauts which was pretty cheap. To be fair it's not the strongest I've ever had but it's a solid buzz at a decent price. They have some fantastic bargains on their page and have been very reliable as a vendor. I had a super cheap crumble wax from them recently that easily stood up to more expensive extracts.

More Purchases

I also bought some chocolate bar moulds from ebay and some bars of cooking chocolate from the supermarket. According to the internet cooking chocolate is the better option as it melts and sets more reliably than regular chocolate bars which have more additives and a coating. The internet also says Flakes don't melt at all although I'm pretty dubious about this.

This Will Be Easy Won't It

I started what I thought would be a process so easy that even I couldn't screw it up. Goes to show how little I know myself. I boiled water in a pan then put a ceramic bowl of chocolate cubes into it so they'd slowly melt. To the side of this I melted a little butter in a cup and dissolved 1ml of D9 and 1ml of RSO into the butter. Simple so far huh.

Turning Point

The chocolate was melted and very slick and the butter was a dark green buttery cannabis concoction. It all looked like it was going perfectly right up until I mixed the two together.

It Went Wrong

As soon as the canna butter hit the chocolate the mixture started to dry out and solidify. It took on a dry grainy texture even though it was still being heated and should have been all melty and slick. It bulked up into a stodge and I had to quickly use a spoon to get it into the moulds and then press it down as it was no longer a pourable liquid and seemingly getting worse each second. I hadn't expected any of this as I thought the liquid butter would thin out the liquid chocolate - the exact opposite to what happened.

Any Idea Why?

Does anyone know why it happened? I was using the low cholesterol butter with plant sterols in so I'm not sure if it was that or the RSO/D9 that freaked out the chocolate mixture.

Good Maths

Each chocolate bar had ten squares and I made four bars. So each square would have been 50mg. 2000mg / 4 bars = 500mg per bar. 500mg / 10 squares = 50mg a square. Strength-wise this is exactly where I wanted to be to enable me to accurately dose.

High Hopes

Still with high hopes I popped the moulds into the fridge and waited for them to cool off. I was very excited and as patience is not my strongest point I kept checking on them.

After much fridge watching it was time to check out what I'd made. I popped the bars out of the moulds and wrapped them into baking paper for longer term storage. They looked pretty good. I was ready to feel pretty smug.

Expectations Still High

I snapped a couple of squares from one bar to try. That's a 100mg tester with a 50/50 blend of RSO and D9. With the mixing problems behind me it was now time to enjoy. My mouth was watering and my expectations were as high as I hoped my brain would soon be.

Chomp Chomp Churn

My expectations remained high right up to the point that I popped a piece into my mouth and bit into it to taste it. At that point it all fell apart very quickly.

It was without doubt the worst tasting chocolate anyone could hope to eat. It's hard to explain how bad it was. The texture was completely off and it was slightly gritty - a long way from regular chocolate texture. This would have been pretty off-putting on its own but ultimately survivable. However the taste was really bad. Much worse than if you had just squeezed RSO onto a piece of chocolate. It tasted so bad that even chewing through two tiny squares would churn my stomach and make me feel sickly. Really truly disgusting.

It Gets Worse

Once it reached my stomach the problems continued as it also gave me a horrible indigestion. Whether that was a psychological thing from force feeding myself I don't know but my stomach seemed to hate it every bit as much as my taste buds did.

Effects

The effects were fine otherwise although I don't think it hit as hard as it does with cookies. Both the D9 and RSO had been tested previously in cookies and worked fine.

Round Two

The next time I went to use the chocolate I actually couldn't face eating it so I smashed some cubes up into small chunks and added them to a cookie mix to bake in the oven. Back to square one. I'd decided to make the premix chocolate bars to avoid baking each time. It's funny how some things in life just don't work out how you'd expect them to. Using the chocolate in cookies was much better but you still got an odd twang of horrible gritty bitterness from time to time while eating the cookies.

Disappointed

Overall it was a disaster. I'm wondering what the chocolate bars on LB are like?

Cookies For The Win

Needless to say, I won't be repeating this and I have reverted to making cookies from RSO/D9 canna butter. I really truly believe that cookies are the king of all edibles. There's simply no better food based delivery system to get massive amounts of cannabis into your bloodstream all at once.

Thanks

Thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. Jump into the comments and let me know what are your go-to edibles and do you prefer full spectrum or stay with D9? Does anyone make RSO chocolate that actually tastes good?

The Star of the Hash World

Piatella is like the shining star at the top of the hash tree and it was one of the first things I became fascinated with on LB when I joined. There were various fine hashes that were available such as Jungle Boys or LA Barz but the absolute premium piece of exoctica was the Piatella and no one had any at the time.

I Had To Wait

I waited ages before any vendors had some for sale on their menus and then the one I got from THC was something like $120 a gram. Yes for the uninitiated that's one hundred and twenty dollars per gram.

They did me a favour by holding some back for me until payday as I'd been especially vocal about my fascination of this fine solventless extract and despite the princely price tag they sold out the bit they had quickly.

Rock Stars

While some of you may live like - or even be - Rockstars, that high price, for me, very much put it in the category of a rare treat. And yes, I really enjoyed it and I was glad I tried it. But equally I didn't feel like I was hugely missing out by not being able to afford to smoke it every day. Considering my favourite extract - the crumble waxes - were a fraction of the price of the Piatella, it just wasn't the worst hardship to not have it in my life all the time.

Fast Stone

I remember the one way in which it really stood out was that the hit from it was almost instant. That it didn't necessarily get you more stoned than an extract but that the entire stone hit all at once. Like an explosive - a spangle bomb.

Albino Piatella

I've had some of the Albino Piatella land so I've been testing it over the weekend. Before anyone jumps on me I believe that while Piatella is routinely used to describe this style of hash that genuine Piatella needs to come from a specific place in Spain. Like Champagne and a certain patch of dirt in France. So here the word is used in the same interchangable way we use 'hoover' instead of vacuum cleaner. Just so we all know what we're talking about. Cool.

Big Price Difference

One of the immediate differences between this and the Piatella I've had in the past is the price tag. This averages $10 per gram on an Oz. To put that into perspective it is twelve times cheaper than the Piatella I've bought previously. This is a princes hash at a paupers price. I'll probably use that as the title of this topic. If I did then you will have already read that earlier.

Let's face it, it's rare to get something for nothing. So what gives here?

Spoiled For Choices

It's worth noting that as well as the variation I have from Green Cat that Don Loco has some too at similar prices. Both have been highly rated by purchasers on LB so far.

GC 28g=$280
https://littlebiggy.net/link/JoRFck

DL 25g =$250
https://littlebiggy.net/link/0l1Bkt

So What Gives?

The answer as to what gives is not that much to be fair.

This is strong stuff and pretty much fully melts away. I put some through my dab pen and while it wasn't as clean as a regular extract it almost all bubbled away leaving only a small residue behind.

I've also had it mixed in with bud in my vape at a high temp and it all boiled away nicely but left the vaped bud a bit gunky. Depending what vape you have, be careful with liquidy extracts like this as you don't want to gunk up your oven by accident. This drips under heat.

Scientifically Strong

The GC reading on the listing showing it to be 69% THC is likely correct. On my less scientific readout it definitely gets as far as "strong as fuck" on the non-science dial. That carefully calibrated piece of equipment can benchmark cannabis products ranging right from "why did I fall for this again" all the way up to "bloody hell intelligent evolved monkeys probably could take over the world one day the way we are heading - I need chocolate."

It's probably obvious that "strong as fuck" is at the high end of this scale but not quite high enough up there to fear a primate revolt. It's like a 9.6/10 on power. Perhaps I should have led with that. The problem is I'm testing it as I writing this and it's strong as fuck. As we've mentioned.

Less Fierce

The stone is less immediately fierce than a Piatella and is delivered more gently as it slowly cuddles you rather than going off like a cannabis grenade. It's not as strong as the poshy bit I had before that was twelve times the price and this stuff is not far off in most ways.

Hashy Taste

The taste has a little hashy essence and is a bit gassy without notable specific flavours beyond that. I don't mean it's like the spicy hashy taste of a Moroccan crumbly hash nor even the medical taste of an Afghan black. But it's less freshly flavoursome than regular extracts. It's not bland nor stale but flavourwise it's behind the exceptionally expensive stuff. I like it though. It's hashy in a good way. Like a hash rosin can be.

The Comparison Speaks For Itself

I think the fact that the only thing it's possible to compare this to costs twelve times as much highlights just what a bargain it is. The only other thing that I've tried to compare it to (crumble waxes) cost approx 3.5x as much. At no point did I bother to compare it to other 10 bucks a gee hashes.

Like A Very Famous Squirrel

It's clear that it punches above its weight like a squirrel that's just flattened Mike Tyson. I guess these days - allegedly - a squirrel could flatten Mike Tyson if it happened to be an influencer squirrel known for its online shenanigans gathering nuts or climbing along washing lines on a popular video channel or something. I imagine regular squirrels would stand no chance. Now where was I...

Not So Artsy

Yes it's not quite as artisan as the more expensive Piatella and not quite as clean as an extract but I'd be surprised to find any piece of hash at the same price on LB that could even remotely match it for strength or value.

It is mindblowingly good for the price. It's currently rated a 9.9 on GC and 10 on DL who only have a few bits rated (at time of writing this). In my option it deserves a ten all day long at this price.

Thanks For Reading

Thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way.

Let me know if you've tried the Piatella yet and whether you've had the Rock Star or the Roadie version. Aim for the comment section as I'd love to know what other people think of both the expensive proper version and this bargain one. I'll put some photos of this stuff below. See you in the next topic.

I Got Carried Away

I overdid it on edibles last week as I've made some terrible tasting but super potent chocolate from a mix of RSO and D9. In the midst of that high I decided I should order a dab rig online.

Glassware

Many of the dab rigs were quite pricy and some looked so much like they belonged in a science lab that you'd probably need a long white coat and goggles to operate them. I ended up ordering a fairly cheap bong from Holland and some other bits from a shop in Birmingham. So I'm now the proud owner of some low cost but fancy glassware - and a blow torch. Let's pick through it.

I Didn't Need It

I already owned a little wax dab pen which has been brilliant. I have the Utilian 2 with the ceramic donut heating part. It worked well with the original coil type heater but I found it hard to fully clean. The ceramic donut makes that easier.

It's a cheap, basic pen but I use it frequently and it's a great way to puff away at your extracts very simply. Adding some sort of bubbler to it would probably make more sense than buying a dab rig but I'm a pothead so I don't always do the things that make the most sense.

Idiots & Fire

I had no real need to complicate the dabbing process and generally I avoid fire because I'm aware that I'm an idiot. Fire and idiots are a poor mixture. I've avoided the dynovap vape products for exactly this reason. So a dab rig was not really even on my top ten things to buy. Yet here we are. I think that getting the super cheap Piatella (see recent topic) from GC probably triggered the process a bit.

Terminology

Now, upon embarking on my retail journey to buy a dab rig I came across many new words and technical terms that were unfamiliar to me. What some call a bong, others call a water pipe. I believe these are the same basic thing but there seems to be numerous strange terms bandied about for the parts I needed.

My Water Pipe Bong Bubbler

The water pipe bong I bought is a triangular based glass beaker looking thing with a hole for your finger to release the air flow. It has a large mushroom print on the glassware which is clearly pitched at teenagers judging by the design. Obviously because I'm so youthful I appreciate this kind of aesthetic. It was also much cheaper than the more subtly decorated but complex science project looking rigs. Yes. I'm a cheapskate.

Down Stem Limitations

The bong came with an all in one down stem and bowl which meant removing the bowl also removes the stem which turns the bong into a jug of water. To connect other stuff to it I needed a new down stem part.

Attaching My Dry Herb Vape

I have an Arizer Solo 2 dry herb vape which came with a 14mm bong attachment. So I needed a down stem for that to work with the water pipe bong as well as the dab bits.

I ordered a 135mm long / 14mm wide glass down stem extension thing that fits into a 14mm hole but also has and extended bit with another 14mm hole so I could attach the vape stem or dab bits to it.

Luckily there were a lot of options for these parts so I could get one that was a good fit. Unluckily the myriad of options meant spending ages figuring out which one I needed.

I also bought a little removable bowl that has a small perpendicular glass handle which I think that would be the ideal way to use it as a normal bong with buds or hash as you can pop the bowl out to empty it and stand it up too for easy reloading.

That'd be much better than the all in one stem/bowl that came with the bong. But it also meant that I could attach my dry herb vape to the bong and test how that works.

Bong Vaping or Vape Bonging?

Using the Arizer through a bong was nuts. It feels very odd as the vapour is so smooth that it barely seems like you're inhaling anything. It's suddenly easy for me to rip the entire vape bowl in a one hit. The upgraded Arizer Solo 3 would work great in this instance as it has a faster oven speed and double the chamber capacity. However, it's not really what I like my dry herb vape for. I like slowly chugging it as for me it has replaced smoking and a part of that was the slow sedative chill-out routine to curb my hyperactivity.

The other thing I was slightly paranoid about was getting water in the vape oven as I suspect that'd go pretty badly. The weight of vape made the bong unstable enough for it to potentially topple over. I think if you were aiming for this setup you need to make sure you get a good sized and weighty bong for stability.

Back To The Dabs

I had to buy a banger and a carb cap (not an old car and a funny hat) to transform my water pipe bong into a dab rig. I don't know who invented the words for these objects. Is there some logic to them? Or is this a case of never letting a pothead name anything? I already had a few of the little spoon dab tool things. I also bought a chefs blow torch and as a result I am now unexpectedly equipped to make creme brulee should I ever choose to MasterChef a dessert to quench an attack of the munchies.

At Last - My First Dab

So with my new water pipe bong, down stem extender, banger, carb cap and blow torch, and with my dab tool and some crumble wax at the ready, I embarked on a new cannabis adventure. The first dab I attempted I royally fucked up. The word 'royally', when it comes to amplifying fuck-ups, seems to carry more weight than it used to.

Everything happened at once and I was cack-handed with all the oddly named parts as I didn't know what I was doing. I heated the banger then I faffed with the blow torch flame after as I was unfamiliar with it. I then dropped some crumble wax off the worlds smallest spoon onto my table several times and am curious as to why the dab tools are so small. I finally landed it inside the banger where it quickly vaporised into the air in the form of cannabis extract aromatherapy while I forgot to cover the finger hole on the water pipe and breathed in nothing. I didn't get any of it through the pipe at all. It was a disaster. But now at least I had a better idea what the process was. So I tried again.

Attempt Two

Dab two was much better planned and executed. Everything I needed was to hand and I mostly knew what was going to happen. The banger was heated again, the extract went in smoothly, it instantly boiled up into vapour which was capped as I bubbled the whole lot through the water and into my lungs. I'm still no closer to understanding the terminology but I am finally dabbing.

Within about 3 minutes I was so incredibly stoned that it's genuinely hard to describe. There are satellites launched into orbit less high than I was. The whole buzz seemed to arrive all at once like a sledgehammer to the face. I was briefly, fully and instantly smashed and needed a little sit back to adjust to it. It was not long before I was reaching for my next one though. I liked it.

You Can Probably Tell I'm Not An Expert

I've used the dab rig on a couple of sessions so far. I'm a bit of a klutz with it so some dabs I've messed up. Some are too cold and I then scramble to heat it up, some are too hot and the extract acts like you've dropped it into a nuclear reactor core.

Stained Banger

Through this process I seem to have stained my banger. I didn't know this was possible on glassware but I've got a couple of resin stains that don't seem to be removable. At least they don't seem to be with iso alcohol and scrubbing. Is this a common thing or did I screw up in some way? Any advice is appreciated.

Are All Bangers Equal?

I noticed that you can get thicker / thinner / posher / branded bangers. I picked a cheap one as I didn't know how many times I'd be using it. I'm wondering if anyone knows the advantage to the different bangers available and if it's worth investing in one? If you know please let me know in the comments.

Conclusion

I definitely like doing the dabs when they work smoothly. I think it'll take me a bit of practice to get any consistency with my operation of the blow torch and banger. But that's probably the sort of practice we can all get down with. Overall it does get you extremely stoned but there's an art to using it. What extracts shall I try next?

Thanks

As always, thanks for reading my topic. I truly appreciate everyone who does. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. Let me know how you dab and any advice you have.

Some Years Ago

I first got a disposable THC vape pen a few years ago when a local got hold of the 10/10 boys disposable pens. They were d9 distillate pens and I got a blue gelato flavour.

The devices and packaging were pretty fancy and the flavour had a hint of a blueberry weed but it was mostly a fake candy flavour. The effects were quite mild too. They had a novelty value only really.

Fake Candy Flavours

Since then things have moved on and I've bought a 510 battery (honey stick trigon) and tried some carts.

I had a d9 cart then I got a 50/50 live resin cart. Again they had the fake candy flavours a bit like microwave popcorn. The 50/50 cart was pretty good in effects but it was the taste that let it down a bit.

It was useful for when I couldn't lamp up a fattie like at my works Christmas party. It did get me stoned but it didn't get much use beyond those sorts of occasions.

100% Live Resin

The first carts I've bought that really taste and feel like smoking weed are these 100% live resin carts from Vape Boutique. They don't taste like I'm smoking kids sweets and the effect is full spectrum. Honestly, they're absolutely lovely. Like a generation beyond the vapes I've had previously.

Ccell Ceramic Carts

The carts themselves look pretty fancy as they are full ceramic carts. I'm running mine on the lowest setting my battery has and they still pump out clouds of tasty smooth vapour.

They are the first carts I've had that I'll use while at home where I have various other stoning options available to me. They were recommended to me and so I'd like to pass on that recommendation.

Packaging & Delivery

My order was processed fast and a very well packaged parcel turned up a couple of days later with multiple layers of packaging and stealth. This is essential as these carts are so strong you can smell them once you get them out - something I've never noticed from another cart or vape pen.

They Don't Hang Around For Long

Vape Boutique seems to struggle to keep them in stock and the listing changes regularly as they sell out so fast. You probably don't want to leave them sitting in your shopping basket for too long.

Thanks

That's my top tip for Vape Carts. Thanks for reading. I hope that it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. Let me know if you've sampled the Vape Boutique carts or if you intend to.

Full Time Vaper

I've become a full time vaper. I didn't really mean to but it's happened and for the time being I'm staying with it.

I'd been looking for a new dry herb vape that ticked all my personal boxes for a while and I finally took the plunge.

My Previous Vape

I've had the X Max V3 Pro for a while. As I used to smoke joints it was only used occasionally. When I moved onto vaping full time I bought the glass mouthpiece for it and a pack of the overpriced metal dosing capsules. Honestly as a starter vape it's been brilliant. It lacks a bit of oomph and the battery drains quite quick on a longer session. I don't know how well other vapes at the same price perform but I'd happily recommend it as a starter and I think it'd be fine for a light user. Happy to hear people's opinions on that.

The biggest annoyance is battery life. I could blitz through the battery in no time which meant I was faffing with charging it all the time. I bought a spare battery but then you have to charge two batteries for a session and swap them about which is logistically more complicated than I can cope with while blazing.

My Criteria For a New Vape Purchase

- I wanted something portable / hand held. It won't go on many voyages but it needed to be more discreet than a desktop thing with a long tube that looks like it could be used for colonic irrigation or a balloon filling station like Krusty the Clown would have.

- I wanted something where the battery would last me a whole evening so no faffing with repeat charging.

- It needed to be flavour focused with a glass mouthpiece. The glass mouth tubes on the X-Max improved both flavour and feel so I wanted to stick with that.

- I prefer a session mode vape too. I'll never sip on demand. If it goes in the vape, it's getting ripped now. I don't do micro doses.

Cannabis Video Reviews Online

These are always slightly hilarious but ultimately worthwhile to check out and helped me with my choosing process. The thing I especially like is that the reviewer is committed to getting stoned while filming themselves and attempting to sound intelligent all at the same time. In some small way I guess I know how they feel - but at least I can hide my red eyes and giggles when I'm doing a write-up.

What Did I Choose?

* Drumroll *

I chose the Arizer Solo 2 Max.

This one seemed to tick all my boxes. There's an upgraded and more expensive version - the Solo 3 - which I didn't choose as I think the solo 2 is probably powerful enough for my needs and it saved me £100 over the version 3. Maybe I'll change my mind and upgrade in the future.

Slow Chugger

I like to slowly chug through my bud and change flavours quite frequently so I felt that I didn't really need either the extra load capacity of the solo 3 nor the extra power to blitz my buds more speedily.

However if you smoke in a group or you still like to cain it like a teenager then I can see how the upgraded version might be better for you. It also looks like the interface and display is significantly better on version 3 - more on that below.

About The Solo 2 Max

I've been living with the Solo 2 Max for a while now and I really love using it. It feels like the spliff smoking days are behind me. I look forward to my vape sessions just as much as I used to look forward to smoking a few joints. It took a little while to adapt but I genuinely do enjoy it now.

The Solo 2 comprises two main parts - the battery / oven base unit and a separate glass mouthpiece which also holds the bud. I bought three extra 90mm mouthpieces with the caps and tubes to hold them in so I can line a few up ready to use. I'll probably buy some more of these too as it's handy having some pre-filled. It came with a 110mm stem but the shorter 90mm stems seem better to me - not least as they're easier to clean.

In Use

You load bud into the tail end of the special glass mouth tubes, then put this end into the battery oven. It holds in place pretty well with the small seal in the round oven opening and the glass tubes are exceptional at not transmitting the heat from the oven to your mouth. This creates a glass only vapour path so it doesn't taint the flavour.

When you remove the stems while still hot from the oven, one end is full uncle-Bernie and the other end is still pretty cold to the touch. It's easier to empty bud from the tubes when they're warm as the vaped oils get gluey when cold but are still slidey when warm.

Sometimes when you remove the tubes you spill a little bit of used bud into the oven chamber. Obviously this never happened with capsules on the X-Max which are very easy to use. It's easy to clean but it's another thing to be aware of as you don't want to scum up your oven.

It takes about 30 - 40 seconds for the device to heat up so it's ready to turn your buds into vapour. If you leave it a bit longer you get thicker clouds. If you attack it early you get a bit more flavour. I tend to run it between 180c - 196c. It's rare that I venture over 200c and doing so will start to blacken the bottom of the buds as they get slightly combusted by the oven heat. It really kicks out some significant heat.

No Timer

One thing I don't like is the lack of a countdown timer. The X-Max used to show a countdown so you knew how much time you had left. I guess a spliff burning down naturally shows a visual display of your smoking time eroding and I'd liked this time replication display more than I'd realised.

The Solo 2 can have a session time set from 5 - 15 minutes but it keeps the countdown timer a secret. It's a small thing but it does irk me a little. There's certainly enough screen space for a timer display. I'm probably going to buy a silent timer like a sand timer or something.

Clunky Start Up

The other small thing is the start up sequence. To turn it on you need to fat finger the up and middle buttons at the same time for two seconds (you can set this to a longer time but I've no idea why you would). When it turns on you then need to set a temperature before it starts heating up. This second bit I often forget. I guess it's a habit and I'll change. The X-Max starts up on a long press and then leaps straight into action using the same settings from when it was turned off. This is a much nicer user experience especially later into a session when you're baked and anything that simplifies your life feels like a bonus.

Serious Power

The battery life on the Solo 2 is unreal and I've not managed to drop it lower than 20% from a full charge even when using it all day. The glass tubes make cleaning very easy - even easier than with the dosing capsules of the X-Max.

Lovely Flavours

The flavour is lovely and consistent. This was the thing I was most concerned about but it delivers more flavour more reliably than the X-Max. Ultimately this was the most important aspect for me as the little X-Max does deliver a decent flavour initially.

Other than the timer display limitations noted earlier and a clunkier start up sequence, the Arizer Solo 2 Max is an upgrade to the X-Max in every other way. It produces bigger clouds of flavour filled vapour for longer. It's easier to clean and feels really nice to use and handle. It's constructed from aluminium and glass so it feels a very solidly built unit in your hand.

Vaping Weed

So that's me vaping for the foreseeable future. It took me a little while to fully convert but I'm really enjoying vaping my buds now. I probably wouldn't have stopped smoking if it was not for some health issues as I'd always enjoyed smoking joints but the vaping feels like a new chapter to continue my stoner life.

Thanks For Reading

As always thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining in some way. I'm interested in what devices everyone else is using so please aim yourself at the comments section to start the discussion.

Thanks LB.