So I’ve been a huge stoner for years, mainly smoking bongs blunts and joints. But yesterday and today I *TRIED** to hit dabs for the first time ever. I saw my main plug was selling Shadder, so I went to the smoke shop and dropped 88 dollars on everything I knew I would need, a torch, a thing of butane for after the torch runs out, a dab rig, and a spatula for the wax. Then I buy 100 dollars worth of wax from my plug. I Google online what to do and the general answer seems to be, torch the nail until it glows red, then wait 40 seconds, then dab. Tried that. It NEVER turned red. I heated that shit for so fucking long and it never turned red. I looked it up and apparently it won’t turn red if it’s brand new. Tried to dab two times yesterday, the Shadder I dropped in became a liquid puddle and I got NO hit. I tried again today and the same fucking shit. And also, you’re supposed to torch it, then wait, then dab. Well while I’m torching the puddle in there starts a flame of vape starting to come off. At this rate I’m about to waste the entire fucking thing of wax if I continue at this rate. 188 dollars all together, and I can’t get it to fucking work, I would be embarassed to explain this in real life, but this is anonymous so I don’t give a fuck, but yeah I’m not understanding this at all. I literally said “fuck this” and just smoked weed out of my bong I got so frustrated. How long am I supposed to torch for and then how long am I supposed to wait for. Because like I said what I’ve been trying, it NEVER turns red, and then when I drop the Shadder in, I get like no hit and then it’s a dark puddle in the nail. Someone please througoughly explain to me what to do. Cuz like I said I don’t even wanna try again cuz I know once again I won’t get high and I’ll just waste it. I torched it for so long that the torch is now about to be empty, and it never fucking turned red. Super frustrating. I just wanna get that super stoned from dabs I’ve always heard about, but it keeps not working, being wasted, and I remain completely sober… after spending all this money. Fucking SUCKS.
I've never heard the wait 40 seconds thing. Just heat it, put it in and hit it. See if that works. I'm no expert by any means though. I've never done a dab in my life.
It doesn't matter if it turns red. In fact you can vaporize dabs at lower temps as long as your getting decent vapor it's working. You can also keep heating as you dab it won't waste it. That's called cold starting. Also do you have a carb cap? You'll need a carb cap to cap off the vapor you made. See you probably hit it without a carb cap. I've used an enail and heated it up as low as 480F and still got stoned. Dabs also work at low temps too because the THC and terps still vaporize. I don't get this obsession with people needing to heat their glass so hot it glows. In fact if it gets too hot you'll burn it and make your throat and lungs hurt. It sounds like your missing this..
Get a bigger torch. This is what my buddy / neighbor dabs with. Your "Dab" should flash to vapor as soon as it hits the glass so you need to start your inhale a second or two before actually touching. Torch to near red. Test heat by holding the back of your hand a couple of inches from the bucket. Drop / Roll tool / get cap ready all the while your taking the hit. Get so ripped you forget you didn't turn off the torch and set fire to.... Never mind we got it under control before it got to large. Youtube has a few zillion vids of people doing dabs. You can just smoke the concentrate by putting a touch on top of a bowl load . You'll get plenty ripped. Buds = 15% THC Hash / Kief = 50% THC Concentrates = 95% and higher. Even just smoking the stuff will send your ass to the moon. I get higher smoking it because I'm taking smaller hits that I can hold far longer. A big bong shot I have to start dumping immediately or I risk coughing it all out and wasting it. My old lungs just can't take that kind of abuse any longer. BNW
Pretty sure waiting the 40 seconds is what's causing you issues. I've only ever done dabs once at my buddy's place, he was sort of an expert and we dabbed many times successfully. He literally left his stove on 24/7 (no joking) and had the nail nearby. He'd leave it on the stove for about 5 minutes before grabbing it with a pair of pliers and plopping it down on top of his rig. He'd stir the dab concentrate on the nail and before any of this happened, he'd tell me to begin inhaling. That stuff turns to smoke FAST. Also. I don't think it's very safe to heat the nail up until it's burning red. Whoever wrote the article you were obtaining your info from probably had some sort of super mega blowtorch meant for heavy duty industrial tasks. Most don't have those kinds of blowtorches. I think a simple three flame butane pocket torch should suffice for such a task like dabs
