By Mitch Rice
If you’ve spent any time reading about the various forms of concentrate vaping and their benefits, you’re well aware of the fact that wax vaping provides a more potent experience than anything else and allows you to reach your desired state quickly and discreetly. No other form of vaping comes close. If you’re going to use a wax vaporizer, though, you need to buy the correct type of device in order to have the best possible experience.
The majority of wax vaporizers on the market fall into two categories: wax pens and dab straws. As you’re about to learn, the two types of devices are almost like opposites of one another. Although they’re both designed to vaporize wax concentrates, they do so in such different ways that you may actually end up wanting to buy both types of devices if you really enjoy wax vaping. You have to choose which one to buy first, though, and that’s where this article is going to help. So, what’s the difference between a wax pen and a dab straw? Let’s start by discussing how the two types of vapes work.
How Do Wax Pens and Dab Straws Work?
In the simplest possible terms, the difference between wax pens and dab straws is that with a wax pen, the heating coil faces up – and with a dab straw, the coil faces down. That simple difference, however, means that you use the two types of devices in completely different ways.
A wax pen has an exposed heating coil or chamber at the top. To use it, you use a metal stick called a dab tool to take a small piece of wax out of a container and place it on the device’s coil. Once you’ve done that, you can vape until all of the material is consumed, at which point you’ll need to add more.
A dab straw, on the other hand, has a heating element that points down. To use it, you turn the device down and place the element directly into your wax while inhaling through the mouthpiece on the other side of the device. Since you’re vaporizing the material directly out of the container that you use to hold it, you’re only limited by the amount of material you have. Thanks to that design choice, dab straws have a number of unique benefits that you can’t get with a wax pen. You’ll learn about those next.
Dab Straws Are Less Messy
One of the biggest benefits of dab straws vs. wax pens is that they’re significantly less messy. It’s necessary for the coil on a wax pen to have very large airflow holes, because it would be impossible to inhale through the device otherwise. The problem is that a wax concentrate turns to liquid when it’s heated – so wax pens tend to leak if you aren’t careful with them. Another issue is that dispensing wax with a dab tool can be quite messy, which can result in waste. With a dab straw, there’s no mess and no waste because you’re dipping the device’s heating element directly into your material. Since the wax never leaves its container, there’s no possibility of losing it.
Dab Straws Are Best for Home Use
If you prefer to vape at home, you’ll probably enjoy using a dab straw because they’re designed specifically for that type of scenario. You’ll place a container of wax on a table in front of you, and you’ll vape for as long as you like before putting the device and container away. Dab straws are perfectly suited for leisurely vaping sessions, and their features – like long battery life and built-in water filtration – reflect that.
Dab Straws Are Easier to Clean
If the fact that dab straws are less messy than wax pens is appealing to you, you’ll really like the fact that cleaning up after your session is a breeze when you use a dab straw. Since a dab straw can’t leak, there’s no need to clean your area when you’re done vaping – you can just close your wax container and put it away. Dab straws themselves are also extremely easy to clean because their heating elements are usually removable. When residue begins to collect on a heating element, you can simply soak it in rubbing alcohol for a few hours. The alcohol dissolves the residue, and you can then rinse and dry the element before using it again.
Dab Straws Are Better for Flavor
Without a doubt, dab straws are superior to wax pens if you really care about flavor quality. That’s because wax pens are much more susceptible to “dry hits” that can be incredibly harsh on your throat. With a wax pen, you can’t just put a ball of wax on the coil and start vaping – you have to pulse the coil first to melt the wax. If you don’t do that, you’ll get a dry hit. Likewise, you’ll also get a dry hit if you continue vaping after all of the material is consumed – but you can’t know if all of the wax has been used unless you check the coil constantly. With a dab straw, on the other hand, there’s no need to preheat your wax – and you always know how much wax you have because the container is right in front of you.
Another benefit that dab straws have for flavor is that many high-end devices have built-in bubblers. A bubbler allows the vapor to pass through a column of water before you inhale it, cooling the vapor and greatly increasing its smoothness.
Dab Straws Are Compatible with Both Wax and Oil
The final benefit of dab straws is that unlike wax pens, they’re compatible with a much wider variety of concentrates. Because a wax pen has an exposed coil with large airflow holes, it’s suitable for wax-based concentrates only. If you try to use an oily concentrate with a wax pen, your device will leak. A dab straw, on the other hand, doesn’t have that limitation because you dip the device’s heating element directly into your material. No matter what type of material you happen to have available – oil or wax –it’ll work perfectly with a dab straw.
Data and information are provided for informational purposes only, and are not intended for investment or other purposes.
