There’s smoking, and then there’s vaping. Smoking ignites dry herb, burns material, and more often than not adds nasty particles to what you inhale. Vaping uses lower heat and is nearly combustion-free, allowing for the extraction of essential compounds from your materials without burning them. To be specific, vaporizers have the ability to maintain temperatures below 392°F, the point of combustion. This is the sweet spot to unlock flavors, aromas & natural effects from your dry herbs without introducing irritants to each rip. Vaporizing unlocks the key compounds found in dry herbs, botanical concentrates (wax), and e-liquids without creating dense smoke like you’d get from a bong or glass pipe.
With a multitude of devices to choose from, each with different purposes and designs, shopping for a vaporizer might seem intimidating. However, finding the right device to fit your needs doesn’t have to be a game of smoke & mirrors. Let’s break down what you’ll need to identify before choosing the best vape to suit your lifestyle.
Vaporizer Compatibility:
First you’ll need to distinguish which types of materials you intend to use in your vaporizer. Many people hear the word vaping and immediately think of the nicotine E-Liquid pens that people use as an alternative to tobacco. Nowadays, vaporizers are compatible with many other materials including dry herbs, wax concentrates, CBD e-liquids & oil concentrates. Some devices are multi-functional and can handle all 3 materials, while others are dual compatible or built to handle just one. These vaping materials fall into 3 categories that can be quickly navigated using the accompanying emoji symbols in each product title.
Dry Herb Vaporizers 🌿
For the conservative smoker, vaporizers made for dry herbs offer the natural flavors, aromas & potency levels that have been around for centuries. Herbal vapes generally feature a heating chamber made of conductive material such as ceramic, that heats dry herb without burning it. These units usually feature either conduction or convection heating, or a combination of both, and eliminate the harsh combustion style smoke that comes from using a butane lighter with a bong or glass pipe.
Herbal vaporizers can feature a variety of temperature settings so look for the terms ‘precision control,’ which allows users to choose specific degrees of temperature, or ‘variable voltage,’ which are vape batteries that generally feature 3 to 5 preset temperatures optimized for heating dry herbs.
Wax Concentrate Vaporizers 🍯
Some prefer higher potency from their smoke and a wider range of flavors--this is where wax concentrates come in. Derived from dry herbs with largely increased potency levels, wax concentrates comes in a variety of types including crumble, concentrate & oil. Vaping wax generally requires a pen-style unit. This slender device features a heating chamber known more commonly in the vaping world as an atomizer. An atomizer usually features a heating element like a quartz rod wrapped in titanium coils which is where you load your wax.
Wax concentrates can also be consumed using a larger desktop style rig called an eNail or eRig, a high powered device that vaporizes concentrates at extra hot temperatures to create huge, robust clouds. This practice is known as dabbing, and is the vape equivalent of using a glass dab rig to smoke your wax concentrates. Wax can also come in a liquid form, which is vaped using an oil cartridge powered by a battery. Wax concentrates can burn quickly so almost all vaporizer batteries designed for concentrates feature variable voltage settings with preset temperature ranges.
Oil & E-Liquid Vaporizers💧
Those switching from smoking to vaping generally turn to e-liquid, also known as ejuice, a liquid typically comprised of vegetable glycerine, propylene glycol, flavoring, and a nicotine solution. Ejuice has become a popular substitute for loose leaf tobacco for a number of reasons. For one thing, this substance comes in a variety of nicotine levels so the user can customize their level of intake.
Secondly, as with every vaporizer, users don't breathe in as many irritants as they do when smoking. Lastly, vapor from e-liquid doesn’t linger in the air like smoke would, making it a more discreet and cleaner way to enjoy nicotine. This material is generally consumed using an e-liquid vaporizer, which usually features a liquid tank or cartridge and a vape battery with a control button on it.
Once you decide what type of materials you’ll want to use in your vaporizer, it's time for the fun part:
Choosing the Right Style Vape:
Whether your prioritize portability, performance, ease of use, dual compatibility or even just need it to be your favorite shade of pink, there’s a vaporizer unit made for just about everyone. We categorize our vaporizers into 5 main collections that are sorted by design, each listed separately in the drop down menu that appears at the top of the page labeled Vivacious Vaporizers.
Vaporizer Pens
Pen-style vaporizers offer a discreet vaping experience that closely resemble e-cigarettes, allowing you to take your vaping on the move while remaining incognito. Unlike our handheld vapes that aren’t pen-shaped, these vapes won’t burden your pockets and can be concealed almost entirely in your hand. Stealthy, compact, and slender like an office pen, these vaporizer units are the easiest to maintain and operate with single button controls and color-coded displays. Vape pens also tend to be more affordable, so if your on a budget this could be a great place to start.
Rarely made for dry herbs, all vaporizer pens utilize conduction heating and offer a great way to enjoy oils, wax and concentrates. Most vape pens are equipped with universal 510 threading to allow parts to be easily replaced and for compatibility with pre-filled cartridges. If buying oil, wax or CBD cartridges are your thing, we’ve dedicated an entire collection to compatible vaporizer batteries as seen below.
Handheld Vaporizers
Our handheld vaporizers embody an ideal balance of great vapor production and portability, perfect for inside sessions and smoking on the move. Also known as ‘portable’ vaporizers, these handheld units are still travel-friendly like pen-style vaporizers but come packed with more power. Handheld vaporizers also tend to have more available features than their vape pen counterparts such as LCD screens, precision temperature controls, multi-compatibility, and advanced heating methods.
Many of these handheld vaporizers are easy to attach to your bong or glass pipe to add an extra layer of water filtration. Some of these vapes come with their water pipe adapters/attachments included and others can be found here!
Desktop Vaporizers
Designed to provide you an unmatched level of vapor quality and the greatest amount of vapor production, the desktop vaporizer is by far the most efficient way to vape. These large and in-charge vaporizer units are less travel-friendly & discreet compared to other designs so they are more ideal for those who prefer smoking at home.
Most desktop units offer either whip-style or balloon-bag inhalation methods, and some even offer both. Whip-style vaporizers tend to be the most prevalent, however the best-selling Volcano Vaporizer features large balloon bags that are filled with enough vapor for a whole party to enjoy. Despite the obvious lack of portability, desktop vaporizers are an excellent option for those who prioritize excellent vapor quality.
Enails & eRigs
Speaking of excellent vapor quality, our collection of eNails & eRigs are becoming the latest and greatest preference for vaporizing wax concentrates. Unlike traditional torch and fire methods for dabbing wax, eNails/eRigs utilize heating elements powered by efficient batteries to very quickly heat materials and offer an unparalleled temperature control that keeps your vapor smooth & tasty.
Enails & eRigs come in a variety of shapes and sizes but are generally more compact. You can choose from desktop rigs that use electric from a wall outlet, or portable e-nails that are battery-powered & rechargeable enabling dabbing on-the-go. Some eNails are super compact and just added to your existing glass dab rig to eliminate the need for a torch. More powerful, consistent, and reliable than other means of vaping, eNails & eRigs deliver thick and extra-potent clouds from your concentrates without sacrificing flavors.
510-Thread Vaporizers
Last but certainly not least, we've got your 510-threaded vaporizers. While most online head shops require you hunt for batteries that are compatible with your pre-filled oil, wax & CBD cartridges, we’ve compiled them into one convenient collection under “Filthy 510-Threaded Vape Batteries.” This collection is a fusion of both our vaporizer pens & handheld units with 510-threading, and a number of additional vaporizer batteries made specifically for use with pre-filled cartridges & tanks. These vaporizers are super unique and include designs that are ultra compact, some that fit right on your keychain, and even others disguised as car key fobs!
510-threaded parts & accessories have become the standard in the vaping industry. It gets its name from the size of the receptacle which is usually 5mm in length, and the amount of screw threads, which is typically 10. Although threading size is universal, pre-filled cartridges and tanks are available in a variety of volumes (typically .25mL, .5mL and 1mL variants). Some tank sizes may hold a larger volume than others, but the larger tanks simply taper off and still fit the same threading.
If you choose to go with a box-style vaporizer than conceal or holds the cartridge inside the body or frame, you must keep in mind that not all tank sizes (in volume) will fit inside these batteries. If your not sure about your cartridge size, you can never go wrong with a pen-style 510-threaded vape battery which allows the tank to sit exposed on top of the battery. If your really set in your ways for a box-mod, check out the brand new Yocan UNI Vaporizer (seen above) designed to conceal your cartridges AND adjust sizes to fit up to 12mm tanks! Nonetheless, the entire collection features 510-threading so its guaranteed to work with any industry standard pre-filled cartridges you may have
Wrapping it Up:
All in all, shopping for a new vaporizer doesn’t have to be so difficult. Unlike smoking from a bong, dab rig or glass pipe that can add harmful particulates to each draw, vaporizers are designed to maintain the ideal temperature for activating the essential compounds found in dry herbs and other related materials with minimal combustion. Once you know what type of materials you want to vape and have settled on a style that fits your life, your more than good to start navigating our large collections of vaporizers for sale and enjoying the benefits of vaping. Happy hunting!