Vaping has continued to grow in popularity the past few years, and there are a ton of reasons why it has sustained its popularity. Vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking, allowing you to avoid a lot of the chemicals and unwanted particles that you end up inhaling while smoking. Dry herb vaporizers are also super discreet, much more so than smoking from a joint or glass pipe. Many have grown to enjoy vaping e-juices inside their homes since the smell is minimal and dissipates quickly. However, does the same hold true for vaping dry herbs?
The answer is a bit of yes and no. Vaping dry herbs does create a smell that is a bit more potent than vaping traditional e-juices. However, there are a lot of different factors that impact how strong that smell is. For example, vaping at low temperatures produces less vapor and therefore less smell. The potency of the particular dry herb you are vaping will also play a factor. Regardless of the potency of your vapor, the smell will dissipate once your vape session is complete. Especially when compared to smoking, vaping dry herbs inside are not going to cause any lasting or lingering smells once the vapor has dissipated.
Vapor vs. Smoke
While vaping and smoking dry herbs may look similar, there are some important differences to consider. The first is what exactly is creating the vapor and smoke. Vapor is produced by a process called convection, meaning that hot air is applied to the dry herb, essentially baking it. As the dry herb is baked, it produces vapor that can be inhaled and enjoyed. Smoking involves a process called combustion. This involves much higher temperatures than vaping and actually causes the dry herb to burn. The result is smoke!
Enjoying vapor and smoke are also different. Vapor can be produced at varying temperatures, each with different flavor experiences. As we mentioned above, once the vaping session is complete, the smell will dissipate. Smoking, however, happens at one temperature; the point of combustion. The smoke produced is hot and any subtle flavor notes you may have picked up while vaping are generally lost. However, smoking more easily gives you the full impact of your dry herb. This is why smoking remains a popular option, even with the numerous benefits to vaping.
Advantages of Vaping
As mentioned, vaping offers numerous advantages to smoking:
Vaping Is Easier On Your Lungs
Vaping avoids a lot of the harshness of smoking. Those with sensitive lungs often opt for vaping over smoking.
Vaping Allows For More Tasting Notes To Shine Through
Especially when vaping at lower temperatures, you get to experience a lot of subtle flavors that are often lost when smoking.
Vaping Is More Discreet
Vaping does not require an open flame or an obvious joint or pipe, so it is easy to vape in public. When indoors, vaping produces much less smell, and when vaping at lower temperatures, it is very difficult to smell what you are vaping.
Vaping Is More Convenient
Because vaping can be done indoors and does not require additional components like a pipe or open flame, vaping is just easier to do. You can grab your vaporizer from your coffee table, take a quick hit, and go back to what you are doing. Smoking requires multiple pieces to even get started and also best enjoyed in a place where the smoke will not cause permanent smells or bother those around you.
Tips to Eliminating or Limiting the Smell of Vapor
It is easy to make sure that the smell of vaping dry herbs is not a problem for you:
Vape In A Well-Ventilated Area
This does not necessarily need to be outside, but vaping in an area with solid airflow is ideal. Since the vapor dissipates quickly anyway, vaping in a well-ventilated area can eliminate the smell from those sitting right next to you!
Vape At Lower Temperatures
The higher temperature you vape your dry herb, the more vapor is produced, and the stronger the smell is. Vaping at lower temperatures produces less vapor and makes the smell barely noticeable. It also adds the benefit of making extra tasty hits!
Exhale Straight Into The Air
This is a simple technique that can help limit odors regardless of the temperature you are vaping. Vapor tends to rise as it dissipates, so exhaling straight up into the air means that most of the vapor will not make its way back down to be detected.
Take Smaller Hits
The final tip is common sense. The less vapor you exhale at a time, the less smell that is produced. This is especially worth noting if you are vaping at higher temperatures and taking in more vapor at a time. Instead of ripping super long hits and exhaling a bunch of vapor at once, consider inhaling smaller hits.
Dry Herb Vaporizers vs. Oil Vapes vs Wax Pens
Besides dry herb vaporizes, the two other major styles of vaporizers are for oils and wax concentrates. While similar, these each provide different vaping experiences, which may impact which product is right for you. Oil vapes are made to produce a lot of vapor at once. In fact, part of their popularity is due in part to producing enormous vapor clouds full of flavor. Though these clouds are large (much larger than what you will find with either dry herb vapes or wax pens), they do not smell much and will dissipate quickly.
Wax Pens are a different beast altogether. They use super-hot temperatures to produce vapor from the wax, and that vapor is extremely potent, much more so than what you get from dry herbs. They also require a few more steps for successful use, including using a dab tool to place the wax on the vape coils. However, their potency has aided in their popularity, and modern wax vapes are easy to use.
Regardless of which kind of vapor you decide to enjoy, you will benefit from the advantages that vaping offers over smoking. In fact, many vaping enthusiasts will vape multiple substances since each provides such a different experience. This practice has become common enough that hybrid-use vaporizers (devices designed to handle more than one kind of substance), have begun rising in popularity. Maybe you will become a fan of all three!
Matthew H.