Is a Dab Pen Better Than a Wax Rig?

Dab Bong Or Vape Pen for Wax?

Dabs (also known as wax) are concentrates extracted from Marijuana through various extraction methods, usually containing the ‘fun’ cannabis cannabinoid called THC. The result looks like a yellow dough that some say looks like butter or wax, but sometimes concentrates come in a crumble, crystal, or shatter form too. Since dabs are very different compared to traditional Marijuana flower, you need specific tools to vape or smoke wax. The most common products used for dabbing are bongs, rigs, or vape pens.

Many cannabis enthusiasts that enjoy concentrate often find themselves wondering if they should consider a dab rig instead of a vape pen (or vice versa). The fact is that these are two different types of products that serve two separate purposes. While they are both used for cannabis concentrate products (in the form of dabs, wax, crumble, etc.) they are vastly different from one another.

What is a Dab Rig? How Does it Work?

A dab rig is very much like a water pipe used for smoking Marijuana flowers. The only difference is that the bowl is designed specifically for dabs and able to handle extreme heat. Dab rigs do not involve a lighter that burns marijuana in a bowl, they’re meant to vape concentrates like dabs, shatter, wax, etc…

The heating process is done with a propane torch unless the rig is equipped with a digital heating device. Some rigs have a digital heating device built into the unit. You can also purchase independent digital heating nails that can work with many different types of rigs as an option too.

After the bowl is heated, typically you use a dab tool to place a small piece of extract in the pre-heated bowl and then start pulling like you would with a regular water-pipe. Alternatively, you could do a “cold dab” which simply means you put the dabs in the bowl first, then heat the bowl with the torch. Either way is effective.

What is a Wax Vape Pen? How Do They Work?

A vape pen for wax is a completely different product that is in most cases meant to be handheld and compact. They consist of a few components such as the 510 thread battery, heating component, and vape cartridge.

The heating process for vape pens that work with dabs is always digital, meaning a battery is used to power a digital heating device called an atomizer. The atomizer usually heats up the dabs or wax found in the ceramic or quartz container. Depending on the vape pen model, some will have a bowl that rests on top of a heating device while others have rods that heat up inside of the bowl.

We carry many different types of vape pens for dabs that suit different needs such as sleek compact options and standard sized options. Other vape pens are heavy duty and have huge batteries designed to provide you with huge hits. For example, the Plasma GQ wax pen has a huge tank and produces monster hits with the built-in heating element that delivers instant heat up.

We also carry the Honetystick Nano dab pen which is perfect for traveling and dabbing on the go. The Honeystick Nano is one of our top selling dab pens designed for travel.

Dab Pen VS Dab Rig

If you are thinking about buying one product and cannot decide between a dab rig and a vape pend for dabs, here are some facts to consider. We believe that vape pens are the better option and for many reasons. A few of which we have listed below.

Portability – Vape pens, in general, are compact and lightweight. Most of them can fit in your pocket or come with compact carrying cases. Compared to dab rigs, vape pens take the win when it comes to portability every time. Dab rigs are made of glass that can sometimes be delicate and cost a fortune for hand blown rigs.
Modular Designs – Dab vape pens work with interchangeable parts. A typical vape pen is made from two, exchangeable elements: the vape battery and cartridge. The most of vaporizers and vape cartridges are using industry-standard 510 thread screw connection. This is universal for most manufacturers that produce these types of products.

With a wax vape pen, you can upgrade your dab battery, change the type of cartridge, or keep your favorite cartridge and change the wax pen battery to a better or stronger one.

You may use your dab pen battery to work with dry herb carts, e-liquids, or oil vape cartridges. There are way more possible uses or upgrades to dab vapes due to the modular nature of a vape pen.

Wax bongs are not versatile at all. When you get a dab rig, there are not many modifications that you can really do to it. In general, the wax rigs or bongs come in ‘As-Is’ condition, not meant for upgrades or modifications.
Durability – The Dab rigs, in general, are delicate and fragile. Bongs are definitely not made for traveling around with. If you drop your rig or bong, you can expect it to break beyond repair into many pieces of glass. Wax pens are built in a durable way; manufacturers know that vape pens need to be drop-proof because most people drop them occasionally just like a cell phone.

All in all, we know that vape pens are more practical and serve as a better all-around vaping device. We feel that dab rigs are great as a secondary dabbing piece for parties but as a go-to dab device, we always recommend using a vape pen due to the various reasons we have stated.

If you’re ready to shop for a vape pen, visit our website and shop from the widest selection of the best vape pens for wax and other forms of dab concentrate. We have the best products at the best prices for sale on our easy to use e-commerce store. We look forward to working with you.