Desktop Vaporizers
These are some of the oldest types of dry herb vaporizers, and also the most outdated since it doesn’t seem like anyone makes them anymore. That is perfectly understandable since, as the name implies, desktop vaporizers are quite large and somewhat unwieldy for most users. They do produce some of the purest, great-tasting vapor you will ever experience, but for most users, the complexity and inconvenience involved in using a desktop vaporizer just aren’t worth it.
Desktop vaporizers need a variety of attachments like whip tubes, bags or balloons, and direct draw attachments. Those are a lot of accessories for the simple task of vaping, which is why so many choose not to bother. Those who do bother will experience, smooth, pure vapor in a vaporizer that’s great for sharing thanks to the potential for multiple vaping attachments. They will be vaping for a while since desktop vaporizers mostly use wall adapters instead of batteries. There are some people who still swear by desktop vaporizers, just like there are probably still people who swear by laserdisc, but for most people, they are a thing of the past.
Portable Vaporizers
These are easily the most popular type of vaporizers thanks to their convenient portability, wide variety of price points, and ease of use. Even though some of them are on the larger side and more suited for home use than for travel, they are still smaller and easier to use than desktop vapes. Not to mention that the best of them feature vapor quality that comes close to matching desktop vaporizers. With so many portable vaporizers available, there are various subcategories of portable vapes as well, so let’s take a closer look.
Convection Vaporizers
This refers to the heating method used in these vaporizers, where hot air is used to heat the herb and create the vapor. They are popular because most vapers like that the herb gets heated evenly, which results in richer, smoother vapor. One of the better examples of a convection vaporizer is the Arizer Solo 2.
Conduction Vaporizers
These vaporizers heat the herb directly since, unlike with convection vaporizers, the heating element directly contacts the herb. Earlier models of conduction vaporizers were at risk of burning the herb, thus negating all the advantages of vaping. These days, conduction vapes like the DaVinci IQ are higher in quality and do an excellent job of heating up the herb—without burning it—to produce high-quality vapor.
Conduction/Convection Vaporizers
These vapes are a hybrid of the two heating styles. They are quite popular because they tend to create excellent vapor. The popular Crafty vaporizer is a good example of a conduction/convection hybrid vaporizer.
Session Vaporizers
The majority of portable vaporizers are session vaporizers. What that means is that the herb placed in the oven must be vaped in a single session. It is not recommended that you attempt to only vape the herb for a short time, put it down, and attempt to vape the rest later. That is because the oven retains some heat even after the vaporizer is turned off, which can result in the herb getting burned. It’s all or nothing with session vaporizers like the Pax 3.
On-Demand Vaporizers
If you do want to vape on your own schedule, then on demand vaporizers are for you. They heat up and cool down quickly, so they allow users to vape as much or as little of the herb as they want, pause their session, and resume it later without any worry that the herb will be cashed. They’re convenient, but also expensive, and currently the only on demand vaporizers available are the Firefly 2+ and the Ghost MV1.
Analog Vaporizers
Also called flame powered vaporizers, non-electric vaporizers, or butane vaporizers, these somewhat rare type of dry herb vaporizers don’t use electric power. They are more semblable to a wood, glass, or metal joint and are heated up using a butane lighter. They are more suited for people who enjoy the feeling of smoking a joint rather than inhaling from a mouthpiece.
They have a few advantages over electric vaporizers, like the fact that they are generally cheaper, are much easier to maintain, they allow on-demand vaping, and they heat up very quickly. They do have some disadvantages of course, mainly that they don’t have any temperature control and they rely on an external heat source. Analog vaporizers like the DynaVap M occupy a small, unique, and interesting niche in the vaping world.
Of course, you should not be inhaling from the vaporizer while this process is going on. Also, most vapes have an auto-shutoff feature where they cut the power after a few minutes. So you will need to turn the device back on when that happens and continue doing so for a few minutes.
After five minutes, open up the vaporizer so that the oven is exposed and give it a sniff, if you still detect even a faint hint of plastic, then continue the burn off the process for another five minutes. If you don’t smell anything, then you’re good to go and can use your vape with weed for the first time.
