Best Dab Pens of 2023: For Wax and Solid Concentrates

10 Best Dab Pens of 2023

Here are the 10 best dab pens for wax and concentrates, based on our expert research and feedback from other dab pen users.

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What is Dab Pen and How Does It Work

Dab pens are portable versions of nail rigs, the only way people used to vape concentrates like resin and wax. Nail rigs and dab pens follow the same method: an often-metal heating element gets heated to a point where it vaporizes THC concentrates, making an inhalable vapor.

A dab pen uses this same function with its internal heating chamber. Instead of a sizeable tabletop rig, a dab pen reduces all that into quartz rods and wire atomizers or the more-popular flat-disc heating element made of ceramic. The dab pen’s internal battery heats the quartz crystal or ceramic disc, which heats the loaded concentrate, i.e., budder, shatter, wax or resin.

Dab pen typically has simple three-piece configurations:

• Mouthpiece
• Atomizer
• Battery

The separate pieces have different attachment styles, but the most common one is 510-threading, so you can use pieces interchangeably. You can attach one atomizer to another, more powerful battery or use one battery with several types of atomizer or a prefilled cartridge. Dab pens are very slight and have a low profile, which makes them popular and convenient to use anywhere.

Different Types of Wax Dabs

While a dab and a wax pen are indistinguishable, the waxes have several distinguishing features. Not all resins are the same since every producer uses a unique process to create their product. Like there are several different types of other products, like wine, coffee, or chocolate, producers like to add specific characteristics or features to their products to make them stand out from the crowd.

Shatter

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Shatter is the name given to cannabis extracts with a glassy, fragile-looking appearance that is almost see-through. Shatter is different from regular wax. It is hard and can break faster than typical wax, which is soft and pliable like any other type. Shatter is often produced via solvent extraction that absorbs all the cannabinoids in raw cannabis flowers.

Pull n’ Snap

Pull n’ Snap is a type of THC extract with a soft, gooey texture that can be pulled apart, much like taffy candy. Pull n’ Snap is also created using the hydrocarbon extraction process. It pushes a solvent through the dried plant material. However, the concentrated oil is then purified from the solvent leaving only the sticky and malleable THC or CBD extract.

Sugar Wax

Sugar or sugar wax is another type of extract with the texture and appearance of wet sugar and appears as tiny, little crystals. Sugar wax can be made in many different ways. But it is typically made with the same extraction solvent as other waxes and extracts. Before, processed cannabis oil often accidentally became crystalline, like sugar. But now, producers have found different ways to create this process rather than waiting for it to happen by itself.

Sauce

The sauce is a type of extract with a liquid texture known for its potency and high-terpene count. The material is made using the same extraction process but can be made using solvent or C02 extraction. Sauces often come with tiny, semi-visible crystals inside the liquid, solid THC particles.

Badder/Batter

Badder or batter is so-called because once processed, it comes to have a consistency similar to cake batter, meaning it is wet, granular, and spreadable. The product uses solvent extraction but is often shaken or mixed with other ingredients to create a different texture. There are many different consistencies of badder as well.

Crumble

This extract gets its name because it has a dry, crumbly consistency and tends to fall apart easily. This feature does not mean that it is of poor quality. Crumble is a dry type of extract since it spends a lot of time heated in a sealed vacuum. This longer extraction time means the end product is much more dehydrated and potent than other types of wax. It is also referred to as a honeycomb because of its appearance and malleability.

Live Resin

Live resin is a kind of cannabis extract that is made with frozen cannabis plants rather than fresh, dried, or cured plants. The freezing process is supposed to retain all the valuable cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and trichomes found in freshly-harvested marijuana or hemp plants. Once frozen, the plants are subjected to different extraction methods depending on the manufacturer. So any time you see “live” before any cannabis products, it often means the plants used to make them were frozen and not fresh or cured.

Bubble Hash

Bubble hash is made using a freezing process that captures the essential compounds of cannabis flowers and then extracted using an agitation process. When smoked, the hash bubbles, giving it its unique name. Fresh cannabis plants are mixed with ice water, which removes the desired components and is then filtered to create the bubble hash.

What’s a Good Dab Pen for Beginners?

If you are a beginner, you can learn about dab pens quickly because they are straightforward. Best wax pens have user-friendly features like one-click buttons and no other controls, screens, or settings. Some dab pens come outfitted with variable voltage, but you can adjust them with one button or have an adjustable dial you can turn to find the best setting for you. But if you want to know what qualities and specifications you should look for or consider when buying a new dab pen near me, then these are the areas you should focus on.

Build Materials

High-end dab pens use many high-quality materials, even medical grade, so there is no risk of burning and inhaling dangerous substances like plastic, glue, or rubber. But the essential build material you should pay attention to is the heating element in the atomizer. The most popular, even standard, the material is quartz or ceramic.

Again, other, more advanced dab pens have pure titanium or stainless steel coils to instantly vaporize THC or CBD concentrates. But those devices are not for beginners and cost a lot of money. If you are looking for a suitable starter device, you can try the Yocan Evolve, which has a simple, three-piece configuration and a dual-quartz rod atomizer.

Battery Life

The battery inside your dab pen matters a lot, but getting a more extensive battery means the device will be larger and more challenging to carry around. You can choose something smaller in size, but the trade-off is that your battery longevity will go down, but if your priority is something portable and discrete, that is the best option.

Price

Price is the primary consideration when you make any purchase, but if you’re a beginner, try going with something that won’t hurt your bottom line. Budget devices perform well and are easy to use, even if they do not have premium components and extra features like adjustable airflow or temperature control. You can graduate to higher-end devices when you are curious about what is out there, know what you want, and have the money. But if you’re happy with your starter device and don’t need to spend money on something else, you can do that too. Also, buy and pay only on trusted official sites.

How to Use a Dab Pen

A dab pen is easy to use, no matter its design or style. They have simple configurations and do not have any complicated controls. Dab pens are meant to be user-friendly, so anyone can figure them out quickly.

• All dab pens need to be loaded, and they have screw-on carb caps and mouthpieces that are self-explanatory and easy to navigate.
• Dab pens also need to be charged and recharged, which is easy to do with the included charging cables and USB ports that most modern electronic devices have. You should always charge a new device’s battery to ensure it operates properly. Once you have charged the battery, you can start using the device.
• A dab pen like the Yocan Plus, PuffCo Plus, or Linx Blaze has its atomizer underneath the mouthpiece, so you need to remove the mouthpiece to load the chamber. After you’ve loaded the material, you can replace the cap, turn on the device and press the firing button to heat the element.
• Honey straws like the Linx Ares or the Sol have different operating instructions, but you should only use them if you understand how they work. A honey straw has a hot tip or end made of quartz or ceramic that heats and vaporizes concentrate when it comes in contact with the material. You then inhale the vapor from a mouthpiece, but this hot tip is exposed, so you should be very careful and not touch it when in use or put it on some flammable material.

Best Temperature to Vape with Dab Pens for Wax

All wax vaporizers, no matter what they vape, follow the same principle – more power, more vapor, less power, less vapor. This fact applies to dab pens as well. There are varying temperatures you can vape concentrates, but the higher the temperature, the more vapor, but if you prefer lower temperatures, you will get a different vaping experience.

The ideal range for people who want less vapor but more flavor and a more subtle experience can choose between 290 to 330°F. But people who want a lot of vapor, don’t care about taste, and want to get high faster should try vaping anywhere between 371 and 445F.

But temperature control is a premium feature that most regular dab pens don’t have. Budget or beginner dab pens use direct voltage or on-demand vapor, meaning they press the button and get vapor. Other advanced wax and dab devices have adjustable settings like temperature control, but that usually comes in the form of attaching a 510 wat atomizer to a high-voltage, dual battery mod.

How to Clean a Dab Pens

A dab or wax pen does not often need to be cleaned or maintained, but that depends on your pen. A pre-filled or disposable wax pen does not require cleaning, recharging, or refilling. And it is the most accessible type of pen or vape. Other dab pens use a tank atomizer to vape their material and occasionally need some cleaning.

Cleaning a dab pen can be tricky because of the fragility of the materials inside the atomizer, like quartz, glass, or ceramic. That’s why you should never use metal tools to clean an atomizer. Instead, let it heat and then use a cotton swab to remove the residue that melts away to ensure you are not scratching or damaging the chamber inside.

Is Wax Better than Dry Herb?

Dab pens and dry herb pens are very different. Think of dab pens as your stove-top, but a dry herb pen as an oven; they are both ways to do the same thing – cook – but use different methods. But dab pens and dry herb vape pens are distinct because they vape different materials, requiring different vaporization methods.

• Dab pens use direct contact or conduction heating because the material touches the heat source.
• But dry herb pens use either style – convection or conduction – even a hybrid of both to vaporize the essential ingredients in raw, unprocessed dry herb.
• Another difference between these two methods is that dry herb vapes leave material behind, known as an ABV – already been vaped.
• Some dab pens leave behind reclaim, the residue leftover from material that has not been vaped since it has not come in contact with the heating element.
• But reclaim is not the same as excess dry herb material, which can accumulate. However, you can smoke or use ABV for other purposes, so it is not entirely useless.

Pros and Cons of Dab Pens

Pros

• Dab Pen is easy to use, assemble, and load, even though they might be a challenge to clean
• They perform on the same level as huge, elaborate table-top nails and rigs
• Wax pen produces excellent vapor quality and has adjustable settings
• Dab pen is portable and convenient to use

Cons

• They can be messy and difficult to load, especially with concentrates, which are sticky by nature
• They can require a lot of cleaning and maintenance

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Dab penis is a great alternative to all the other ways to ingest THC, CBD and other cannabis concentrates. Wax pens are easy to use, affordable, and offers varying experiences to experiment with what you prefer. Dab pens do not have complicated controls, and anyone can use them without any previous experience.