Looking to use a vape pen for weed? Now more than ever, vape pens seem to be everywhere. But, which is the best vape pen for weed overall? Which vape pen provides you with the experience you’re looking for?

Here, we’ll go through our favorite vape pens. We’ll tell you how to choose the right vape pen, show you some of the best vape pens on the market, and explain how to use them. By the end of the article, you’ll know exactly which vape pen you need. Let’s get started!

Can you use any vape for weed?

It depends on what you mean by “vape pen”. In this article, we’ll refer to “vape pens” to any pen-sized device for vaping, a.k.a. anything electronic that you can vape out of. There are a ton of different vapes for different uses. A lot of the first vaporizers were developed for dry herbs originally, going from large desktop devices into the portable vaporizers of today. Nowadays, there are mainly three kinds of vape pens:

• Vape pens for cartridges: Also called “battery pens”, these devices connect to a cartridge to vape out of. Once the cartridge is done, it’s refilled, or discarded and replaced with a new one.
• Vape pens for concentrates: Developed for dabbing fans, these devices can be loaded with waxy concentrates to vape them on the go.
• Vape pens for dry herb: Usually more expensive than their counterparts, dry herb vaporizers can be loaded with a small amount of weed to be vaporized.

As you can see, it’s not like you can get any vape pen and put some herbs in it. Choosing the right one is the first step in learning how to use a vape pen for whatever material you want.

Step 1: Pick the right vape pen

What do you want to vaporize? Dry herbs? Concentrates? Cartridges? All of the above? Some vape pens, like the Atmos Jump, can only vaporize dry herbs. Other devices, like the Flowermate Aura, can vaporize both dry herbs and oils, and there are some devices that can even vaporize concentrates and be used as a dab straw.

Pick a pen that would ideally support the materials you like to vaporize the most.

Step 2: Load your vape pen

Once you have a vape pen, you want to load the material into it. For wax vape pens, you want to use a dab tool to collect the wax and place it into your vaporizing chamber. Never use your fingers only, since the oils on them can degrade the wax you’re handling.

For liquid concentrate vaporizers, you can load the oil into the chamber drop by drop. If you only have a 510 threaded vape pen battery, you can still buy a separate refillable cartridge to use it to vaporize oil. That way, you can reduce your waste and your spending, since oil tends to be cheaper when bought separately.

For dry herb vape pens, you’ll want to follow the instructions of the device to know if you should be packing the herb tightly or loosely. Close your vape pen chamber when you’re done reloading.

Step 3: Use the vape pen’s button

Now that you’ve loaded up your vape pen, you can start using it. Most vape pens have the one button. Here’s the “standard” way of operating a one-button vape pen:

• 5 presses – Turn on/off
• Long press - Heat up the chamber to take a draw
• 3 presses - Change temperature setting

Although some vaporizers may have more or less options, most vape pens follow a variation of this navigation system. Battery pens and oil vaporizers usually heat up instantly with one long press, while wax pens and dry herb vaporizers may take longer to fully heat up the chamber.

There are some buttonless vape pens, especially ones made for oil, that simply start as soon as the operator inhales. Ready to take a hit?

Step 4: Learn to inhale

Most vape pens, especially the more affordable ones, aren’t made for you to just inhale directly to your lungs. If you do, you’ll likely feel more resistance than you should. 

Learn to inhale through negative pressure, getting the vapor to your mouth by pulling your tongue from front to back, instead of inhaling through your lungs. Once you have a mouthful of vapor, inhale a large breath of fresh air and exhale fully.

Vapor also feels different to your lungs than air or smoke, and can induce coughing, especially when vaporizing at higher temperatures. Experimenting different temperatures and different inhalation techniques to find your favorite one to use with each vape pen.

Step 5: Clean and store

It’s usually best to start cleaning up as soon as you’ve consumed all the material in your device. This will help you always have a device ready to go, instead of having to clean it every time you want to use it.

Wait until your device has cooled off. Then, you can remove the mouthpiece and use a brush to remove the remaining debris. If you’ve vaped oils or waxy concentrates, you’ll want to clean the chamber with a cotton swab dampened with alcohol as soon as you’ve finished your material. If you’re vaping dry herbs, you may skip this step until you see any residue buildup.

Make sure your device is clean and charged for next session—your future self will thank you.

Final Thoughts about using vape pens

Vape pens are awesome smoke-free alternatives. This leads to a cleaner experience with no ashes reaching your lungs, no flames, and far less odor.

If you want a discreet and efficient way of vaporizing your materials anywhere you want, go check out our vape pen collection at Grasscity!