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If you are curious about shatter, you’ve come to the right place. You might already be accustomed to smoking marijuana, whether you use a bowl, bong, or joints. If that’s the case, learning how to smoke shatter should be a breeze, especially if you follow our guide.
Shatter will give you a great, powerful high that’s long-lasting. If that sounds interesting and attractive to you, shatter is likely a great option. Before we jump into the guide, though, we should review a few considerations so that you have a better understanding of shatter.
What Is a Concentrate?
Concentrates are the extracted cannabinoids and terpenes from marijuana plants. These include CBD and THC, which are the ones familiar with most people.
Concentrates come in several forms and are a great deal stronger in their potency when compared to average marijuana. The forms include crumble, THC distillate, wax, hash, live resin, and several others.
Shatter is a form of concentrate, which is best identified by its appearance. It looks like glass, which can shatter on impact; hence, the name. It also offers one of the more versatile textures when it comes to concentrates. Other textures of concentrates, such as crumble and budder, may even begin as shatter.
Additionally, shatter is the purest concentrate you can find. It is usually transparent with an amber hue and contains the highest amount of terpene.
With its potency, it is even more important that you know the proper way of smoking shatter. Generally, you will approach smoking shatter differently than you would approach smoking an average strain of marijuana.
How to Smoke Shatter Properly
There are several methods of smoking shatter, but there are also some important reminders and a list of do’s and don’ts.
Reminders
Before getting into the steps of smoking shatter, it makes sense to start with reminders about using it.
- Use in Moderation
This is especially important given that shatter is the most potent marijuana concentrate you can find. As such, you really don’t need to jump right in with both feet.
You can absolutely start smoking shatter by taking baby steps, which is advisable. Take things slow and ensure you enjoy shatter’s effect on you.
- Be Responsible
In addition to moderation, responsibility is key. Even if you become a pro at smoking shatter and you have all of the right tools, you don’t want to overdo it.
Indeed, you can’t really overdose on cannabis, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to make yourself uncomfortable, even unintentionally. Smoking too much and too quickly can really lead to a very unpleasant experience. It may even turn you off to smoking shatter in the future, but that would be due to improper use.
Methods
There really isn’t a right and wrong way to smoke shatter. With that said, as is the case with nearly everything, some ways are more effective and will give you an overall more pleasurable experience. We’ll review a few different methods.
Option #1: Dabbing
If you want to be dabbing your shatter, you will need a rig, which is a glass-like bong. In general, the rig has a bowl, which is often referred to as the nail.
That nail gets heated through an external butane torch or an electric device built right into it. Once appropriately heated, a pick is used to dab the shatter, ensuring the chamber gets filled up with vapor.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on your first shatter dab:
- Start by breaking off a tiny piece. You don’t need a piece that is any bigger than a small bead.
- Put that piece on your dabbing tool.
- Heat the nail up using the torch.
- Melt the shatter off of the tool by touching the dabbing tool to the heated up nail.
- Cover up the dome with the topper, which helps create improved circulation while you are inhaling.
Option #2: Vaping
If you dab, you will create smoke or vape, depending on the temperature of the heat you apply to the shatter. You will typically come across two different options when it comes to vaporizers, namely the portable and desktop versions.
- Desktop
Typically, the more expensive model is the desktop, but they don’t mix well with concentrates like shatter. On the other hand, if you use a pen to vaporize, you aren’t likely to produce much smoke, if any. The popularity of vaporizing pens has grown immensely in the past years.
- Portable
Pen vaporizers are discreet and portable, so you can bring them with you just about anywhere without drawing a lot of attention to yourself. Many people who have been using pipes and joints for years are switching to vaporizing pens for these reasons.
In addition, the pens come in many different styles and shapes. Varieties include extract vapes, dry herb vapes, dual-function vapes, and tabletop vapes. Dual-function vapes can be used with both extracts and flower. Each type of pen comes with its own heating style.
Vape pens are also largely considered the healthiest way to smoke shatter since it is said that they contain any carcinogens or tar. There are some downsides to this method, though.
A lot of the options have a poor-quality battery, and some of the cheaper vape pens have a mediocre heating element. This can make for a weak experience when vaping; they can sometimes lend themselves to overall bland flavor and weaker effects. That said, they are an inexpensive and easily transportable option.
Option #3: Adding to Flowers
The simplest way to smoke shatter is to add it to flowers. You can do this right in a bowl or joint.
If you choose to smoke shatter this way, you can roll it into a snake and then put it right on top of the flower when you roll your joint. This is a quite simple yet effective way to smoke your shatter. It is often the easiest way for those who are new to smoking concentrates.
One thing to consider with this method is that you will waste a good amount of the shatter during the process of smoking it. Nonetheless, this option does not require you to have or use any other equipment which can be really attractive to newbies.
If you decide you like the experience, you can always invest in equipment. If you don’t like it, then you’ve not really wasted any money.
The Do’s and Don’ts
Just like anything else, there are some do’s and don’ts to smoking shatter. Let’s learn them together!
Do: Take Baby Steps
When dabbing, do wait a minimum of ten minutes following your first dab before you take another. This is because while you will likely feel some effects instantaneously, you won’t get the full impact until at least ten minutes have gone by.
This is crucial for newbies to understand. You are probably used to smoking weed and being able to take multiple hits in a short period of time. That just is not the case with shatter, which is one of the primary differences in the way you will smoke it.
Those who are experienced in smoking shatter will know when they can take another hit and will understand that effect that is coming. Newbies have to move much more slowly until they fully understand how the effect will hit them personally.
Do Not: Use the Hot-Knife Method
The method includes heating up two butter knives using a coil stovetop. Once the knives are red hot, you basically push the two of them together with the shatter in between them.
As the shatter starts to combust, smoke that you can inhale will be released, but this is a dangerous method when smoking shatter. We do not recommend this at all. The three methods highlighted above are the most reliable and safest options.
Do: Safely Store Your Items
Do safely store all forms of your cannabis extracts and concentrations. You can do this by using silicone containers, which should keep them dry and safe. These containers are also very portable, so you can bring them with you wherever you want.
Do Not: Use the Car Lighter Method
Do not attempt the electric car lighter method, as this is also quite dangerous. As the name suggests, with this method, you will use a car lighter.
The electric car lighter gets heated up until it glows red. Then, half of a plastic bottle is placed over the lighter, and you dab a tiny bit of shatter onto the coil. Once it produces smoke, you inhale it.
Do Not: Be Pressured
Do not allow yourself to feel pressured by others. This can be hard if you are around people who are used to smoking shatter or other concentrates. That said, this isn’t always for everyone.
If you aren’t comfortable or feel like it just isn’t for you, don’t allow yourself to feel pressured into smoking shatter. Stay educated on how to smoke shatter, and you’ll be able to decide if it’s right for you or not. Once you smoke one, and you take your time doing so, you can better gauge if smoking shatter is a good fit.
Is Smoking Shatter Right for You?
Now that we’ve outlined the different ways of smoking shatter, and included some basic do’s and don’ts, you might be trying to figure out if this is the right thing for you.
So, we’ll highlight some things to keep in mind when making your decision. Only you can decide if smoking shatter is an enjoyable experience for you.
1. Understand Your Shatter
This is a big one. Just like every other thing you consume, you need to know how and where your shatter is made. Not shatter is reliable, and you should always be relying on something you know.
In general, you want to know how it’s extracted so that you can avoid one done by some amateur chemist. In most instances, it is extracted through the use of butane oil products.
With that said, be sure that the shatter you are consuming comes from a manufacturer that has followed the guidelines set for filtering out unnecessary chemicals.
There are also some safety risks to consider when consuming shatter. You can eliminate some of those if you know how yours is made and by whom.
2. Know Yourself
You should have a good understanding of your own tolerance if you plan on smoking shatter. This is because of the overall potency of shatter.
You need to be sure you can handle it. You really do not want to put yourself in a position that makes you uncomfortable, especially if you aren’t accustomed to smoking shatter.
Start slowly and decide if it is really for you. Stop when you feel like you’ve had enough and make sure you actually enjoy the effect before moving on to consuming more.
3. Know Why You Are Doing It
To make sure you are consuming the right amount and in the frequency and method that makes sense for you, you first need to understand why you are choosing to smoke shatter in the first place.
Is it strictly for recreation? Are you planning to smoke shatter for medicinal or health-related reasons?
What matters is that you understand why you are doing it so you can make the right decisions for your consumption and use. If it’s strictly for recreation, for example, maybe you prefer to stop consuming as soon as you get the right level of high. This would mean that you would never put yourself in an uncomfortable position.
Similarly, if it is for health or medicinal reasons, the amount you smoke would likely be less.
Conclusion
Smoking shatter can be a great experience. With that said, learning how to smoke shatter properly is a big part of enjoying that experience.
Follow our guide and choose which option works best for you. Of course, take into account all of our do’s and don’ts and additional considerations.
Then, take baby steps to start. Once you’ve got the hang of it and have built up your tolerance, we hope you’ll enjoy yourself smoking shatter confidently.