Have you heard of concentrates? They’re potent herbal extracts that provide numerous advantages over other methods of consumption. If you are new to them, here’s a quick primer on this popular approach to herbal ingestion, along with an explanation of how to smoke dabs without a rig.

What are concentrates?

Concentrates are potent herbal extracts. They come in the form of a thick, resinous oil, which is picked up in drops by a metal dabber and applied to something hot, forcing the oil to combust.

Concentrates are made by soaking dried, ground herbs in butane, rubbing alcohol, or another chemical solvent. The solvent is then evaporated off until you’re left with only a herbal concentrate, which is collected and stored for later use.

Smoking dabs without a rig

Usually this is done with a “rig”, a complex-looking glass pipe. A nail – generally made from titanium, quartz or ceramic – is placed where the bowl would be in a standard glasspiece. Smoke is channeled into a vertical chamber and through the mouthpiece. The nail is heated with a butane torch (unless you have an eNail) and the concentrates are placed on it in small drops. The product combusts, creating a powerful blast of potent smoke that is then inhaled through the mouthpiece.

Smoking concentrates without a dab rig

But not everyone has a rig, and not everyone can buy one easily. Plus, the whole thing is rather complicated and at least a little dangerous: Blasting a glass pipe with butane can backfire. So how to smoke concentrates without a rig? Here are a couple of ideas.

Add to a bowl

The first approach is to add your concentrate to half-packed bowl. Simply fill it halfway, add a drop of concentrate, and then fill to the top. You do it this way so the concentrates aren’t exposed to an open flame, which can quickly degrade their potency.

Roll in a paper

Alternatively, you could add a small amount of concentrate to a cigarette. Prepare your rolling paper and tobacco like you normally would. Now add some concentrates, making sure to space it out. But don’t leave any too close to the cherry end – again, exposing it to a flame can defeat the purpose.

Neither of these methods is perfect for smoking concentrates without a rig. The benefit of using a rig is that you can heat the nail to just the right temperature so the your concentrate is completely and immediately combusted. Using an eNail gives you an even higher level of control over temperature levels.

But if you want to smoke concentrates without a rig, there are easy ways to do it. We’ve outlined two of them, and hopefully that’s enough to get you started. Concentrates are a lot of fun – anyone who knows what they’re talking about will agree – but they’re also generally cheaper and more cost-effective than consuming herbs . So learning to smoke concentrates without a rig can take you a long way.

Above all, though, make sure you have fun! We know we will.