Probably 15 years ago I was introduced to the concept of dry vaporizing but never tried it. Fast forward a year and picked up a crappy vapor-brothers china clone from the local smoke shop and it was terrible - hated it (years later I’d pull out the device again to discover it’s still garbage lol).

Then about a decade ago my friend showed me his Pax1 vaporizer and it blew me away - a portable handheld stealthy dry herbal device was a game changer. The rest was history - I started with a Davinci Ascent, started manufacturing aftermarket widgets for it and eventually founded Delta3DStudios where I get to tinker with all sorts of dry herbal vaporizers and dream up ways to make them better or make life easier while using them.

While making the transition from combustion to dry vaporizing can be hard for some (many heavy smokers claim that dry herbal vaporizing doesn’t “hit” the same - the reality is their bodies are accustomed to the affects from a toxic cocktail of carcinogenics and carbon monoxide), I was fortunately able to make an “easy” transition - my better half wouldn’t let me combust indoors but over one chilly winter they had pity and let me vaporize indoors. I quickly adapted to the vaporizer and it had a positive impact on my health which I hadn’t considered - first my sense of smell returned with a vengeance, I never knew my smell had been so affected by combusting, and next as a gym rat (at the time) I noticed an increase in endurance and lung capacity in the gym, my lungs felt lighter. This is purely anecdotal but it was amazing the difference between combusting and vaporizing.

By this point I’ve handled countless vaporizers and don’t even have an accurate count of how many devices (working, dead, broken, etc) I have in my library (for test fitting new widgets for the market lol).

Here’s some tips from one ent to another:

• As you’ve learned, different temps extract different active compounds from the herb. Low temperatures work for sativa strains, while higher temps work better for indica and CBD strains. So you can vape a hybrid at low temps to extract the sativa side and high temps to extract both sides (or low temp for one sesh, then high temp for the next sesh).

• Almost all devices perform differently - some are stealthier, some cook faster, some produce bigger clouds, some tastier vapor, or easier to clean, etc. There is never such a thing as a “perfect” device for every person in every situation. I use different devices depending on my mood, location, and if I’m hosting guests. Some of my favorite butane powered devices would never be shared with friends because they’re too easy to combust which tarnishes the flavor of subsequent sessions.

• It’s not great to re-cook at the same temp, but you can totally have one sesh at a lower temp, then increase temp 20F+ degrees for each subsequent session

• Don’t jump straight to max temp (especially with portables) - enjoy the road. Start at a low temp like 300F and work your way up 10-20F at a time every few minutes

• Temperature sensors are almost ALWAYS monitoring the temperature of the heater, not the core of your herb. Ripping too hard/fast with many devices will suck heat out faster than the heater can recover temps. Depending on the device, try slowing your draw (I like to suggest a target draw speed of 15-20 seconds to slowly fill your lungs). Now of course high powered desktops may be a different story and you can rip them much harder, but I’m talking about general terms.

• Many portables have weak under-powered heaters. This is partially due to the size constraints and power limitations of how much juice you can safely squeeze out of a single lithium power cell before risking something dangerous happening (like a cell shorting out). Add in all the insulation and heater sizes, and it can take a bit of time for a portable to fully reach optimal extraction temperatures. As such it’s especially important to start at a low temp like 300F for the first 1-2 minutes before increasing temp to desired temp level, this helps the device “preheat” and then adjust temp much faster when you start ripping at a higher temp

• Depending on usage, many people build up a sort of “tolerance” to their regular device. Load sizes, temperature settings, draw patterns, etc all become habitual. By switching devices once or twice a year, you “reset” these tolerances. It doesn’t even have to be an upgrade to something “more powerful”. You can totally step down to a weaker under-powered budget device to help “reset” your body. I do it often to avoid myself from medicating too much/frequently. So don’t throw away old devices, cycle through them from time to time!

• Vaporbonging is an entirely other fun way to enjoy vaporizers when pairing them with glass. However two things to consider: First is that you are really only conditioning the vapor with moisture, you do not need a ton of filtration. Massive percolators and multiple water chambers exponentially rob the vapor of flavor (by three chambers of water, the vapor is essentially TASTELESS which is good if you’re vaping some nasty hash or something). The next thing to know is that while cold glass and ice is good for smoking, it actually cause vapor particles to condensate into LARGER particles that cause more irritation to the throat. Thus when vaporbonging you want to use warm or hot water in the glass pipe instead of cold water and ice.

I could go on and on, I spend way too much time experimenting and studying these devices and this miracle plant. Feel free to ask away - I’m no longer contributing to reddit, so I’m happy to drop some knowledge here!