While portable e-rigs and vape pens are convenient, it’s hard to give up your dab rig for an electronic device. Most electronic vaporizers give off harsh, flavorless hits compared with low-temperature dabs on a quartz nail. Because of this, concentrate connoisseurs would rather tote their glass around in Pelican cases to seshes and festivals than rely on electronic devices.
But the need for a torch and several other implements has kept less adventurous consumers away from the extract scene altogether.
Fortunately, we now have the new Puffco Peak to bridge the gap between a modern dab rig’s efficiency and the accessibility of a portable electronic vaporizer. This “smart rig” addresses many of the complications that come with using a dab rig, nail and carb cap.
No More Torches
There are several reasons why many consumers have either avoided concentrates completely or relied solely on portable devices, a common one being that people don’t want to deal with or invest in the necessary tools for dabbing. After all, using a torch comes with some risks; they’re also loud and carrying them around is a pain in the ass. Additionally, heating glass to get high is often associated with hard drug use. That perception alone is enough to keep many average cannabis
consumers at bay.
Portable e-nails have addressed some of these issues, but they’ve brought about their own problems, like blazing hot nails that can give off a burnt-oil taste. Like many other portable vaporizers designed for use with oils, the Peak eliminates the need for a torch. However, the device sets itself apart from most portable e-nails with its ability to deliver pure, flavorful hits. You only taste flavonoids boiling off of the oil and never get that burnt taste common in e-nails.
The Peak is accessible to first-time dabbers, and its efficiency is enough to impress most connoisseurs. Seasoned dabbers can hand it to a less experienced friend without having to worry about them burning the dab too hot and “chazzing” (permanently ruining the aesthetics of) their expensive quartz nail.
No More Dab Timers
Gone are the days of waiting too long to drop your dab and having to reheat the banger again. Unlike the torch-and-dab-rig setup, the Peak allows you to hit your dab in about 20 seconds—without the stress of messing up the timing. That’s right, you won’t have to spend a minute listening to the sound of burning butane followed by another minute of watching a timer. And you won’t have to start the whole process over again if you accidentally wait too long.
The Peak sets itself apart from portable e-nails with its ability to deliver pure, flavorful hits. At the right temperature, you’ll never get that burnt taste common in e-nails.
With the Peak, you just pick one of four settings, double-tap the unit’s only button and let it heat up. It will flash when heating and you’ll hear a vibration before the light stops flashing that signals you to start dabbing. You can stop when no more vapor forms, or you can double-tap the button again to activate the “Session Mode” for additional heat to finish off a dab.
The “smart” device also indicates when it’s already hot, so you don’t have to wait for another 20 seconds or overheat the atomizer when you go back in for round two.
Peak Portability
Another advantage to the Peak is its size. It fits right into a cup holder and doesn’t stand very tall. Although it isn’t portable enough to put in your pocket or low-key enough to hit while
walking down the street, it’s much easier to carry around than a rig, nail, cap, and torch.
The Peak comes in a hard foam case that is smaller than most Pelican cases. It holds the entire device, a carb cap and tool, and it even has a compartment that can be used to hold
dabs and Q-tips—everything you need is in one place.
Less Mess
One of our favorite features of the Peak is that you can pre-load concentrates like you would with an insert. You won’t have to worry about picking up the right amount of sauce five seconds before you’re supposed to dab, fumbling for a place to put your sticky dab tool and having a friend drop the carb cap on for you. The Peak offers anxiety-free dabbing.
Puffco also offers helpful attachments that are sold separately. One is a travel pack that acts as a Q-tip quiver. Another is an
attachment that secures the carb cap to the atomizer. That means no more lost or broken caps—and you won’t have to look around for one when it’s time to dab, either.
Flavor and Potency Without the Puddles
Normally, you would heat a nail up till it’s glowing hot then wait for it to cool down enough to drop the dab. After that, the temperature would slowly decrease. However, with the Peak, oil is heated from a low to a high temperature before cooling back down. That means you can pre-load your dab and experience more terpenes and cannabinoids than you can with a traditional dab.
Since you can keep heating the Peak with the “Session Mode,” you can experience the flavor while leaving little behind for the Q-tip.
You can also drop the dab in with a tool while it’s heating up for a more traditional low-
temperature dab.
Necessary Accessories
Since Puffco hosted their Glass Open glassblowing competition, tons of glass artists have started to create custom attachments for the Puffco Peak. If you hit up your favorite artist and you’re paypal ready, chances are you can get a custom attachment. Production glass companies are making attachments as well. In fact, Beta Glass Labs turned their production line Petra dab rig design into a Puffco Peak attachment.
Beyond aesthetics, there are several accessories that help boost the overall performance of the Peak. For traditional low-temperature dabbers, quartz can be used in place of the ceramic insert.
Eternal Quartz and several other quartz makers have quartz inserts that will fit in a Puffco Peak. We recommend getting a bubble cap to replace of the cap that the Peak comes with. There will be a better seal, allowing you to get more vapor at lower temperatures. Puffco has a new bubble cap for sale and Eternal also make one of the best carb caps for the Peak when it comes to durability and the seal.
Fadespace makes Silicon Carbide inserts which are designed with flavor in mind. They have 80 times more thermal conductivity than quartz and won’t degrade or “chaz” as easily.
ZC Glass has an attachment that allows you to connect any of your bongs or dab rigs to the Puffco Peak battery and atomizer. They also have a plastic hinge attachment to hold your cap up without it dangling and sticking to anything it touches. Finally, they make an adapter that allows you to use a quartz banger in place of an atomizer in case you’re out of battery or atomizers.
The only real issue we found with the Peak is the need for relatively expensive replacement parts when an atomizer inevitably dies. Maintaining all parts of the atomizer that accumulate oil is vital to making it last longer. (Pro tip: If you take the Peak on a trip, you should bring two atomizers or a ZC Glass banger adapter just to be safe.)
Overall, the Puffco Peak has revolutionized the way we consume extracts. The process of low-temperature dabbing has been simplified enough for novice consumers with an efficiency that satisfies even the most seasoned connoisseurs.
