Bongs & Vapes To Legal Highs & Snuff : Weedmania

Not long ago I tried using my friend’s Iolite vaporizer for the first time, and those of you who read this blog will remember that I completely fell in love with it. The cleanliness of the high, the creativity it bought, the fact that I hardly had to use any of my stash…

Well, much as I’d love to get one, unfortunately my budget isn’t going to stretch to £140 right now, so I thought I’d look into finding myself a cheaper alternative, and I purchased a Vaporstar Vaporizer instead.

If you don’t already own one, you need to buy a glass bong separately for this little Vaporizer to work, as the Vaporstar itself is purely a little wooden bong bowl with a metal ‘lid.’ I was a little dubious when I unwrapped this as I didn’t think it would do very much, and I was very unsure of how a bong bowl with a lid could transform a regular bong into a vaporizer.

Admittedly, this vape does take some getting used to.  Once your weed is ground, put a pinch in the bong bowl and cover it with the metal lid. You need to place this bong attachment into the neck of your small glass bong and then using a lighter, hold the flame over the top of the metal lid and slowly inhale. You hear a whistling sound and after a moment you can even see the bong starting to fill with vapour. It is quite easy to overdo this stage and you can end up with some slightly burnt weed, but if you are careful you get a pretty good hit!

OK, so this vape isn’t as good as an Iolite, but you wouldn’t expect it to be for such a fraction of the price. However, it does give a good, clean hit with a nice, clear high and for a mere £20, I’m one happy vaping bunny.

It has been three years since the introduction of the smoking ban in public places, and there are certain things that still utterly incense me, one of which being the fact that smoking cannot be portrayed on stage in Scotland.

The Edinburgh Festival is about to begin, and I remember three years ago, just after the start of the ban, the actor Mel Smith was due to appear at the festival portraying one of our most revered leaders, Winston Churchill. Anyone who knows even the slightest morsel of history should be fully aware that the great man himself was an avid cigar smoker. However, if Mel Smith portrayed the man accurately, i.e. lit up a cigar on stage he would be fined £50 and the venue that allowed him to do so would be fined £2,000.

The severity of the punishment is allegedly to protect non-smokers from the risks of passive smoking. However, I hardly think that a single cigar lit in a large theatre would have caused lung cancer on an unprecedented scale amongst the audience. It did, however, make the performance slightly less authentic.

There are many, many wonderful pieces of theatre where smoking is rather intrinsic to the plot. I can’t imagine a version of Sarah Kane’s Blasted where the main character, Ian, is not allowed to smoke.  There are stage directions in Equus where Alan Strang smokes.  Can you honestly imagine Mrs Robinson not being allowed to smoke in The Graduate?

In order to smoke on stage in England you have to prove that smoking is absolutely essential to the artistic integrity of the play (and you are, of course, only allowed to smoke herbal cigarettes), but in Scotland the ban is outright. This is pure censorship. To claim that this is for ‘health benefits’ is utter nonsense. The least that the government could do is to be honest and admit that they are striving to ‘denormalise’ smokers.  And I thought we lived in a society of freedom of speech, where censorship was frowned upon. Try telling that to the Edinburgh theatres…

I went on holiday to Turkey recently and we came across a little Hookah Bar. I had never tried smoking a Hookah so gave it a go, and I must say, I like what I discovered.

The bar had an incredibly friendly and relaxed atmosphere. This was a perfect place to go and relax with some ‘me’ time if that was what you were after, but also a perfect place to meet new and interesting people.

We found a little corner, relaxed on some extremely comfy floor cushions, and spent a very happy hour smoking, drinking coffee or apple tea, smoking, chatting away, smoking, relaxing and smoking some more.

Back home I decided to invest in a Hookah pipe of my own. There are several available from small mini ones, quite similar in size to travel bongs, to huge, ornamental multi-pipe beauties that occupy a fair amount of floor space and are designed to be kept on show at all times.

I opted for an average size, single pipe Hookah. It cost me about £40 and looks very ornamental and beautiful. Better than that, it smokes like a dream. Now, in Turkey we smoked various flavoured tobaccos, but back home I’ve found herbal shisha mixes that are just as tasty. They are available in a massive array of flavours from the fruity, to the spicy, to the refreshingly minty! It seems that i will always have a flavour of herbal smoking mix to get my juices going.

I’d recommend one of these to any smoker. It is not the same as kicking back with an ordinary smoke, but it is a perfect complement to a relaxing evening.

It is a sad fact that being a smoker in the 21st Century makes you, in some eyes, a second class citizen. We are fast becoing a minority in society, but unlike other minorites whose rights are protected by government legislation, ours have been thrown out of the window by the same government.

I read an article recently about a company who test potential new employees for nicotine, in the same way as you might test for drugs or alcohol. This is clearly a step too far. Obviously if you are blind drunk, or off your face on pills your judgment and abilty is going to be impaired, The same is not true if you have smoked a cigarette, and the idea of denying someone a job because of an enirely legal habit sickens me.

If someone was denied a job because of sex, race, age, sexuality, or religion then of course there would be some kind of tribunal. The same would not be true of the smoker not allowed to work because of his personal lifestyle choices. The company in question argue that by weeding out smokers they are able to offer better health benefits to their other employees, and that as smoking is a personal choice it is not fair to cut health benefits for people who have chosen not to smoke. Does this mean that they are also weeding out the overweight? Those who do not exercise? By the same argument those who choose to snack on cakes and crisps rather than apples and carrot sticks should not be employed, but of course this will never happen.

We have already had our right to enjoy a cigarette wherever we please taken away from us. Don’t take away our fundamental right to work as well.

I recently tried out a mate’s Iolite. Gotta be honest, I was sceptical. I’m a pretty hardened smoker and didn’t think anything was going to be as good as kicking back and smoking a couple of joints. However I was convinced to do so as my friend is, if anything, an even more veteran smoker than I am and he couldn’t stop raving about it.

I took my first hit and remained entirely sceptical as I could hardly feel a thing. The only experience I could liken it to is when you’ve got a cold and are inhaling steam (which I guess is exactly what the vaporizer does) whereby you can tell that you inhaling something, but you certainly don’t get the same feeling in the lungs and chest as you do with smoking.

However, a couple of deep hits later and I realised just how high I was already. It was a very clean experience – the kind of high I haven’t had in years.  Very clear and very heady; almost psychedelic. I was almost instantly giggling like a child and wanted to go and be creative. I’m really used to having a few joints and using it to chill out until I get too monged to do anything, but this incredible experience made me pick up my guitar and I simply couldn’t stop playing.

After the Iolite was on for a while I did notice the mouthpiece starting to get quite hot, but we were able to rig a cooling system out of some pipe tubing, so we could keep going. The more I vaped, the more creative I felt myself getting which was incredibly unusual! There was certainly no sitting still and monging in front of the TV that night for this girl.

At £140 or thereabouts, the Iolite Vaporizer isn’t cheap but it really is an incredible experience! And I reckon that if you were to give up smoking entirely you’d probably save yourself quite a bit in the long run. In an evening we used less than half the amount of weed we usually would and no tobacco, so after just a short while the thing would pay for itself.

Personally I enjoy smoking too much to want to give it up straight away, but I’m definitely considering investing in one of these babies. I’m not going to want to smoke forever, and in the meantime it gave me such an amazing, different and creative experience, and I can’t wait to repeat it.

The idea of smoking as a spiritual ritual dates back thousands of years, and the use of the chillum is plays an integral part of the lives of the Sadhus (wandering monks) in India, who use the chillum to smoke charas in veneration of the god Shiva.

Shiva is very commonly associated with the hemp plant; there is even an account whereby Shiva created the cannabis plant from his own body in order to purify the elixir of life. There is an association that cannabis use, while used in religious rites, is believed to cleanse sins and unite the soul with Shiva, and avoid the misery of hell in the afterlife.

Charas is the name given to a hand-made hashish, originating from Afganistan, Nepal, Pakistan and India. Despite its rich and long history, charas was made illegal in India in the 1980s, with possession carrying a ten year mandatory sentence. However, despite these draconian measures, (which have now, thankfully, been relaxed somewhat,) charas remained as popular as ever.

When smoking through the chillum, the charas would be placed in the top of the chillum, and a wet cloth wrapped around the base, to make the smoking much easier on the lungs. Before lighting the pipe, the sadhus would chant the many names of Shiva in worshipful veneration.

The smoking of the chillum is an incredibly social ritual in India, with very strict etiquette, and one which is almost impossible for an outsider to get correct the first time, however the biggest taboo would be to pass the chillum to the left within a smoking circle; the chillum must always be passed to the right.

Chillums are not the easiest way to smoke; you must never put your lips to the end of the chillum. Instead you must create a cup with your hands and draw the air heavily through this as someone else lights the pipe. This is one of the many reasons that chillums are such a social form of smoking, as it can never be done alone.

For all the latest smoking equipment that’s available, at the end of the day sometimes all you want is an honest-to-goodness joint using nature’s best and most natural herb.

In order to enjoy it at its fullest, you need to get a paper that rolls easily, sticks well, and will not add anything nasty to your smoking experience. I’ve found that there are now plenty of papers available that fit these criteria, but my favourite of all would have to be the range produced by RAW.

Many papers contain bleach, and some are even rumoured to contain gunpowder rings. These, coupled with other additives that may be used in conventional rolling papers may increase your carbon monoxide intake whilst smoking.

RAW rolling papers are unbleached (although they may be lightened slightly using sunlight!) and contain no chemical additives to detract from your smoking experience. The papers are incredibly thin, thin enough to see through, so you smoke more of your mixture and less of the paper. They also contain a special criss-cross watermark that helps prevent pesky side-burning.

RAW papers come as traditional papers, Rips, and also as an organic hemp variety. I am very much in favour of hemp paper, as this is not only a fantastically easy way of saving trees, but hemp paper itself is structurally sounder, meaning your joint is much stronger.

A strange ‘side-effect’ of the RAW papers is the different taste. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it, and couldn’t quite put my finger on what the difference was. However, after smoking a pipe I realised the different taste comes purely from the lack of chemicals; you really do taste the mixture and not the paper when using RAW. After smoking a few choice doobies without added chemicals I much prefer this experience to using traditional bleached papers, and ultimately if it is slightly better for me it’s a win-win situation.

If you have a friend’s birthday coming up, what better way to treat them than to get a hamper full of all sorts of treats and goodies that they are sure to love.

But if your mate is an ardent smoker, why not try something to indulge their habit rather than a box full of food or a basket of soaps. I was recently given just such a hamper as a present and I must say that I am impressed, and am looking at getting a couple of these for my mates.

This little wonder box contained a whole array of smoking paraphernalia that has kept me entertained for several evenings now, and I’m sure will continue to keep me entertained for quite some time to come.

Firstly, it contained a miniature bong. I recently went to a music festival and wanted to take a bong with me, but one that could be kept discreet. This hamper came to me just in time then! It was small enough to fit in my pocket, so could be taken out and used whenever the want took me.  As it is an incredibly small bong, you don’t get too much of a hit with it, but that doesn’t matter when what you’ve got is so endlessly portable and discreet! The hamper also came with a pocket pipe, which was perfect for evenings around the campfire singing songs and listening to the bands playing into the night.

Another useful piece of kit that came with the hamper was a couple of plastic tubes that were the ideal size to store a couple of pre-rolled joints to carry around in your pocket and not get crushed. This is an idea I really approve of, especially as we head into summer; you don’t always want to take your stash out and about, but if you can roll a couple at home and get them to the park intact, bingo.

As well as all these great little things for the smoker out and about, there was plenty to keep me entertained at home; a new ashtray (always useful, considering the amount that seem to get broken at home), lighter, various size papers, including a 3m roll that you can rip to whatever size you desire, pipe gauzes, and even a really good acrylic grinder.  Best of all there was a hemp flavour lolly which was great for helping to stave off the munchies.

At the end of the day I’m really pleased with my little hamper, and once I’ve used up all the stuff that came with it I’ll be left with an attractive wicker box that I can use as a stash box in its own right.

We are always on the lookout for anything to enhance our smoking experiences, and we have discovered a new piece of kit. The Solo Pipe is an absolute marvel of modern engineering.

The Solo Pipe negates the need for you to carry a separate lighter around with you, as this is built into the pipe itself. This, added with the handy bowl cover for the pipe, means that you only need to carry the pipe itself around with you, as your stash is already inside the pipe. The butane lighter element is refillable, and so will last you an age.

The pipe itself looks pretty smart; a brass design with a really good, weighty feel. The bowl itself is ample in size to pack in enough of your favourite herb to give you a really good hit, wherever you are. Simply pack it in to the bowl, slide the cover into place, and you are ready to go.  A poly suede carrying pouch that came with the pipe we purchased will keep it looking neat, smart and completely scratch free.

When you need that hit, all you have to do is uncover the bowl and depress the button on the side, and a butane filled lighter swings into place, lighting your herbs as you inhale. Perfect.

Smoking with a bong is one of my favourite ways to smoke. Using water as a filtration method is much cleaner than smoking a roll up, and leads to a much cleaner, clearer hit.

Choosing a bong can be a difficult process. There are so many available on the market, ranging from around £10 to £200 and above. Do you start by getting an expensive one, only to find that smoking bongs isn’t for you, or do you get one from the cheaper end of the range, and not get as good as an experience, and finally give up?

These questions need no longer be a hinderance. The Waterfall Pulsar bong can be found from online retailers for only about £15, and gives a really good, clean hit, making it an ideal first time user bong.

It comes in a range of colours so you can be sure you’ll find one that matches your taste as well as your interior decorations. Simply fill the spherical bottom with water and aght it up and add your smoking mix to the ample sized bowl. Light it up and away you go.

The Pulsar comes apart, making it incredibly easy to clean (and a clean bong is very important – if you allow it to become blocked up with old smoking mix debris, it will not work as effectively) and its diminutive size makes it very easy to store.

In all, the Waterfall Pulsar comes very highly recommended from both verteran smokers and bong virgins alike.