EciRonTog
04-18-2011, 08:22 PM
I smoke quite a bit these days and my lungs aren't liking it so much. Lately it's been affecting my sleep and I cough in the mornings before I even take my first toke.
So I'm looking to re-evaluate the ways I smoke to preferably continue my current THC intake (or more) while decreasing the wear and tear on my lungs.
These are the various ways I smoke right now:
Bong: This is my #1 preferred method of smoking. I change the water out about twice a week or so. I put ice in there usually once a night. Iced bong-tokes seem to get me the most stoned while not making me cough too much (in the short-term). I do tend to take fairly large tokes via the bong, sometimes grinding it first so it becomes a big one-hitter bowl. Straight to the brain-
Vaporizer: I have a Volcano Vaporizer (the classic model with the knob) and I use this sometimes. It's mainly convenience issues that keep me from using it more. The bag I have on there isn't particularly big, but it's still more than I can take in with one lung-full of air. And even though the vaporizer gives off "smoke" that is supposedly cleaner, I still cough a LOT when I hit it. I almost cough worse off the vape because it feels like the vapor coats my lungs but there is nothing to cough up, so it ends up being a dry cough almost. The other issue is that when you turn it on, smoke doesn't come out right away. So you either start filling it from the beginning and end up with a bag half-full of air or you wait until you can see the "smoke" before you put the bag on, losing an unknown about of vapor in the process. Along with the fact that it takes ~5 minutes to heat up.
Pipe: I have a decent glass pipe that is maybe 5-6" long. It has a big bowl and can take big hits but it is pretty hard on my lungs. Because of this I generally only use this when I'm away from home.
Joints: I used to love these but now they are so hard on my lungs I tend to pass or maybe just take one hit. It could also be the tendency of people to roll joints using the lowest quality bud but it's almost like the best hit off a joint is only about as good as the last half-ash hit off a pipe or bong. I take a few hits off a joint and my lungs feel pretty much done.
I think the obvious thing would be to cut out as much of my pipe and joint smoking as possible. But I'm curious about the other ways. Should I be changing the water in my bong more than twice a week or so? Is there anything dangerous about using ice in a bong even though it's soothing for the lungs in the short-term?
And regarding the vape, I know there are people who totally swear by them. Anyone have any tips? I could maybe try to make a smaller bag but the smaller the bag the bigger annoyance it is at the beginning trying to wait until the vapor that is coming out becomes visible. If I want to try and get every last bit of THC by putting the bag on right away, it would be full with clear air before any of the good vapor really started to come out. But it doesn't seem to make sense for me to have a bag so big I can't clear it by myself either. The thing is great for parties though.
I'm also going to try to smoke less right before bed (unfortunately my favorite time to smoke).
Any tips or advice at all would be great
So I'm looking to re-evaluate the ways I smoke to preferably continue my current THC intake (or more) while decreasing the wear and tear on my lungs.
These are the various ways I smoke right now:
Bong: This is my #1 preferred method of smoking. I change the water out about twice a week or so. I put ice in there usually once a night. Iced bong-tokes seem to get me the most stoned while not making me cough too much (in the short-term). I do tend to take fairly large tokes via the bong, sometimes grinding it first so it becomes a big one-hitter bowl. Straight to the brain-
Vaporizer: I have a Volcano Vaporizer (the classic model with the knob) and I use this sometimes. It's mainly convenience issues that keep me from using it more. The bag I have on there isn't particularly big, but it's still more than I can take in with one lung-full of air. And even though the vaporizer gives off "smoke" that is supposedly cleaner, I still cough a LOT when I hit it. I almost cough worse off the vape because it feels like the vapor coats my lungs but there is nothing to cough up, so it ends up being a dry cough almost. The other issue is that when you turn it on, smoke doesn't come out right away. So you either start filling it from the beginning and end up with a bag half-full of air or you wait until you can see the "smoke" before you put the bag on, losing an unknown about of vapor in the process. Along with the fact that it takes ~5 minutes to heat up.
Pipe: I have a decent glass pipe that is maybe 5-6" long. It has a big bowl and can take big hits but it is pretty hard on my lungs. Because of this I generally only use this when I'm away from home.
Joints: I used to love these but now they are so hard on my lungs I tend to pass or maybe just take one hit. It could also be the tendency of people to roll joints using the lowest quality bud but it's almost like the best hit off a joint is only about as good as the last half-ash hit off a pipe or bong. I take a few hits off a joint and my lungs feel pretty much done.
I think the obvious thing would be to cut out as much of my pipe and joint smoking as possible. But I'm curious about the other ways. Should I be changing the water in my bong more than twice a week or so? Is there anything dangerous about using ice in a bong even though it's soothing for the lungs in the short-term?
And regarding the vape, I know there are people who totally swear by them. Anyone have any tips? I could maybe try to make a smaller bag but the smaller the bag the bigger annoyance it is at the beginning trying to wait until the vapor that is coming out becomes visible. If I want to try and get every last bit of THC by putting the bag on right away, it would be full with clear air before any of the good vapor really started to come out. But it doesn't seem to make sense for me to have a bag so big I can't clear it by myself either. The thing is great for parties though.
I'm also going to try to smoke less right before bed (unfortunately my favorite time to smoke).
Any tips or advice at all would be great