What have you found that is easiest on the lungs?

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

I would like to share some info...
I think, bong hit is probably more harmful than a joint puff. bong hits only get you higher because the bong hit is bigger then the pipe hit bigger dose of THC. but the bong is less efficient then pipe because of water and amount of time the smoke sits in tube before inhalation.
I think bongs cool down the smoke which lowers the gas percentage and increases the soot & ash percentage and actually harms your lungs more. Say you hold your hit in for 3-5 seconds or whatever, the hot gas cannabinoids get absorbed by your lungs, where the cooler soot and ash gets left in your lungs unabsorbed for the most part until you cough it out. When the smoke is hotter it stays more as a gas and gets blown out rather than condensating on your lung tissue.

:thumbsup:

You are a prime candidate for medibles. Try making cannabutter from the sticky on this site. Use the cannabutter to make cookies or whatever can be made into several doses. Try eating a cookie about 1 hour before you go to bed. I make tons of butter and have a closet full of medibles to help me sleep. I have back pain and the cookies allow me to sleep undisturbed for at least 4 hours regardless of pain. Medibles can also be used during day time hours but can be more like drinking whiskey than smoking weed. Also tincture works but is not as heavy as medibles when used in the day time. There are also recipes here for tincture or green dragon.

Tinctures.

Way easier on the lungs.

Good glycerin and honey oil tastes like raisins.

Good hemp oil and honey wax (what most call BHO) tastes like mint.

I agree with rudy2010 - you definitely should learn to make medibles. This way, you have zero negative impact on your lungs, and there are so many different consumables you can make, you can make things very interesting. I've made everything from simple cookies, to lollipops to smoothies and so on.

Other than that, I'd recommend the vape over all other "smoking" methods. With regards to your dry cough from the vape - what temperatures is your Volcano set to? Try keeping it between 170-190 and you will notice the vapour is far less harsh.

One tip I've learned over the years if you want a super smooth vape experience: chew a couple pieces of really strong menthol gum before inhaling. The cooling effect from the gum makes vaping tons of fun. Try it out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daytonakid

Try keeping it between 170-190

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My Volcano only just has a knob, and I have no method of determining what number on the knob corresponds to what temperature. I usually run it at 6.5 on the knob which was suggested to me by others who have the same model.

I do like the vape it's just a pain to use sometimes. Really it comes down to when I should put the bag on. If I put it on right away the bag fills half with air before any "smoke" starts to enter the bag, making it a pretty weak bag overall. If I wait until I see "smoke" before I put the bag on, I'm losing an unknown amount of THC in the process. It's mainly my inability to find a balance between these two factors that steers me away from the vaporizer. Other stuff like waiting 5 minutes for it to heat up, etc, is just icing on the cake.

If the bowl is packed properly, and you are vaping at the right temperatures, then you should see vapour fill the bag immediately. Perhaps your Volcano is not working properly?