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Dab Day is a novel holiday established by concentrate-consuming stoners who discovered that July 10, when written in numeric form and read upside down, looks like the word OIL. That’s it, that’s the holiday’s whole conceit.
Despite the premise, Oil Day is meant for more than dispensary deals and herculean rips from an oil rig. It’s also an excuse to celebrate the scientific advancements we’ve seen in cannabis since recreational legislation took root. And many of those advancements arrived via new tech for your smoke sesh, namely electronic vaporization devices.
From low-profile tabletop rigs like the Puffco to statement pieces like the Stündenglass, there are endless ways to consume extracts, but not every piece is perfect for every dabber. So we combed through not only community commentary, but our own past few years of sampling rigs to suggest the best devices to use to get the most out of your Oil Day experience. Here are our results:
Favorite Penjamins: Pax Era and Vessel Core
For folks new to oil consumption, Penjamins—low-profile vape devices that users can easily slip into a pocket—are great starter pieces. Though you can often score free Penjamins with the purchase of certain extract cartridges, it’s nice to have a sturdier version to keep around for the long haul.
Pax Era pen vaporizers ($30, pax.com) are a gold standard, namely because their proprietary pod collabs feature Oregon’s most esteemed cannabis producers, like Willamette Valley Alchemy, and East Fork Cultivars. As such, their selections tend to be dependably top shelf. Then there’s Vessel Core (currently on sale for $27, typically $39, vesselbrand.com), a vape pen compatible with 510 cartridges, with a heartier battery, chicer housing, and a more consistent heating system than its freebie facsimile. Either is a requisite addition to any established concentrate enthusiast’s stone zone.
Favorite Handheld E-Rig: Dr. Dabber Boost Evo
Torches, pricey electronic nails, and glass oil rigs were the primary way to consume dabs before handheld e-rigs became ubiquitous. E-rigs married the function of a glass water pipe (i.e., an oil or dab rig, which is just a bong fitted with a bowl for concentrates called a banger) with the consistent heat of an e-nail (a custom tool created for dab consumption that maintains high heat on a metal wand placed in or on a banger). The result? A compact, all-in-one dab device with a significantly smaller footprint than its multitool predecessors, and a much more straightforward (and less burn-prone) user experience.
Of all the handheld rigs on the market, we like the Boost Evo ($219.95, drdabber.com) because it’s easier to keep clean than other decorative glass rigs, it has a wide, deep bowl for extracts, and it lights up in multiple colors. It’s rainbow disco mode pulses like a Pride party dance floor. This is the dab tech we deserve.
Favorite Travel Rig: Puffco Proxy Wizard
For extract and concentrate consumers considering devices that marry the user experiences of handheld e-rigs and Penjamins, Puffco’s Proxy ($100, puffco.com) is an elegant bridge between the two. This device features a Sherlock/wizard profile, a wide ceramic bowl, and the same heating tech as the super popular Puffco Peak. With its classic ergonomics, contemporary function, and optional carrying case, it could be just the thing for your beach cottage respite or your summer road trip dabathon. Bonus: Unlike its cousins in the Puffco universe, the Wizard functions as a dry pipe. No water chamber to fret over, just classic pipe hits (but make it dabs).
Favorite Fuck Off Party Piece: Stündenglass Modül
If your pockets are deep enough and your consumption style ostentatious enough, the Instagram-famous Stündenglass Kinetic Hookah now features an extension that enables users to take gravity dabs. The Modül ($350, stundenglass.com) is a device that replaces Stündenglass’ traditional hookah bowl with what is essentially an e-rig. The digital unit easily docks with the intake of the Stündenglass, and features an expectedly robust full-color display and customizable temperature and time controls.
Stündenglass hookahs are already an investment (almost $600), but it stands to reason that if you have both the means and the desire to dab yourself into a parallel universe, the Modül extension is an Oil Day must-have.