Dab Pen vs. Vape Pen: What’s the Difference?

• While vape pens are designed to vaporize cannabis flower or oil, dab pens work with thicker, more highly concentrated cannabis products: resins and waxes, for instance.
• As a result, dab pens can offer a more intense experience for users: stronger highs or more tangible physical effects (in strains without THC). They’re not always recommended for beginners.
• Both dab and vape pens offer a somewhat subtle dosing method, but dabbing can be slightly more cost-effective for experienced users. Vape pens, on the other hand, are very beginner-friendly.

On your first visit to a cannabis dispensaries or pharmacy, you might be overwhelmed by your options: between the hundreds of strains, multiple administration methods, and various hardware available, you may not be sure where to start.

If you’re thinking about a vaping method, you might gravitate toward the vape and dab pen displays. But what’s the difference between these two products (dab pens and vape pens), and which one should you choose?

That’s the subject of this guide. Below, we’ll break down both in detail, compare them, and assess a few factors that might influence your product choice.

What Is a Dab Pen?

A dab pen is a handheld, relatively small device designed to vaporize thick, highly concentrated cannabis products for inhalation.

You might have heard of some of these dab pen-friendly products before. They include:

• Waxes
• Resins
• Shatter
• Budder

While dabbing with a compact device is commonplace now, dabbing actually has roots in glassware. Outside of the pen format, dabbing looks a little like this:

• Patients use a piece of heat-safe metal (like a skewer) to scoop up a small amount of cannabis concentrate.
• Next, they use a lighter or a blowtorch (the latter is more common and more effective) to heat up a bucket-shaped component of a glassware rig. Once it’s hot enough, they use the skewer to touch the concentrate to the hot, glass bucket.
• This creates a vapor; by inhaling through the mouthpiece on a glassware rig, users direct that vapor into the glassware system for consumption.

Dabbing is a fast-acting, highly potent consumption method. But instead of investing in niche materials (like glassware and blowtorches), today’s prospective dabbers can take a simpler route: picking up a dab pen.

What Is a Vape Pen?

Vape pens, like dab pens, vaporize cannabis products. Instead of thick, somewhat solid products, however, vape pens are designed to work with either:

• Highly viscous cannabis oil infusions, or
• Ground cannabis flower

Vape pens and dab pens work in a similar way:

• When users press a button on their pen, heating elements begin warming up the cannabis product.
• To administer the product, users hold down the button and inhale (or, on some models, just inhale). The heating element increases in temperature until some of the cannabis product in the cartridge turns into a vapor.
• With vapor at the ready, all patients have to do is inhale.

Dab Pen vs. Vape Pen: How Do They Compare?

While we’ve already touched on some of the similarities between vape pens and dab pens, let’s dive deeper.

Similarities

Vape pens and dab pens operate on the same principle: vaporizing cannabis products to offer fast, smooth delivery for users.

Other similarities include:

• Subtlety – Traditional smoking produces odors and (of course) smoke. Vape and dab pens produce much lower odors and substantially less airborne evidence; they offer a more subtle, discreet administration method for users who want to inhale cannabis products instead of ingesting them.
• Compact design – Dab and vape pens are around the same size and shape, generally speaking. Their name is also descriptive: they’re usually around the same size as a ballpoint pen. This means they’re simple to slip into your pocket or purse for on-the-go administration.
• Precise dosing – Once you get a feel for how many puffs (or “hits”) of a cannabis product you need to start feeling its effects, you can keep using that same dose consistently. While both will require some experimentation in the beginning, they can ultimately eliminate a lot of the guesswork of inhalation.

Differences

The only significant difference between dab pens and vape pens is the kind of product they vaporize. Dab pens are designed for thick, almost-solid cannabis concentrates while vape pens are optimized for thinner oils (or even cannabis plant matter).

However, these products offer very different experiences for users because of the nature of their concentration. From least to most concentrated, dab and vape pens vaporize:

• Cannabis flower – The all-natural plant that’s the source of every cannabis product, flower can also be rolled into joints or smoked in glassware. While flower can be highly potent (i.e., highly concentrated with cannabinoids), it typically pales in comparison to vaping oils and dabbing concentrates.
• Vape oil – By dissolving cannabinoids into an oil base, manufacturers create vape-able (or, in some cases, edible), cannabis-infused oils. Since these formulas isolate cannabinoids from their parent plant matter, they offer more cannabinoids in a smaller mass of product.
• Dab products – From waxes to budders, dab products have one thing in common: they’re very thick and highly concentrated with cannabinoids. Dab products aren’t necessarily designed for beginners (and we don’t recommend starting your treatment journey with a dab pen).

Choosing a Product: Is a Dab Pen or Vape Pen Right for You?

With the above in mind, which product is right for you: vape pens or dab pens? Let’s touch on a few potential use cases for both.

Cannabis Newcomers

If you’re a relative newcomer to cannabis (or you’ve never used marijuana before), start with vaping. We recommend vaping to newcomers (instead of dabbing) for a few reasons:

• Vape oils are less concentrated – If you’re using a product with THC, you’ll want to avoid overconsumption (sometimes called “greening out”) as much as possible. While it’s not dangerous, it can be uncomfortable. Vape oils likely won’t cause uncomfortable highs with just one hit—which is exactly how many hits we recommend for first-timers.
• Vaping is simple – Especially if you use cannabis oils instead of ground flower, vaping is a plug-and-play process: insert a cannabis vape cartridge into a vape pen, heat up your oil, and inhale. Dab pens are also simple to use, but product selection is slightly more complicated.

In short, if you have very little (or no) experience with cannabis and you’re looking for a subtle smoking method, vaping could be a great match for you.

Patients Seeking Subtlety

Whether you’re looking to smoke discreetly in a home with roommates or maintain access to your all-natural medicine on a family vacation (without attracting the attention of your relatives), vaping and dabbing are both great choices.

Keep in mind that dab pens produce strong results. While we’ve noted multiple times that they’re not for beginners, it bears repeating: dabbing is generally not a good starting point if you’ve never used cannabis before.

Plus, vaping and dabbing are equally subtle. There’s no need to start on expert mode when vaping can meet your needs for discretion.

Patients on a Budget

If you have a tight budget for cannabis products, vaping and dabbing can both offer a cost-effective way to use cannabis. However, once you’ve racked up some experience with cannabis vapors, consider switching to dabbing for an even more budget-friendly experience.

What makes dabbing so affordable?

• More cannabinoids for your buck – When it comes to dabbing, a little bit of product goes a long way. You won’t need to buy as much dab media (wax, shatter, or whatever you’d like to use) as you would vape oil.
• Bulk buying is simple – Since many dab pens are refillable, it’s easier to buy dab products in bulk—another way to save. Vape oils typically come in pre-filled cartridges (and some dab pens take “carts,” too), and you’ll have to purchase these one by one or in small multipacks in most cases.

While you should work up to dabbing slowly, it can be a cost-effective way for seasoned users to keep their care costs down.

TeleLeaf: Unlocking Medical Cannabis Care in Louisiana and Beyond

In TeleLeaf’s home state of Louisiana, patients can use cannabis vape pens and dab pens to accomplish their all-natural, plant-based treatment goals: from relieving chronic pain to supporting their mental health.

But Louisiana isn’t the only state that offers medical cannabis. To learn more about your options (and get a medical card of your own, if you’re eligible), partner with TeleLeaf. We’re a leader in online cannabis care, and we’re passionate about connecting prospective patients with licensed, cannabis-informed healthcare providers.

Start your medical card application by making an appointment now.

Sources:

Merced Sun-Star. Dab Pens: 6 Wax Pens That Promise Incredible Vapor Production.
https://www.mercedsunstar.com/health-wellness/cannabis/article288546998.html