How to Hit a Vape Properly – Without Coughs or Clogs!

One of the greatest things about vape pens and 510-thread batteries is that they’re largely self-explanatory. For the most part, you know what you’re doing from the moment that you pick up a vape for the first time – at least, that’s the case until something goes wrong. Doing something as seemingly trivial as inhaling improperly can result in a host of problems ranging from coughing to a clogged cartridge. In short, if you’re a new vaper and have just encountered your first speed bump, there’s a good chance that your inhaling technique had something to do with it.

So, how do you hit a vape properly? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know – starting with the most important pointer of all.

Here’s the One Thing You Should Never Forget About Hitting a Vape

When you vape, there are a few viable inhaling techniques that you can use. The most important thing to remember, though, is that you should always use very gentle air pressure when hitting your vape. A clogged vape cartridge is the most common problem that people experience when using vape pens for the first time, and that’s almost always caused by puffing too hard. If you use too much air pressure, you’ll force some of the oil out of the wick and into the atomizer coil assembly in the middle of the cartridge. The oil either gets stuck in the airflow chimney leading out of the cartridge, or it flows out of the cartridge’s intake vents.

A clogged cartridge leads to a host of other problems.

• The oil can create a blockage in the cartridge’s airflow chimney, making it difficult to inhale through the cartridge until the clog is cleared.
• The cartridge can develop a burnt flavor or stop generating vapor entirely.
• The oil can leak out of the cartridge and either make a mess or contaminate the vape pen’s internal electronic components.

You can make these problems almost completely nonexistent by making sure that you always puff very gently on your device regardless of which inhaling technique you use. If you’re using a device that supports automatic puff-based firing like our Bar vape pen, it’s easy to tell that you’re using the correct air pressure because you only need to inhale as firmly as necessary to get the device’s light to turn on.

How to Hit a Vape Cart or Disposable Vape

There are two different ways to hit a vape cart or a disposable vape like the TreHouse HHC disposable, and the inhaling technique that you’ll use will depend on whether your device uses automatic puff-based firing or manual button-based firing. Some devices support both firing types.

• If your vape pen uses draw-based firing, simply puff on the mouthpiece after connecting the cartridge to the device’s threading. Don’t forget to puff very gently; that rule applies to every type of vaping device.
• If your vape pen uses button-based firing, hold the button before puffing on the mouthpiece.

Before you start puffing, it’s important to know that you should always wait about a half hour before vaping if you’re using an empty cartridge that you filled yourself. Pre-filled cartridges like this Binoid THCA Live Rosin cartridge, on the other hand, are already primed and are ready to use immediately. Learn more about how to use a vape cart.

How to Hit a Dab Pen

Dab pens work a little differently from traditional 510-thread batteries. A traditional dab pen has a heating coil at the top with a mouthpiece covering the coil. You use it by putting a wax-based concentrate directly on the coil and inhaling the vapor. Here’s how to hit a dab pen.

• Remove the mouthpiece from the coil. Place a small piece of wax on the coil and replace the mouthpiece.
• Melt the wax. If you have a puff-activated dab pen, you can do this by puffing on the device a few times briefly without inhaling. If you have a button-activated device, you can press the button a few times. If you’re new to dabbing, you should remove the mouthpiece at this point to make sure that the wax is fully softened.
• Once the wax is melted, you can hit the dab pen in the same way that you’d puff on a standard vape pen. Note that the wax will only last a few puffs, and you’ll need to add more when it runs out.

Need more information? Read our beginner’s guide to dab pens for some additional helpful advice. If all of this sounds overly complicated to you, try our Stinger dab straw instead. You use the Stinger by touching the heating element on the bottom of the device directly to your oil or wax while inhaling through the mouthpiece at the top. With the Stinger, there’s no need to soften the wax carefully in order to avoid burnt hits – and unlike a traditional dab pen, it works with both oil and wax.

What Are the Different Ways to Inhale a Vape?

In addition to all of the instructions above, it’s also important to understand the different inhaling techniques when you hit a vape. There are three different techniques, and they’re all perfectly valid as long as you enjoy the experience.

• Mouth-to-Lung (MTL): The mouth-to-lung inhaling technique is the same way that you’d inhale when smoking a cigarette. You create air pressure to draw the vapor into your mouth, and then you inhale it all at once into your lungs.
• Direct-to-Lung (DTL): To use this inhaling technique, you don’t draw the vapor into your mouth before inhaling it. Instead, you inhale the vapor directly into your lungs. This inhaling style is best if you like large, potent clouds. Some people, however, find that it causes coughing because it’s a bit too intense.
• Sipping: This technique is a variation on the mouth-to-lung technique, with the difference being that you take very short puffs, almost like you’re sipping a beverage. This is the ideal inhaling style for people who cough or experience throat irritation when using vape pens.

The Best Way to Hit a Vape Is Always Slowly

Reading this article, you’ve learned the right way to hit a vape if you want to avoid common problems like coughing and clogged cartridges. You’ve also learned that there are different ways to inhale the vapor, and each inhaling technique has its own purpose. Regardless of how you decide to hit your vape, remember that using gentle air pressure is always the right way to do it.

We’re going to leave you with one final tip to help make sure that your first experience with a vape pen will be as good as it can be. It’s crucial to understand that concentrates – whether oil or wax – are much more potent than traditional smoked flower. In many cases, people find that they feel exactly the way they want to feel after just a few puffs. Start slowly and remember that you can always add more if you need to.