Drake Equation

What the hell are dab pens, or wax pens as they’re also known? Are you missing out? Should you be using a dab pen? Read on and find out…

What are Dabs?

Before we get into dab pens and what they are, we should probably first define what is meant by the term dab.

Dab – or wax, as it sometimes called – is a solid cannabis concentrate that is sold in dispensaries in most 420 states. As with strains of weed, there are myriad options when it comes to dabs – from super-strong stuff to more mellow stuff.

You can get CBD-heavy dabs, but most dabs contain high-strength THC – THC is the stuff that gets you high (and, occasionally, too high). Therefore, when dealing with dabs, it is always prudent to operate with caution.

The wax that makes up dabs comes in a variety of formats, defined predominantly by its texture and consistency. These are the most common types:

• Shatter – this kind of dab is hard to the touch.
• Crumble – this kind of dab is softer than shatter and is easy to crumble
• Budder – this kind of dab is very sticky and usually gloopy when handled

Given the above definitions, you’ll want to stick to shatter and crumbles when vaping dabs. Budder types of dabs will still vape fine, though they can (and do) create way more mess than shatter and crumble.

What is a Dab Pen?

If you want to vape dabs (or wax concentrates), you’ll need a dedicated dab pen – think vape pen, only here the vape juice is replaced with a dab. As is the case with vaporizers and vape pens, you have a TON of options when it comes to dab pens.

A dab pen is a pen-style vaporizer the features a wax atomizer for vaporizing dabs and wax concentrates. As with standard vape pens, you have different kinds of heating methods – from ceramic coils to heating coils.

This is the Kandypens Crystal, AKA the #1 best dab pen you can buy right now. It’s pricey at $134 but it comes with a massive 900mAh battery for best-in-class battery performance, a pure Quartz atomizer, and four temperature controls. If you’re in the market for a wax pen, this thing is the Tesla of the space!

If you want big flavor, you’re best off going with a dab pen that uses ceramic coils; it’s gentler on the dab and creates a more flavorful vapor. If you just want a fast, dense hit and aren’t too bothered about flavor, a cheaper heating coil-style dab pen would be fine.

Dab pens come in all shapes and sizes, though the most common ones (eG0-style dab pens) come with 510-threaded batteries and are small and light enough to carry around on your person wherever you go. Most dab pens are no bigger than a standard vape pen-style device, so they’re totally portable.

How To Vape Wax With a Dab Pen

I could try and explain in words how to vape wax (or dabs) with a vape pen, but that’d just be needlessly confusing.

For this reason, check out the video on how to vape wax with a dab pen for a full breakdown of everything you need to know about vaping dabs.

Vape Pen For Wax Pros – Why They’re Good

• Loads of Options: you can pick up a huge range of wax pens and dab pens online. Nearly all modern vape pens for wax are all-in-one devices, so they require zero fiddling around with; you add the dab, screw it together, and take a hit. Simple, right?
• Flavor: back in the day, in order to hit wax or a dab, you had to use things like a blowtorch. Ah, the 90s – what a time to be alive! As fun as that sounds, it is no longer required. Wax pens and dab pens make using dabs, wax, and concentrates as easy as vaping e-liquid; all you have to do is load some up, power on the device, and take a hit.
• Discreet: dab pens are designed to be discreet, so you can use them wherever you like. Most dab pens look like vape pens, so most people – unless they’re a fellow dabber – will just assume you’re vaping vape juice, not the good stuff. For this reason, a dab pen is essential for anyone that wants to dab on the go.

Dab Pen Cons – Things To Keep In Mind

The only real downside to dab pens and wax pens, in general, is battery life. You’re always going to be constrained to battery life. You can get around this by carrying a charging dock in your backpack, as I do when I go to festivals. With one of these charging blocks, you can top up the dab pen throughout the day. Other than that, a dab pen is basically just a really cool piece of tech.

You will need to do a basic level of maintenance, however, which involves regularly cleaning the chamber in order to keep everything functioning correctly. Most dab pen kits come with all the accessories you will need to perform basic cleaning and maintenance. As long as you’re cleaning the dab pen once a week, or so, you shouldn’t have any issues with the longevity of the device over the course of 12-24 months.

Wrapping Up…

If you live in a 420 State in the US, you’ll be able to pick up a myriad of different types of dabs, wax, and concentrates. In order to properly vape dabs or wax, you will need a good dab pen (this is the one I currently use).

In terms of ease of use, dab pens are fairly simple to use and maintain. If you follow the instructions in the video we posted earlier on in this post, you shouldn’t run into any problems.

And because dab pens are portable and can be taken everywhere, they’re not just cheaper than a dab rig but also way more convenient and useful. For this reason, I would recommend that anyone with a healthy love of pot should definitely consider looking at getting themselves a dab pen.

You can see a list of all the best options on the market here.

Just go easy on the dabs if it’s your first time. This stuff does not mess around!

If you’re looking for American vape juice in the UK – you got options. Here’s a selection of our favorite brands

UK vapers have a ton of choice when it comes to vape juice – both domestic brands, like Vampire Vape, and US brands like Ruthless and Freeman. I tend to prefer American vape juice over the stuff we get in the UK; it just seems to taste better, although I have no idea why this is the case.

Either way, if you want to buy American vape juice in the UK, you have plenty of options – you’ve just got to know where to look. To save you the hassle of doing endless hours of research, we’ve collated some of our favorite American vape juice brands (as well as where you can get them) below:

Top American Vape Juice You Can Buy In The UK

The e-liquid listed above isn’t ALL the American vape juice brands you can buy in the UK; instead, we’ve just listed a selection of our all-time favorite brands. The stuff we’ve tested over the years that has really impressed us – from how it vapes to its overall flavor and taste.

As things heat up in the US with the incoming PMTA regulations, I expect to see a lot of US vape companies refocusing their attention on the UK. If the proposed PMTA regulation goes ahead as planned, the only vape companies left standing in the USA will be the ones owned by big tobacco companies.

It is truly a sorry state of affairs, one that shows just how backward America can be when special interest groups are involved. And remember: this is the same country where you can buy a gun and walk 20 minutes down the road in most places and buy a bag of weed. And they’re worried about vaping?

Insane.

Things To Keep In Mind

Obviously, the type of vape juice you use will depend on the device you’re using. If you’re using a pod vape or a small, MTL tank you will want to go with either Nic Salts or higher-PG e-liquids – if that sounds like you, check out Vampire Vape – it specializes in super-tasty higher-PG vape juice.

If you’re running a sub-ohm tank or a rebuildable (like and RDA or an RTA, as well as a mesh coil tank), you’ll be fine with any of the American e-liquid brands list above – most of them are high VG blends, so they’re designed to be used with sub-ohm vape tanks.

Having said that, most of the options listed above also do Nic Salt versions of their high VG flavors. Case in point: Bad Drip’s Bad Apple is perhaps one of my favorite Nic Salt vape juices of all time – it’s damn-near perfect! I’m also a big fan of Element’s extensive Nic Salt range which is widely available in the UK – as you can see here!

That’s it for now. I hope this guide helped you find some new, super-tasty vape juice. I’ve been vaping for almost 10 years now, and in that time I’ve probably tested over 600 different brands. The ones listed in this post are my all-time favorites, the e-liquids I could vape happily for the rest of my days!

Thanks to America’s war on vaping, the UWELL Caliburn – AKA one of the best pod vapes ever made – is no longer available to buy. So what should you get instead?

When it first hit the market, UWELL’s Caliburn pod vape was an instant hit. Loved by reviewers and consumers alike, the UWELL Caliburn went on to become pod vape royalty.

And when you consider the sheer number of pod vapes released during the past two years, the fact the Caliburn is still considered the best should tell you everything you need to know about just how good this pod vape was.

And Then The FDA Killed It…

In April 2020, the FDA issued a round of warning letters to vape manufacturers, informing them to remove certain products from the market. The UWELL Caliburn was included on this list and is now banned from sale in the United States.

Why did this happen? According to the letter, the UWELL Caliburn “violates rules in the 2009 Tobacco Control Act and the 2016 Deeming Rule,” notes one report, “including the requirement that any products introduced after Aug. 8, 2016, must first receive marketing approval by the FDA.”

What does this mean? The Caliburn is dead. In the USA, anyway. From here on out, you will not be able to buy the UWELL Caliburn anywhere. Can you import it from overseas? Possibly, although it could get stopped in customs. Plenty of places sell the Caliburn in the UK, so it’s worth a punt, so long as you don’t mind potentially losing money.

Best UWELL Caliburn Alternative?

OK, so you cannot get the UWELL Caliburn anymore. What should you buy instead? Obviously, when it comes it pod vapes, you have A LOT of options. But which pod vapes are equal to or better than the UWELL Caliburn?

The Sense Orbit is a small, portable pod vape system with a massive 1100mAh battery and the ability to do both MTL and DTL vaping – it’s also super cheap too ($16.95 w/ FREE Shipping)

This is a tough one to call, but based on my extensive testing of pods in 2020, I think the Sense Orbit is perhaps the closest thing to the UWELL Caliburn on the market right now; it’s a similar size, though looks completely different, and it is really cheap too – just $16.95.

Sense Orbit Specs

• Integrated 1100mAh Rechargeable Battery
• Resistance Range: 0.5-3.0ohm
• 3 Level Firing Mode – Soft/Normal/Strong
• Intuitive Firing Button
• Ergonomic Mouthpiece
• LED Battery Life Indicator Light
• 2.5mL Juice Capacity
• 0.6ohm Mesh Coil – rated for 18-23W
• 1.1ohm Coil – rated for 10-12.5W
• Threaded Coil Connection
• Side Fill System – Silicone Stoppered
• MicroUSB Port

As you can see from the specs list above, the Sense Orbit packs in a range of specifications and features that actually make it vastly superior to the UWELL Caliburn. For starters, it has a massive battery (1100mAh) and it can also run both DTL and MTL coils, so you get the best of both worlds.

The Caliburn, in contrast, has a very small battery (320mAh) and can only do MTL vaping. This is fine for the most part, but if you can do more and have more battery life, why wouldn’t you? The Sense Orbit, while not that well known, is a killer pod setup that I would definitely recommend. It’s cheap and it kicks ass with respect to overall performance.

If you’re missing the UWELL Caliburn, and you want something similar that costs even less but has better battery life and supports both MTL and DTL vaping, the Orbit is 100% worth a look.

Sense Orbit | Best Deal | $16.95 w/ FREE Shipping