What Are Carb Caps Used For?

The Ultimate Guide to Carb Caps.

Whether you're trying to find a carb cap, know how to use one with your dab nail or quartz banger, or need to know how to heat and take low temp / high temp dabs.  We're here to educate you in our comprehensive guide to how to use a carb cap on any ceramic, titanium, or quartz dabbing setup.

How to use a carb cap 

Whether you're new to concentrates or have played around with them before, a carb cap can certainly come in handy with your dab rig. But what is a carb cap and how do you use one? Below we have constructed a full informational guide to low temperature dabbing with a carb cap, and everything you may need to know in between!

But first-what is the difference between dabbing at low temperatures as opposed to dabbing at high temperatures?

High temperature dabbing is generally what people who are new to concentrates will experiment with first, for numerous reasons. For most people, learning to heat your nail properly can be a bit of an undertaking and is certainly something we'd advise you to learn more about if concentrate use is new to you.

The importance of properly heating your nail may make all the difference when it comes to preserving or protecting your glassware. Experienced users will often take preventative measures, such as using an adapter between their joint and nail, to further ensure that the heat will not be applied directly to their piece.

The anatomy of a flame-which part is the hottest?

If you're using a torch, learning the anatomy of a flame may also come in handy. There are two important areas which you need to utilize in order to get the most out of your flame, and these two areas can be most easily described as the "bright blue part" and the "light blue part".

The bright blue part of the flame is where the primary combustion occurs, which is just a fancy way of saying that this is where the initial "burning" happens. Lots of people are under the impression that this is also the hottest part of the flame, but you will find this to be untrue.

The hottest part of the flame can be found at the tip of the inner flame, and this is the same for any flammable gas. This means that the space where the pale outer flame meets the darker inner flame is where you will experience your most optimum heating conditions, and by using this part of your flame, you will find that you are left with far less combustion byproducts and a much faster heating time.

The high temp dabbing fad may have also come about from the common misconception that your nail NEEDS to be red hot in order to use it. This is not true! The ideal temperature for vaporization to occur is between 300-400 degrees F, and trying to use your nail when it's red hot will only result in less efficiency while burning away your materials. The type of nail you are using also does not affect this, and nails made of glass, quartz, titanium or ceramic will all still function similarly under the same parameters.

A red hot ceramic nail and a red hot titanium nail will actually still be the same temperature despite their differences in materials. Titanium, however, has a tendency to lose heat rather quickly (much more quickly than ceramic, which also takes longer to absorb heat) and this is why people using titanium are told to wait until the red glow from their nail fades before applying their concentrates for use... which leads us to low temperature dabbing!

Low temperature dabbing

Low temperature dabbing is a newer concept and has become an experience attempted by more experienced users. Unlike high temp dabs, low temperature dabbing is known for optimizing flavor and providing a much smoother hit.

What can you use a carb cap on? 

Since first gaining popularity, new tools such as the carb cap have been created to assist in the low temp dabbing process, and those who are familiar with this will often swear that a carb cap makes all the difference. In order to use a carb cap though, you must also make sure you are using a product that operates as an open air system.

An open air system is when concentrates rely solely on the heat from the dish of the nail for vaporization, and can be illustrated through the use of domeless nails, bangers, and curves, among others.

What exactly does a Carb Cap do? 

What a carb cap does is create a chamber with restricted airflow for your concentrates to vaporize within. Most carb caps have a single hole which helps to create suction within the chamber, and this in turn produces a vortex that helps cool down both the air and vapor trapped inside.

Like nails, carb caps can be made of either titanium, ceramic, glass or quartz. The type you choose depends on personal preference since they all function the same, and you will learn as you experiment that despite your first few tries-you will in fact get the timing right. 

"If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!"

Carb caps are also pretty similar in design since they each tend to feature a hollowed, rounded end which functions as the "cap", and the pointed handle end, which usually doubles as a dabber tool to help with concentrate application.

Sounds pretty cool, right?

We would highly recommend giving this product a try if you haven't already done so. Whether or not you personally feel this item is a game changer, it's hard to deny the logic behind it, and we encourage each and every concentrate user to try it at least once.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Find a Carb Cap for You

About the Author

Smoke Cartel Crew

Written by the staff here at Smoke Cartel. Our passionate team of headshop professionals are dedicated to educating people on products in the online headshop industry, from glass, to vaporizes, and all the consumption devices and accessories in between.

We believe that knowing how your products are made, what they were originally designed for, and how to properly use them - is essential to keeping our customers happy. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to reach out to us!