When it comes to dabbing, we have a lot of options now. Gone are the days of the Titanium skillet. We have Domes and Nails, Domeless nails, Bangers, Buckets and more! On top of all of those options, you need to figure out what material you like to dab off of. Quartz, Titanium, and Ceramic are are the current materials being used for dabbing. All three will vary in pricing depending on where you purchase it and what model you are getting.
Titanium is the most common. 99.99% pure medical grade 2 titanium will heat up quickly and glow a brilliant red when hot. It will hold it's heat longer than quartz, and cool off faster than ceramic. Titanium nails are also the most durable. They can be heated with reckless abandon, no stress cracks will form when over heating a titanium nail, not to mention, they can be dropped from any height and survive the fall. From years of personal experience, I have found that titanium nails will have a slight metallic after taste. For me, they are perfect on travel rigs.
Quartz has been used almost as long as titanium for dabbing now. The new Quartz Banger style has surged to the top in terms of popularity. Quartz will heat up faster than Titanium and Ceramic nails. Because of this, it also cools the fastest. I personally prefer the taste of the quartz over titanium. I also find it easier to judge the temperature of the quartz banger over a titanium nail. Quartz is a very durable material, it may look like glass but it acts more like a stone when you drop it.
Ceramic is the new kid on the block, relatively speaking of course. Ceramic will take the longest to heat up, but it holds it's heat the longest. Hive Ceramics made Ceramic nails beyond popular with their amazing hype train. When Hive released their full line up of ceramic nails, we could not keep up with demand. I personally prefer the taste of the Hive Ceramic nails to all other nails currently on the market. I currently have a Hive Enail set up on my Sokol tube as my daily driver. When torching any ceramic nail you just need to remember to avoid temperature shock. Temperature shock is when one side of the ceramic material is at a drastically different temperature than the other side. It can cause stress cracks and lead to breakage. Avoiding Temperature shock is easy, all you have to do is evenly heat up your nail by moving the flame around. I usually just heat the nail for 30 seconds in an even circle.
What are you currently dabbing on and why do you prefer that nail?
