Dab Dosing: How Much Should I Dab

Key Points:

• Optimal Dab Dosage Size = Complete Inhalation
  The most efficient dab size is one that can be fully vaporized and inhaled in a single breath—without excess vapor going to waste.
• Efficiency Depends on User and Tool Factors
  Lung capacity, throat tolerance (heat and harshness), and the vaporization rate of your banger or dab nail all determine what your ideal dab size should be.
• Bigger Isn’t Always Better
  Oversized dabs often lead to wasted product, harsh hits, and dirty equipment. Matching your dab size to your bangers vaporization rate, your throat tolerance and inhalation capacity yields better effects and cleaner sessions.

The Basics For The Best Dab Size

To many, the bigger the dab the better. You want to feel more so you dab more, however that can lead to diminishing returns, wasted dabs and a dirty banger and dab rig. To put it simply the proper dab dosage is based on how much of a dab can be completely consumed in one inhale. That means every bit of vapor is inhaled, held in and then exhaled, without vapor continuing to be produced while not being inhaled. 

Now finding the proper dab size to enable that complete vapor inhalation is based on several things. First and foremost your lung capacity, in theory if you can inhale for 5 minutes straight you can take massive dabs, however that's not really possible. I have lifeguard lungs and I find I can inhale smoothly for up to a minute then keep that inhale in for 30 seconds or so before needing to exhale. How long can you inhale for and keep the vapor in for? 

Throat Harshness Tolerance And Lung Inhalation Capacity

The next thing to factor in is your throat harshness tolerance. In theory, dabbing does not require any water filtration. Most people use dab rigs and nectar collector bubblers to cool the vapor so it becomes more tolerable for their throat. Now that cooling does result in a slight loss of vapor however the overall vapor cloud consumption is increased due to the cool temperature. Now when it comes to dabbing with or without water-cooling, the amount of vapor that can be inhaled in one long inhale is a major determining factor in the appropriate dab size for you.  

The other impact of throat feel tolerance is temperature. In theory if you had a steel throat you can take a really hot dab which can produce tremendous vapor quickly versus a lower temp dab which produces less vapor but over a longer period of time. There is a perfect median which offers the largest vapor production. Much like with a piece of paper, if you were to blow torch a piece of paper, not much smoke would be produced, however if you would burn it super slowly barely any smoke would be produced either, there is a middle ground which creates the most amount of smoke. So too with dabbing there is that perfect middle ground for the largest vapor production. 

Banger Vaporization Rate

Now beyond your capability to consume a dab is the tool's ability to consume a dab. From dab nail size to banger size and even atomizer size each dabbing tool has its limits in regards to vaporization. This is what's known as the vaporization rate. The vaporization rate equation is the surface area multiplied by the temperature. We have a dab size chart which shows the dab size which can be efficiently vaporized within a banger based on a temperature of 530 degrees. 

The perfect and proper dab size is a dab size which is the most efficiently vaporized, the proper dab size within the proper banger size at the proper temperature, which can be completely consumed in one inhale with no vapor being wasted. This results in the most efficient, biggest bang for your buck, an easy clean up, cleaner banger and dab rig.

Personal Tolerance

Tolerance is also something to consider when dabbing, just because you create and can inhale a tremendous amount of vapor efficiently, doesn't mean it's necessary or warranted. Dabbing the appropriate amount based on your current tolerance is key to getting the most out of your dabs while also not just putting yourself to sleep. Tolerance is tricky as it's always changing based on dabbing frequency, dabbing THC content and other things like how much you’ve slept recently. 

Factoring in all of these things is the best way to choose the most appropriate dab size for you. Taking massive dabs may seem fun and like the best way to have the biggest effect however that is not necessarily the case and can simply cause waste. Finding the perfect size dab for yourself takes time and is a learning curve, however being clinical about it can result in saving plenty of money and having the best experience for a long time to come.