What is a Portable Vaporizer? A portable vaporizer is a battery operated device that is designed to heat up your herbs, oils and/or concentrates and turns them into vapour. Portable vaporizers can be recharged, they are very practical as they are usually compact enough to fit in your pocket, hence the name portable vaporizer’. These powerful devices hit the market over a decade ago and have since come to dominate the vaping industry. You can just about bring a portable vaporizer around with you anywhere at any time, they are incredibly handy. How do Portable Vaporizers work? There are different types of portable vaporizers therefore some work differently to others, however, most of them are pretty much built the same way and work the same way. The substance that you choose to use in the oven of the portable vaporizer will be heated to a high temperature without the substance combusting, resulting in vapour being produced which can then be inhaled through the mouthpiece. Portable vape pens will usually either use conduction heating or convection heating, or even a mix of both which is known as a hybrid. What’s the difference between conduction heating and convection heating? The best portable vaporizers use convection heating; these will heat your chosen contents in the chamber with a forced stream of hot air until vapour is released. Conduction portable vaporizers use direct heat to vaporize the material – a heated surface, but not a flame, actually touches the herb or extract to create vapour. The biggest difference between convection and conduction is the placement of the material. Are Portable Vaporizers legal? They certainly are. It is completely legal to purchase and use a portable vaporizer – however, there are 2 conditions. First of all, you must be over 18 years of age in order to purchase or use a portable vaporizer. Secondly, portable vaporizers are technically only legal for use with legal substances. What makes Portable Vaporizers different to other vaporizers? The key thing that sets portable vaporizers aside from other vaporizers is, of course, that they are portable. You may only know of vaporizers that seem portable already, however, there are a huge variety of vaporizers on the market, and not all are portable! A good example of how portable vaporizers are different to others is if you compare them to a desktop vaporizer. These are usually much larger in size, may usually require to be plugged into the mains at all times when in use, and therefore cannot be used anywhere other than at home. This is a good example of why portable vaporizers are so good and also so ideal, as they are so compact and can be used anywhere, at anytime, without having to be plugged in as they are battery powered. What can you use Portable Vaporizers with? Portable vaporizers usually fall into three categories. There are dry herb vaporizers, which are designed to be used with ground-up dry herb material only. Then there are also concentrate vaporizers, which are intended to be used with substances like wax, oil, shatter, e-liquid or other concentrates please note that some concentrate vaporizers are only compatible with solid materials, some only with liquids, and some are compatible with both. Last but not least we have dual-use vaporizers, like the Nectar Gold & Nectar Platinum which can usually be used with any material. How will I know if my Portable Vaporizer session has finished? It depends on what you are using in your Portable Vaporizer. If you are using dry herb in your portable vape you will be able to tell when your herb has reached the end of it’s cycle as it will start to lose its flavour and the amount of vapor will decrease. If you open the chamber of your portable vaporizer to take a look at it you will see that it is brown in colour and dry / crunchy in texture. If you are using concentrates or liquids in your portable vaporizer you will know when it has reached the end of the session as the amount of vapour will decrease significantly and the taste will also disintegrate and start to taste much less. How should I dispose of the used up finished substances from my Portable Vaporizer? This will again depend on what you are using your portable vaporizer with. If you are using herb then once your herb has reached the end of its cycle in your vaporizer, there are a couple of ways that you can dispose of it. Since the herb has been heated up in the chamber it is actually now activated and can be used for other purposes like edibles, this form of used herb is also known as ABV already vaped bud. So you can either collect all your ABV from your portable vaporizer in a jar and save it for a batch of edibles or you can simply throw it out in your rubbish as you would with anything else. As for concentrates, there usually won’t actually be anything left to dispose of after the cycle. As most concentrates are in a more liquid than solid form, they will literally evaporate in the portable vaporizer. This means that there won’t be anything left in the chamber or pod or whatever you may be using for your device. However, we do recommend that you give the chamber a quick clean after use to prevent the build up of resin. How to clean your Portable Vaporizer It is important to keep your portable vaporizer clean as this will keep it at an optimum performance level. We recommend that you regularly clean the chamber and mouthpiece including the filter with a brush or a cotton bud with isopropyl alcohol ISO on it. The method of cleaning can of course depend on what type of portable vaporizer you are using, so let’s start off with how to clean dry herb vaporizers. To clean your portable dry herb vaporizer more extensively, which you should be doing at least a couple to several times a month depending on your usage, take your portable dry herb vaporizer apart and soak the individual components in isopropyl alcohol. The longer that you leave the components to soak the easier they will be to clean, that’s why we recommend that you leave the components to soak overnight. That way the next day all you have to do is give them a rinse under water and leave them to dry properly. Now onto concentrate vaporizers, which are also known as wax vaporizers. Of course all wax vaporizers are different, so if you are using one that uses pods or cartridges instead of a chamber, then do the same thing for those components instead. To clean your portable wax vaporizer more extensively, which we recommend that you do at least a couple to several times a month depending on your usage, take apart your wax vaporizer and soak the individual components in isopropyl alcohol ISO. The components will be easier to clean the longer you leave them soaking in the ISO, because of this we recommend that you leave the components to soak overnight. The next day you can just give them a rinse under water and leave them to dry thoroughly. Make sure not to soak or clean any electrical components from your dry herb vaporizer as they will get damaged. Are Portable Vaporizers better than smoking? Yes, portable vaporizers are better than smoking. The best portable vaporizers are better in a number of ways; they are not only convenient, and discreet but they’re also much healthier than traditional smoking and you can also enjoy more potency as well as flavour when you use a portable vaporizer. Smoking via any method joints, bong etc involves combustion which exposes your lungs and throat to tar and harmful toxins which can lead to lung cancer and upper airway cancer. On the other hand, premium portable vaporizers only release vapour as opposed to smoke, which is much healthier for you, hence providing a great alternative. This also makes it easier on the throat as it isn’t smoke that’s entering your lungs, but more of a mist. Many smokers who have switched to vaping have had their vascular function improved quite significantly, just within a month. Which accessories are compatible with a Portable Vaporizer? We have a wide selection of accessories that you can use with your portable vaporizer here at Nectar. One that we definitely recommend you try out is the glass water bubbler. This will make your experience with your portable vaporizer even smoother and more flavourful. Another thing that we recommend you do is to stock up on extra filters for your portable vaporizer as you never know when you will need a replacement. It’s always handy to have spares. The same goes for concentrate pads, if your portable vaporizer allows you to use one of these in it then definitely try it out as these are incredible, they allow you to vape concentrates in your portable dry herb vaporizer too! There are so many other accessories that are great to add to your portable vaporizer collection so definitely check them out. Would a Portable Vaporizer suit my lifestyle? If you are someone who is looking for a vaporizer whether that be for herbs or concentrates but also need something that you can use throughout the day, quickly and easily then a portable vaporizer is definitely for you. They are so versatile and can be brought with you literally anywhere thanks to their compact design. They also don’t discriminate so whether you are after a dry herb vaporizer or a CBD liquid one or anything really, a portable vaporizer will be the device for you. Advantages of Portable Vaporizers The biggest and most obvious advantage of portable vaporizers is the mobility – not only does mobility improve comfort but also allows for several sessions throughout the day. Multiple vape sessions available throughout the day – this is very important for users, especially for those who use portable vaporizers for medical purposes and need access to them wherever they may be. Portable vaporizers are very discreet devices – they are small and compact, which means you can hide them anywhere easily if need be. You can also hide some of them in your hand or pocket while using them. Very little aroma – portable vaporizers give off less smell than other smoking methods, meaning you can use them when you’re out and about and don’t have to worry about drawing attention to it. Another huge bonus is that portable vaporizers are compatible with many materials – you can use whatever you may want or need in a portable vaporizer as long as you get the right one! You can also customise your portable vaporizer with accessories – you can use them through water pieces, you can replace the filters, there’s a lot you can do with accessories to enhance or update your portable vaporizer. Portable vaporizers are available in a wide range of designs – you can get them in different sizes with different functions and purposes. They are also cost effective – they usually cost less than desktop units and you will also notice that portable vaporizers can help you to cut down on your cannabis consumption. Disadvantages of Portable Vaporizers As portable vaporizers are usually battery operated, battery life can be an issue – if you haven’t charged up your device before going out for a session then you may be horribly surprised if your portable vaporizer dies during the session. This can be easily fixed though by being better prepared and charging it before you intend to use it, or you can even bring a portable charger with you and charge it on the go, or you can even pre charge spare batteries and switch them in the device when necessary. If you believe in the term sharing is caring’ then you may find that tricky with a portable vaporizer, purely because of the size of the oven – some people find that the ovens are too small and run out too fast to do a group session, however, you can very easily keep refilling the chamber when necessary and bring more material with you for your group session. The vapour quality from a portable vaporizer may not match the vapour of a desktop unit, but that goes without saying – a desktop unity will obviously produce more vapour than a portable vaporizer as it contains much more herb at a time and also uses power from the mains. 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