How was vaping originally invented and why has it improved to what we use today? Read on to find out.
What is a vaporizer?
Today more commonly known as a vape, this is a device designed to heat nicotine solutions or dry plant matter like marijuana or tobacco into vapor for inhalation. This simulates the smoking process with potentially reduced dangers to your health.
A Short History of Vaporizers
There have been many attempts at patenting what we know as vaporizers or e-cigarettes today, throughout 1927 – 2003.
Documented history tells us that Joseph Robinson was the first to come up with the idea (without recognition), although only in 1963 a man named Herbert Gilbert had made an electronic cigarette that came to be well known by the public.
At the time his e-cigarette was advertised as a “smokeless non-tobacco cigarette” but did not make any lasting impact.
The start of modern vaping as we know it, and why
Looking at modern e-cigarette designs today, this slim and compact product was introduced and patented to the public in 2003 by a man named Hon Lik, in Beijing, China.
This was the first real and commercial vape-like device. Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik understandably created this device after his father died of smoking-related lung cancer. Mr. Lik himself struggled to stop using nicotine patches, and so – the idea was born.
Fun fact: Hon Lik once forgot to remove a nicotine patch before bed, and thus realized that the patches did not give him the same head rush as conventional cigarettes would. He then started working on creating a “real” smoking alternative that felt like smoking, without tar inhalation.
When did vaping become Popular?
Since 2003 the commercial use of vaporizers has expanded significantly. For some perspective on consumer market growth; 2011 had about 7 million adult e-cigarette users, this number rose to 68 million in 2020.
THE VAPORIZER TIMELINE
C5R Protank
One of the first vaporizers to become popular and in which the public saw potential was the C5R Pro Tank. This pen-like device was about as thick as a cigar and had a clear glass tank (e-liquid container) that was manually refilled.
The C5R contained an A-grade battery and a quality heating coil with resistant cotton. The A-grade battery ensured no leakage, no cracking, and no burning of your atomizer or e-liquid.
This vaporizer was also CE a RoHS certified to guarantee its safety since it was one of the first commercial forms of vaporizers.
All in one kit (AIO)
AIO kits were the answer to the growing need for customization in vaporizers. No need to go shopping for separate parts or mods though, as all-in-one kits are pretty self-explanatory.
They are still some of the easiest-to-use and most convenient vapes for users who like a lot of flavour followed by thick clouds, for beginners and hobbyists alike.
Improving on the C5R design, all-in-one kits come with replaceable coils and adjustable airflow to suit each user individually. Following this design were many hundreds of e-liquid flavours to choose from.
E-liquid is manually filled from the top of the vaporizer and a new coil should be soaked for a few minutes before use to optimize performance.
Temperature adjustment is also possible, helping you create a soothing and flavourful experience that fits you.
Today they are still one of the most easily accessible vaporizers with the most variety on the market.
Box Mods – What do “mods” mean for vape?
As a result of the growing demand for increased flavour, strength, and vapor cloud thickness – came the introduction to box mod vaporizers.
These are some of the strongest vapes to date, are modifiable to a large extent, and come in a classic box-shaped base – hence the broad term for box mod vaporizers.
Box mods offer plenty of superior features such as:
- Large, strong batteries (internal or external) for longer battery life and powerful output
- Adjustable power output to your coil for flavour optimization
- Adjustable airflow
- Replaceable coils
- Various mouthpieces for comfort & smoking style
Rebuildable Tank Atomizers (RTA)
Predictably, the consumers in the vape market wanted even more in terms of customization.
Rebuildable tank atomizers are, simply put, (re)buildable atomizers/coils that also utilize the tank section (e-liquid container) of your vaporizer. Another term to describe an RTA is a tank system.
Features of an RTA include a building deck that houses:
- Wicking channels
- Chimney connecting the base/deck to the atomizer’s top cap
- Glass/plastic tank (e-liquid container)
- Optional drip tip (removing the need for a tank)
In other words, you need to physically wrap a coil with unbleached & organic cotton, attach it to the building deck and then add a wick to the wicking channel(s). This turns out to be more cost-effective than buying pre-built coils.
If built correctly, an RTA will generally perform much better than standard coil systems and will end up being a more tailored vaping experience. RTA’s last anywhere from one to two weeks, depending on use.
Mechanical (Mech) Mods
Arguably the power-house of vaping, these vaporizers provide raw battery power without regulating electric current (vapor strength), or circuit boards with built-in safety measures, the vaper should be more proactive in keeping the mod safe to use.
Simple yet very effective: A battery, often in metal tube form (also available in plastic & wood), is connected to both the top and bottom panels of the atomizer, providing a direct current to the coil and thus heating your e-liquid to thick vapor.
These low resistance vaporizer builds provide the ultimate flavour and vapor thickness to its consumers with a temperature that feels just right.
Squonkers (Bottom feeders)
As a close relative to dripping mods, Squonkers allow you to insert e-liquid through the bottom of the vaporizer (hence the name bottom feeder) that is then led by a tube to the rebuildable dripping atomizer (RDA) for heating into vapor. This allows you to pump e-liquid to your wicks and coils on demand.
As a variation of a box mod, Squonkers can hold up to 3 or 4 times the amount of liquid that traditional RDA’s can hold. These tanks are the size of the box you would be using.
To conclude: A bottom feeder eliminates the need to drip your e-juice from the top, providing an easier and hassle-free way of topping up.
Pod devices
Widely available at Vaperite and a go-to for most of today’s vape market.
The introduction of pod-system vaporizers has revolutionized the vaping experience and its consumer market. Simplified and all-inclusive, users can now easily replace a pod containing e-liquid and a built-in atomizer, perfect for on-the-go and hassle-free refills.
Pods are pre-filled with some designs providing the option of manual refill.
Other than the previous vape mods we have discussed in this article, pod system vapes are designed for mouth to lung use, accurately simulating a cigarette experience other than directly inhaling into your lungs.
Pod vapes provide stronger nicotine concentrations (nicotine salts) and are much smaller than box mods or all-in-one kits.
Today you can choose between pods that contain built-in coils, or pods that have replaceable coils. This is entirely up to personal preference and will be determined by usage.
Disposables
A further revolution to pod-system vapes and the ease of use they bring, are disposable vaporizers. These vaporizers are small, purchased fully charged, and already contain e-liquid, as opposed to traditional vapes that need to be charged and e-liquid manually added.
Disposable vaporizers are non-rechargeable, non-refillable and coils are not available for replacement. After all, this unit-type operation is why they were designed. Upon inhaling a sensor activates the coil to heat the e-liquid into vapor.
Disposable vapes are much cheaper than the traditional versions, although only last until either the battery is flat or the flavor depletes.
Lifespan: 150 – 300 one-second puffs, or 1.5 – 3 hours.
Check out Vaperite’s selection of quickly accessible and disposable vaping devices here.
Introduction of Dry Herb Vaporizers
And then came the introduction of disposable cannabis vaporizers – available for purchase with a set dosage and enough battery life to consume all the cannabis contained in the vaporizer. This is the most discreet way of consuming cannabis today.
Disposable cannabis vaporizers last anywhere from 100 – 200 puffs but are largely affected by the content – wax, or oil. (wax tends to use more battery as the texture is more solid and needs heat for a longer period of time in order to vaporize)
Are they worth it?
Dry herb vaporizers provide the benefit of being as discreet as it gets when consuming cannabis and can deliver superior taste and smoothness.
As one of the main reasons people use dry herb vapes, they do not ignite your cannabis but rather heats it to a temperature just warm enough to release the THC & CBD compounds we are all after, and also does not destroy terpenes as much as when igniting cannabis to smoke.
As such, tar carcinogens are minimized in the vapor you inhale in comparison to traditional smoking.
Check out Cannarite’s premium selection of dry herb vaporizers here.
Atmos
As an industry leader and front-runner of innovation, Atmos stands proud as one of the first and best dry herb vaporizer brands on the market. Their products are engineered in-house and undergo strict quality control.
Popular devices:
Storz n Bickel
Founded in 2002 and to this day continues to modernize and improve the world’s leading desktop vaporizer.
Popular devices:
- One of the best portable dry herb vaporizers today – voted by the people.
- Long-lasting superior quality with excellent cooling.
- Cordless and supports a lithium-ion battery.
- A smaller product than the mighty, although still provides powerful heating and efficient cooling. (And plenty of vapor)
- Huge herb-heating chamber, a notable strength.
- Must be plugged in at all times
- Battery-powered and perfect for on-the-go.
- Fast heat-up
- Super-boost temperature (210 degrees celsius)
DaVinci
Founder Courtney Smith was inspired by the vision and tenacity of Renaissance innovator Leonardo da Vinci and launched DaVinci Tech in 2011 in hopes of changing the world’s imagination.
DaVinci Tech is known for relentless innovation and constantly strives for perfection in the cannabis-vaping experience. Practicality and ease-of-use are highly considered in the design of DaVinci products, thoughtful of the consumer experience.
Since DaVinci Tech’s founding, the team has established a legacy in creating trusted products such as the DaVinci Classic and the DaVinci IQ. Its developers draw from a rich history in manufacturing and hardware component design to build responsibly and bring clean consumption to the forefront.
The DaVinci Tech team strives to make the most advanced products with features that follow DaVinci Tech’s brand pillars: Purity, Innovation, Kingstons, and Control.
Popular device:
- The connoisseurs choice
- Precision temperature control
- Adjustable airflow
- Ability to track and report your dose per draw/per session
- Modern and stylishly designed with high-quality materials and superior functionality.
- Customizable
- Super portable
BLK
Belongs to Kingstons was founded in 2015 with the goal of creating responsible, enjoyable, and personalized vaping experiences. BLK continues to innovate top quality standards in the cannabis vaporizer industry to date.
Popular devices:
- Intelligent temperature & battery-indicating vibration
- Easy to clean
- Titanium alloy heating chamber
- and more
- Pure glass isolated air path
- Pure taste and cloudy vapor
- OLED temperature screen
- and more
Introduction of THC Concentrate Vaporizers
Inevitable after dry herb vaporizers were introduced were concentrate vaporizers. These include:
- Waxes
- Shatter
- Rosin
- Hash
Ccell
Ccell vaporizers are a leading technology brand and are known for even heat distribution by means of patented ceramic formula and an embedded coil. You can expect pure flavour and large vapor volume.
Ccell’s aim of replacing conventional wick-based coils with revolutionary ceramic heating elements carries its power by providing purer flavours and higher potency of extracts.
Ccell excels at storing, absorbing, and vaporizing high viscosity extracted oil without hassle.
Popular devices:
- Lithium-ion battery
- Buttonless inhale activation
- Compatible with oil cartridges
- Durable aluminum alloy housing
- Designed to work with thick oil
- Glass & stainless steel housing
- Buttonless inhale activation
- LED indicator
- and more
Introduction of electric dab rigs
Truly futuristic and the latest in technology when it comes to cannabis concentrates.
These devices provide the ultimate temperature control and flavour experience for any kind of concentrate.
Popular brands
Atmos
Once again back to Atmos, an industry leader and front-runner of innovation specifically designed the Electro dabber Kit for on-the-go wax consistency dabbing and powerful flavour.
Designed with reverse-airflow, simply place your heating element into your wax product and start dabbing. Not your style? The Electro dabber is designed to give you another option – just load up your included heating chamber and continue as per normal.
Exseed
A truly popular and leading product in concentrate dabbing stops the need to pull out the traditional dab rig for every session.
With a 6.79 inch straw – this nectar-collector style dab tool is outfitted with a ceramic tip to prevent any interruptions of flavour from outside environments.
Small enough to fit in your pocket or the smallest purse, this device has truly revolutionized dabbing and made it readily available almost anywhere.
Puffco
The Puffco Peak Pro is the next big thing when it comes to dab rigs. Standard dab rigs and manual torches simply cannot compete with the electric precision of temperature and potent flavour the Puffco Peak delivers.
Simply load your cold concentrates, press the heating button, and wait an average of 20 seconds while the Puffco Peak preheats to one of four pre-programmed temperature settings, adjustable to suit your concentrate and desired experience.
Features:
- Large and replaceable ceramic bowl
- sesh-mode
- customizable LED lights
- 4 pre-programmed heat settings
- Bluetooth app connectivity
- and more
On average the Puffco peak has a 2 hour charge time and provides 30 dabs.
Check out the Puffco Peak Pro provided at Cannarite here
DISCLAIMER: Vaperite and Cannarite do not sell any form of marijuana, THC concentrates, or products that contain these substances, but only offer products used to consume these substances.
