Vaporizing Through Water: Pros & Cons
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A lot of people naturally assume that vaping through water is automatically better. I used to think this as well. Let's walk through where using water helps, where it doesn't, and why I don't think it's necessary for most people, even though there are cases where it makes sense.
Does Water Reduce Vapor Harshness?
The main obvious thing that vaping through water could help with is lessening the harshness or the hot feeling of the vapor itself. Surprisingly, I have found that in the vast majority of cases, it is not the actual water doing the cooling or conditioning of the vapor. It's the rig itself.
And what I mean by that is just the path that the vapor takes through the rig, the bends, the turns, that itself cools and conditions the vapor and makes it way more comfortable.
Not only does using water become unnecessary, but I've actually realized there are various downsides to having water in the rig. Before I talk about what these downsides might be, I want to just say this is largely personal preference using water, not using water. It doesn't matter.
Nowadays, I do both. I have a few rigs that I kind of like using water in. I like the action. I have a few rigs that I strictly use dry, never put water in them.
The Downsides of Using Water
But one of the main downsides of vaping through a glass rig that has water in it is cleanliness. Your rigs will look dirtier and it will happen faster than if they were dry. And not only will it look kind of ugly, but it's also most likely going to develop a little bit of a funky smell.
When vaping through a dry rig all the time, all that really happens is it gets a little cloudy looking. It develops like a haze on the inside. It typically does not smell bad.
And this is kind of a stretch, but a possible negative to vaping through water and then leaving the water in the rig is a higher chance of bacteria or something possibly developing.
Flavor is Better Dry - Potency Too?
So now let's talk about the biggest possible difference as far as performance. And that is in the flavor. Vaping through water can actually strip out some of the taste. I've noticed with most vapes that you will get a slightly more pure and complex flavor without the water.
Now this part is somewhat controversial, but it is also possible that the water can slightly lower the potency of the vapor as well. It is possible that by vaping through water and attempting to get nice comfortable vapor, we might be inadvertently negatively affecting the potency and taste.
The other thing about using water in most rigs is it's gonna add a little bit of draw resistance. Usually it's not that much. It's barely noticeable, but with some devices and with some rigs, there is a clear difference.
Also with some devices and some rigs, you could possibly get a little bit of blowback when the water settles back down after your draw and it could push your bud out of your bowl.
No Water = Reduced Cleaning
Now the last thing I want to talk about is cleaning. And this hits home for me personally because I'm pretty clumsy and I've broken a lot of glass rigs over the years.
So when you vape dry and you don't use water, you can go longer between cleanings. Typically, the highest chance of breaking your glass rig is while you're cleaning it. So if you don't have to clean your rigs as often, for someone like me, it lowers the chances of the rigs ever breaking.
Lastly, I do also want to add, I probably should have said it earlier, but as far as a pro or an or maybe slightly better hits with that added draw resistance that the water provides. It's not many of them, but there has been a couple that that's been the case.
Overall, for me personally, if I had to choose, I would go dry all the time. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm kind of a hybrid mix at the moment. I do a little of both. I have a few rigs I use water in and I have a few that I use dry.
Have any questions? Ask me when I'm live on Youtube or Twitch.
Stay up!
-Bud