Things have changed.
It used to be, there were bongs and there were hand pipes and that was that.
Nowadays, your favorite headshop offers a dizzying array of new-fangled devices with a multitude of different functions, many of which are designed for concentrate consumption.
Even dispensaries have experienced change in their inventory. When traditionally their inventory was made up of 60% flower, 30% concentrates, and 10% edibles, whereas now we see their inventory made up of 60% concentrates, 30% flower, and 10% edibles.
As dabbing has taken over we have seen a serious evolution in the pipes used for concentrates, and the accessories for these pieces.
The big hitting companies from the pre-dabbing era have slowly been phased out by new artists with crazy scientific and heady designs that continue to evolve each day and a lot of these big hitters have even abandoned their original target market for a new one, the concentrate user.
Initially rigs, were hard to come by, poorly-made and over-priced, and what was worth buying was even harder to come by. As the trend grew dab rigs became more available and the price dropped, but eventually the trend grew so much that high end glass artists started putting their skills to the market.
Humble Beginnings
In the beginning, dabbing started out as a very questionable method of consuming concentrates. The common devices used for the consumption of concentrates were hot wands, and dry oil pipes that very shady and dangerous. If you did happen to be one of the few with access to a pipe designed for concentrates, odds are they were off shoddy craftsmanship.
Now companies that make high-end pieces designed for flowers have added awesome dabbing inventory. There has also been an insurgence of newcomers to the industry and some that have become known as exceptional artists in the scene. There are larger and more heady works with high price tags, and the smaller and more intricate the rig is the more expensive it is. There are even some scientific rigs out there as expensive as the best sculpture heady glass!
Craftsmanship, precision and design drive the market for these collectible pieces. You can spend thousands of dollars on a dab rig if you want to.
The amount of different design styles and perc designs vary greatly and many of these have stemmed from concentrate use. Today we can choose from nectar collectors, recyclers, incyclers, and water pipes of all different assortments.
In a sense, nectar collectors are the concentrate users equivalent to a flower user’s steamroller, they are simple and provide excellent results!
There are also incyclers which are designed to cool the smoke to an extremely smooth hit. These pieces take water from the main can and recycle it up through the pipe and back into the main can.
Collaboration
One of the other big changes in the industry with the rise of concentrates is the frequent collaborations that artists are putting out! More and more often we see two big time artists working together to create amazing pieces of functional glass art.
It is typical to see the perc designs of one artist's incorporated into the theme of another artist's work, or you will see an artist create a piece and have another artist etch or electroform the piece.
There is definitely one thing for certain, and that is we have only started to see the beginning of how dabbing has revolutionized the glass industry!
