Mattacular

I think it would be good to have a thread on here to serve as a guide for all new smokers and all smokers in general to seek knowledge. Obviously I don't possess all the knowledge to write this myself, so everybody should reply with things that should be added to the guide! I'll update it as we go.

--The Ultimate Guide To Weed--

* Ways to Smoke *

Joint - A joint is weed (or hash) rolled up in cigarette paper (Zig-Zags and Jobs are some of the popular brands of cigarette rolling paper although there are tons of different kinds).
See also:
spliff - a joint rolled with weed and tobacco
roach - a roach is a small piece of paper (usually made out of a somewhat thicker card) inserted into the mouth of the joint. It helps shape the joint and serves as a stable mouth piece.

Blunt - A blunt is weed (and/or hash) rolled in cigar paper. Although there are such things as blunt rolling papers, the typical method is to buy cheap commercial cigar, aka a blunt (Phillie Blunt, Swisher Sweets are two popular brands) and slice it open to remove the tobacco. The cigar wrapper is then re-rolled with weed or hash or some combination in between.
See also:
godfather blunt - Instead of cutting and rerolling a cigar wrapper to make your blunt, the cigar is hollowed out and filled with weed/hash. This takes a lot of weed and makes a huge (in diameter) blunt.

Dry Pipes - There isn't much to explain here. A pipe is usually called a "bowl" because of the bowl shape at the end of the pipe where you stick the weed. I say dry pipe because no water is put in them for use. Pipes can be made of all sorts of materials, the safest and preferred material is glass. There are many different kinds of dry pipes, these include:

* Chillum - These are tiny pipes with very small bowls usually only good for one or two hits. They're straight shafts, the weed goes at the top and you inhale smoke from the bottom. They are the most compact and easy to hide
pipes. A lot of people use them at concerts because they are easy to get past security.



* Spoon - It is easy to see where the name for this pipe came from. Spoons range in size, I've seen huge ones. Generally they are fairly small (aside from chillums, many spoons are the smallest pipes you'll find). Spoons are relatively inexpensive for the most part (unless you get something really exotic).



* Sherlock - These pipes are named after Sherlock Holmes, because the style is similar to the pipes he used to smoke. Instead of being straight, sherlocks have curved necks between the bowl and the mouthpiece. One thing I noticed about my sherlock is that it has a gigantic carb. If I hold the carb for a while, tons of smoke filles the innards of the pipe but doesn't seem to go into my mouth after a certain point. Releasing the carb lets in a his rush of smoke. It reminds me of a bong hit actually.



More -

Color-changing glass: Many people like to buy glass pipes that are color changing. This means that with use, over time the pipe will start to change colors or darken. I'm not sure how this works exactly but I think color changing glass works because of a combination of the heat and resin collection on the sides of the pipe.

Wet Pipes - No explaination really necessary. These pipes function fully when water or some other liquid is added to a chamber. Smoke is filtered through that area on its way to your mouth. This brings the temperature of the smoke down and also filters some of the unwanted chemcicals from your cannabis. Cold water filtration will yield some of the smoothest hits ever. Water is by far the most popular choice for filling the chambers of wet pipes
however some people use other things. Pretty much any liquid will work, don't do anything stupid like put flammable liquids in though. Use common sense. There only two types of wet pipes that I can think of:

* Bubbler - These are essentially regular pipes with a chamber somehow attached under the bowl that can be filled with water. You put youlr liquid into bubblers through the carb hole usually to avoid getting the bowl itself wet. Or that is how I do it. Chamber sizes range, but the bigger the chamber, the more water you can put in. The more water there is, the longer it will maintain a desireable temperature. Ie, I have a small bubbler, the chamber holds a fairly small amount of water. By the end of the bowl, the water is usually fairly hot. Remember as you pull hot smoke through the water, the heat has to go somewhere. If you haven't taken chemistry before this should still make sense it is a relatively simple concept.



* Bong - Also called a water-pipe these days (it is the politically correct term). This is the king of all smoking accessories. Bongs function just like bubblers except they have huge (comparatively) chambers for water. Bongs are big and you will get a ton of smoke in your lungs taking hits from these.



* Weed Itself *

With methods of smoking covered, it's time to move on to weed itself. Every pot smoker should know that the active chemical in weed, THC, is what gets you high. Some of the other chemicals factor into the high. Now, there are two ends of the cannabis spectrum - indica and sativa. Depending on what kind of weed you have, it could be one or the other or some mix in between.

Indica: Most Indica varieties come from southern Asia and the Indian subcontinent (Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Tibet, Nepal, etc.). Indicas are compact and stocky, with dense, heavy, fragrant buds. The effect of Indica
is generally classified as a 'stone', meaning that it is more centered on the body. It may enhance physical sensations such as taste, touch and sound. It has a relaxing effect - mentally and physically - and may be soporific in larger doses.

Sativa: Sativas generally originate in the equatorial regions - Thailand, Cambodia, Jamaica, Mexico, etc. , Sativas are valued by many growers for their 'high' effect. This high may be characterized as cerebral, energetic,
creative, giggly or even psychedelic. It is less overpowering than the Indica 'stone', and less likely to send the user to sleep.Most weed in the United States seems to be more on the indica end. Aside from these two types, there are hundreds of different strains of marijuana. These have names probably familiar to everybody - Ak47, White Rhino, White Widow, Northern Lights, just to name a few of the popular ones. If you get weed and hear that it is something specific, check it out at Overgrow's strain guide. It is most likely top quality if it is actually a strain listed on that site.

Qualities

Although slang tends to vary from state to state and country to country, some words are fairly universal in describing the quality of weed.

Schwag: This is the worst grade of weed. Brown, seedy, and usually dry. It is very cheap, but you get what you pay for in this case.

Mids: This is the middle of the road weed. You'll start seeing some nug forms and possibly some red hairs and crystals. This weed will be of a lighter color and much prettier than schwag. Few seeds usually in mids.

Dank: This is sizeable nugs of weed usually. Plenty of red hairs, a nice green color and no seeds are attributes of dank. Most "dank" that I've encountered seems to be beasters. Beaster is the low end of the high-class dank weed. It
is commercially grown, seems mostly indica. Definitely not a designer specific strain.

Headies: What is called "heads" or "headies" is usually a very high quality weed - usually one of the more exotic strains. It is also the most expensive.

Quantities

Weed quantities are fairly universal. It is sold in grams, fractions of ounces usually. It goes like this:

1/8 (of an ounce) "eight": 3.5 grams
1/4 (of an ounce) "quarter/q": 7 grams
1/2 (of an ounce) "half o": 14 grams
1 ounce: 28 grams
quarter-pound: 4 ounces

And unless you're a big time dealer you probably won't be buying any more than that. Some areas have dealers that sell nickel, dime and dub bags. Your mileage may vary - sorry there is no universal weight for any of these bags.

Coming Soon: All about resin, misc. methods of smoking (knife hits, gravity bongs), rolling tips for both joints abd blunts, help on selecting papers, anything else that comes up.