Are you still sparking your bowl, joint, or bong with a butane lighter or matches? If so, there’s a better way to light up that you should seriously consider trying. What is it? A hemp wick!
When you hear “hemp wick”, macramé jewelry that you made when you were a kid probably comes to mind; however, while there’s no doubt that those necklaces, bracelets, and anklets you made were totally cool, hemp wick can also be used as an alternative to traditional butane lighters and matches and is a way to ignite your favorite smoking apparatus. Not only is hemp wick healthier, but it also offers a nicer, smoother burn.
What is hemp wick, anyway?
So, what exactly is hemp wick? Basically, it’s a piece of twine made of hemp (just like the stuff you used when you were a kid or teen to make natural jewelry and accessories) that is coated in a layer of beeswax. It’s just like the wick of a candle in that when it’s lit, it burns slowly.
You can purchase pre-made hemp wick. There are several different online retailers and brick-and-mortar shops (check out your local head shop, dispensary, or vape store, for example), and there’s no doubt you’ll find hemp wick.
>Looking to test out a hemp wick? We suggest getting a super flavorful juicy strain to test with, like some of these juice bomb purple strains for example!
They’re available in several different lengths, from as short as 50 feet to as long as up to 420 feet (perfect number, right?!). In addition to the wick, many retailers will sell a hemp lighter to go along with it. If you’re crafty, you might prefer making your own hemp wick.
- ✔️ RAW Hemp Wick is a natural alternative to butane lighters and matches. Hemp and beeswax are two primal renewable resources.
- ✔️ Natural hemp & beeswax wick for the perfect smoking experience.
How is hemp wick made?
As you probably guessed, hemp wick is made from hemp fiber, which has been extracted from the exterior bark (the bast fiber) of industrial hemp. In order to make hemp wick, two or more lengths of the fibers are twisted together into a strong piece of twine. The twine is then dipped into natural beeswax, which allows it to burn and remain lit once it’s ignited.
- Extra waxy means extra wick; these balls contain over half a pound (8oz) of hemp wick each!
- Support the American beekeeper! Bee Wick is handmade with American beeswax and 100% organic hemp for the cleanest burning hemp wick on the market.
How do you use hemp wick?
Using hemp wick is simple and straightforward. First, you’ll need to unfold the wick and peel back the tape that is used to secure the wick in place, which will allow the end of the twine to stick out so that you can use it.
As mentioned, hemp wicks can vary in length – as long as 800 feet or more! – but even the shorter lengths (50 or 25 feet), are still quite long, so you want to make sure that you don’t fully unravel the twine. If you do, you’ll have a big, tangled mess on your hands, which will not only be a pain in the neck to clean up, but that can also be quite frustrating, making your smoking session a drag.
It’s also important to note that due to the beeswax coating, hemp wick is a tad bit sticky, so it dirt and debris tend to be attracted to and stick to it. If it becomes caked up with too much dirt and debris, it will be rendered useless.
To avoid issues, store your hemp wick in a clean container where it can be closed up and won’t be exposed to a lot of gunk. A lot of smokers will cut a length of hemp wick and wrap it around their bowl or their lighter so that it’s easy to access, but will store it away so that the wick doesn’t get dirty.
>Read also our guide to the different types of rolling papers and the pros/cons of each paper type.
In order to use your hemp wick, hold up the freed end and make sure that it’s shielded from the wind. Use a lighter or matches to ignite the end of the wick. Once lit, let the flame burn for a little while to ensure that the flame is well-established and to make sure that any chemicals from the lighter or matches are completely burned away.
Once the flame dies down and becomes gentle and even, hold the hemp wick to your bowl, bong, joint, spliff, blunt, or whatever you’re using to smoke your ganja out of, and ignite your weed just like you would with a lighter or a match.
Why should you use a hemp wick?
So, why should you use a hemp wick to spark up your joint, spliff, bong, or bowl instead of butane lighters or matches? There are actually several reasons, and here’s a look at some of the top benefits.
- It’s healthier. Hemp wicks are so much healthier than lighters or matches. Both of these traditional methods are packed with chemicals that can be hazardous to your health, and when you toke with them, you’ll inhale those chemicals directly into your lungs. Hemp wick, on the other hand, is made of the very same stuff that you’re smoking – hemp! The twine itself, as well as the beeswax that it’s coated with, are all natural, so you won’t have to worry about inhaling any harmful chemicals.
- Lower temperature. The flames that are associated with butane lighters and matches are intensely hot, and that heat is transferred to your ganja, so the smoke you’re inhaling will be super-hot, too. Hemp wick burns at a much lower temperature, which not only means that your cannabis smoke will be cooler, but it also means that you’ll be less at-risk of singing yourself with the hot end of a lighter or a match.
- Better taste. Because your hits won’t be as hot when you use a hemp wick, your weed will taste a whole lot better because you’re not incinerating those juicy flavor-packed terpene-rich trichomes. Instead of tasting like burnt leaves, you’ll actually be able to taste the subtleties in the flavor of your weed.
- Smoother hits. Again, due to the lower temperature, you’ll enjoy much smoother hits when you toke with hemp wick than you would if you were to toke with a lighter or matches.
- Precision ignition. Thanks to the beeswax coating, hemp wick won’t flop down like a piece of string, but instead, it will firmly hold its shape.
- More bang for your buck. Hemp wick is inexpensive, it’s sold in long lengths, and it burns slowly, so it lasts a long time; a lot longer than a butane lighter or matches. Plus, because it burns the weed at a lower temperature, it will burn more slowly, so your weed will last longer, too. These two factors combined mean that you’ll get more bang for your buck when you smoke with hemp wick.
Herb CEO Final Thoughts
We were only turned on to hemp wicks last month by a friendly budtender at our local Oregrown dispensary here in Portland. Being big terpene chasers and looking to maximize the flavor profile of our particularly flavorful strains (Tropicana Cookies, Terple) we gave it a shot and added a hemp wick to the order given how cheap they are.
There is definitely a better flavor. It’s not like it pops out at you like a la croix but there is less burn/chemical taste that we would get when using our tri-flame butane torch to light our bowls.
Sure, you are adding an extra step by having to light the wick and then use the wick to light your cannabis but if you want to maximize flavor it’s not that big of a deal and using hemp wicks is something we’re probably going to stick with, at least when we have the luxury to do so, as they are better suited for home use than outdoor use.
P.S Those memes above were just for fun. Bic lighters are the shit and if you’re smoking some shake in a loosy on your way to meet up with the squad on a Friday evening then nobody cares and neither should you.
Last update on 2025-03-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
