Dabs are a powerful, terpy, and clean way to enjoy your cannabis — and once you’ve mastered the dab rig, and perhaps learned how to make your own wax, shatter, or budder, you’ll want to be able to enjoy the potency of a whole joint in a single inhale wherever life happens to take you.
You will, in short, be after a portable dab rig, a dab rig you can take anywhere. Also known as all-in-one rig torch kits, portable dab rigs make dabbing on the go a dream. Portable dab rigs are best for cold-starts, but they can also do just fine of you’re looking for hot dabs.
The good news? It’s 2023. You won’t have to DIY anything. You can just order your portable dab rig off the internet. Your only question, now, is which of the many dab rigs that have flooded the market will actually do what you need them to. We’re here to answer that question.
5 Key Features to Look for in a Portable Dab Rig
If you’re going dab rig shopping, it’s easy to get carried away by the visual appeal of a particular design and to ignore the very real cons. To get your hands on a winning portable dab rig, you’ll have to consider what features it can offer — and keep looking if a dab rig doesn’t tick all your boxes.
Here’s what to look out for if you want a portable dab rig that actually works for you.
1. Total Rig Size & Weight for Maximum Portability
Let’s consider this first — because “portable” means you can take the dab rig anywhere you go, without challenging disassembly and assembly procedures, but also that it fits in the palm of your hand. Or at least, very nearly. Look at the pictures of any dab rig you’re considering buying, and consider the scale. Nope, it won’t fit into your back pocket, but you at least want your portable dab rig to fit into your backpack (while leaving lots of space for other stuff, obviously).
The whole point about electric dab rigs that are portable is you can take them to places you don’t have access to all your at-home dabbing supplies, like camping for example. If you’ve ever had to carry-in your camping gear on a backpack you know that every ounce of weight matters and thus, so should the lightness of your mobile dab rig.
2. Flexibility in Extract Types for Versatility
No, we don’t mean that literally. If you want to be able to smoke any kind of THC with the help of your dab rig, well, you don’t want it to just be able to handle concentrate. Look for a dab rig that can handle bud as well as wax and shatter and diamonds, and you’ll be go to go no matter the situation.
3. Overall User Experience for Fun!
This part mostly comes down to traditional flame/glass rigs vs electric dab rigs or e-rigs — more about that later. You mainly want to consider if you’re happy to use a torch while you’re on the go, or whether you’d prefer an electric heating element. On a related note, it’s always a good idea to consult costumer reviews off the brands own website, need that 3rd party trust yo!
4. Price & Value for Financial Prudence
This one goes without saying. You’ll have a certain budget, and you’ll want to stick to it. Hint: Base your budget on your market research, or you might limit yourself to bottom-of-the-barrel portable dab rigs.
5. Materials: Traditional Flame/Glass Rigs vs Electric Dab Rigs
Traditional dab rigs consist of a glass (or silicone) chamber, nail, dabber, torch, and carb cap. Electronic rigs, which bypass the need for a torch, are by far the more portable option. You sacrifice some power, but you do gain convenience — which is why many folks who want a portable dab rig will opt for an e-rig.
The Best Portable Dab Rigs For Dabheads On The Move Reviewed
Ready to get dabbing on the go? Pick from any of these solid portable dab rigs!
1. HAMR – Cold Start All in One Wax Portable Rig Kit with Bucket Banger & Torch
This spaceship-of-a-dag rig is crafted with borosilicate glass and medical grade silicone, featuring a silicone base, slanted glass pipe, quartz banger, SABR torch lighter, stainless steel dabber, bubble cap, and a carrying case for added convenience. It doesn’t come with butane, which you can order separately, but other than that, the HAMR Portable Dab Rig offers everything you need for low temp and high temp dabbing right off the bat.
It’ll cost you about $180, and has compact dimensions of 4 x 3 x 2 inches. Biggest pro is not having to worry about a dead battery. Biggest con is fire and glass ain’t the most portable friendly things.
2. Puffco Peak Pro
The Puffco Peak Pro is a stunning portable dab rig you can rely on. The company’s original Peak was one of the trendsetters in the e-rig market, but its pro upgrade — available in three colors — looks like it might as well have been made by Apple. The Bluetooth-connected, wirelessly-charging, e-rig makes enjoying concentrates easier than ever before.
The price? $400. It’ll last you, though, and ships with a handsome carrying case. If $400 is a bit rich for you then the original Puffco Peak is a entry level starting point at a mere $245 on Puffco’s website.
3. KandyPens Oura
For $200, the KandyPens Oura portable dab rig is without question one of the best on the market in 2023. Don’t take our word for it — because this portable dab rig packs the same power as a desktop rig, and in style, too, it’s received awards from the Vape Critic, Vape Guide, and GeekSpin, among others.
Proudly handmade and designed in the US, this portable rig ships with a velvet carrying bag, features a fast-charging feature, and offers a lifetime warranty on all parts.
4. Stache Products RIO Portable Dab Rig
This all-mechanical cold-start rig, which is available in quite a few different colors, has a glass bubbler, quartz banger, stunning RIO base, a torch with an overflow valve, a glass carb cap, and a dab tool. You also get a neat carrying case with a RIO rig purchase. With so few parts, this rig is especially resistant to destruction — and it costs only $250.
5. Dr. Dabber Boost Evo
Dr. Dabber has been one of the leading dab rig manufacturers in recent times, and the Dr. Dabber Boost portable dab rig deserves a spot on this list because it’s simultaneously incredibly compact and surprisingly powerful. This dab rig offers wireless charging, and you can pick from quartz, ceramic, and titanium nail options, all with mind-blowing vapor. With a one-button control system, dabbing has never been easier. Did we mention it will slide into your bag discretely, and is super compact at 2.75 x 6.75 x 7 inches?
Herb CEO Summary
Puffco has seemingly captured a lot of market share and no doubt it is a good product, but at the end of the day, if you are looking for something light and electric to use on special occasions when you’re out in “the bush” as our Aussie mates would say, then all the extra bells and whistles become less important.
What is important is that you have an e-rig with a super fat battery and temperature control. Everything else is just aesthetics and nice-to-haves in our humble opinion.
So, if you can find a dope deal on a Carta or Dr. Dabber we say go for it. If you search on YouTube you can find people satisfied with their devices from MOST major manufacturers so it’s not a huge risk here, we’re talking good, great, greatest levels of quality today (e-rigs have come a looooong way in recent years).
