A wax rig can be a saving grace in an indefinite quarantine situation. Anyone been in one of those lately? For some of us, a quarantine allows us the perfect opportunity to relax and reflect on our lives. For others, it’s akin to serving a prison sentence. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, the right dab rig can be just what the doctor ordered to keep your sanity intact while looking into the silent void of uncertainty. We’re counting down 5 of our favorite desert island oil rigs today that will help make shelter-in-place feel like an extended staycation.
5. Nectar Collector
If you’re new to dabbing and don’t want to get bogged down, few dabbing options keep things simpler than a nectar collector. A nectar collector, sometimes also referred to as a dab straw or honey straw, is a self-contained, upright alternative to a wax rig. The design of a nectar collector allows you to vaporize concentrates straight from the source, meaning a concentrate jar. While they’re portable (meaning, in this case, that you can pretty much use them in any room of the house), they still require a decent dab torch to get the tip heated nicely. But the reason nectar collectors secured our number 5 spot is because they make it pretty easy to gauge dosage which can be a godsend for rookie dabbers. It’s not like you’d be leaving the house if you had way too much anyway, but why even put yourself through that misery?
4. Renegade Oil Beaker Wax Rig
If you feel like you’ve graduated beyond the nectar collector, you may be more inclined to use a solid dab pipe as your daily driver. We’d recommend bypassing any heady glass options and instead focusing on performance-focused scientific glass. And if you’re looking for reliability on a budget, you can’t do better than the Renegade Oil Beaker Rig. The beaker pipe is the perfect design for home use thanks to its ample base that provides stability when at rest while giving you a generous water chamber for keeping things silky and smooth. Like the nectar collector, beaker-style wax rigs still require the use of a dab torch. But if you’re looking for a simple, supportive daily driver that won’t deplete that stimulus check by too much, the Renegade Oil Beaker will serve you well.
3. E-Nail
We get it, a dab torch isn’t for everyone. Wielding flames of extreme heat can seem even more dangerous in a quarantine situation, even if you know what you’re doing. If you’d rather burn a larger percentage of that stimulus check than a butane torch, you may find an e-nail worth your investment. We know, it’s not exactly a wax rig, but bear with us. One reason that people love e-nails so much is the amount of control they give you. You can dial in your preferred temperature for unparalleled flavor. Since you’re not reliant on a dab torch, you won’t have to risk seeking out butane refills in a situation where you’re trying to stay indoors as much as possible. Unlike the other options on our list, an e-nail must remain plugged into an electrical outlet to function (though there are cordless exceptions like the Trek Portable E-Nail), so you’ll have to pick a static sesh spot and stick with it. Some of you may not see that as much of a problem, but others will find it too limiting. An e-nail bypasses the need for an open flame, but some models can still exceed temperatures of 1000°F, so you still must exercise diligent responsibility to use one safely. If you like the idea of losing the torch, but any of these cons are dealbreakers, read on to the wax rig options holding down our top 2 spots.
2. The RIO Portable Dab Rig from Stache Products
The RIO, an acronym for Rig-In-One, is a self-contained mechanical wax rig that’s portable enough to be used in any room of your house or apartment. These days, bringing your rig on the go basically means moving it from the living room to the bathroom and back again, but hey, that’s a luxury that the RIO can provide to you. Since it’s purely mechanical, it doesn’t require any vape coil replacements. This can be pretty cost-effective in the long run and immediately convenient. So why is a portable wax rig that doesn’t require coil replacements or a dab torch in the number 2 position instead of the top spot? While the RIO doesn’t use an external dab torch, it has one built into its mechanical design which means you’ll still have to leave the house once in a while in search of butane refills. For those of us who don’t want to take the risk, it’s a deal breaker. But if the quest for butane doesn’t bother you, the RIO could be your perfect quarantine sesh solution.
1. Focus V CARTA Portable Smart Rig
Some of you have probably already guessed that the Focus V CARTA Portable Wax Rig easily secured the top spot on this list. The CARTA offers vastly improved performance over the primitive-by-comparison design of a nectar collector. It doesn’t require the use of an open flame like the Renegade Oil Beaker, nor the uncertainty of heating a banger or dab nail and hoping for the best. It doesn’t tie you to an electrical outlet like an e-nail nor does it require you to leave your house in search of butane like the RIO. Pretty much everything you need except the wax itself is included in the purchase of a Focus V CARTA Dab Kit, from the batteries to the atomizers. The batteries are rechargeable, so the only components that will require replacement (depending on the length of this quarantine) would be the atomizer, and those are easier to have delivered to your front door without contact than canisters of volatile butane. It even has apps so you can track your use, optimize your temperature settings and more, making it a welcome interactive experience to break up the doldrums of quarantine life. For all these reasons, the Focus V CARTA safely secures our number one spot.