Remember the early days of dabbing when you used to simply fire up your torch, gauge your temperature through guesstimation, drop your concentrate and pray? A lot of evaporated money and pooling oil later, you probably got pretty good at recognizing your window of opportunity.
Of course, there was still that element of risk, that frustrating day when you were off your game and left mopping up the residue of your mistake with a dab swab, hopefully without a captive audience of your friends.
But we don’t have to rough it these days. Infrared thermometer technology has vastly improved and some are even manufactured with the dabbing process in mind. Today, we’re going to take a look at three of our favorite dab thermometers to help you decide which is best for perfecting your sesh.
The Terpometer: The First Dab Thermometer
If you read our blog regularly, you know we mention the Terpometer quite a bit. It’s a device that’s just earned that kind of esteem around Master-Minded HQ. If you don’t own the Terpometer, you’ve still likely used one or at least seen it demoed in countless YouTube videos.
Believe the hype: the Terpometer still has a ton going for it well over a year since its debut. Its shape lends to easy portability meaning you can use it virtually anywhere. It also features a beautiful, easy to read LCD screen with an intuitive color-based communication: red is too hot, yellow not enough and you don’t need to be Goldilocks to know green is just right. The fact that the Terpometer boasts a built-in dab tool is the cherry on top.
One thing that really sets the Terpometer apart from the other dab thermometer options on this list is the fact that it comes into direct contact with the heated banger. This lends to a level of precision that IR thermometers just can’t match. We even did a blog comparing the Terpometer to standard IR thermometers with touch accuracy handing the Terpometer an easy victory.
The relatively low price tag of the Terpometer also makes it the most affordable choice discussed here. However, for people that demand a hands-free approach, the following IR thermometers on this list may be better choices.
Best choice for:
- Precision
- Affordability
- People who don’t mind sacrificing a bit of convenience for accuracy
Octave Terp Timer: Hands-Free Convenience
If you’d prefer your hands free for firing up torches and handling dab tools, then the Terp Timer from Octave may be more your speed. It’s also the most affordable dab thermometer option of the two hands-free IR thermometers on this list.
Okay, we know we just reminded you of a blog that favored the Terpometer over IR thermometers. But that blog wasn’t looking at thermometer models that were specifically designed for dabbing. A relatively new addition to the market, the Terp Timer is a futuristic box built with rugged aerospace alloys that you position beneath your heating banger so that its laser sensor is trained on the base. An alarm cues you when you hit the magic temperature that you select through the intuitive console.
The Terp Timer does not come into direct contact with the quartz, so the reading is most likely not quite as on-the-dime as the Terpometer, but the results still make it one of the better IR thermometers designed with dabbing in mind. Rounded out by an intuitive polycarbonate console and easy-to-read multi-color screen to clearly display visible cues, the Terp Timer is an impressive unit for dab enthusiasts on a budget.
Best choice for:
- People who want hands-free operation with a basic set-up
- IR thermometer convenience at an affordable price
Dab Rite IR Thermometer: Cover Every Angle
The Dab Rite Infrared Thermometer takes a different approach to hands-free utility that may be more comfortable for you than the Terp Timer, depending on your personal preference.
Like the Terp Timer, this is a free-standing IR thermometer but it features a pivoting, posable neck that allows you to train its LED light sensor to virtually any angle within a reach of 7 inches. If 7 inches doesn’t sound like enough to meet the demands of your banger, then trust us; it’s almost always going to be all that you need, no matter how heady your set-up.
The Dab Rite foregoes the expected laser for a safer LED sensor with an emissivity setting that’s perfect for reading the temperature of quartz glass. This IR thermometer also uses a built-in timer as well as flashing lights to alert you when you’ve hit your desired temperature. Dab Rite has also developed several colors of silicone sleeves for this dab thermometer, so you can even express a bit of your personality while seeking that perfect temperature.
Best choice for:
- Versatility
- Safety
- People who want hands-free operation with a complex heady set-up
While there are other IR thermometer options on the market, the three above are among the best since they were specifically developed as dab thermometers. Therefore, you can trust that the hassles of finding that perfect dabbing temperature have all been taken into account. No matter what model you choose, you can rest assured that your ritual will finally be updated to the modern world and you can finally leave those archaic, outdated methods of guesstimation in the rearview where they belong!