When smoking becomes part of a discussion, the first topic that people choose to turn their attention to is the harmful effects of combustion and inhalation.  That being said, there is one part of the smoking process that doesn’t seem to be discussed, the lighter.

Butane lighters can be harmful when used for long periods of time and can lead to health issues such as chronic headaches and coughing, dizziness, trouble breathing, and other dangerous side effects. There are other tools that will be able to help you light your herbs or cigars and keep you safer in terms of your health. This product is known as a hemp wick.

What Are Hemp Wicks?

Hemp wicks are fibers produced from the hemp plant that are strung together and coated in beeswax. This is done to strengthen the twine and make it burn longer, creating a safe alternative to typical lighting methods. Hemp wicks will often come sold in individual shorter strands for those who only need them as temporary flame sources. They also come in as balls of hemp string for those who plan on using a lot of hemp wick for smoking session.

Benefits of the Hemp Wick

Regardless of what you plan on using your hemp wicks for, there are several benefits that come with using hemp wicks in place of traditional butane lighters. Here are a few of the most important benefits.

Organic

Hemp wicks are completely organic,. That means that all of the materials that go into the production of hemp wicks are all-natural. Wicks are definitely more eco-friendly and more effective than other lighting sources that use harmful chemicals or other dangerous products. They are healthier to use and produce. They give off very little smoke or byproducts.

No Butane

One of the most dangerous parts of smoking is the butane that is inhaled when the lighter is lit. The butane that may get into your bowl if it should accidentally spill out of the lighter. With hemp wicks for smoking, the only butane that is produced is the short amount that is used to light your wick. This small amount has no negative impact on your health and no more butane is produced after the hemp wick has been lit.

Taste and Smell

Surprisingly enough, using a hemp wick has a huge impact on the overall taste of your pipe smoking. The flame produced by a lighter is rather strong and this can roast your herbs to the point where the smoke is the only thing that you may be able to truly taste. With a hemp wick, you are able to experience more of the taste of your dry herbs. It also lets you enjoy what it was meant to release without your lighter. You will also get the undertones of the herbal hemp and the beeswax that binds it together.

Long-Lasting Smoke Sessions

Along with the burnt taste that lighters provide, their intense heats also contribute to a bigger problem: the speed with which your herbs burns. Almost everyone has been in that situation where they’ve held their lighter to the dry herbs for too long. This burns almost all of the herbs packed into the bowl and producing more smoke than can properly be inhaled at once. Hemp wicks make for longer smoking sessions that will keep your dry herbs from burning too much. It will extend the number of puffs you will be able to get out of it.

Better Control

You can’t control how a butane lighter burns. All you can do is hit the igniter and hope for the best. Hemp wicks burn more reliably and give you a choice as to whether or not you want to maintain a larger flame or a smaller flame. You can have a larger flame by using multiple strands. This kind of control gives you a better smoking experience and allows you to dictate how your session will go rather than letting the lighter make those choices.

Cheaper

If you go through lighters like crazy, you are probably spending a lot of money in the process. This is especially true for those who tend to lose their lighters on a constant basis then have to purchase new ones in order to keep smoking. Although shorter hemp wicks may be easily lost, long strands in the form of a ball or as a simple rope are hard to lost. They are much more affordable than lighters. If you’re looking to save money, hemp wicks are much better alternatives to other lighting sources.

How to use Wicks

Using a wick for smoking is super simple. All you need is something that will light the hemp wick. A lighter or your stove will work. Once you have lit the end, simply use the lit end to light your bowl.