What are the Differences Between Spliffs, Blunts, and Joints
History shows people have been innovating with cannabis consumption since they first tripped over it in the foothills of the Himalayas. Some prefer their cannabis one way; some prefer another. Still, others feel free to move from one form to another. In short, there is no best way, just preferred modes.
If you are not into dabbing, bongs, or water pipes, you will confront multiple current options. It can help to know the differences between Spliffs, Blunts, and Joints.
The context of time
Before cannabis edibles, oils, and lotions hit the market, generation upon generation chose to smoke their marijuana. Soldiers, musicians, and border coyotes have spread the taste and habit throughout the world.
With the spread of legalized or decriminalized cannabis across the U.S., new candidates and veteran users opt for their smoke and toke in different ways.
What you need to know about Spliffs
Spliffs are more prevalent in Europe and among those with a short supply of cannabis, like students and the military. The Spliff extends the cannabis by mixing it with tobacco as you role it like a Joint.
People have rolled tobacco cigarettes since the day someone lit one up on a tobacco plantation. Tobacco handles easily when chopped, ground, and sorted. It lacks the stickiness characteristic of the cannabis flower. Mixing the cannabis and tobacco makes the Spliff easy to pack and seal.
Mixing the two products also reduces the cannabis odor. It makes for a more discrete smoking option, not as likely to give away your smoking ritual. Combining cannabis with tobacco cuts the potency of cannabis for those who do not want the high to hit too hard too soon.
What you need to know about Blunts
Blunts look like small cigars. They are as long as a cigarette and thick as a cigarillo. They may even include a filter tip. The look is fitting because Blunts are hollow tobacco tubes filled with cannabis. The theory holds that Blunts originated in the Caribbean, where tobacco was more accessible than pipes, bongs, and dabbing gear.
Blunts can be fashioned by hand, but one of the main attractions is that Blunts come ready-made. Customers can choose among Blunts according to their tobacco taste and aroma and/or the strain contained. However, they can enjoy the chance to buy a pack of four or five for convenience and storage. Like Spliffs, Blunts can increase discrete use and reduce the potency of cannabis. In addition, they travel easily and require no special equipment.
However, you can build your Blunt with the purchase of a cigar with rich tobacco flavor. First, using a fine sharp blade, you cut the cigar along its seam from one end to the other. You then remove the tobacco without ripping the outer wrap.
You grind the cannabis to the texture and consistency of cigarette tobacco. You want to pack the wrap full and firm. Making blunts will take some trial and error because you want a pack permitting airflow, and you want to avoid a pack so thin that the Blunt will break.
Pushing the content to one side, you lick both sides of the Blunt to start the seal. From there on, you tamp the content and roll the Blunt looking for a compact result. Adding a filter will reduce the harsh carbon burn and eliminate swallowing a piece of herb.
What you need to know about Joints
Joints remain the classic way to use cannabis. They have framed the way we think of cannabis use and offer entre to the world of cannabis mystique. A Joint is just the right volume and technique to satisfy most users, chronic or occasional smokers.
Joints look like cigarettes, sometimes with a slightly conical shape. You can buy them as pre-rolls, but most veteran consumers roll their own.
You will need cannabis, rolling papers, and filters (tips or crutches). Like the glass ones available at cannabis dispensaries, a good filter improves the air flow and prevents flakes and debris from reaching your mouth. You can make your filters with cardstock or index cards, but glass filters are clean and reusable.
Rolling Joints takes some practice, but this is not rocket science. Purchased rolling papers come in the correct size on which you lay ground cannabis herb. Placing the filter at one end will give the roll a conical shape. Nonetheless, you want to fill the paper with enough weed to pack without making it so tight that the air does not flow easily.
You lick one edge of the paper and roll it over the other. Pressing it lightly along that seam, you should not crush the contents. Some veterans roll their Joints in a second paper. Double rolling reduces the carbon burn and gives consistent shape to the product.
Products available include
RAW sells a variety of rolling papers. Some are made of hemp paper, while others are shaped for pre-rolls.
Dutch Masters, the legendary cigar purveyor, markets wraps for Blunts. Their tobacco comes in classic flavors and aromas, allowing you to mix or match your cannabis content.
Vibes produces a variety of rolling papers made from rice or hemp. You also want to shop for paper size and weight.
Social Smoking CLIIXX offers a kit for social smoking. It comes with several glass filters so you can pass the Joint without sharing germs or wetting the Joint’s tip.
A little shopping on the internet or at your local headshop or cannabis dispensary will find multiple products. You may choose from ceramic, vinyl, or cornhusk filters. You may choose the convenience of pre-rolled papers or Blunts. But you will find what you are looking for if you understand the differences between Spliffs, Blunts, and Joints.
