There are very few discussions on the internet about how (and whether) to vape your own tobacco in devices designed to vaporize other plant material, such as the Pax 3. Having been a fan of Iqos and other Heat'n'burn products, I decided to experiment and share the results. I think I have found a reliable method for getting a smoking-like experience with loose tobacco, as well as pipe-like and clove-like experiences. I hope this is helpful to anyone else trying to decide whether to buy in the future. Generally, I found pipe tobacco the most satisfying, followed by clove and cigarette. That is likely because that is also the ranking from "most vapor" to "least".
- Requirements:
- Vaping device with temperature controls (I used Pax3)
- Grinder, for achieving the right texture and density
- Tobacco
- Other posters have suggested very dry tobacco. I found this to be effective for the cigarette-like experience, but not necessary. Light tobacco may be superior.
- In theory, ripping a cigarette could produce appropriate tobacco for vaping, but I did not try this.
- The best experience was with American Spirit Organic. I also tried Top Menthol and several Peter Stokkebye types (e.g. Norwegian Shag). The dark Stokkebye tobacco was bad, but everything else worked fine; the menthol did not add much menthol flavor.
- Pipe tobacco worked well, even though it is quite moist (see below). Grinding cloves into cigarette tobacco was also a great success (see below).
- Other posters have suggested very dry tobacco. I found this to be effective for the cigarette-like experience, but not necessary. Light tobacco may be superior.
- Cigarette-like vaping
- Grind your tobacco in an upside-down grinder to get a finer grind, ideally about 1mm-2mm maximum length. Leaving your tobacco open between filling the grinder allows it to dry, and using a finer tobacco generally (whisps of tobacco instead of strips like some brands) also improves the spread of heat.
- Use the smallest chamber available, ideally a 1/4 Tsp. tincture chamber for 4-sided heating. Pack the chamber tightly, but not so tight as to block air. After packing, you can suck air through the vape (with no heat) to test whether the airflow is blocked.
- The Pax3 chamber is large enough to hold about 1/2 Tsp. of loose tobacco, but using the whole chamber tends to only heat the outer edges and produce a very short, low-flavor vapor.
- The Pax3 includes a smaller chamber intended for vaping tinctures. It is about 1/4 Tsp. in size, and using this smaller chamber creats a larger surface-volume ratio. Even using the small amount of tobacco that it can hold produces a larger amount of more flavorful vapor. It lasts about half of the amount of time as a cigarette, but is very fulfilling IMHO.
- Turn on your vape and vape away. I found 3/4 maximum heat to be ideal. Less heat produced less vapor (but plenty of nicotine), while more heat produced a more smoke-like flavor even without burning the tobacco.
- Note that even after the vapor stops coming out, nicotine is being released, so you can continue to inhale if you need to. I find this dissatisfying, as the lack of flavor means you won't realize you're getting nicotine until you get too much and experience tremors or facial flush. Using cloves (see below) allows you to feel when the nicotine hits your lungs, because the clove oil creates a tingling sensation.
- Clove-Cigarette Vaping
- The experience of a clove cigarette can be replicated very easily by grinding fresh whole cloves in an upside-down grinder and mixing them directly into your tobacco.
- Approximately 1/3 clove to 2/3 tobacco is ideal. More clove is harsh on the lungs, but less clove may be good if you just want a hint of flavor.
- Vaping with cloves will leave clove-oil residue in the vape, and it will taste like cloves for a few days.
- In theory, mixing in whiskey, vanilla, or other flavorings and then allowing the tobacco to dry (ideally under dry heat like an oven with only the pilot light on) would produce a more "correct" clove cigarette experience, but that would be very time consuming.
- E-Pipe
- The simplest, best experience was using pipe tobacco in the main chamber of the Pax3, which should translate for any other dry-herb vape.
- I only tried moist cherry-tobacco, which produced a very large amount of vapor that closely imitated pipe smoke, except with no ash-flavor reside left in your mouth. A single chamber of pipe tobacco also produced pipe smoke for much longer than the same amount of cigarette tobacco.
- The amount of nicotine released was enough to get a buzz without inhaling into the lungs.
