Product Review: The Herb Iron

Product name: The Herb Iron

i wonder if white herb irons are bad luck too...

Price: $74.99 on the herb iron website

Function: The herb iron is marketed as a healthy, butane-free way of lighting your "medicinal herbs." In addition, if used correctly, it can turn your bong or pipe into a vaporizer. The device plugs into the wall and uses a 25watt ceramic heating element.

Pros:
- The main selling point for the herb iron is that it eliminates the need for lighters, thereby preventing you from inhaling unwanted butane. According to wikipedia, “Inhalation of butane can cause euphoria, drowsiness, narcosis, asphyxia, cardiac arrhythmia, temporary memory loss and frostbite, which can result in death from asphyxiation and ventricular fibrillation.” None of that sounds like a good time while baked, and inhaling butane even in small amounts cannot be good for you. You’re probably not going to die or experience any horrific symptoms from lighting a joint or blazing a bowl with a bic, but if you can avoid inhaling harmful chemicals on a regular basis then you probably definitely should.

Butane is serious business

 

- Taste. There’s nothing like the taste of pure, completely untainted ganja smoke. The herb iron delivers that taste even better than the other popular butane lighter alternative; hemp wick. I love hemp wick and still use it pretty much every day, but the taste you get using the herb iron is simply unparalleled.

- Self cleaning. I haven’t had to perform any sort of maintenance/cleaning on my H.I. since I purchased it; everything just burns off.
-Vaporization. This is the big one for me. This device allows you to vape without having to give up your beloved glassware. All you have to do is hold the heating element above your bowl at the right distance (or buy the herb iron vapor attachment) and draw in. I like to vape my bowls first, only combusting the bowl after its fully vaporized. It's efficient, it's tasty, and most importantly it gets you really medicated.

- Warranty. The manufacturer offers "[coverage] against premature burn outs for 6 months from date of purchase" and they even offer to replace damaged herb irons as long as they are returned with the original sales invoice within 3 months of purchase.
- Cost effectiveness/Durability. Considering the durability of the device its likely that you'll actually save money in the long term due to the fact that you wont have to buy any more lighters.

Cons:

- Hemp wick is comparatively more convenient to use. You can wrap a bit of wick around a lighter and you’re good to go. On the other hand, the herb iron has a long cord that can be a little bit annoying to deal with during use. 
- The vaporization isn't perfect. Sometimes my bowl would smolder despite my efforts at vaping it. Not a huge deal in the end and the issue can be circumvented by purchasing the vapor attachment.
- The device is not portable, it requires an electrical outlet to operate. This is definitely a big downside, especially for people who like to smoke outdoors.
- Risk of accident. I’ve had my H.I. for a few months now and have had plenty of (small) accidents. I’ve melted a bit of the cord, burned a few plastic bathroom items, etc etc. Its pretty easy to forget you have the device in your hands during a post-bonghit coughing fit.

This is why you need to read the instruction manual

Rating: 5/5. The vaporization function alone is enough to make this device worth every penny. If you’re a cannabis connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to give the H.I. a try. If you don’t want to spend the money on an herb iron, at least pick up some hemp wick so you never have to inhale butane again. I prefer the beeline and Humboldt brands, however any brand will do.