How to Light Hemp Wick

If there is anything that is entirely symbolic of the act of smoking marijuana, it is the click of a lighter. That crisp, sharp sound and the sudden burning light of a small butane lighter is, perhaps more than anything else, a sign that you are about to light up.

However, not everyone is as big a fan of butane lighters as you might expect; it turns out there are a large number of problems associated with using them, and that there are a few useful and cheap alternatives that are just as easy.

One of these is the famous hemp wick, a pretty easy way to light your weed without having to deal with the irritations and smell of a butane lighter.

What is a Hemp Wick?

A hemp wick is an alternative method of lighting your weed that uses hemp coated in wax, rather than any kind of artificial ignition. It isn’t any kind of brilliant or brand new piece of technology; instead, it is just a slightly older, perhaps healthier way of lighting up.

A simple butane lighter is quite an easy-to-use piece of equipment; in essence, by using a small tank of butane fuel in its stores, it can ignite the fluid in gaseous form using the electric spark created when you press down on the clicker.

This is obviously a very convenient way to light up, but it has a number of problems, namely the fact that you are having to put butane in whatever you are lighting.

A hemp wick offers a more natural alternative, which works using incredibly ancient methods of lighting up. Instead of lighting gas to heat up your bud, you can instead use strands of hemp that have been coated in

beeswax, allowing them to burn down without going out slowly, all while making it easy to hold against your bud and light up.

In fact, this method used to be known as “slow-match” and was used as a way to light cannons!

Hemp wick is obviously a very straightforward product, but there are a variety of different types and brands available. There are some that are nothing more than leftover industrial hemp dipped in excess beeswax. However, there are some that sell it as a priority trade good, meaning that the hemp and beeswax have been specifically grown for the purpose of making hemp wicks. Each of the hemp strands having been carefully interwoven and made into the most perfect bundle possible, along with a gentle, slightly floral-tasting coating of beeswax.

Although hemp wicks are pretty simple, there are still plenty of people that struggle to understand precisely how to use a hemp wick.

How Do You Use Hemp Wick?

The operation of a hemp wick might seem a bit convoluted at first, as it has a very fundamental step that many people find irritating – you still need a lighter to get it working.

Many people might complain and say that if you have to use a lighter to start the process, why not just use a butane lighter to begin with?

The key thing here is that the initial light from the butane lighter is only to get the fire started; it won’t be the thing that goes into your weed, nor will it taint the hemp wick, as the part that gets touched by any butane will be instantly burnt away.

To start using your hemp wick, you need to unfurl it; each hemp wick comes bundled as a tightly woven package, sometimes up to 200 meters in length! It is very important that you do not unravel it completely, as you will then not be able to wind it back together again.

You need to peel back the piece of tape or whatever your individual brand of hemp wick has used to hold down the first tendril of the wick, thus freeing a single strand and allowing you to use it.

Holding it away from any source of wind or disturbances, and especially away from any fabrics, you need to light the tip of your hemp wick using a regular lighter or a match. Once it is burning, get rid of the original source of flame and let the wick burn for a little while.

This small period of burning allows you to get rid of any possible taint from the butane lighter, as well as giving it time for the fire to take hold and begin burning correctly.

Once you have got your hemp wick burning nicely, you can then use it as you would any other source of fire for lighting marijuana.

When you use hemp wick to light a marijuana joint, simply hold the tip of the flame to your joint and inhale, the same as you would with a match. A significant benefit of hemp wicks is the fact that they hold their shape when you hold them up, instead of flopping down and being a dangerous fire hazard like a lit piece of string would be.

For lighting a pipe, it is even easier; simply place the tip into the bowl of the pipe and gently inhale. You can even leave the tip of the Hemp Wick in the bowl as it lights, ensuring you get a nice, even burn that continues throughout your smoke.

Once you are finished with your smoke, merely extinguish the tip of your hemp wick, either by wetting the tips of your fingers and pressing the fire out or by dipping the tip in water. Once it is out and you have made sure that it is not hot anymore, then it is effectively safe for storage.

Simply re-wrap your bundle of hemp wick, making sure to tuck the tip back into the rest of the bulk of your hemp wick.

As an essential safety tip, you need to absolutely make sure that it is completely cool and there is no change of it reigniting. Once you put the tip back into the bundle, if you were being absent-minded and it was still alight, you could risk burning the entire bundle in one.

However, that is incredibly difficult to do, as it is very obvious when it is still lit, so you only need to pinch it to put it out.

However, why are people so afraid of using butane lighters and want to switch to hemp wicks?