Ganja Guides

What is a Blinker Hit?

Weed blinkers

The chase of the ultimate high is a chase every stoner is quite acquainted with. Every good trip leaves you wanting to perfect it even more. And in that pursuit, you may wonder, “what is a blinker weed?” The answer might not be quite what you expect. So pack a dank bowl and take a hit because this one’s a doozy.

Photo: Unsplash

What is a Blinker Weed?

Vaping blinkers
Hit or miss? (Source: Unsplash)

Weed can be smoked in many ways. A popular one is vaping. A standard weed pen or “vape” comes with a chamber that contains CBD or THC oil, a heating chamber with a coil that vaporizes the oil, and a battery attached to power the device. Once filled and prepped, you just inhale and enjoy.

How to Hit a Blinker?

A blinker is essentially the act of hitting your vape for one long, continuous inhale. It gets its name from the fact that you stop when the device’s battery or power button starts blinking. Usually, this lasts about 8-10 seconds. This might seem relatively short, but there’s a lot more to a blinker than meets the eye.

Vape Pen Blinking

Weed pen
Vape pen (Source: Unsplash)

What does vape pen blinking mean anyways? Vapes come with a blinking function for a few different reasons. In general, most weed pens blink a few times as a way to indicate they’ve been powered on. In this way, the function of blinking on a vape is the same as any other standard device.

But weed pens also blink to indicate something is wrong. It could be something simple such as needing to charge the battery. Or it could be something a little more complex, including a part needing to be changed. Usually, the part would be the heating coil.

The act of blinking is generally thought to trigger the low-charge blinker. But in reality, it could also be your weed pen telling you something is wrong.

Are Blinker Hits Safe?

Vaping
Perfecting the craft (Source: Unsplash)

Blinkers may seem relatively safe. After all, people have been hitting long drags on joints and bongs for decades without much issue.

But vape pens function a little differently from more classic smoking methods. The most important distinction is that vapes use heat to activate and release the weed. And too much heat can destroy the device.

The reason a blinker lasts only a few seconds is that weed pens only hold that much charge. The device has an in-built feature that makes it switch off to keep the battery from overheating and breaking. Pushing your vape to its limits this way has a few downsides though, beyond just damaging it.

Monster Rips Versus Teeny Tokes

Monster rips
Monster rips or small hits? (Source: Unsplash)

Whether you smoke joints, hit bongs, or use a vape, every stoner has dabbled in experimentation. Particularly when it comes to massive rips versus small juicy hits. And pretty much every stoner will come to their own conclusion on which one works better.

The bigger rips definitely have their proponents. A lot of stoners feel like it results in a much more intense high, though this hasn’t been adequately proven. And, unfortunately, it also comes with the side-effect of burning up your weed way faster. Moreover, our lungs are designed to process a certain amount of THC at a time. This means no matter how big the rip, you’re still only using a percentage of the THC and wasting the rest.

What Happens When You Hit a Blinker?

Vape coil
Red hot (Source: Unsplash)

This brings us to blinkers. Most people hit blinkers to get monster rips out of the relatively tiny weed pens. Vaping was never designed for these, however. As such, the vape ends up heating too much and too fast.

Much like with bongs, this results in burning up your weed too fast and you won’t be able to absorb all of the THC you’ve inhaled. But with vapes, there is an additional side-effect: contamination.

Burning through your oil quickly can pollute the rest of your cart. A vape usually includes a wick that transports oil from the tank onto the coil for heating. And this is enclosed by a metal case.

When you hit blinkers and overheat your battery, you risk breaking down this metal and having it release contaminants into your oil. So while the first part of your inhale might seem great, the rest of your product will taste awful and also be quite unsafe to hit.

How to Hit a Vape Pen

Vaping at night
Street lights, people, and a smooth hit (Source: Unsplash)

Blinkers, ultimately, are little more than a party trick. You can do them for fun when you’re at a stoner bash. But they’re not too great on either your pen or your body.

A better way to vape is to do several pulls, about 3-5 seconds each, with your pen on a lower setting. Vaping, after all, was designed to be a slow, smooth, and easy way to toke on the wherever, whenever. The purpose of a vape is to be a mini portable bong that fits in your pocket. So if it’s a monster high you’re after, opt for a monster bong instead.

Blink and You’ll Miss It

So, what is blinker hit? It’s when you hit your weed so hard, it causes your vape to blink and you to lose your money and weed in a flash. In other words, it’s fun, but it’s a rather expensive kind of fun. And in the end, you’ll end up in a coughing fit.