Wax Pens

What is a wax pen?

A wax pen vaporizer is any vape pen that can use THC concentrates. They can also be known as dab pens, shatter pens, or concentrate pens - These terms are all interchangeable since a dab is just another term for concentrate - Wax is just one type of concentrate. Other kinds of concentrates you can choose to vaporize include shatter, live resin, and budder. Wax pens are relatively small and will have either an atomizer or coils for a heating element to heat your dabs. 

How to load a dab pen?

For first-time concentrate users, starting with a small amount is better to avoid accidentally making a mess or wasting material. Wax is a sticky and sometimes annoying mess to deal with so we highly recommend pre-warming the coils or atomizer a bit before loading your wax! Try to just get it hot enough for your sticky sap to melt onto the coils or atomizer. Don’t go too hot or else you’ll just vaporize your concentrate right away.

• Most dab pens will have an included dab tool in their kit
• With this dab tool, you can scoop up a small amount of concentrate to gently slide onto the coils with

With smaller or more fragile coils like quartz, make sure to be gentle when sliding your dab off to not accidentally damage anything. Another alternative would be to use an electric dab tool like the Puffco Hot Knife which will make loading concentrates much cleaner. 

How to use a wax pen?

Most wax pens work the same way by clicking a power button five times in a row. From there, simply load in your THC concentrate onto the primed heating element, or have it pre-loaded before you even turn the pen on, which is known as a 'cold load'. Either way, slide the mouthpiece back into place and press the power button to begin heating your coil or atomizer. The wax will begin to melt down and vaporize quickly so that you can instantly inhale.

Do dab pens waste wax?

Learning how a wax pen works can be tricky for new users since most concentrates like shatter are sticky and stubborn to load. To make this as easy as possible, use the dab tool that comes with your pen. Once you've picked up some concentrate, scrape your dab directly onto the coils as gently as possible. You can also blob the wax on the sides without directly touching the coils as well. but generally, you'll get harder hits when the wax is actively loaded directly onto the coils. Depending on how long you vaporize your concentrate, you'll get a full extraction of your wax with little to no waste.

How much is a wax pen?

Cheap Wax Pens like the Yocan Evolve Plus and Evolve Plus XL start at $50 which is one of the most affordable pens out there. Premium dab pens like the Utillian 5 top out at around $100. Either way, if you love concentrates, you will not be disappointed with these shatter pens. Our experts have tried out all of the wax pens we carry so you can be sure no matter what your budget is, you can pick up an excellent concentrate pen to enjoy.

How long does a wax pen battery take to charge?

For lighter users, most wax pens will last a full week or two before needing a recharge. For the most part, it should take between 30 minutes to 45 minutes to charge your wax pen's battery, with USB-C ports taking less time than Micro-USB ports. The Utillian 5 boasts one of the largest batteries around on the end of a wax pen at 1500mah which will last heavy users a couple of days. 

How to clean wax pens?

For the most part, wax pen maintenance is as easy as using a vape cleaning stick on your coil or ceramic atomizer after your session while your resin is still hot. When your dab is still warm, it will still be very runny and easy for you to soak up and remove. Some of the cheaper dab pens will have more fragile quartz coils though, which might be better suited with either a burn-off cycle or an isopropyl alcohol soak whenever you begin to notice a decline in performance.

Wax Pen Key Decision Factors

Some things to consider when buying your wax pen will include the heating system and materials, heat-up time, battery life, temperature options, and lastly portability. All of these key features can be seen on our wax pen product pages for you to compare and contrast. Also, feel free to read more in-depth reviews on our Best Dab Pen Reviews.

Heating system and materials

• Would you like a coil or an atomizer?

A coil will provide faster heating and have bigger clouds but will be harder to maintain in the long run, whereas a ceramic bucket atomizer will heat slower, have better flavor, and also be much easier to clean.

Heat-up time

• Do you want your dabs to heat instantly?

Most wax pens will have a heat-up time between 2-10 seconds with coils being heated almost instantly. Bucket-style atomizers take more time for a heat transfer to take place but are also more beginner-friendly as it's harder to burn and end up with a scorching inhale.

Battery life

• Are you a heavy user that needs multiple hits a day?

If you're a heavy user, you'll want to opt for a better battery life with a battery size that's above 1000mAh. This will let you go multiple days without needing a recharge and ensure that you don't get left with a deadweight while you're out of the house. Beginners won't need to worry about this stat as much. Also note that some wax pens will use either USB-C, Micro-USB, or wireless QI charging! On that note, if battery life isn't important to you, an Electric Dab Rig are much more powerful and are designed to be left at home for the most part.

Temperature Options

• Do you want session customization?

Having multiple voltage settings can be important if some days you will want more flavor, or have big clouds on other days. Cheap dab pens will usually only have one voltage, whereas premium dab pens will have up to four different voltage settings.

Portability

• Is pocketability important?

If portability is important to you, make sure that you check out the size of the device on our product specifications tab to make sure that it will be compatible with your intended use. Some are on the bigger size and won't be as discreet in public or in your pocket!

eRigs vs. Wax Pens

The main difference between Electrical Dab Rigs and Dab Pens is that E-Rigs are a lot bigger than dab pens. Dab rigs often have much larger heating elements and batteries with some more user-friendly interfaces, such as the HD screen on the Focus V Carta 2. For the more portable option, choose a dab pen. For more power, choose an E-Rig like the Dr. Dabber Switch.

Which wax pen to buy?

The first thing to know when buying a wax pen vaporizer is knowing how much money you want to spend. Then, choose the right size & whether you want portability or will just be staying home for sessions. After that, you can begin to learn about voltage settings, atomizers, or coils, and decide what style dab pen will be best for you.

What concentrates can Wax Pens and E-Rigs do?

What can you use in a wax vape? Well, there are a few things you want to avoid! You can’t use dry herbs in a wax vaporizer. That’s a given.

• You can use anything such as live resin, rosin, diamonds, sauce, budder, BHO, shatter, and other honey-like concentrates. If it’s sticky and golden in color, you’re likely good to go!

We don't recommend the use of kief or hashish in a wax vaporizer. While we’ve seen people use extremely high-quality hash in e-rigs before, we’d recommend against it since it’ll get very dirty and you’ll likely end up with some form of combustion.

Dab Pen Sales 

In the list below, you'll find only the wax dab pens for sale on the market. Whether you want more portability or better battery life is up to you!

Wax Pen FAQs

How do dab pen coils work? Almost all atomizers and coils will work with a voltage passing through them to raise the temperature. On a good unit, you'll have multiple voltage settings that will give you different kinds of vaping styles. Cheaper dab pens will have only have one set voltage, meaning their temperature will climb continuously with no endpoint while you hold the power button down. This is akin to driving a manual car as your technique will make a difference as to the hit you get. For this reason, you'll have to make sure you time it right:

• Hit it too hot and you’ll get a harsh and heavy hit. Hit too cold, and you won’t get anything at all.
• If your wax pen coils are glowing, it’s too hot! Go low and slow to start to get the best flavor and terpene profile from your concentrates.

Electric dab rigs and such have more finesse and control associated with their temperatures, so you won’t have to worry about hitting it too hot. How long do wax pen coils/atomizers last?

• Depending on your usage and how well you maintain your coils, a wax pen coil can last you up to four months or more. Typically the smaller coils, the harder to maintain they'll be, and will last you around a month or two.

Do your eyes get red after hitting a wax pen? The active compounds in THC will normally dilate the blood vessels in your eyes and cause a bit of redness. However, having a harsher hit from a big cloud causes you to cough and worsen this effect. So, if you want to keep your eyes clear, try sticking to lower temperatures / voltages.  Is concentrate vaping a cleaner high? The name 'concentrates' come from dabs being a concentrated form of THC. As opposed to smoking weed, you're going to get much fewer carcinogens and irritants so your high is going to be much cleaner on the mind. Typically, the high will be more intense but last a shorter duration, though. What is a good voltage to use? A middle ground voltage to use will be around 3.6V. This will give you a good mixture of flavor and cloud production. Once you get the hang of your wax pen you can then begin to adjust that number to your liking. Heavy users may prefer going over 4V if they prefer a bigger cloud over flavor.  What kind of atomizer/coil has the best flavor? The best two atomizers for flavor will be quartz coils & ceramic buckets. These will give you the purest flavor and have less heat so that you don't get any kind of burnt flavor unless you overcook your concentrates. Can you soak atomizers in isopropyl alcohol? Yes, if your coils become clogged up as to where alcohol Q-Tips are no longer effective, you can then unscrew your atomizer from the battery and soak it in 99% isopropyl alcohol for 20 minutes. After, wipe dry with a q-tip and run a few burn-off cycles to fully remove the alcohol from the coils. Why buy a wax pen? If your tolerance has gone up from using dry herb vaporizers, upgrading to concentrates is a good way to consume more potent hits while still having a portable unit. They can also be a great accessory to bring to a concert for a good high. Recommended Wax Pens Our recommendation for wax pens would be the Utillian 2 and Utillian 5, as they will give you the most value out of their kit out of our current wax pens selection. Still, Looking For More Info? Be sure to check out our Wax Vaporizer Buyer's Guide for more in-depth descriptions that can help you buy the right device for yourself.

Why trust us?

Here at Tools420, we only bring on wax and dab pens that we truly believe in based on extensive market research, community consensus, and of course, our in-depth testing and reviewing. We've always had a customer-first approach and will only carry the best for you to shop. Learn More If you have any questions about any product that we carry in our store, you can also use our live chat feature to have a vaporizer expert get back you as soon as possible. - View less