Dab Nails: Quartz or Titanium?

As we’ve reported many times here on Weedist, dabs have become one of the most popular forms of cannabis in the last several years, thanks to (among other things) their increased strength and versatility. There are many different ways to dab, from the common nail rig to portable vaporizer pens, and plenty of options available for both.

Those of us that use a traditional bong or other glass rig find the need to use a nail in place of a flower slide. Many basic rigs come with a glass nail, but most people will tell you that glass is not the best long term option since it will eventually crack after repeated uses and many times heating up the nail. Other types of nails are available, but it is currently an open debate as to what the best type of nail is.

Titanium Nail

I have now tried two other types of nails besides glass: quartz and titanium. Quartz nails are typically less expensive than titanium, retailing in shops around Denver for about $15-$20 each. Since titanium is a stronger metal, most titanium nails are going to run no less than $20 and can often be much, much more. More expensive titanium are often “domeless” nails, meaning they are self-contained and do not need a dome to hold the smoke in; these can often run in the area of $100 for a good titanium nail.

Quartz Nail

After trying both, I personally prefer the quartz nail, for several reasons. First, quartz does not take as long to heat up. Since neither nail holds heat for longer than a single dab, there’s no reason bothering with the 5-10 second longer that it takes to heat up the titanium. While the quartz does seem to get dirtier on its own, I always clean my nail after a dab (and I recommend that others do the same to prevent too much oil gunking up your rig). My quartz nail shows no sign of cracking since it’s so much stronger than glass, and I also find the taste to be slightly improved over the titanium as well.

Several friends and full metal concentrates makers in Denver agree with me that quartz is better overall for dabs, but I’d like to open this up to the comment section below. Dabbers are often the most outspoken members of the cannabis community, so let the rest of us know if you have a nail that you like more than quartz!