Banger nails are a clear front runner for the best kind of dabbing nail. They’re easy to heat, easy to clean and especially when paired with a carb cap, maintain a steady nail heat resulting in a nice, full dab.
Bangers come in a variety of materials like most other nails, including titanium, glass, and quartz. Many dabbers agree that quartz crystal takes the cake for best banger material. While titanium, for instance, can reportedly leak into the dab and affect its flavor and chemical profile, quartz has a neutral taste.
It’s more resistant to heat stress than glass, meaning it can take more impact from a butaneor propane torch. And it tends to distribute heat most evenly out of those three particular materials, meaning that it’s less trouble to heat up and keep a quartz banger warm than it is bangers made of other things. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to dab.
But everything can be improved upon and quartz bangers, it turns out, are no exception. LavaTech, known for its e-nail kits, has released its Opaque Bottom Banger line, a hardier and more efficient version of the original bucket nail.
You might be wondering what makes an opaque-bottom banger different from a clear banger. The answer is all in the temperature. There are a number of key differences to opaque bangers like LavaTech’s, all things which may seem minor until it comes down to trying one yourself.
Opaque-bottom bucket nails get hotter than clear quartz bangers under the same amount of heat, meaning that they take less time to get to the red-hot point that many dab aficionados prefer their nail be torched to.
This might not seem like much other than cutting down the initial wait time to get the banger hot, but in reality you’re also saving torch fuel as well as lessening heat stress on the banger. Even though quartz is a hardy material—at least in comparison to glass—it is also susceptible to cracking and breakage like any other non-metal material.
Quartz’s specific weakness is overheating, which can cause something called devitrification to happen. Devitrification is when quartz develops new, additional layers of crystal on top of its existing surface.
Not only does this cause an uneven surface for concentrates to vape off of, it can also make the banger needlessly cloudy and, worst case scenario, result in its cracking or shattering. Luckily because LavaTech’s opaque-bottom bangers require less heating than a traditional quartz banger nail, they are less likely to become victim to devitrification and will keep looking fresh without succumbing to breakage.
In addition to heating up faster, LavaTech’s 2mm Opaque Base Quartz Banger also has a higher peak temperature than a clear quartz banger, meaning that it can overall reach a higher temperature than your standard quartz bucket banger nail.
This caters particularly well to high-temperature dabbers, who tend to stick to dabbing at around 600-800 degrees Fahrenheit and thus might want their nail to get extra hot. Unlike many other bangers that are focused on the low temperature dabbing experience, LavaTech’s banger nails cater to the needs of both high and low temperature dabbers alike. Check out the differences between the two.
Opaque-bottom bangers, like LavaTech’s 2mm Opaque Core Reactor Banger Nail, are also advantageous when it comes to the cooldown window between heating up the banger with a torch and hitting the dab. (Even high-temperature dabbers let the nail cool down a little after it reaches a red-hot point.)
The cooldown time is measurably shorter with one of these than it is with a regular clear bucket, and even though the perfect temperature for dabbing varies based on whether you’re a high or low temperature dabber, any amount of time cut down between hitting a nail with the torch and taking the dab is time saved. It’s definitely helpful in a situation where you’re dabbing with friends and don’t want to waste time waiting for the nail to reach the right temperature.
LavaTech’s Polished Banger Nail with Opaque Cup Insert comes with an insert that turns it into a thermal banger, even furthering its possibilities as a dab rig component and making it an ideal nail for use with a carb cap. While the banger provides an excellent high-temp domeless dab experience, it’s also perfect for people who are looking to dab at a low, controlled temperature.
Unlike a fully opaque banger that is likely to hold quite a bit of heat, the opaque-bottom banger adopts a cooler temperature around the sides while retaining heat on the bottom to help boil the concentrate using the rig’s low pressure.
Opaque-bottom bangers have emerged as worthy upgrades for quartz bangers, taking into consideration some areas in which regular bucket nails can be improved. They’re an excellent option for meticulous dabbers, especially people who put stock in the heat-up and cooldown times, and LavaTech’s offering is the perfect example of how to improve on an already impressive nail design.
