Along the path of vaping, you will inevitably come across drip tips. You might think these are dinky little accessories for the most hoity-toity of fellows. You might believe these are completely irrelevant to your vaping experience. There’s even a possibility that you might consider these little metal/plastic/rubber/ceramic/glass/hybrid pieces to be somewhat of a money grab from the vape industry.
But actually, you would be misguided if think such things. It’s easy to see something so small and unimportant-looking as just a novelty. However, from the way you take a pull, to the way you prefer your device to look, there are several reasons to invest in a new drip tip.
What Is a Drip Tip?
A drip tip is the small mouthpiece on top of most vaping devices. In some cases, you might find them to be non-interchangeable, meaning that they are fixed into your device. However, this is done on purpose, because these devices are usually designed to have restricted airflow and to be simplistic for beginners’ sake.
Outside of these devices, you’ll find that even the old-but-gold Aspire Nautilus tank (pictured right) has the option for a new drip tip. So, even beginners can play around with cool new customizations to their vape setup.
There are several different materials a drip tip can consist of, including but not limited to copper, bronze, aluminum, glass, ceramic, resin, plastic, and rubber (the latter two are typically used for sampling purposes and are not recommended for day-to-day vaping). Ultem and Delrin drip tips have also become extremely popular among the modern vaping crowd for their aesthetic and functional benefits.
Which Material Should I Choose, and Why?
So now let’s unpack all of these materials and see why each of them come with specified pros and cons.
First, let’s take a look at metal drip tips. These drip tips can be made of any metallic material, including gold and silver (however, it’s rare to find folks walking around with a drip tip worth more than your wedding ring). The benefits of having metal drip tips include a wide range of customizable designs (some of which will turn people’s heads), an initially cool-to-the-touch feel every time you take a pull, and a shiny, metallic finish that compliments your device. The negative side of metal drip tips is that if you are using a high wattage device, you will find your lips receive a bit more heat than you bargained for, due to metal’s excellent ability to conduct heat.
Ceramic drip tips (pictured above) are a different story. They have an excellent ability to maintain room temperature, regardless of what wattage level you find yourself vaping at. Furthermore, these drip tips are easier to clean, as they typically come in brighter colours, allowing you to see any residue built up in your device sooner rather than later. The same can be said about any sort of resin, Ultem, or Delrin drip tip in regards to heat resistance and cleaning, assuming you have a brightly-coloured piece attached to your tank and/or dripper.
Glass drip tips, on the other hand, are famous for their ability to provide a smoother flavour experience, but are more susceptible to breaking. If you find yourself to be the clumsier type and are looking at your war-torn mod right now, perhaps glass isn’t right for you. On the brighter side, there is such a thing as hybrid drip tips. This means they will incorporate more than one material to create the best of both worlds. For instance, a metal/resin drip tip (pictured below) has the security of metal to prevent chipping and other damage, yet has a the creative and near-psychedelic look of resin that a more artistic person may prefer.
Drip Tips to Revamp Your Vaping Experience
Now for my personal favourite: adjustable airflow drip tips and restricted airflow drip tips. These amazing little guys are capable of maximizing the potential of any device.
A hypothetical circumstance, but imagine your device’s airflow just isn’t making the cut for cloud and flavour production these days. Would you rather spend anywhere from thirty to a hundred dollars on a brand new tank, or get a new drip tip to maximize your device’s potential?
In the early days of vaping, some more experience vapers would resort to literally drilling holes into their devices to maximize airflow. This is not recommended for safety and non–safety-related reasons alike. First of all, you may not completely clean out the aftermath of your device properly and unintentionally inhale metallic debris. You could permanently ruin your device, or overdo it and have a glorified inhaler that happens to spew out a bit of vapour in the process. You might potentially leave sharp edges on your device that will greet you in your pocket at a later time. Or you could actually drill in the wrong part of the device and create a walking safety hazard to you and those around you. Needless to say, it’s far from ideal.
So what is ideal? Well, if you’re seeking better flavour production, definitely look into restricted airflow tips that come with denser vapor, as well as anti-spitback technology. If you’re looking to up your vape game, then look into the world of adjustable airflow devices (pictured below) to maximize cloud potential.
There are even more options beyond what you see listed here available to explore in the vaping world. If you like having a wider feel on your lips when you take a pull, perhaps explore tanks requiring a wide-bore 810 drip tip. If you want a tool to help keep pesky pocket lint out, then take a look at anti-debris caps for your tanks (which, by the way, also function as a protective band around your glass). If you want your multi-colour device to have a completely uniform colour scheme, then grab a rainbow metallic drip tip. There are so many reasons to expand your drip tip horizons, and it’s up to you to decide which is right for you.
