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Vaping on the go is more convenient than ever.
Furna's vaporizer takes it to a whole new level, thanks to a nifty feature that lets you vape both dry herb and concentrate by swapping ovens.
Furna, a Canadian company founded by former BlackBerry executives, is launching the modular vape system on Black Friday. The company's innovative system bridges the gap between vaping cannabis flower and concentrates, which often need two separate ways of heating up the weed. While there are a few products on the market that are designed for both products, users have to thoroughly clean the chamber when switching between herb and concentrate. With Furna's modular ovens, users can pack different types of products and then swap them out like pen cartridges.
The Furna comes with the standards for most vaporizers on the market, like a rechargeable battery and a charging cord. What makes the Furna stand out, though, are its interchangeable ovens that can heat up both dry herb and concentrate. The set also includes a funnel, a silicone cover to keep the mouthpiece clean, several nibs (in different colors!) to differentiate between the two ovens, and a cleaning brush. It also came with a handy multitool that both tamps the weed and scrapes out the mouthpieces, and as a simp for multifunctional appliances, I was enamored off the bat.
As my colleague Chris Taylor wrote during last year's mystery vape lung crisis, vaping state-certified concentrates are a less risky way to consume cannabis than black market vape pens, which may contain cutting agents to make a cheaper product. While the legal cannabis industry has made moves toward being more transparent with consumers when it comes to their products, some cannabis users are turning to vaping shatter, live resin, or wax that include various cannabinoids and terpenes that weed naturally has, without the harmful cutting agents.
I don't particularly enjoy consuming concentrate thanks to one less than stellar experience. This is where Furna's interchangeable ovens come in handy; I'd rather vape dry herb, but I like having the option of vaping concentrates if I want to.
I was surprised at how quickly the battery for the Furna charged. When I removed it from the box, its display clocked in at 9 percent. In the two or so hours between plugging it in, packing the ovens, eating dinner, and actually using the vaporizer, it gained a full charge to 100 percent. It fell to 20 percent after two full smoke sessions, which is still pretty strong, but I was surprised that it didn't last longer.
Having the funnel on hand to pack the dry herb was immensely helpful. I used a teaspoon to minimize weed crumbs, and then pressed the bud into the oven with the tamp like a tiny green espresso. The mouthpiece securely screws on to the oven, and can be inserted facing inwards for storage so the silicone nib doesn't get all gnarly.
Packing the concentrate oven was a little more challenging, given my lack of experience with consuming it. I ended up scraping some live resin into the tamp multitool (which is actually supposed to be used for cleaning out the nibs, but hey, this worked).
The entire vape is operated by two buttons, which control a sleek display menu on the side of the battery. Users can also set the temperature they want to vape at. Finding the right temperature takes some futzing around, but like most cannabis products, a good rule of thumb is to start low and slow.
For the first round of vaping dry herb, I set the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius, or 356 degrees Fahrenheit. (You can change the temperature units in the settings, don't worry.) As Leafly reported in 2016, the 330 degrees Fahrenheit to 370 degrees Fahrenheit range is recommended for "functional relaxation." I took two hits and immediately felt the knots in my shoulders start to loosen.
I had my roommates join me in testing out the dry herb oven, since they don't often consume weed. As less experienced cannabis consumers, they noted that although they didn't like the taste of marijuana, it had a less unpleasant aftertaste than most dry herb products they've tried. They did note that the Furna was less intuitive than the vape pens that they're more used to, and kept accidentally popping the oven and mouthpiece out of the battery.
"Functional relaxation" was certainly a stretch though — while trying out the Furna, we settled into watching Jersey Shore: Family Vacation and instead of taking notes on my experience, I fell deep into an Instagram rabbit hole, checking on whether various cast members were still with their significant others. Despite my best efforts, these were the only thoughts I managed to write down:
mike the situation is married now???
"It's hitting very gently. It's quite nice."
tastes like dirt but not in a good way
After several hits each, none of us felt too high, and instead felt a comfortable euphoria that was just manageable enough to avoid couch lock.
Everyone processes cannabis differently, though, so your experience will likely vary.
I also tried out the Furna a few nights later at 200 degrees Celsius, or 392 degrees Fahrenheit. Leafly notes that the 370 degrees Fahrenheit to 430 degrees Fahrenheit range is recommended for "intense euphoria," sleep, and meditation. This was, unsurprisingly, a much more intense high, but despite the high temperature the vapor didn't taste metallic or burnt. It also wasn't harsh, and didn't leave me with the chest tightness and dry cough that I've experienced vaping with other dry herb tech. One of my roommates noted that the vapor actually tasted better at the higher temperature — again, finding the right vaping temperature is all about trial and error.
Vaping concentrates, though, still may not be for me. The Furna uses temperature to control the dry herb oven, and wattage to control the concentrate oven. Swapping between the dry herb oven and the concentrate oven was a breeze, but two hits of the live resin heated at 10 watts, which is the lowest setting on the Furna, made me acutely aware of how often I was blinking. I wouldn't describe it as unpleasant so much as unfamiliar.
This is where the Furna's modular feature shines.
Finding the ideal vaping experience takes some experimenting, and as someone who rarely (if ever) buys live resin, I may give the Furna another go with a different strain, or when I'm not already stressed out by the Jersey Shore cast's antics. This is where the Furna's modular feature shines. I probably wouldn't have tried live resin at all if I hadn't tested the Furna, since I didn't want to go through the hassle of investing in a vape that I may or may not enjoy. The Furna makes for a good investment for someone who's used to dry herb and is interested in dipping their toes into the world of concentrates.
The interchangeability also came in handy when vaping with my roommates, who didn't want to try the live resin. Instead of going through the laborious process of cleaning out the dry herb, filling the oven with resin, trying it, cleaning it out again, and filling the oven back up with dry herb, all I had to do was pop out the dry herb oven and swap it for the concentrate oven.
That being said, cleaning the ovens out was also fairly easy thanks to the tamp multitool. Seriously, I love that little thing. The Furna's modular feature that allows the mouthpiece to flip inward for storage, along with the silicone oven covers, will definitely be useful for vaping on the go. You can easily toss the enclosed vape in a pocket, bag, or glove box without having to worry about picking gunk out of it later.
Overall, the Furna is a steep price for newbies, but well worth it for those who are more regular stoners interested in getting into concentrates. It's even better for experienced cannabis users who want to introduce hesitant friends to weed, but have something stronger for themselves.
The Furna will be available on Nov. 27 for $229 and $299 CAD. Buy it here.
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Topics Cannabis
