How To Smoke Weed Without Smoking Supplies

There is an entire industry built around convincing the average stoner that you need expensive or even specialised equipment to toke. The truth? If you find yourself with a stash but without rolling papers, a pipe, or a bong, it is easy to improvise.

Here are a few quick hacks and ideas that can get you out of that conundrum. After all, necessity is the mother of invention. And it is always fun to try something new.

Quick and easy techniques

Never fear—none of these methods take much time or effort, and most of the supplies you need can be found around the house. The following are uncomplicated ways to fashion what you lack.

Make a pipe out of a can

This may sound obvious to some, but many do not think of it in a pinch. All you need is an empty can—a soda can is perfect.

Start by making a dent in the middle of the can. Now, use a pin or needle to poke about twenty holes in the indented part. Then, using a screwdriver or scissors, poke a larger hole just off to the side of the indentation. Make sure that this hole is smooth to the touch, as this is the carb hole. You do not want to cut your fingers.

Remove the tab from the top of the can. Next, condition both holes with a lighter. The idea here is to vaporize any latent chemicals on the can. Now, place the herb in the indented bowl and carefully raise the can/pipe to your lips, using the drinking hole to inhale. Cover the carb hole on the side of the can with your finger, and light the cannabis. Inhale, and then slowly release your finger from the carb to clear the rest of the hit.

Kitty Hand Pipe (Goody Glass)

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Use fruit

There are many fruits that lend themselves to being sweet and juicy bongs and pipes. The easiest to use are apples because of their shape, and because they are easy to hollow out quickly. Plus, their fruit is fleshy but maintains its shape. However, if creativity hits and you are surrounded by pumpkins, melons, gourds, cucumbers, or zucchini, it is easy to carve out the necessary bits. Just like the can version outlined above, you must have a bowl and a mouth hole (a carb hole is technically optional, but very useful).

Empty out a cigarette

This is one of the easiest things to do—but you must be a little patient, and gentle. Squeeze the tobacco out, leaving the filter in, and then carefully pack in your finely ground weed. Pinch the end. Light.

More time-consuming techniques

Perhaps you got caught in the garden shed during a downpour, or you have a hankering at 3 am and no convenience stores are open. No problem. Here are a few ways to make an effective homemade device using just a bit more time and effort than the above methods.

Homemade plastic bottle pipe

While you can make a simple pipe using a can, you can take this a step further and fashion yourself a water pipe using an empty plastic water bottle.

Start by making a hole close to the top of the water bottle. This is where you will put your mouth. In a pinch, you can just “kiss” the bottle when you inhale. However, if you have a straw handy, you can create a slightly bigger hole and insert the straw for easier hitting. Next, remove the cap from the water bottle and fill the bottle about ¾ of the way with water (make sure it’s below the hole you'll inhale from).

Securely cover the opening of the water bottle with aluminium foil. Press down until you have a bowl shape, and poke 5–6 holes into the foil. Now, just place your weed on the tin foil, light, and inhale!

Sprinkler Cube Perc Bong 14'' (Tsunami Glass)

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DIY plastic bottle bong

After you've finished hydrating yourself, did you know that a plastic bottle can easily be converted into a makeshift bong? You'll be surprised at just how easy it is.

All that's needed is a plastic bottle of your choosing. By removing the cap, you've already got your mouthpiece ready. Then, cut a hole near the top of the bottle—this will act as a carb hole. Cut another hole around one-third of the way from the bottom, allowing you to slot in your makeshift downstem. You can make your downstem out of any plastic tube, such as an emptied pen. The choice is yours.

Next, you'll need to create a bowl. This can be achieved with a bit of aluminium foil and some tape. Once constructed, slot it into the hole and poke a couple small holes into the foil. Now you've got an improvised bong that, while it may look a little ragged, will still provide a great, flavourful smoke at next to no expense. Just fill the bottle with a little water, heat the aluminium bowl, and take a hit. Easy.

Glass Bong Smooth

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DIY gravity bong

This old-school method will take some practice to get right, and is certainly not for the faint of heart. However, once you perfect the technique, it is a reliable go-to when you find yourself shorthanded.

First, obtain a medium to large plastic water or soda bottle, and a smaller plastic bottle that will fit inside of it. Cut the bottom off the smaller bottle—about 6cm from the bottom. The more of the upper part of the bottle that remains, the bigger your hit will be.

Then, cut off the upper part of the larger bottle. You will fill this with water and then place the smaller bottle inside it. Next, fashion a makeshift foil bowl, which you will use to cover the mouthpiece of the smaller bottle. Now comes the balancing act. Place the smaller bottle in the larger one with water in it. Place your tin bowl, now pieced and with your flower in it, over the mouthpiece. Carefully submerge as much of the smaller bottle as you can.

Light the cannabis. As you do, slowly lift the smaller bottle until it is about half-submerged; smoke should start to fill the area. Wait until it is full, remove the tin foil, and suck in that toke!

You can reuse the foil if you are careful. Remember to just put enough cannabis in the bowl for one giant hit.

Shisha / hookah

Smoking weed out of a hookah can be a sublime experience, but you need to be familiar with how smoking shisha works—and have access to the rig. Making a water pipe at home is not particularly complicated (as detailed above), but sometimes it is easier to go out and buy a cheap hookah at your local head shop than going to the time and effort to make a temporary, overheated water pipe.

Using a hookah is fun, although watching an online how-to video is a good idea. Basically, you replace the shisha with cannabis. Make sure the hookah is clean. If it is brand new, give it a rinse to remove any dust. If you don’t remove residue, it will affect the quality of your smoke.

Then, fill the water reservoir. Insert the hoses and check the connection. A leaky hose will ruin the experience. Test the mouthpiece before lighting the charcoal. If the draw is too difficult, remove some water from the base. Do not pack, but loosely fill the bowl with a combination of shisha and cannabis. This helps the cannabis last longer. Cover the bowl. Light the coals, and wait for them to heat the bowl. Enjoy.

What about hash?

Smoking or vaping hash opens a world of other opportunities to get creative with how you consume cannabis. Because it is a solid, you do not need to roll it up or even sprinkle it in a joint. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

Glass smoking

Another special smoking technique is glass smoking. You will need a large beer glass, a bit of hash (since this technique doesn't really work with anything else), modelling clay and a needle.

Now, take a piece of the modelling clay and stick a needle into it so that its sharp end points out. Place this construction near the edge of a table. Break off a piece of hash and impale it with the tip of the needle. Light the piece of hashish until it burns and quickly and hold the open beer glass over it. If the lump of hash is actually on fire at this point, you want to blow out the flame because you want it smouldering, not burning. This prevents the smoke from being too hot and harsh.

Leave the glass on till no smoke comes off the hash anymore, then slide the beer glass to the edge of the table and suck the smoke out of it. Voilà, that's glass smoking! If weed gets legalized in more and more countries, you will perhaps see this technique performed in bars that allow smoking.

RAW Hemp Rolling Papers King Size Slim

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Hot knifing

Warning: This technique is not the simplest way of smoking and requires some skill, plus you can easily burn yourself, others and your clothes. Keep these considerations in mind if you plan to use the hot knifing method. Despite the burn factor, it is a really helpful technique if you don't have any other smoking accessories at home. After all, you will always find two knives in your kitchen, won't you? And like with the above-mentioned glass smoking method, it only works with hash.

Heat the tips of the knives with a gas flame until they are super hot. If you use knives that are all metal, you may need some kind of cloth to pick them up. Again, use a small piece of hashish and put it on a surface that won't burn. Take one knife and lower it on the hash piece. It should stick to the knife if it's hot enough. Now, take the other knife and put the lump of hash between the two. As you press the knives together, the hash will burn and give off smoke that you can inhale. To prevent your face from burning, you should use some kind of funnel or tube to inhale. If done correctly, you should still have your eyebrows and feel pretty high.

Edibles and extractions

Of course, smoking is not the only way to enjoy cannabis. By extracting the cannabinoids into butter, oil, or alcohol, you can make edibles and tinctures that don't require any smoking paraphernalia.

Making cannabutter or oil

This is a fairly straightforward process. First, you must decarboxylate (or decarb) the cannabis. This is essentially the process of heating plant material to convert cannabinoid acids into activated cannabinoids (like THC and CBD). If you do not do this, your edibles won’t be very potent.

It is also a very simple process. Distribute your cannabis onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and place it in a preheated oven at 110°C for 45 minutes. Just be warned; by doing this, your entire house will smell like weed for several hours.

Once you have decarbed the cannabis, you can make cannabutter or oil out of it. Coconut oil is often used for canna-oil recipes as it's versatile and nutritious. To extract the goodness from the plant material, you will need to place it into a double boiler with the oil or butter and cook it at a temperature of no higher than 93°C. Then, all you need to do is stir the mixture intermittently for about an hour—although some people heat the cannabis in the fat for several hours.

Remove from the heat. Let everything cool down, then strain the mixture through a cheesecloth into a container. You want to have as little plant material in the final product as possible. Store in the fridge. Once sufficiently cooled, you have cannabutter or canna-oil ready to use! It should keep for between 6 months and a year in the fridge—that is, if you don’t finish it before that.

Just remember that edibles are even more potent than smoked or vaped cannabis, so proceed with caution.

Alcohol extractions

This is one of the easiest ways to consume cannabis without smoking it, but you need to be very careful not to ignite the alcohol as you extract the cannabinoids. For this process to be effective, it's recommended to use high-proof alcohol like isopropyl.

Simply break apart your dried flower, separating out the stems. It is not recommended to use a grinder, as this will make the cannabis too fine. Make sure your cannabis is very dry. Some people even recommend sticking it in the oven for up to 20 minutes to achieve the ideal moisture content. Moreover, it's advised to put the cannabis and isopropyl in the freezer for 24 hours beforehand—if you're willing to wait. This will allow for a more efficient and effective extraction of the trichomes.

Once you have everything prepared, place the nugs into a glass jar and pour enough alcohol over them so that they are completely immersed. Stir or shake for about a minute. Pour this liquid through a strainer into a second pot. Do not discard the nugs, as you can use these for further rounds of extraction.

Then, place this alcohol mixture in a slow cooker—like a rice cooker—for several hours. You need to keep the temperature low enough so the cannabis extract does not combust or otherwise deteriorate.

When you are finished, you should have a solid, gunky cannabis concentrate with almost no alcohol. You can now add this to edibles or use it like you would any other cannabis concentrate of this nature.

No smoking supplies? No problem!

If you are ever caught out, with weed but no smoking materials, there are lots of ways to enjoy your stash. Some of them are quick, some more involved, but all are fun. After all, variety is the spice of life, so why not mix up your consumption method to experience cannabis in unique ways? You may just find a novel way to smoke or ingest that changes how you enjoy the herb going forward.

Enjoy!

Marguerite Arnold

Marguerite Arnold is a German-American cannabis industry expert. She covers the industry as a journalist, including for top cannabis magazines such as High Times, and has written two books on the topic (so far). She is also a member of the industry as an entrepreneur and consultant.

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