Short answer
A cannabis hemp wick holder is a small tool that grips a length of waxed hemp twine and keeps the flame away from your fingers. You light the wick, then touch the ember to the bowl. The holder replaces a butane lighter as the ignition source. Prices run $5 to $30. Common wick sizes are 1.0 mm and 2.0 mm.
Cannabis Hemp Wick: The Ultimate Guide
How the tool works
Hemp wick is braided hemp fiber coated in beeswax. The wax holds the shape and feeds the burn. A holder is a tube, clamp, or spool that feeds twine from a chamber. Some models wrap around a standard Bic-style lighter, which measures about 8.1 cm tall and 2.5 cm wide. The lighter acts as the handle and the wick chamber sits on top.
Tube holders carry a snuffer cap. Slide the cap on and the ember dies from lack of oxygen. Without a snuffer, the twine keeps smoldering and burns about 1 cm per minute.
Where to Buy Hemp Wick: What to Check Before You Pay
Materials
- Brass and stainless steel: resist heat, weigh 20 to 60 grams, cost $10 to $30.
- Ceramic: stays cool at the grip, chips when dropped.
- Glass: shows the wick level, breaks on tile floors.
- Silicone sleeve: cheapest option at about $5, melts if the ember rests against it.
How to load and use
- Cut 15 cm to 20 cm of wick. A 200 ft spool makes about 300 to 400 pieces at that length.
- Thread the wick through the tube until 2 cm to 3 cm extends past the tip.
- Trim the frayed end with scissors. A clean end lights faster than a mashed one.
- Hold the flame to the wick tip for 2 to 3 seconds.
- Touch the ember to the edge of the bowl, not the center. Corner lighting keeps the rest of the bowl green.
- Snuff the wick between draws. A lit wick left on a table is an open flame.
Maintenance
Resin builds on the tube tip after 10 to 20 bowls. Wipe the tip with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. Do not soak wooden holders. Replace the wick when the exposed end falls below 1 cm. Check the chamber gasket every few months. A loose gasket lets the wick slide back into the tube.
What is not established
No peer-reviewed study has measured the difference in inhaled combustion products between a hemp wick and a butane lighter. Makers claim a lower flame temperature. Reported flame temperatures for butane lighters sit near 1,300 C to 1,400 C, and a hemp wick ember runs cooler, but the number shifts with wick thickness, wax load, and airflow. Treat the health comparison as unproven. Hemp wick is not a filter and does not remove tar.
Safety and law
Hemp wick comes from industrial hemp. Under US law, hemp is cannabis with delta-9 THC at or below 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis, per the 2018 Farm Bill. The wick contains no THC. Open-flame devices start house fires. US fire data list smoking materials among the leading causes of home fire deaths. Snuff the wick. Never leave it lit.
Buying checklist
- Wick diameter: match the holder bore. A 2 mm wick will not fit a 1 mm channel.
- Snuffer: included or sold as an add-on.
- Grip: test the fit on your lighter brand before you buy.
- Spool size: 200 ft is the standard retail length.
- Refill wick: confirm the spool fits the chamber.