The Storz & Bickel Volcano Hybrid Desktop Vaporizer stands out because it’s the newest, fanciest update to the Original Volcano.
The Volcano was the original vaporizer that, in the year 2000, altered the course of stoner history forever.
Two decades later, the iconic Volcano still towers over the vaporizer industry.
If you’re acquainted with serious cannabis connoisseurs (or you spent time in well-appointed dorm rooms or weed dealers’ homes in the early 2000’s), you’ve probably already tried a Volcano. It’s something of a stoner initiation rite: the act of passing around the detachable balloon filled with cannabis vapor, enjoying flavorful puffs.
Today, with this Volcano Hybrid vaporizer, you can either use the balloon (like the classic old-school stoner you are), or you can use what they call a “whip,” which is just a plastic tube you inhale from. If you’re not a balloon person. It’s nice to have options.
I should probably confess that I own a Volcano, which was purchased off a dude on Craigslist several years ago. I use it several times per week (okay, several times per day), and it shows no signs of slowing down, thanks to the advanced German engineering in its cone-shaped base.
I have had to replace the balloon a few times. But the balloons are only about ten bucks each. Aside from replacing the balloon (maybe every couple years, when you notice vapor leaking out of it), your Volcano should last forever, with zero maintenance needed.
I also believe the Volcano is one of the healthiest ways to toke, period. Thanks to its innovative design, zero heat enters your lungs. This sets the Volcano Desktop vaporizer apart from nearly every other vape ever invented (and, obviously, every method of smoking). When you flip the switch, the heat passes over the cannabis material you’ve put in the screened chamber. But you aren’t inhaling anything yet. You’re just watching your balloon swell and expand as it fills with vapor.
Pro tip: Use your hands to gently help your balloon become vertical as it fills. This will help your balloon last longer. But when you are ready to replace your balloon, check out our guide to the best volcano vaporizers and accessories.
Then you detach the filled balloon, and go recline wherever you’d like to relax with some vapor. The vapor will not escape from the balloon until you’re ready, because it can only be released when the mouthpiece is pressed in.
(Bonus: This design also makes the Volcano PERFECT for anyone who likes to toke mid-yoga sesh. Taking a hit while upside-down? Not a problem, with your light and easy balloon.)
By the time you take a sip of air from the ergonomic mouthpiece, the vapor has entirely cooled. The heat has disappeared — but the flavor remains. Your lungs will be thrilled.
The only drawback is that the Volcano is not designed to be portable. Though I did know someone in the early 2000s who, on road trips, would plug his Volcano into his car, and forego the balloon entirely: the vapor would simply fill the car. (We do not recommend this, for obvious reasons.)
But I like that this is called a “desktop” vaporizer, as if it belongs on a desk.
This Volcano includes an LED screen for changing the temperature, which makes it much fancier than my Volcano. (On older models, you just twist a knob.) I like to raise the temperature when I’m vaporizing the same ground herb a second time, to squeeze as much goodness out of it as I can.
This set also comes with a “liquid pad,” for vaporizing concentrates.
If you like to enjoy cannabis at home, you will love your Volcano for many years to come. I know I will.