How To Roll A Cross Joint

Ready to impress your friends, improve your rolling skills and enhance your smoking experience overall? Let’s learn how to roll a cross joint in seven easy steps.

If you’re getting bored with your normal means of smoking, or feeling adventurous and want to test your rolling skills, a cross joint is a great springboard into learning about different joint styles. It’s not too difficult, and you probably already have everything you need.

What You’ll Need

You’ll need a few extra things to properly get this baby rolled correctly compared to just rolling an average joint, but don't worry, you most likely have all of the supplies you need laying around the house. Here’s what you need:

• A Grinder
• Small Rolling Papers
• Large Rolling Papers
• Needle, wire or a pin
• Scissors
• A Small Piece of Cardboard or Cardstock
• Your Favorite Smoking Herb

The type of paper you use isn't the highest priority, but if you’re new to rolling, you may want to use classic wood pulp papers or hemp papers. They’re a little more stable and hold their shape better. Something like rice papers, which are much thinner, may give you a hard time if you’re not a seasoned roller.

You can use any grinder you want, but if you want to up your cross joint game even more, use a four-part grinder so you can collect some kief. You can either sprinkle some on the inside of your joint or, once your work of art is completed, slightly dampen the outside of your joint and give it a good dusting.

As far as the cardboard or cardstock you'll need, try to use something that doesn't have anything printed on it, you never know what kind of nasty chemicals or artificial dyes can be in the ink

What To Do

Step 1: Roll a Fatty

This first step requires you to roll a joint much larger than usual. Length doesn't matter as much, but you definitely want it to be a lot thicker than normal. The girthier it is, the easier it will be to assemble the rest of the joint in the next steps. As you get better at rolling cross joints, you’ll be able to make this initial joint smaller, but honestly, why would you want to?

Step 2: Insert a Small Piece of Cardboard in the Butt End

This is optional, but if you’re going to spend the time rolling a fancy joint, you might as well go all out. This step really only acts as a bit of a buffer so you can burn your joint all the way to the end without wasting any herb. It will also help to keep any crumbs from falling in your mouth as you hit the joint. All you need to do is cut a small strip of cardboard or cardstock, roll it to about the width of your joint, and stick it in the butt. Of course, make sure you get consent.

Step 3: Roll a Thin Joint

Using the smaller size rolling papers, roll a very thin joint. Like mentioned in step one, once you get the hang of rolling cross joints, the size of each joint is totally up to you. But for now, the thinner it is, the easier it will be. You won't want a butt end on this joint, so go ahead and loosely twist up both ends.

Step 4: Poke a Hole In The Large Joint

Once you have both joints assembled, you’ll need to poke a hole about three-quarters away from the butt end of the fat joint. This is where you’ll use your needle, pin or wire. Once the hole is poked all the way through, you’ll need to work the hole large enough to slide your thin joint through. Go slow and take your time. If you rush it, you risk splitting the large joint and having to start over. Make sure the hole is just wide enough for the thin joint, it will make the seal tighter once you assemble the two pieces.

Step 5: Poke a Hole Through the Middle of the Small Joint

This may be an easy step to forget, but it’s very important. This provides the airflow you need for the cross joint to be smokable once you’ve completed all steps. This hole doesn't have to be as large as the one you poked in the fatty, just enough to have ample air flow.

Step 6: Slide the Small Joint Through the Large Joint

You’ll want to push from one end, pull from the other end, and rotate slightly as the thin joint makes its way through the fat joint. Again, take your time, you don’t want to risk tearing either one. Once the hole in the thin joint is in the center of the fat joint, you’re good.

Step 7: Seal Up and Reinforce Your Cross Joint

You’re almost there! But this last step is very important to make sure your masterpiece is functional and won’t fall apart. You’ll need your scissors and two more rolling papers. Cut the adhesive strips off of each paper, dampen the glues and wrap them around where your two joints meet. You’ll want to make sure this seal is tight, or else your cross joint won’t hit as well. The best way to do this is to wrap diagonally in the shape of an “X” where the two joints cross.

Ready For Take Off

Once your cross joint is all sealed up, it’s ready to enjoy it. Some people claim you may need two or three lighters to get your cross joint going properly. While not necessarily true, it does help to light each end evenly so that all parts of your cross joint burn at the same rate. But as long as you get each end going at the same time, you’ll be fine. 

Stock up on rolling papers to make some awesome cross joints at Atomic Blaze Online Smoke Shop!