The Socially Distant Stoner

In an age of Covid-19 where masking up before going out and staying six feet apart is now the “new normal,” how can we safely connect with fellow smokers?

If you’re like many smoking enthusiasts, including us here at Atomic Blaze Smoke Shop, sharing means caring and getting together with your friends to chillax and pass time together is one of the best parts of partaking in nature’s green gift. This year has been undoubtedly difficult on everyone and thankfully more than half the country’s states have laws that allow people legal access to the plant that’s helping them get through this pandemic and the isolation of a lock down, whether mandated or self-imposed.

As history has proven time and time again though, stoners are masters of ingenuity in the face of adversity. We can and will find a way to smoke out of anything within arm’s length if found in the predicament of not having cheap smoking pipes to puff from. 

Or even if we do have a pipe, why not smoke out of that potato? We can and will find a way to get through this pandemic. Together, from a distance, and fadedAF.

Virtual Smoke Sesh at 420

If you have made it through this year without having had to sign into some version of an online forum or video conference, then consider yourself very lucky. Facetime with friends and family used to be a novel experience but now working from home and online classes make smiling on camera through the frustration of technological mishaps a common way to communicate.

There is one thing that makes it better. Who’s kidding? It makes everything better. Roll one up before logging on and invite some friends for a virtual smoke sesh. Just because the pandemic has everyone hiding at home, it doesn’t mean we can’t still see each other’s faces and enjoy the high-time we used to have in person.

Are you used to your friend with the nimble fingers rolling the fatties and can’t seem to figure it out for yourself? Use a virtual smoke sesh to have them show you how to roll a hemp wrap. 

Themed smoke sessions can help break the ice if some in your group are new to video chat. Pick a new topic each week to keep things engaging. Another week your group could go over how to clean out a one hitter or clean a one hitter with vinegar. Or you could just smoke and make fun of each other like true friends do. Whatever makes you highly happy.

One Hit Wonders Save the Day

Speaking of one hitters, they’ve come a long way from the old metal bats and dugouts you may be used to. And they are incredibly useful when you just need to take a quick puff all by your lonesome. Get yourself a chillum pipe to pop in your pocket and toke from throughout the day. What is a chillum, you may be asking. A glass chillum pipe is a small, tube like pipe with a small bowl head at one end and the mouthpiece from which you draw your hit at the other. It discreetly fits in the palm of your hand and as it sounds, packs about one, albeit powerful, hit.

Since you don’t want to pass the pipe these days out of fear of getting Covid, you can still hang out six feet apart with your smoke buddies and each pack your own OG chillum one hitter for a socially distanced group experience with all the smoke and hazy laughter. You can get cute girly pipes and one hitters or silicone coated ones for durability. They make them for everyone now.

You Roll Your Own, I’ll Roll Mine

Maybe video chats and socially distanced smoke sessions with friends are not your idea of a good time but you just need to get out of the house before you go completely nuts. Go take in some fresh air and clear your head. Go for a walk in the neighborhood or even better, go deep into the woods and become one with the forest. 

Learn to communicate with the woodland creatures and forage for edible mushrooms. Stop shaving and become an urban legend. 

No? Not you? If that’s too extreme, then grab some rolling papers and find an isolated park where you can puff in peace. Not everyone is completely disappointed with avoiding human interaction. If that’s you, you’ll love greenbacks rolling papers. They look like U.S. currency, which should satisfy the rebel and the baller in everyone. With these, you can get lit imagining the collapse of capitalism or pretend money is no object.

Do you fumble your joints and just want to get to it? Raw rolling cones are the solution. The pandemic is testing everyone’s patience and if you find yourself losing it just a little when that joint won’t twist up the way you want, just pack a cone and relax. They’re pre-rolled, filtered hollow joints you just fill with ground flower. Easy peasy.

A Little Dab'll Do Ya

No matter where you find yourself in the midst of the pandemic, make sure you’re well prepared. Wash your hands, wear a mask, and for the love of all that’s holy, get yourself a nectar collector which is really just a mini dab set kit. 

Trust us. Not only can you stay inside and not tell anyone you use it all day every day, but you can take it with you anywhere and sneak in little dabs like the fiend you have become in the last year.

A good online glass pipe shop will carry a complete dab rig kit for the pro dabbers and a dab rig starter kit bundle if you are curious, so you don’t even have to leave the couch except to get the package off your doorstep. If you have the kind of relationship with your delivery driver we all dream of, they will actually come into your home and heat the quartz banger while you sit back, scoop a glob with your unique glass dabber, and enjoy. Amazon doesn’t offer that service yet but you can still order online and have it shipped relatively quickly. 

No matter which way you choose to get through the pandemic, do so responsibly and with the safety of others in mind. 

Want more tips and tricks for socially distant smoking? Read our Guide to Social Distancing Smoke Sessions.

Keep your head up. This period in history is just beginning.