Carb caps had to wait for the right kind of nail. One of the earliest forms of dabbing was called ‘hot knifing.’ Two metal knives are heated by stovetop or torch until glowing red hot, then a glob of bud, resin or hash was pressed between the two, sucked into a funnel (usually made from a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off). The results were intense.

Dabs would not be denied and as paraphernalia progressed, nails changed to sit atop a water pipe to become a dab rig. Titanium nails were the next big progression, designed to endure red hot dabs, often exceeding 1,000º F. The emphasis was on complete, flash vaporization. Problem was, everything tasted the same- burnt.

Dabs have flavor because terpenes, the compounds that create different plant smells, are also captured in the concentrate extraction. To savor the flavor of individual varieties of weed, concentrate nails moved more to glass or quartz. These 'bangers' held heat better than metal allowing for lower temp dabs.