When you’re a Strot, you’re a Strot all the way. That’s what they told me at my initiation into the Strottle Gang, which prides itself on advancing “the pursuit of art and science”. Thankfully, no jumping in was involved for membership. Those who stay current on innovative glass trends may know the slurper and blender well at this point, but the strottle (a portmanteau of “straw” and “bottle”) is still a bit more underground.
A Functional Revolution
A curved borosilicate straw, fused to a water pipe style of choice, subverts increasingly complicated nails and revives the ease of a nectar collector without limiting the design of the piece. One of the originators of the movement calls it “the most groundbreaking revolution in dabbing technology the world has ever seen.” As explained by Strottle Gang associate Many Moons Glass, who makes a quartz strottle attachment for existing vessels, the movement started as a hot shop inside joke. Astonishing in its simplicity, giving the design a name in the first place was itself the joke, since it would have been impossible to claim intellectual property over such a low-tech modification. Since then, the Strottle Gang IG page has garnered attention with flicks of increasingly creative anteater-like rigs that don’t just look amusing, but function remarkably well too.
The strottle doesn’t require nearly as much warming up as a standard banger to yield a satisfying dab, taking about 10-15 seconds to heat with a pocket-sized torch lighter and about double that to cool to a safe handling temperature. Even a standard lighter is sufficient to bring the Strottle to dab-ready temps thanks to the thinness of the vaporization area. With no dab tool necessary, users can simply crack open their favorite jar and dip the tip–a surprisingly conservative method for helping a gram make its way around a group session.
Minimizing the Dabbing Setup
Rather than leaving a puddle of liquid to clean up and toss out with a cotton swab, the strottle vaporizes dabs on contact. Any oil that melts and enters the straw has a second chance to vaporize as its surface area spreads out along the entry, and leftover droplets are fairly effortless to rinse out with alcohol or simply push back into the downstem with a flame. Anything that makes dabbing less daunting and more accessible is a win in my book, so an affordable one-piece rig that doesn’t require fiddling with a full-size torch, a loading tool, a cap and pearls, a handful of swabs, or an isopropyl dunk station to get the job done cleanly represents a big victory for sharing.
If electronics like Puffco products or the Evolv Cricket aren’t your tools of choice, the strottle offers an uncompromised outdoor or travel experience with a streamlined setup that fits in a cargo pocket. Carrying just a strottle and lighter, I could roll into town, buy a fresh jar, and sample it while standing up, not even needing a table to set anything down upon.
Good Time, Not a Long Time
As unusual as the strottle may appear, it’s far from a gimmick, with practicality as undeniable as the flavor it yields. Bucking the old proverb of having to “waste it to taste it”, the strottle’s ability to produce hearty clouds and extract delicate terp profiles from concentrates at temperatures under 500 degrees defies conventional logic. The choice to use glass instead of quartz for the straw does raise some concerns about longevity, but the creators insist it’s for the best.
“Boro actually has a lot of unappreciated aspects when it comes to hash vaporization,” says the admin of the Strottle Gang page. He continues, “In regards to the degradation of the straw, as the straw breaks down after hundreds of dabs, it will begin to chip away, often leaving a clean usable tip polished smooth on the first heat-up. We call this a ‘fresh start’, a chance for new life and new possibilities. Eventually, it will become unusable and just another reminder to us that none of the best things in life last long, so enjoy every moment.”
After following the Strottle Gang account for some time, I had a stroke of luck in an auction for a pair of rigs, one minitube and one recycler, both featuring syrupy fumed amber sections near the neck and mouthpiece (scroll down for function). While the minitube sold me on its on-the-go merits almost immediately, the recycler made for a fun change of pace at home. For the jetsetting dabber, the new initiate, or the collector who would rather not put their finest glass at risk, the strottle is a unique and rewarding way to enjoy extracts. Yet, for something so streamlined and easy to use, it sacrifices zero performance or aesthetic intrigue. Who needs a banger when you’re a #StrottleGang-er?
Comments