Once you try a torch it’s impossible to go back, as you just get such a massively larger and better hit that a normal lighter just won’t produce the same high ever again. At least in the dopamine reward system in your brain it won’t.
I fucking hate those 3-jet or whatever lighters. I perfected a normal torch with ease, it’s super simple and (I’m not directing this at you so no offense) it annoys the fuck out of me when people just burn the fuck out of everything in the bubble by just torching the shit out of it.(later added side note - I started off smoking with my girlfriend, and very quickly broke that habit and we have our own bowls and lighters and split bags 50/50 because she just instantly destroys every new pipe and whatever she puts in it within mere seconds of touching it.) That’s not how it works. I call it smoking myself and likely never will use the proper term of ‘vaporizing’ - but that’s what it is. You vaporize it, AKA that massive, super heated flame should be nowhere near your pipe. You don’t even want it directly under whatever you’re vaporizing out of said pipe, either. You start a comfortable distance away(move closer just a cunt hair if nothing happens), about 2-3 inches between the pipe and the visible flame of the torch, minimum. Start with holding it out in front of you, eye(the hole in the bubble) toward the sky, and(imagine a clock) hold the torch at 4-4:30 from the bowl, and once the smoke starts to show turn the bowl(I always turn it about 30° to the left) and move the lighter towards the front end of the bubble, somewhat towards your face but don’t be a dipshit and burn your nose/beard off. (Side note- Use the torch on the lowest setting until it inevitably breaks and the lowest setting doesn’t work). At this point you stick that puppy in your face hole and suck like the little fiend you are, constantly rotating the pipe and the lighter so the puddle doesn’t sit in one spot and the lighter doesn’t ever directly touch the puddle or the side of the pipe that it’s on(if they do for a split second while rotating and you don’t have the visible flame straight against the bowl you should be ok). Doesn’t take very long to get a good hit, and for the love of god let the pipe cool down after every 2-3 hits max, depending on how long you heated it for. It’ll save your meth, it’ll save your pipe, and it’ll save you on butane. Just torching the absolute shit out of an already super heated puddle best case just wastes it all, and worst case burns the fuck out of your shit and produces a nasty, super harsh hit. Overheating the bowl constantly also causes hairline cracks that aren’t easily visible as well, and pretty damn fast too. Sometimes the puddle will crack back in a way(no pun intended) that will literally highlight the cracks in the bowl - which honestly can look quite fucking cool but it’s a sign you need a new pipe and need to work on your method.
Up until about 2 years ago I’d never seen a person smoke meth in person. But since the day I started I’ve known seen quite a lot, and in my experience hardly a single fucking meth head even knows how to smoke meth correctly. I’m not being an overly analytical, method perfectionist dick or anything either - I mean I’ve watched damn near ever single person I now know IRL that also partakes just torch and burn the entire contents of the bubble in 30 seconds or less, then re pack another massive chunk to do it again. And again. I could be wrong but I don’t think meth even gets you high that way, at least not nearly as high as you should be getting. I have a high tolerance and after a few good hits over the course of a few minutes I’m good for a while - I’ll go do chores or whatever else for at least an hour but usually a couple before the re dose urge hits me.
Sorry to make such a long post - to answer the question I preferred a normal lighter before going through roughly 8 billion of them and then I got accustomed to a (normal) torch. My girl originally used a bic when I got with her, then randomly found an old torch from before she quit and started using that. I did too briefly, found it wasteful and went back to using a bic. Until realizing that I was spending probably close to the same amount on new lighters on a weekly-monthly basis as I was on meth, then decided it was more economical to switch to a torch and learn how to properly use it to avoid burning/wasting all my shit. Normal lighters don’t last very long - the best choice(not joking) although it’s kind of stupid and really annoying is to invest a small amount on a bulk order of tea candles from Temu or somewhere else that has them dirt cheap. At one point I had a small supply(like 8-10) and they lasted quite a while. But due to poor planning and just being poor in general thanks to poly-substance addictions I didn’t/couldn’t go with my plan of ordering a large amount of candles before I had run out of said candles, and it was faster and easier to just run to the smoke shop and grab a $7 can of butane for the plethora of torches that my girl has at some point strategically left around every room of the house. Really have no idea where 98% of these torches came from, but I have a seemingly lifetime supply though admittedly a lot of them are partially or fully broken. I don’t know what the fuck this woman does(jk I do), but she goes through torches more than she does underwear(and I did bics) and goes through her half of the stash 3x as fast despite saying she’s “barely been smoking”. Right, you have barely been smoking cause you’ve mostly been burning and wasting. I love her to death and we’re both working on quitting, albeit slowly, but it confuses and bewilders me that the person that taught me how to smoke this shit has somehow completely forgotten even though she had taught me properly to begin with. I think it’s the torch that’s the problem tbh, once people get that first huge hit and initial rush(that’s never to be seen again) it’s a never ending chase that only results in large quantities of burnt meth and bowls fucked beyond recognition/functionality yet a stubborn refusal to spend the $5 to get a new one because “it works just fine and I can’t afford it”. That thing does not work just fine and spending $5 on a new pipe and $3 on a bic lighter will probably fix 90% of your financial problems because you’ll stop instantly ruining 90% of the meth we just bought.
TL;DR - bic lighters/candles are the best way but don’t last very long. Torches are great if you’re not an idiot and learn how to use it. Fuck 3 jet lighters, I don’t understand the purpose of them unless some people like to smoke(or burn) from 7 feet away. Every one I’ve seen is just way too damn high and hot on the lowest setting. In a super fast smoke shop stop one time before a long drive and realizing I’d forgot any sort of lighter, I unknowingly purchased one of them without testing as it was the first one I saw that wasn’t 30+$. Went to hit my pipe in the truck shortly after and I always hold my bowl low to start and the lighter at an angle that would technically be toward my face if the flame was ever ludicrously long. Well guess what. This flame was, no shit, over 9” long on the lowest setting. And I made damn sure it was the lowest multiple times after. I physically couldn’t do anything with that piece of shit, not even light a cigarette without burning a hole in the roof of the vehicle. I was so mad I just chucked it out the window and stopped at the next gas station I saw hoping they had the cheap shitty torches some gas stations carry, they didn’t, I went with a bic and was angry and dissatisfied the entire trip because while I’m sure now that I was just as high as I would’ve been with a torch, not getting massive hits pretty instantaneously (or without leaving a 1/4 inch of soot on the outside of the bubble) doesn’t trigger the same reward pathway in the ol” receptors any longer.
