You’re not alone if you find it challenging to roll a decent joint. Even many long-term tokers who prefer bongs and pipes never seem to get the hang of rolling. Most cannabis social circles designate the most skilled roller in the group to handle the job.
These days, cannabis fans can buy easy-to-use rolling cones and pre-rolls. However, relying upon these tools can get pricey and inhibit your ability to customize your joint. Fortunately, there’s hope for folks who can’t seem to master hand-rolling technique: an inexpensive and convenient little device called a joint roller.
How to Use a Joint Roller
Even if you’re a fairly experienced hand roller, a joint roller can be convenient when you’re in a hurry or when you need to roll several joints at once. RAW, Zig-Zag, and Juicy Jay’s make economical and high-quality joint rollers. Let’s get you started with the basic procedure for using a joint roller:
- Grind 1-2 grams of cannabis onto a rolling tray.
- Open the joint roller and use your finger to create a cigarette-sized channel.
- Add a filter, if desired.
- Fill the rest of the channel with the ground buds.
- Place your thumbs near the end of each side of the joint roller and use them to bring the two rollers together.
- Give the device a couple of rolls to pack the cannabis and let any excess fall away.
- Insert the paper into the joint roller with the glue at the top edge facing you.
- Give the roller another quarter turn until only the glued portion remains visible.
- Wet the glue and give the joint roller another couple of turns.
- Open the roller and take out your joint.
Pro Tips For Rolling A Joint
Now that you understand the basic steps for using a joint roller, you can improve your technique with some tips from the pros:
- Grind your weed with a high-quality metal grinder armed with plenty of teeth.
- Be especially careful to remove any seeds. Seeds will ruin the flavor of your toke and can pop out at you unexpectedly.
- Don’t pack too much bud into the roller. Joints need enough space for air, or they won’t burn well.
- Let the joint dry for a moment before lighting it. Wet joints may fall apart or be impossible to light.
- Use a moist cotton swab to wet the glue if you’re rolling joints for someone else and don’t want to share germs.
- Choose high-quality rolling papers, and make sure they’re the correct size. Place the paper evenly into the joint roller to avoid rolling a crooked joint.
- Buy standard-sized filters or get your filters from the same company that manufactured your joint roller. Some filters are too skinny for joint rollers and will limit the size of your joints.
- Practice a few times until you master your joint roller technique. You can always take the joint apart and try again. You’ll be able to reuse the weed and the filter, but you’ll have to throw away the paper.