Hello All,
From SWIM:

It was my first time attempting to blast off.
Pre Launch Prep:
I have a wood VG, weighed out 40mg of spice, bed of weed ashes in the VG to place spice on top of, electric butane lighter(not jet flame type).
I did a little bit of meditation before blasting off as I was a tad bit anxious. pretty silent, tabletop fan on(low hum). normal room lighting. some direct and indirect lighting.

Smoking:
Sat on bed and attempted vaporizing:
maybe 6 seconds, held for a few seconds exhaled, clean exhale
maybe 10 seocnds, held for 10 seconds, exhaled, white exhale
same as above and really started to feel weak in body, shaky arms, but I knew to keep going
last hit. slower inhale i felt a lot of smoke coming through and it felt like something hit the back of my throat and I could not really hold it in. I let out a big cough/exhale and felt pretty weak and felt I should lay back.

Experience:
I layed back and tried to close my eyes, but I found it difficult to keep my lids closed, they were kinda of twitching to the low hum of the fan. The direct room lighting also seems to affect being able to keep my eyes closed. I pulled a pillow over my head and was able to keep my eves open while maintaining darkness. I started to see some visuals, while my mind was running all over not knowing what was going to happen. I had some moments of clarity, but jumping all around. At some point during the experience, I felt myself let go and it felt like my eyes were about to roll into the back of my head. At the same time, I felt like I was getting sucking into a vacuum. It maybe lasted a second, but I never got fully sucked in. Maybe 7 minutes laying down..started to relax near the end and just lay.

Visual Description:
Very faint, but it looked somewhat like looking into the middle of a tornado from the top of it. Instead of seeing wind swirling, I was this flowing swirling dia-grid that was faintly purple and red; colors where throbbing between each other. I mean VERY faint. At the end of the tornado it looked like a eye that I wanted to get to, but I couldn't.

2nd attempt:
Turned fan off and direct light. same prep. Same inhalation, no coughing.

Experience:
No visuals, but I was slipping in and out of a dreaming state, I was having mini dreams. Almost lucid. One dream that stood out was I was attempting to get a package was I needed. The package was gone/intangible. Other little dreams occurred, but I hardly remember.

Overall, the wood VG it's hard to see what going on to see if I got it all vaped. I'm not sure the ash bed was good. I think there's a lot of spice trapped in it. I may stack up some screens on there. on ditch the ash.

Any other smoking methods that I can try?


Thoughts? Anything I did wrong? How can I ensure blastoff? I'd hate to keep wasting spice.


Thanks.


HT

I got the same problem...i dont have a piece to smoke it out of...i honestly have never seen a VG so i dont know what to tell you

I smoke my spice out of a ghetto aluminum foil "freebase bong" that i made from wrapping foil around a metal bongstem in a soda bottle, making a bubble that can close up with the spice inside...

And i heat gently from below the bottom...honestly it works SO GOOD but i waste alot of spice trying to make one that doesnt leak/that actually works

Your smoking tek doesn't seem to be that off.
But I also didn't see any mention on the dosage so it can be that maybe.
Besides that, maybe it's is the magical 3rd hit that is lacking.

1st attempt for SWIM's cat twice removed was tried in a wooden VG too, also was low on the dosage.
Didn't get to breakthrough then.
It took a few trial runs but SWIM's cat twice removed eventually got there, and my best advice would be just that.
Trial and error. Just focus on getting used to the smoking tek and you should be fine.

Nowadays, SWIM's cat twice removed uses a glass water pipe with Changa.
2 good inhale and exhales of those and it's bye bye reality howdy hyperspace.

If SWIM remembers correctly the proper tek is to take slow and steady, only enough to be able to hold for 10-15 secs.
Don't char just brush the fire slightly over and watch things bubble. (Not applicable for VGs)
By the 2nd or 3rd time, it should become easy to forget that you hold the port key.
Have a proper flat surface ready for emergency landing within arms length.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thanks,
Dosage was 40mg. I put that up in the first post. Agreed, SWIM just needs to get used to it.

This sounds like you didn't get the full dose in. Holding for a few seconds wasn't enough to ghost it, if you had a solid pull. It also sounds like you burnt the spice, when it felt like something hit the back of your throat. With a GVG, if SWIM holds the flame near the element for a couple of second, the vapor comes straight through as soon as she starts inhaling. Try to get it a little heated first and then pull smoothly and deeply. With 40mgs, you will be able to completely clear it with two inhales.

Cheers.

SWIM got a GVG recently and has quickly figured out how to clear a dose in 1 hit but doesnt usually break through.
They breakthroughs usually happen on random resin hit - Not particularly big ones either.
Preparation and intent dont seem to help breaking through when wanted.
Sorry SWIM doest have a better tek..

I have had success with a steamroller, and the ash/leaf method. Pack screen, load some herb, then spice, then screen, then herb, then another screen with ash on top. Keep the lighter about an inch above the bowl and suck slowly. Whether you feel the hit go down or not, make sure to hold that for a good 15-20 seconds. I have also made a version of the machine with a mini-bubbler, never tried it, but my buddies break through EVERY time on one or two hits with it. seems very efficient.
Or you could make some infused leaf. There is not challenge to breaking through with this. Make a 1:1 infusion, load up 80-100 mg of it into a bong, and rip away, but make sure to hold your hits. I always make sure to stress this fact the most to friends.
Good luck, and happy travels.