When you flick a lighter’s striker wheel, a flint spark ignites a jet of butane gas. The ongoing source of the flame is butane.

When you hold that lighter flame to your bowl and inhale, you are directly breathing in that butane gas. This is not ideal for your health. I’ve even had people tell me when they light pipes, joints and blunts with a standard lighter, they can detect a subtle butane taste throughout the session.

This is why you’ll find hemp wick sold in every headshop throughout the world. When hemp wick is used to ignite your flower or melt your hash, the flame originates from a cleaner source. This allows you to avoid the inhalation of butane while smoking, which in turn helps you to experience the truest possible terpene taste.

For convenience’s sake, I usually wrap my lighters in hemp wick for use during smoke sessions. Hemp wick is coated in a thin layer of beeswax, which makes the wick kind of stick to itself when wrapped around a lighter. It works nicely.

In stores you can find special lighters that have hemp wick dispensers, but if you want to go the D.I.Y. route, check out the following guide on how to wrap your lighter in hemp wick.

You’ll need the following items:

• A lighter, preferably Bic, but other brands will also work.
• A roll of standard adhesive tape, preferably 3/4ths of an inch in width.
• A roll of hemp wick.
  It’s sold in both small and large bundles. I usually buy a 200 foot roll to get a good bang for my buck.
  Different brands come in different colors and thicknesses. Companies that I’ve used in the past include I-Tal, Bee Line, RAW, ZONG, Twisted Bee, Zippo and Humboldt Hemp Wick.
  In this article I am using a 200 foot roll of Hemptique Organic that I bought on eBay for $9.32 after shipping. I particularly like Hemptique Organic because it’s thin, malleable and burns super clean without leaving behind soot or black ash residue.

First, break off an inch-long piece of tape.

Take one end of the hemp wick and place it in the middle of the tape like this.

Fold the tape around the hemp wick but leave the two sides apart from each other. This will allow you to stick the wick to the Bic.

Prepare your lighter.

Flip it over so the back of the lighter is facing towards you.

Tape the hemp wick to the bottom of the lighter. Make sure the wick is facing downwards like this.

Wrap the wick around the lighter.

Wrap as much or as little as you’d like.

When you’re ready to smoke, use the lighter to ignite the end of the hemp wick. It’s important to be mindful of the flame at all times. While the wick is lit, tilt up or down to control the flame’s size and shape.

Be sure to extinguish the flame completely after each toke. I typically use a gentile puff of lung air to kill the fire and then use my fingers to pinch out the remaining ember. Another way to kill the fire that burns upon the wick’s end is to quickly flick the flame with your wrist.

If you’re afraid of the heat, you can also stamp out the ember against the glass bowl with one finger. I don’t feel anything at all when I use this method.

Stamping the ember against the bowl seems to be a little less intense than using just your fingers to extinguish the smoldering hemp wick. However you choose to do it, make sure you kill the ember after each hit. Never assume it will burn out on its own.

Now that you know how to wrap your lighter with hemp wick you can say bye-bye to breathing butane. You can use hemp wick to light bowls, pipes, one hitters, chillums, bubblers, bongs, joints, blunts and hookahs. Smoke strong, live long and bubble your bong ’till the song is gone.