If you can roll joints, you’re in a special class of stoner. If your friends want to smoke weed without a bong, you can help them out! Even if you don’t have any friends around you, you can easily roll joints for yourself. We’ll tell you what you need and show you exactly how to make the perfect joint.
Table of Contents:
- WHAT DO YOU NEED TO ROLL A JOINT?
- WHAT PAPER SHOULD YOU USE TO SHOOT A JOINT?
- HOW TO MAKE A TIP
- INSTRUCTION
- INSTRUCTIONS
Considering how popular joints are among cannabis users, surprisingly few know how to roll one themselves. We’ve all been to those parties: someone has weed, you pick up leaf at the store, but no one knows, how to roll one. It’s like having everything you need for a meal without knowing the recipe; there’s a lot of potential, but no way to realize it.
Your parties are relatively easy to save, though, because rolling a joint is easier than you think. It doesn’t take much to do this, and if you know the process, it doesn’t take much time either. We will break everything down in detail to make sure you do everything correctly and quickly. You may not get it right the first time, but you will soon get the hang of it.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO ROLL A JOINT?
As you can imagine, you don’t need a lot of tools to roll a joint. Your shopping list is as follows:
• Weed: You may need more bud than for a head, but no more than half a gram of weed for a decent joint. You can use more (bigger joints are always fun), but don’t overdo it. Between 0.5 and 1 gram is usual for a pure joint.
– Grinder: When you have your weed, you have to grind it up so you can smoke it. There are of course ways to get weed small without a grinder, but we believe that grinders make your job much easier. Again, don’t overdo it! One run through the grinder should be quite enough.
– Papers: You can’t just use any old paper for a joint, but you can find paper for rolling cigarettes in most kiosks and gas stations. There are also specially made papers especially for joints, often even made of hemp, but if these are not available, that is also not a big deal.
– Filter Tips: Unlike a cigarette filter, a joint filter is a small piece of cardboard that is folded and rolled into a small cylinder. It is usually simply called a "tip called. The tip holds the joint together and prevents weed from flying into your mouth when you inhale. Filters are sometimes stapled directly to the papers, but you can also just make your own from business cards or the like.
WHAT PAPER SHOULD YOU USE TO TURN A JOINT?
We just touched on it briefly, but let’s dive deeper into what kind of rolling paper you should use for your joint.
Today, most stores have products designed for rolling your own cigarettes. Rolled up, these papers are slightly shorter than a regular cigarette, and the resulting joints are best for solo smoking. More appropriately, they will be called "singles" designates.
Some stores will also 1¼ or 1½ Offer variations. As the names suggest, they have 1¼ inches and 1½ the width of singles and are usually used for joints shared by 2-3 people. This extra width also allows it to form the iconic cone shape that many associate with joints.
The largest joint papers you can roll yourself are known as king-size and king-slim varieties. The king-size variety is best for those who want to twist a whole gram and share with more than three people. King slims can hold a similar amount, but you have less paper to work with, which makes things a bit more difficult.
But it’s not just the size that varies greatly; the material also varies: While most smokers will only find commercial unbleached rolling paper, you can use high-quality hemp paper, cellulose paper and more to change the taste, burn and overall rolling experience.
HOW TO MAKE A TIP
If you’re lucky, your papers already come with perfectly cut filter tips. However, most of the time you will need to use a thicker piece of paper or maybe a business card to make the tip. Be careful not to use printed paper, however, as it can be dangerous if hot smoke heats it up.
If you have everything ready, take a piece of thick paper of about 5× 1.3cm, which is roughly the width and length of a small nail clipper. Then start folding the 1.3cm end into itself in small sections, creating a jagged lightning pattern when you look at it from the side.
Once you have about four folds, twist the rest of the paper tightly together in the same direction around the folds. The end result should be a compact cylinder with the folds tight in the middle. As you can see, the tip is not only the basis for a stable joint, but at the same time a kind of barrier where smoke can pass through, but no pieces of grass can fly through.
HOW TO ROLL A JOINT WITH YOUR HANDS
Once your tip is built, it’s time to start rolling your joint! As we said before, you may not get it right the first time, but you should not be discouraged. The hand and finger movements become easier with practice.
INSTRUCTION
So, let’s explain exactly how to roll a perfect joint.
BARK YOUR WEED AND PREPARE THE TIP
If you’ve gotten this far in this guide, you’ve probably already done this, but make sure your weed is small and the tip is prepared. Once that’s done, you can grab one of your papers and officially start twisting.
PLACE THE TIP AT THE END OF YOUR JOINT
To begin building, place the tip at one end of the paper and make sure the sticky side is facing you. It doesn’t necessarily matter which end you use, but the tip should be on the side of your dominant hand.
Then, using your index finger and thumb from the outside of the paper, hold the tip, making sure the tip is tight and snug.
Then roll your thumb down and towards you, while your index finger rolls up and down opposite. This way the paper fits to the tip and the rest of the paper forms a hollow. The grass will then go into this hollow, as you might have guessed.
PACK THE WEED INTO THE OPEN PAPER
Now, with your other hand, start pouring the weed into this well, pressing it lightly with your index finger to make sure it’s packed tightly and doesn’t spill over the edges. When you’re done filling it in, it should look like a fairly even cylinder.
LICK THE PAPER AND PREPARE FOR ROLLING
You may feel like a joint rolling prodigy up to this point, but this is where it gets really tricky.
While still holding the tip tightly, lick along the edge of the glue with the tip of your tongue. Don’t let it get too wet, as this will ruin the structural integrity and you won’t be able to roll it anymore. Do not hold back too much, otherwise the glue may not react at all. If you’ve ever licked an old-fashioned envelope to seal it, just think of the joint as a more fragile version of one of these.
Once that is done, your next task is to twist the short edge of the paper into the other one. To do this, put the paper into the other side, not only with the dominant thumb and index finger, but also with the middle finger and the fingers of the other hand.
First, tuck your middle finger slightly under the tip (outside the paper, in case that’s not clear) so that it can serve as a base. Then, while your non-dominant thumb and index finger are pressing down on the other side of the short edge of the trough, start rolling the dominant thumb up and away from you while you roll the dominant index finger down and toward you. Make sure that you always have a firm grip on the tip.
You may need a few tries for this part, but the ideal result should be that the short end of the trough with the tip is fully tucked into the tall end, effectively wrapping around the grass.
ROTATE THE JOINT
Don’t celebrate too long after this step, because now it’s time to really roll the joint first.
Once you have made sure that the tip is tucked into the paper and held in place by your fingers, lightly tuck the rest of the short end of the trough into the long end. Then you simply complete this earlier movement with your dominant thumb and index finger (thumb up and rolling away, index finger down and towards you).
When you have finished the slightly cone-shaped cylinder, press lightly with your non-dominant index finger on the outside of the previously licked glue area. This will seal the shape of the joint, so there really is no going back after this point. But there is also no reason to go back . because you have finished rolling the joint!
If you find that the glue doesn’t take effect on your first lick, don’t worry too much! Many people don’t mention it, but if you lick the sticky side from the outside, it can work as well! The paper is so thin that the moisture penetrates through it and reacts with the glue. You can therefore easily save some joints that many would consider broken.
COMPRESS AND STUFF
So at this point, the joint is turned, and the hardest part is over, but you’re not quite done yet. All you need to do now is compress the grass you’ve already wrapped a bit, and maybe pack in a bit more if the paper isn’t quite full yet.
To compress the already turned weed, you simply take the open end, close it with two fingers, and then start shaking it gently, with the joint tip down. This way, the shredded weed will settle closer to the bottom, so there are no air spaces or loose sections left.
Also, this is a little safety test for your tip: if it can stand the shaking, it will stay safely in while you smoke and pass the joint around.
When the weed is stuffed, you can of course refill it until the joint is completely full, and then compress it again. Once your joint is well stuffed and full, twist the open end closed. Now you have a finished and perfectly smokable joint.
HOW TO ROLL A JOINT WITH A LATHE
Even if it is always a lot of fun makes to roll a joint by hand, not everyone has the dexterity that is required to do this. If you are one of these people, we don’t judge you at all! But we still want to make sure you can roll your own joints! Fortunately, there are special, affordable tools that simplify the process: Lathes!
INSTRUCTIONS
Lathes are small, handy and designed so that everyone can enjoy a tightly turned joint. However, they can be a bit confusing, especially if you haven’t read the instructions properly. So we’ll quickly explain how to use it.
ÖFFNE THE SPINNING MACHINE AND PUT THE TIP IN IT
You need to check the exact instructions that come with your lathe, but the common ones follow a general design principle. Normally you have to open the machine first by sliding the two rollers apart. This should make a small hollow appear.
When the machine is open, place the tip in one end, just as you would with a regular joint.
FILL THE TROUGH WITH GRASS
Once you have placed the tip, fill the hollow with weed. Be careful not to spill the weed over the tip or you will have a hard time rolling it.
CLOSE THE MACHINE AND ROLL IT
Close the machine using the same mechanism you used to open it, then start rolling: Grip the machine with your thumb and index finger, and roll your thumbs down while rolling your index fingers upward. This will compress the weed into a cylinder.
PUT THE PIECE INTO THE MACHINE WITHOUT THE STICKY PART
Then, without opening the machine, put the non-stick side of the paper into the gap. It should look like you have a typewriter loaded with paper (google it if you don’t know what that looks like).
TURN, LICK AND FINISH TURNING
Now you can continue the twisting movement. As the glue end approaches the gap, lick it lightly all along the edge. Once you have done this, make a few more full twisting motions to completely close the joint.
ÖFFNE THE ROLLERS
After that you only have to take out the joint! Öffne the machine as before, and pull out the fruit of your labor. It may not be that big like some hand rolled joints, but it is acceptable, smokeable and you rolled it yourself!
TAKE JOINT-TWISTING TO A NEW LEVEL
Now, we’ve said it a few times, but we want to emphasize that no one rolls a perfect joint, or even a halay correct joint, the first time around. It may take a few tries, but we are confident that you will get it done faster than you might think at first.
If you master it, you can try to improve your technique and build more advanced joints that people present on YouTube. The good thing about spinning joints is that there is always room to improve your technique!
For the past seven years, Luke has worked as a cannabis journalist and health researcher. Over this time, he has gained an expanded understanding of the science of the endocannabinoid system, cannabis phytochemistry and cultivation techniques.