If you dab, you have probably noticed a sticky, dark residue building up inside your rig. That leftover is called reclaim. Here is what it is, how it differs from the black gunk in a pipe or bong, and whether it is worth saving.
What reclaim is
Reclaim is concentrate that vaporized but did not make it all the way to your lungs. It condenses back onto the cooler parts of the rig: the nail or banger, the neck and the inside of the glass. Over time it collects into a thick, amber to dark brown oil. Because it has already been heated, the THC in reclaim is already activated.
Reclaim vs bong resin
The two often get mixed up, but they are not the same thing. Resin from a pipe or bong comes from burning flower, so it is mostly tar, ash and burnt plant material. Reclaim from a clean dab rig is mostly vaporized concentrate, which is why some people consider it usable while very few would recommend smoking pipe resin.
How people collect it
The usual method is to gently warm the glass so the reclaim loosens, then scrape it out with a dab tool and roll it into a small ball. Some people soak the glass in alcohol to dissolve it, but that only makes sense if every trace of the alcohol evaporates afterward, and we do not recommend it at home.
Can you smoke or eat reclaim?
People do both. Reclaim can be dabbed again or added to a bowl, and because it is already activated, some people stir it into food. Just know what you are getting. Reclaim is harsher than fresh concentrate, it loses much of the flavor and terpenes that made the original jar special, and its potency is a guess. If your rig was not clean, it can also carry ash and other residue.
Our take
Reclaim is a good sign that it is time to clean your rig. Most of our crew would rather start with fresh concentrate: you get the flavor, a cleaner hit and a dose you can actually predict. Our in-house brand Outlaw Extracts makes hash rosin and live resin in New Mexico, and you can find the full lineup on our concentrates page.
Where to find Outlaw Extracts
Every High Desert Relief dispensary carries Outlaw concentrates: Alameda, Coors and Pan Am in Albuquerque, plus Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Hobbs. They are also on the shelf at partner dispensaries across the state; see our where to buy map.
