Divine - Let me just offer one other method here that works very, very well. The sandwich methods and changa work very well, but they can be tricky because if you heat the spice too slowly it will melt down through your layer(s) of herb, and down into the bong where it's basically useless. The density of ash helps to prevent this a lot, but you still risk liquid spice running through it. If you heat it too fast then you end up burning it and getting a very harsh hit that's only partially effective. So you see, it's a delicate balance, and if you screw it up, either way the spice is lost and gone for good.
Here is an ALMOST fool proof method if you don't have a proper vaporizer or freebase style pipe: Get yourself just a standard issue, CLEAR, blown glass style herb pipe. You know, the kind with an inverted cone for a bowl, a bubble chamber, and a large carb hole on the side. Here is a link to an image of exactly what I'm talking about, EXCEPT you want it to be clear, or very light colored, see through glass:
Now, instead of loading your spice in the bowl, use a small screwdriver, or tiny spoon, or something else that will fit through the carb hole, and load the spice into the INSIDE of the bowl chamber. At this point you can use a basic bic style lighter and gently warm the underneath of the pipe until your spice melts. These pipes typically are made very thick glass, so burning the spice is tough to do (compared to a freebase style pipe).
Once the spice heats to a point where you see vapor appearing in the chamber, you can begin a gentle inhale through the mouth piece. You'll want to keep the carb closed and regulate it just as you would if you were smoking through the actual bowl, so you'll need to find a position for the lighter and your fingers so as not to burn the finger that's controlling the carb. Anyway, I think you'll find this method quite easy, despite my long description here.
The real beauty of this method is that you can practice w/o losing spice. If you don't nail it the first few times, the liquid spice is still right there, in the chamber, awaiting your next attempt. If you DO happen to overheat and burn the spice, you'll only lose the burned portion. The remaining oil can still be vaporized quite nicely, even though it may look dark brown and burnt.
Give it a shot if you'd like, and feel free to ping me back if you have additional questions as to this technique. It really is much simpler than I have put into words here!
Peace and best of luck!
-idt
