smokerx said:
Steel wool is easy to burn and you do not want to inhale that do you ?
In an attempt to shed some light over this matter once and for all (for me, at least), I am going to challenge that affirmation. Now, from my personal experience, steel wool is actually
steel fibers, assembled in a way in which it resembles wool. Some of those are mesh-looking or curly-looking. This is what I'm referring to in the next lines. Sponge lined with wool-looking (plastic) fibers don't qualify. Those are indeed nasty and will burn if you light them up.
Now, with that definition in mind, let's ask ourselves the following question: what's the temperature at which steel burns? That is to say BURN, not melt. Well, from what I've read over the internet, combined with my intuition (steel being one of the hardest metals on earth), it results that steel burns - that is to say, it ignites & supports burning without the aid of a flame - at over 1000 degrees celsius (I've seen answers ranging from 1260C to 1450C; either way, it's definitely over 1000). My line of thinking, and my personal experience with steel wool tells me you're not going to get over 200 C when you insert that steel wool inside a smoking device.
Now, with the toxic fumes it's another business. What you probably meant was "don't smoke from steel wool JUST bought from the supermarket". Common sense tells me that the oily stuff that is on the commercial steel wool can be get rid of. Get that steel wool in an open flame - over a kitchen stove flame is just fine, keep it there until it gets red and then some more (it won't catch fire if it's the kind of steel wool I described in the opening line), and let everything burn off of it. That means keep it in the fire until absolutely no smoke (and no funny smells) emerge. Do this repeatedly, alternating sides of the steel wool mesh, to make sure all the nasty stuff is gone.
For me the above "sterilization" procedure is more than enough and I truly believe that steel wool prepared that way is as good as copper mesh. Not that you shouldn't do the same for your copper mesh as well. Just saying.
No one should take the above explanation as the absolute truth, and definitely don't take it personally. It's only based on my personal knowledge and experience. I just want to clear up this issue, because for some of us copper meshes aren't so readily available. Plus, it's always nice to have a backup solution.
mindatlarge1389 said:
to each their own but i find the more i smoke the more of a cluster-funk in my brain and i open my eyes 15 mins later having noo idea where iv been or what i saw
You're most probably using too much. What are you loading up and how much do you think you get in before you pass out?