Rolling Theory 101 - The 3 components of a fantastic spliff.

When attempting to roll in the pursuit of perfection there are three main considerations:

1. Functionality
2. Appearance
3. Style


Functionality - This is the most important of all three aspects. Your joint could have a great appearance and wicked style but if it is rolled too tight or doesn't burn well then I doubt you will impress yourself or your fellow smokers. How do you know if your joint was rolled with good functionality? Ask yourself "Did it work?", did you manage to get high without hassle? Problems associated with functionality are:

Quality of burn - Did it burn too fast? If so it was rolled to loose or your weed was really dry. Did it not burn at all? If so it was rolled to tightly and or the weed was too sticky. Finally, did it canoe? That is, did one side of the joint burn much faster than the other causing it to look like a canoe and therefore waste your weed? This problem can be solved in a number of ways:
1) Rolling it properly. This will be covered in my next post.
2) Baptizing the joint. This usually helps to ensure it burns slowly and evenly. Personally I don't do this for germaphobic reasons. Basically you stick most of the joint in your mouth so that its slightly damp.
3) Saliva. You can lick your finger and dab saliva onto the part of the joint which is burning more quickly.
4) Lighter. Burn off the part of the joint which isn't burning as quickly.
5) Positioning. If the joint has started to canoe and isn't too far gone then you may avoid the problem by holding the joint with the slow burning portion on the top (so that the "canoe" is upside down), and taking a couple quick hard puffs.

All of these tools are important to have in you arsenal. Most importantly after you light your joint keep an eye on it as the next person (or  you) smoke it. Take preventative action before your spliff canoes into oblivion.


Quality of seal - Did the glue stick properly? Be careful not to "over lick" the glue or you will lick it all off and the paper will not seal properly. Was there a hole in the joint? If you do not remove all the stems before rolling they frequently poke holes through the joint. This is another common reason a joint will not burn properly. A quick fix is to hold the joint with a finger over the hole. A more effective option is to rip a small strip of glue off of another rolling paper and stick it over the hole.

Appearance - Although functionality is far greater than appearance, it is still a vital consideration if you are aiming for perfection. You want your joint to appear smooth, precise, even throughout. A good way to measure appearance is to compare it to a machine rolled joint or cigarette. Does it look like it was rolled by a machine? Generally this is a good thing, unless the style you are aiming for does not match, which bring me to the next component.

Style - A true spliff aficionado aims to achieve more than roll a perfectly functional and aesthetically pleasing cigarette-like joint. They pursue all of this as well as attempting to give their joint character. This mean delivering a unique design to your creation. Once you reach a level of skill which allows you to experiment with some of the more outrageous styles you will come across an abundance of options. The most well known and common being the cone, and the most popular in current culture being the "cross joint" popularized by pineapple express. These however are just a couple out of infinite possibilities.

And there you have it, joint rolling theory 101.