RAW Hemp Wick 10ft Spool Review

Let's be honest — you can taste it. That faint chemical edge when you light a bowl with a standard butane lighter. Most smokers don't notice it anymore because they've been tasting it for years, but once you switch to hemp wick, you can't un-taste the difference. RAW's Hemp Wick is a simple product that solves a real problem: a spool of natural hemp fibre coated in beeswax that burns clean and slow, delivering only heat — no gas, no chemicals, no aftertaste.

The Difference Is Real

Butane lighters burn at around 1,970°C, and while the gas itself is theoretically clean-burning, in practice the impurities and additives in most lighter fuels leave a residue that affects the flavour of your first few hits. Hemp wick burns at a much lower temperature (around 700-800°C), which means you're not scorching the surface of your bowl. The result is a noticeably cleaner, smoother first draw that preserves the terpene profile of your herb. It's the difference between a perfect sear and a burnt crust.

How to Use It

Wrap a few inches of wick around your lighter, leaving a short tail. Light the tail with the lighter — it catches immediately and burns with a steady, smokeless flame. Use that flame to light your bowl, then blow the wick out. It's one extra step, but it takes about two seconds and the improvement in flavour is immediate. The beeswax coating keeps the wick dry and extends the burn time — a 10ft spool lasts about a month with daily use. For windy outdoor sessions, you'll still want a torch lighter, but for indoor bowls and bongs, this is the best-tasting ignition method available.

Technique Tips for the Best Flavour

I pull off about a hand-length of wick, hold the burning tip just above the herb, and draw slowly so the flame kisses the top layer rather than torching straight through. That gentle approach is what preserves the flavour — you roast the surface instead of scorching it. I relight the same wick tail for cornering a bowl across several draws, which keeps each hit tasting fresh. One habit worth building is blowing the wick out fully between lights rather than letting it smoulder; a smouldering tail wastes your £4.56 spool and leaves a waxy note in the air. Indoors this method is unbeatable, and it pairs well with the slower session style in our low-temp dabbing approach.

Hemp Wick vs Torch Lighters

I tested this back-to-back against the torches in our best torch lighters roundup, including my Scorch Torch, and they serve different jobs. The wick wins indoors for bowls and bongs every time — cleaner flavour, no chemical edge, and a slower burn that suits savouring herb. Torches win outdoors and for dab rigs, where wind and the sheer heat needed rule the wick out. My actual setup is both: wick wrapped around a standard lighter for evening bowls, torch kept for dabbing and windy days. At £4.56 the wick is barely a purchase decision — it is a flavour upgrade for the price of a coffee.

Storage and Maintenance

I keep the spool somewhere dry and away from direct sun — the beeswax coating hates heat and will go tacky in a warm car. I wrap a few turns around my lighter so it is always to hand, and trim the charred tip every few bowls so it lights first time. If the wick starts burning unevenly or dripping, the tip has built up carbon and just needs snipping back to fresh fibre. A 10ft spool lasts me well over a month of daily bowls with this kind of care.

RAW Hemp Wick FAQ

Does it really taste different from a lighter?
Yes, and it is the kind of difference you cannot un-taste. The first draw off a wick-lit bowl is cleaner and truer to the herb, with none of the faint chemical edge a butane flame leaves behind.

How long does a 10ft spool last?
For daily bowl use, expect a month or more from the £4.56 spool. Blowing the wick out between lights rather than letting it smoulder stretches it noticeably further.

Can I use it outdoors?
You can, but wind is the enemy — the soft wick flame gutters where a jet torch holds steady. I use wick indoors and reach for a proper torch lighter outside or for dab rigs.