How to Pack the Perfect Pre-Roll: Step-by-Step Guide for Cones and Tubes

Sure, you can pick up a fully packed and ready-to-go pre-roll at your local dispensary. It’s easy, it’s convenient and it’s usually priced to move.

Or you can pack your own pre-roll and make sure you get exactly what you want.

Think of it this way: We all love fast food burgers because, well, they’re easy, convenient and usually priced to move, right? But the burger you make at home, whether smashed in a pan or grilled over a fire, is not only easily a fresher, better-tasting burger, but also has exactly the right amount of cheese and condiments to make your personal taste buds happy.

Your home packed pre-roll? Same thing. By packing up a pre-roll at home, you choose the flower, you choose the paper, you choose the size and you choose the filter tip. You get to personalize your pre-rolls, and usually save some coin doing it.

But like cooking your own burger at home, if you don’t have the right equipment or technique down, no matter how perfect your component parts are, your pre-roll may not come out right anyway.

So how do you pack a perfect pre-roll that is more than the sum of its parts? Read on, my friend, we got you…

Size Matters

The first decision you need to make is deciding on a shape and size, and then picking your favorite rolling paper and filter tip.

First, pick your shape. The main choices are cone and tube. The cone is pretty standard throughout the industry and it’s pretty easy to pack thanks to the wider opening at the top. But the pre-rolled tube is growing in popularity thanks in part to looking a little more incognito in public, and though not quite as easy to pack as a cone, the tube is still fast and simple to fill.

Now, how much do you want to smoke? This is your next decision. Most pre-rolled cones and tubes available on the market will tell you how much they hold, but let’s run it down real quick for reference:

• 70mm mini “dogwalkers” = about 0.3 grams
• 84mm 1 ¼ size = 0.5 grams
• 98mm = 0.7 grams
• 109 king size = 1 gram

Now, if your tube is wider than a standard 9mm, this can change, so always check the packaging…

Pushing Paper

Pre-rolled cones and tubes come in multiple paper types, though the most common are refined white, natural brown and 100% organic hemp. All are super thin and flavor-free so this decision is entirely personal preference.

If you are looking for something a little richer, go for a pre-rolled blunt made of hemp wrap, hybrid hemp, tea leaf or any variety of botanical wrap. They burn a little slower and add some flavorful overtones to any pre-roll.

Part of this decision is your filter tip, which runs the gamut from the standard paper “w” or the upgraded and uncrushable paper spiral to wood, smooth glass and premium ceramic options that cool the smoke for smoother, more flavorful hits.

All you have to do is find the right combination for you. My favorite, for example, is a hybrid hemp wrap artisan tube with a paper spiral filter or a hemp wrap tube with a ceramic filter tip, depending on my mood.

Bump and Grind

So now that we have our shape, size and paper all squared away, it’s time to grab your favorite flower and get down to it. Any flower will work, so again this is a matter of preference. As always, drier pot will grind a little smaller and burn a little faster and hotter than some of your danker options, but again, the best part about packing your own pre-roll is making that call for yourself…

But no matter what shelf you buy your weed on, packing a high-quality pre-roll always starts with the grind. Now, you can always tear your flower apart with your fingers or cut it with scissors or whatever, but because the key to a perfect pack is consistency, it’s always a good idea to have a grinder on hand.

Now, there are many styles and types of weed grinder out there, but they come in two basic flavors: Toothed grinders and non-toothed. Toothed grinders are the standard shredders you see everywhere. They are efficient, inexpensive and ubiquitous. But they can tear up your flower and damage trichomes. Plus, they get gunked up pretty quickly.

Non-toothed grinders, on the other hand, such as the Flower Mill or Stache series of grinders, grind your weed without shredding it. The Flower Mill, for example, works like a food mill, using a fluted top to roll the flower over a grate. Meanwhile, the Stache grinders use patented tiny, rounded nubs to do the same.

Again, this comes down to preference, but no matter how you like to grind your weed, make sure you do because inconsistent flower can lead to air pockets that lead to canoeing. And no one wants that.

Packing

This is where the rubber hits the road. Or where the flower hits the cone, anyway.

The best way to pack a pre-roll is little by little, especially at the start. The first pack, down by the filter is the most important; pack it too lightly and you’ve got a floppy pre-roll, pack it too tightly and you can’t pull.

Scoop a little bit of your ground flower into the cone and then, holding the cone or tube vertically, bounce the filter on a hard surface. You can also use a tamp stick or pen to pack the flower in a bit, but remember, you want this tamped tight enough to hold shape, but loose enough to pull through. You’re not making an espresso, so don’t put any elbow grease in it, you know?

Once you’ve got the filter area packed, just repeat the process of filling, tamping and bouncing in small doses until you fill the cone or tube. But don’t fill it ALL the way to the top. You need to leave just a little bit of empty paper for the next step.

Closing

With your cone fully packed it’s time to close that pre-roll. There’s two main ways to do this: twisting or Dutch Crown-style.

The twist is super simple and easy. Literally just gather the excess paper between your fingers and twist it all together, preferably with the twist in the middle of your cone. This will leave your pre-roll looking a little like a candle with wick for you to light when you are ready to smoke.

But the twist, while easy, can have some repercussions. If your twist is not even, once you light your pre-roll, the fire can travel faster down one side or the other, which can cause your pre-roll to canoe or burn unevenly. Just be aware.

The other way is to fold over the excess paper in a Dutch Crown style. Using a tamp stick or straw or even a pen, gently fold about 1/3 to ¼ of the excess paper inward over your flower. Once folded, give your tool a gentle twist to sort of lock it in place. Then, rotate your pre-roll and repeat until all of the excess paper is folded.

This may take some practice at first, but it’s really not that difficult and you will get the hang of it in no time.

Tools of the trade

So that’s it, you just packed a pre-roll. Pretty simple, right? But just like anything else, with the right tools, it can get even easier.

For example, the Fast Fill Rolling Tray comes with two holes that each hold funnels designed to hold pre-rolled cones in place. Instead of scooping and bouncing, you can just brush ground flower directly from the rolling tray into the cone before tamping. Once full, pop it out and close it as usual.

The Fast Fill can also pack tubes, with the purchase of the tube conversion kit. It’s fast, it’s portable and it’s easy.

For an even easier way to pack tubes, there’s the Perfect Pack Machine. The small, electronic Perfect Pack is literally the fastest way to fill cones or tubes available on the market. Slide a cone or tube on the specially designed auger, choose a density, load your flower in the hopper and then just press the button to fill your cone or tube in literally seconds.

No fuss, no mess, just a perfectly packed pre-roll every time.

Get Packing

Like anything, getting a perfect pack is going to take some practice (unless you have a Perfect Pack, of course…), so don’t get discouraged if your first pre-roll doesn’t look as good as one you can buy at the dispensary.

Stick with it and before you know it, you’ll be packing your personal perfect pre-rolls every time.

Now let’s find a lighter and get this session started…