Filter tips with a filling of granulated activated charcoal are used like commercially available roll-in filters for the use with papers and blunts. However, they can also be used with pipes that have a corresponding filter mouthpiece, such as ActiTube pipes or Heisenberg wooden pipes. These filter tips remove harmful substances from the smoke and allow you to smoke joints and blunts without burning your fingers. In combination with cigarette paper, longpapers or tobacco wrappers, you can make the best cigarettes with tobacco and herbs.
Well-known manufacturers of filter tips with activated carbon filling are ActiTube, Purize and Gizeh, while individual quality products such as Timmtips and Shanghigh Tips have made a name for themselves within the community.
At first glance, an activated carbon filter looks like any ordinary filter tip - until you take a closer look:
The exterior is usually made of cellulose. It is shaped like a hollow cylinder. Inside the cardboard cylinder the activated carbon granulate is located, which is based on either bamboo charcoal or coconut charcoal. The ends of the filter are closed by caps that hold the granules inside the filter. The caps are usually made of ceramic. These ceramic caps are finely slotted or perforated in the centre to allow the air or smoke to pass through the filter with as little resistance as possible.
While most activated carbon tips do not differ fundamentally in their construction, there is a multitude of variations with regard to their lengths, diameters as well as the processing of individual elements. For example, the activated carbon granules can be mixed with other substances and the cellulose cylinder can be bleached, colourfully printed or left natural. The caps can also vary in terms of shape and raw material.
Because activated carbon is highly absorbent, you should store your filter tips correctly to prevent them from losing their effectiveness. Make sure they are kept in a dry and warm place. In any case, avoid exposing them to high humidity. Otherwise, the activated carbon filling will be saturated by the moisture prematurely and lose its ability to filter effectively.
A filter - regardless of whether it is filled with activated charcoal or not - always demonstrably reduces the level of harmful substances when smoking. However, activated charcoal tips take this filtering process to the next level: The activated charcoal filters harmful condensates out of the smoke. In the process, most of these toxins stick to the activated charcoal and are disposed of when the filter is changed.
Activated carbon effectively filters pollutants such as nicotine, tar, benzene and loose particles out of the smoke. Terpenes and active ingredients (for example, CBD and THC), on the other hand, will pass the activated charcoal through the filter tip. However, tobacco smokers may sometimes notice a slight impairment of the taste of tobacco.
Some manufacturers add further additives to the activated carbon inside the filters, which further refine the filtration of the smoke. For example, the substance zeolite (aluminosilicate) reduces the amount of tar, cyanide and ammonia. Sepiolite, on the other hand, which many smokers might know better as meerschaum, absorbs remaining moisture from the smoke and also improves cooling.
In theory, you can use an activated charcoal filter several times, but in practice we do not recommend it. While you smoke, the granulate inside becomes saturated with the absorbed toxins and the filter effect decreases. Already on the second run, the filter is hardly suitable for proper use. Whether you smoke sports cigarettes or use it as a pipe filter - it is best to make sure that you have a fresh activated carbon filter at hand before each new smoking session.
