Nothing beats the feeling of holding a freshly-lit joint between your fingers. That is until you reach the tip.
Cue the lava-hot smoke burning your fingertips, irritating your eyes, blazing your nose hairs, staining your nails, and leaving a lingering smoky smell on your hands. But before you put out your joint prematurely, consider using a roach clip holder to spare yourself the pain.
Roach clip holders are the holy grail paraphernalia for weed enthusiasts. Indeed, these handy tools will add that extra little oomph to your smoking experience, not only in terms of aesthetics but practicality, too. | Telescoping Alligator Clip | |
 | Silicone Cigarette Holder | |
 | Elegant Joint Holder Ring |
What Are Roach Clips
Roach clips aren’t as common as other weed apparatus, such as grinders or filter tips. Hence, you might be wondering, “what are roach clips?”
To understand what a roach clip holder does, you first need to understand what a roach is.
What is a roach?
A roach can refer to different things in cannabis lingo.
One of the first officially recorded use of the word was in a 1938 article in The New Yorker written by Meyer Berger (although some of Shakespeare’s lost weed sonnets explicitly refer to a roach). In this article, Berger recounts her experience attending a “Viper” party in a hashish den in Harlem. She explains that “a pinched-off smoke, or a stub, is a roach.”
However, the word’s origins trace back to a version of “La Cucaracha,” a Spanish folk song written during the Mexican revolution in the 1910s. The song is about foot soldiers in Pancho Villa’s Mexican revolutionary army nicknamed “cockroaches.” The song translates as follows:
“The cockroach, the cockroach
Cannot walk anymore
Because it hasn’t
Because it lacks
Marijuana to smoke.”
Hence, the most widespread use of the word refers to a joint, blunt, or rolled cigarette after most of it has been smoked. This last little bit of the joint has a lot of resin buildup and is generally difficult to smoke, which is why some people throw it away. However, others prefer the greater intensity of buzz due to the high concentration of resin, hence saving the roach for a later time.
In many parts of the world, the word “roach” holds a different meaning. In Europe, the UK, and Commonwealth nations, people use “roach” to refer to a joint filter or tip made from a small piece of thin cardboard. In North America, this mouthpiece is also known as a “roach tip,” “smoking tip,” or “crutch.”
But even a roach tip isn’t enough to allow you to smoke the entirety of your joint without burning your fingers. Enter a roach clip holder.
The purpose of a roach clip
Roach clips for joints are small metal clips that facilitate smoking roaches to the very end. Roach clips come in many designs, but they all essentially help you hold the roach without touching it. Hence, these nifty tools enable you to smoke the entire joint without burning your fingers, lips, or throat.
You can use any paraphernalia lying around your house as a makeshift roach clip, including tweezers, alligator clips, needle nose pliers, forceps, or even a paper clip. But if you want to indulge, a roach clip is the perfect addition to your cannabis toolkit.
Best Roach Clips For Smoking Weed
Here are the best roach clips for joints.
Telescoping Alligator Clip
This Telescoping Alligator Roach Clip is a godsend for weed enthusiasts. The “telescoping” part of the name refers to the device’s ability to extend, much like a telescope. This particular model has a range of 7.2 to 27.36 inches.
Hence, not only will the roach clip hold your roach for you, but the extendable shaft lets you pass the joint around without moving a muscle. This feature is especially useful for smoking in the pool without getting the joint wet.
When the joint gets too small to hold, smoke, or pass, this telescoping clip will make sure you get every last bit of the good stuff.
Silicone Cigarette Holder
If you don’t want to change your filter tips repeatedly, this silicone cigarette holder might answer all your problems!
This environment-friendly silicone cigarette holder comes with reusable filter tips. These filter tips are made from stainless steel and keep all the unwanted flavors from getting into your mouth. Most importantly, they are made from high-grade silicone and save your product and money.
The product is perfect with raw cigarettes, rolling papers, rolled cones, smoking pipes, and tobacco herb cigarettes. They come in a pack of 40 and 100 filters and are available in nine colors.
XueHao Cigarette Holder Ring
If your love for animals and arthropods runs as deep as your love for cannabis, these cigarette holders rings by XueHao are perfect for you.
The rings come in a set of three, with a different clip design on each one: a butterfly, a turtle, and a bee. Rest assured, if you break one, you’ll have two backups. It won’t come to that, though, because this roach clip holder is made from durable and rust-resistant brass.
You can open the clips to any width of your liking to hold a variety of joint sizes: from the slimmest joint to the fattest blunt. Similarly, you can also adjust the ring size for a snug fit.
Hand-Shaped Joint Ring Holder
If your aesthetic veers towards more punk and metal and fewer butterflies and bees, this skeletal hand-shaped joint ring holder roach clip is the way to go.
Everything from the rings and shaft to the actual clip resembles bones. The ring part of the joint holder has a hexagonal shape which provides a much better grip than round and smooth rings. But the real star of these cool roach clips is the skeletal hand with curved fingers to secure your roach.
King Palm Extendable Cigarette Holder
Here’s something for the minimalists out there: this multipurpose extendable cigarette holder. The sleek, black shaft resembles a smart pen, while the alligator clips secure your roach at an ideal distance.
Furthermore, this blunt roach clip is extendable to a maximum of 1.5 feet, making it more fun (if not easier) to pass around the joint.
A word of caution, though: for some reason, the pinchers of the clip are jagged instead of flat. So you might end up ruining your rolled smoke of choice.
BBTO Joint Holder Rings
If you’re a fan of nature-themed accessories, these Joint holder rings by BBTO are perfect for you.
These simple, adjustable rings come with a 0.67-inch holder to perfectly fit your fingers. Their elegant design is available in 2 styles – maple leaf and rose. These holder rings offer a chic and vintage feeling to the user, all while ensuring that you will not be burnt by ash.
You can also adjust the top bracket to your liking as you put items of different sizes. Maintain your elegance with this maple leaf holder ring for your next joint!
Last Thoughts
A roach clip helps you get the most out of your joint, blunt, or even cigarette. Since these devices let you hold your joints without ever touching them, you can smoke the entire joint while sparing your fingers, eyes, and nose from the smoke.
While you can use household items to achieve the same result, nothing beats the aesthetic and fun of using these cool roach clips.