How to roll a crutch

How to roll a crutch for your joint or spliff

– T. O’Neal

A crutch—also called a filter or a tip—is one of the easiest improvements to make to the standard joint. It’s effectively a mouthpiece, and it serves a number of purposes: (How to roll a crutch)

• Keeps the end of your joint open (even when sharing with wet-lipped friends)
• Adds support to a joint, keeping it straight
• Blocks bits of plant matter from getting in your mouth
• Ensures your lips and fingers don’t burn as you puff down to the roach

Back in the old days, smokers used roach clips before crutches were popular: A joint would be smoked down to the last 1/2″ or so—called the roach—and then the smoker would grab the roach with a little clip to smoke the rest without burning their fingers.

Crutches eliminate roaches and roach clips—you can smoke all the weed in a joint down to the crutch without burning yourself and then discard the crutch without losing any weed.

Blunts typically don’t need filters—blunt wraps are stiffer and the end can act like a crutch—but you can add one if you prefer. The only difference is that it needs to be bigger for a blunt.

What are crutches made of?

Unless you opt for a reusable glass tip, the best material for a crutch is stiff paper. You want something thicker than printer paper (which is too flimsy) but thinner than a cereal box (too bulky).

These days, there are pre-cut crutches. RAW’s regular tips are the standard, which use long fiber paper made on a special mill. They’re designed specifically to roll up smoothly and have enough rigidity to hold a shape in your mouth.

Some other good crutch options include:

• Flap of a rolling paper pack
• Index card
• Manila file folder
• Back flap of a checkbook
• Magazine subscription card
• Some business cards (not thick ones)
• Any piece of thin cardboard

The easy (but flawed) on How to roll a crutch

Most people tend to roll a crutch by literally rolling it into a cylinder. When viewed head-on, it looks like a spiral.

This is an easy technique but has some drawbacks. The main weakness is that the opening in the center of the crutch is big enough to let through small pieces of plant matter, which can end up getting in your mouth.

Another problem is that it’s not particularly sturdy and can sometimes pinch closed. Does it work? Sure. But there’s a better way.

The better way How to roll a crutch

You can make a much better crutch simply by adding a few accordion-style folds before rolling it up. It takes a tiny bit of practice to master, but the end product will keep those pesky flecks of cannabis out of your mouth and ensure a smooth draw.

To start, make a few folds at the end of your crutch material, making the folds about as wide as you want the final crutch to be. Be sure not to crease the paper when you’re folding it, otherwise the final crutch will be too tight.

How many folds to use is up to you. Some people talk about making an “M” shape inside the crutch, while others opt for a simple “V.” Experiment to find out what you like best.

Once you’ve made those first few folds, roll the remaining crutch material around the folded part. Make sure you have enough unfolded paper to wrap completely around the crutch—you want the final product to roll easily between your fingers.

Tip: You can rip some off if you have too much How to roll a crutch.

You might find that the crutch wants to unroll or expand on its own. That’s OK. Once you roll the crutch into your joint, that springiness will help keep the crutch from falling out of the end of your joint.

Put the crutch at the end of your rolling paper and roll it into your joint. Some like to leave a little of the crutch exposed, then push it flush with the edge of the rolling paper when finished rolling.

Where to buy a crutch also know How to roll a crutch

Can’t be bothered to practice tiny origami? You can buy a reusable tip, opt for a pre-rolled crutch, or skip the crutch altogether. There are all sorts of pre-rolled options these days, including choices by RAW, Elements, and a handful of others.

These will cost you a bit more. RAW’s standard tips cost around $1-2 for a pack of 50, and pre-rolled tips go for about twice that.