The crew from PAX Labs came through the Dig office last week on their tour of the city, and naturally we rolled out the green carpet. It’s about time that we all start getting ready for the bright new innovations that our friends out on the West Coast have enjoyed for years, and they were awfully nice helping us catch up. They weren’t the first to come entertain us with extracts, and they hopefully won’t be the last. But I have a pretty solid feeling that they’ll be among the most enduring names in the Mass market, as they are in every other place that recreational has taken hold.

Have a lot of us been vaping in New England for a while? Of course we have. Hell, I have a closet full of old devices, from a big daddy Volcano classic for when I need to fill up a bag and toss my day right in the trash can, to a Magic-Flight Launch Box, which is gorgeous and handmade and which I truly treasure. In any case, if you’re anything like the consumers in our crew, you probably have at least some experience with the sleek pocket devices PAX has distributed around here thus far—namely, the magical PAX 3 and its popular predecessors. With functionality for extracts as well as the loose salad ingredients of your selection, it’s one of the most consistently touted machines of the past several years, and for good reason.

As for the PAX ERA, which their team was kind enough to demonstrate up close for us (check the video), the technology has been around for more than two years but has been virtually useless in the Bay State without spots to purchase the consumables. And so we’ve had to wait for them to get their distribution set up in this region to jump in on the action. Now that all those pieces are coming together, it is only a matter of months at the most before we will be able to buy oil inputs for ERA and any number of other proprietary devices as simply as finding an Inkjet refill at Staples. And that’s fantastic, because in addition to cartridges lasting much longer than your average 500 ml pen refills, the handle itself is a low-profile phenomenon, basically the size of a typical thumb drive.

PAX has finally secured deals with manufacturers in Mass to craft custom concentrates, so it won’t be long until this app-based sidekick is accessible. Yes, it’s app-based; Bluetooth functionality is optional, but gadget geeks and Luddites alike may be surprised to see the wireless assistance can actually be helpful. To steal a line, you can basically set it and forget it. The app allows you to adjust the temp, of course, but also packs in other treats including games like spin the bottle, vape-style.

We’ll be back in no time with specific information on the when and where of how one can secure these pocket fixtures—as well as the goods to load into their bottoms. For now, check out digboston.com for our crash course on how to navigate this bold new world.