Elevate your Grind: One Turn at a Time with Bear Grinder
Originally featured in Fat Nugs Magazine Product Reviews
There are few pieces in the smoker’s kit more essential than the grinder. To get the most out of your flower, roll even joints and pack full bowls, getting a consistent grind is key. Breaking down flower by hand only gets you so far when the herb is sticky and fresh, and believe me it should be sticky and fresh. Selecting the right grinder can be difficult with so many options on the shelves. For those looking for a top-shelf end-all-be-all solution or the next high-quality material piece for their collection, look no further than the Bear Grinder. I’ve been using this beast of a grinder for the last few months, putting it to work on several ounces of flower. I can safely say that I’m a fan. Plain and simple this grinder has been a mainstay on my smoking tray. The quick and smooth grind almost makes this grinder a fidget toy to hold and spin while waiting for your turn in the circle.
Using a ball-bearing system, the Bear Grinder is the smoothest grinder I’ve tried on the market. The ball bearings allow the top to swivel to easily achieve that uniform grind. A ring of plastic protects the bearings from residue and allows the lid to sit without making contact with the lower piece of the grinder. This means the residue and grinder buildup we all know and deal with is almost eliminated. I’ve been a little careless with my grinds, loading up some huge nugs in this since October 5th, (~70 days at the time of writing) and it’s just starting to show. The lid of the grinder has a clean minimalist design with the bear paw logo. Twelve dual-direction teeth are placed across the interior to give clockwise and counterclockwise results. The other thing to point out here is there is no concern about picking up the grinder by the top, the magnet is strong enough to stay in one piece with all your flower inside.
The next section of the grinder houses the ball bearings in the sealed outer rim and six more teeth. The grind size is uniform and consistent. I am getting some buildup inside the grinder where some flower tends to gather and miss the holes in the chamber below. Depending on your flower freshness and quality, this may vary. The ball bearings are secure in the grinder and the ring feels solid; it can be removed for cleaning and acts as a tray for holding the ball bearings when taken out. This section is securely attached to the chamber with four magnets that lock in and out of place for a secure connection.
The chamber is big enough for a solid joint or multiple bowls at a time. A screen bottom allows you to collect kief as you go. While the “kief” collected is not all trichomes, many, including this author/smoker, enjoy letting it build up over time before dusting bowls and joints with it for a little extra kick. Similar to the upper connections, this one has stayed virtually free of residue and build-up and unlocks smoothly. I have started to get a little flower stuck in the grooves where the lower magnets are sitting, but it’s not disrupting the flow of the grind.
The kief catcher connects with a threaded connection and features rounded sides to allow for easy scraping and scooping. Cleaning this one is as simple as it gets, the whole thing can be spot-cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and the grind can be kept fluid by tipping out the bearings onto the plastic rim and running a q-tip along the inside with a little isopropyl.
As a cannabis connoisseur and collector of gear and equipment myself, this is a grinder I’m happy to have in the collection and one I’d recommend. That buy-it-once mentality is achievable here. I dropped mine on the garage floor a few times already, and it’s still rocking and looking great. You even get some extra bearings in the set should you get a little wild during disassembly and cleaning.
The Bear Grinder comes in several colorways: black, silver, rose gold and turquoise. They weigh about 5 ounces giving them a good weight in the hand. A QR Code with care instructions, a limited lifetime warranty and how-to-videos along with the model number is printed on the bottom. The model with the kief catcher sells for $74.99 and the one without is $54.99. Some folks prefer to have all the complete flower without separating any trichomes from it via kief catcher. Visit the Bear Grinder shop online the next time you’re looking to upgrade your gear and check out episode 46 of the Apartment 113 Podcast featuring the CEO and founder of Bear Grinder, Amit Gorodetzer.