The idea for the SafeSesh began in 2010 when I almost burned my house down leaving a lit 250 foot roll of hemp wick burning on my table. Before I knew it a thick layer of smoke was permeating through the house and my table was on fire.
There had to be a better way to dispense hemp wick. So SafeSesh was born. In the featured image you can see my first two versions. It's just a jar with a spool in it, held on top with any type of tube I could find. This is where my obsession started. I wanted to perfect this thing.
My first versions were a bit large though. Didn't feel right in my hands. By 2012 I found a smaller jar and spool which felt just right. This is when I also began making them for friends as gifts and selling a few at local head shops. It's someone's birthday? Cool, I'll make them a SafeSesh. Christmas was weird where I gave everyone the same gift, a SafeSesh.
Two years later, in 2014, I made an updated version by machining an opening in the main barrel, added new rubber materials, and made a new logo. This version remained for years. By 2020 I'd made hundreds. It was always just a fun side hobby.
It wasn't until the pandemic that I had extra time on my hands to work on this "art" fully. I'd always wanted to perfect it and give SafeSesh to the world but really the old clear cap was holding me back. It was fragile and would crack easy, not ready for prime time. So I found a more robust black cap to replace the clear caps. To me the clear caps were beautiful. It let light into the jar and was easier to hold. But those cracks, ughhh!
If you're going to make functional art, it's not very functional if it's broken. The black cap wasn't as pretty, but it was strong. It wasn't my vision for the 'Sesh but I stopped worrying and started to love the black cap.
From there I moved from using aluminum to stainless steel for the main barrel. Then I updated the axle of the spool from a mix of rubber and steel, to aluminum. After trying out 30 different glues, I found one that finally worked perfect. I went to one of the best felt companies and said "GIVE ME YOUR MOST EXPENSIVE STUFF" and now I have this beautiful polyester felt bottom for every jar.
After trying out hundreds of different glass jars, metals, spools, glues, epoxy resins, rubber bases, caps, and felts, I was ready to unleash the 'Sesh to the world. So here we are. With my small team I would love to make a SafeSesh for you.
Thanks for visiting and reading!
Alex
