What's the Best Small Weed Grinder in 2023?

Honestly, I’m biased — I think the ZAM grinder is the best small weed grinder because I built it to be the best. All the important characteristics of a small weed grinder were taken into consideration when designing the ZAM grinder. Let me show you.

 

Size is the Most Important Characteristic

ZAM center magnet

The most important aspect if you’re looking for a tiny weed grinder is…drum roll please… the size of the grinder, duh. But there’s more to it than that. It’s about taking into account the small size of the grinder and maximizing all that it can do. It’s about taking those same limitations/issues you normally find in a teeny weeny grinder, and turning them into benefits.

New Patent Pending Neodymium Magnet

Here’s where the ZAM 1.1" grinder is better:  Every other tiny grinder on the market has this annoying, often giant, flat magnet in the middle that becomes this obstacle you have to avoid when you’re ready to grind some weed. For a small grinder with already miniscule space available, this makes the grinder practically useless.

Magnet Ring Prevents Jamming and Prevents Wobbling

But the ZAM grinder has a patent pending magnetic neodymium ring that sits on the outside perimeter of the grinding chamber rather than the center. That’s right, no more center bud patties jamming everything up. Throw everything in the center without any worry of that annoying-ass magnet in the center, but still experience the same lovely magnetic pull you know so well.

The ring magnet has other benefits, but we’ll talk about that later, we’re talking about size related issues right now.

Small Teeth, No Place to Grind Cannabis

So you’ve got a handy-dandy-teeny-weeny-polkda-dot… grinder, and you want to grind up some dankelicious, but then you realize you can only fit a small amount in the grinder because the height of the teeth are so small. This is another major issue that plagues tiny grinders.

And it’s another one the ZAM has fixed. The teeth in the ZAM 1.1" are 9mm in height while most other grinder’s teeth are 5mm-6mm. These longer teeth provide a deeper grinding area for you to mash all that bud in. And remember, no center magnet, so you really can just chuck a bunch in there.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is a mini weed grinder that’s supposed to easily fit in your pocket, it’s not meant for grinding a lot of cannabis at once in the first place, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make it the best it can be, right!? Need to grind up .5-1g at a time? No problem.  An eighth? Not a chance.

So as you can see the ZAM grinder is built to get the most out of its small size and at only 1.1” in diameter every cm (mm for those across the pond) counts. With the teeth longer and the magnet removed, this 1.1” inch ZAM can grind more than most 1.5” inch mini grinders, and the ZAM is way more portable!

Thanks for reading! Use code ZAM10 for 10% off the ZAM 1.1"!

Number of sections/additional features 

zam grinder blueThe type of metal and grade will be the largest influence on the cost of your grinder, but the number of sections and any additional features will add cost as well.

Ten years ago you had three main types of grinders: two piece, three piece (no kief screen), and four piece (standard grinder with kief screen). But nowadays you can easily find 2-6 piece grinders with additional storage sections for the top and bottom. Check out this article for more in-depth discussion of weed grinder pieces. 

For a mini grinder primarily concerned with size, extra sections probably aren’t your priority, but if you plan to take this grinder with you out-and-about, an additional storage section might be worth it. The ZAM grinder has an air-tight, water-tight section above the teeth for exactly this reason. And with the PTFE linings this extra compartment lets you keep concentrates safe on hand at the same time.

Does Space Matter to You?

Maybe you don’t need the extra container above the teeth? I feel you, but this was the best way to make the grinder comfortable to grip. Most tiny grinders have this super small lid that you’re expected to grab with your fingertips like some sort Hercules ninja-warrior. The ZAM grinder took that pain into account and so the teeth were placed lower on the grinder’s body so it’s easy to grip. This subsequently left a giant empty space above the teeth, so naturally it was made into a storage section! This also prevents the grinder from being top-heavy. All this and in its smallest form it’s only 1.1” wide x 2.2” inches tall!

 

The ZAM 1.1” has another optional de-bowler lining, but it’s really only useful for one hitters and stem-load dry-herb vaporizers like the Dynavap, Arizer, Tinymight, etc.

What's Your Goal With This Grinder? Where do You Intend to Go?

The last thing that affects the outcome of the best mini grinder is your personal objective. Where do you plan to go and what do you plan to do with this mini grinder? Grind weed obviously, but while hiking, fishing, maybe golfing? Do you need it to be water proof, stealthy and smell resistant? Most people looking for a micro weed grinder are planning to keep it on them as they go about their day, so being able to comfortably carry the grinder in your pocket without the smell overflowing is important.

Remember that new patent pending ring magnet we spoke about earlier? That magnet also creates a consistent and uniform magnetic pull along the circumference of the grinder.  This means no wobbles, no gaps, and most important of all —no space for smell to escape. This makes the ZAM grinder the best smell proof mini herb grinder on the market.

zam outsideBut other than smell resistance, there are other characteristics that can make one grinder better for different events/situations such as overall size, but we’ve spoken about that already. What we haven’t spoken of is carry capacity. What is “mini” is completely subjective, so being able to adapt to different situations is important. Maybe you only want to carry .5g, but another day you want to hold an eighth. Can your grinder adapt to these situations? Some grinders have the ability to remove sections to make the grinder larger or smaller depending on the situation, and the ZAM is one of those!

Completely Modular

At its full size, the ZAM grinder is 1.1” x 3.7”. But with the kief section and main container removed it is only 2.2”! What’s also nice is the whole things is modular, so the main container and kief screen can also screw in above the teeth if you want to try different configurations or carry multiple strains in one grinder. You can actually carry up to four different strains in one ZAM 1.1” grinder if you have the PTFE bucket. That’s adaptability.

Oh yeah, the ZAM 1.1” is completely waterproof too. The ring magnet creates an air-tight, water-tight seal, so it’s the perfect grinder for a beach/boat day where you might get a little wet but you want your good stuff readily available.   

So let’s summarize — The most important thing for a mini grinder is its overall size and ability to adapt to different situations. At 1.1” in diameter and completely modular, the ZAM is the smallest, most versatile mini grinder on the market. Carrying other grinders in your pocket will cause an uncomfortable bulge, but not the ZAM, you’ll forget it’s there.black weed grinder zam

Then we have the ability of the grinder itself, does it grind well? Can it still grind a decent amount of bud? The ZAM 1.1” can grind more than any 1.5” inch grinder while being 2/3 the width.

The patent pending ring magnet really makes a significant impact on the amount of cannabis you can grind at one time. No longer do you have to carefully place your weed around the magnet. No jam, twice the space.

After that it’s the overall make and cost. Are you looking to spend on a name brand grinder made out of high grade aluminum or steel that will last a lifetime? Or do you simply want a cheap plastic mini grinder to get you through the day?

This part is completely up to you. We understand that not everyone has $100 to drop on a grinder, and if you’re looking for a small grinder you definitely aren’t looking to spend that much. That’s why we use high grade anodized T6 6061 aluminum, a high quality aluminum used in countless military applications that provides a happy medium between strength and cost.

Conclusion:

Size, cost, features/abilities, and your personal objective will affect what you think is the best weed grinder. But in almost any situation where the user is looking for a mini weed grinder, I think I’ve proven the ZAM 1.1”inch grinder is the best option available. 

Not satisfied? Maybe you're looking for the best weed grinder brands overall?Â