Santa Cruz Shredder Grinder

Most of us will have and use on a regular basis, one or more grinders. With varying sizes, arrangements, colours and material, you search for one that suits all of your needs. Today we look at the most highly rated cannabis grinders on the market – the Santa Cruz Shredder. Gifted to Stoner Steve from a friend, he has been putting this grinder to the test for the past couple of months. 

Who is Santa Cruz? 

Santa Cruz is a company out of the city of Santa Cruz in California, USA. Their focus is solely on grinders, putting all of their efforts into making one of the best grinders on the market. It all started in 2010 when Matt Hansen, a cannabis accessory entrepreneur, was approached to develop a grinder like no other. In order to do so, he teamed up with a NASA scientist to make it happen and together they developed one of the fastest-growing lines of herb grinders. 

The Design & Appearance

These Santa Cruz Shredder grinders are truly a thing of beauty. Made from anodized aluminium, they claim their grinders are scratch resistant! Only time will be able to tell if this is really true, but after 2 months of daily use and some travel, the grinder still looks fresh out of the box. The grinders are further available in 2, 3 or 4 piece. 

They are available in a number of colours like black, blue, grey, green, purple, red and ultraviolet. The anodized aluminium finish really makes these colours pop too! You can also get a rasta coloured variety, as well as numerous collaborative designs. They even have a Shredder from hemp on offer. 

Another awesome piece of their design is the grip provided on the moving lid. Keeping medicinal patients in mind, they ensured the grip was more pronounced than most – allowing anyone who needs to use their grinder to get a solid grip and easily turn the grinder. 

Their design is sleek and simple, with incredible functionality. They have a lekker solid feel to them and no rattling parts. 

Effectiveness

A grinder is a simple tool and serves one purpose – to grind and break down your weed into a more workable, consumable form. All grinders perform this duty to an extent, but sometimes you don’t fully understand just how terrible your grinder is until you get a better one. 

The Santa Cruz is incredibly effective at what it does. Rather than sticking to the common diamond shaped tooth, they came up with a new design entirely which doesn’t butcher your cannabis but rather fluffs it up incredibly – something you rarely see in other grinders. The teeth cut multiple ways, allowing your bud to ‘Fluff to Perfection’ as they put it – and fluff it to perfection it certainly does! After 2 months of daily use, I also have not cleaned the grinder once and not once have I had the lid gunk up and refuse to rotate because of weed stuck on the walls – a big bonus in my eyes!

We’ve already spoken about their smart grip design, which allows users to comfortably grip and grind their herb with ease. They have also ensured that they’ve used the best possible screens. Their T304 Micronic Precision Woven Non-Fraying Stainless Steel screen ensures that only the finest pieces fall through, leaving you with a super fine and potent kief collection. The way they fasten the screen in their grinder also ensures that the screen doesn’t stretch or warp with age. 

Another noteworthy feature and one of my favourites is the extra strong magnet used in the lid. According to their website, they use ‘Neodymium Diametrically Magnetized Cylindrical Rare Earth Magnets’ (quite the mouthful), which are nickel-copper-nickel triple plated for maximum durability. These magnets secure your lid extremely well, preventing drying out of your bud, accidents and escaping smells. They are also awesome if you are the friend who doesn’t know how to roll so you handle the grinding instead – you can comfortably toss it to your designated roller across the room without your ganja flying out. 

Price Point

When it comes to the Santa Cruz Shredder, it is one of those products that if you want quality, you gotta pay for it. Pricing does also depend on how many pieces you go for, and whether it’s a small, medium or large. Starting at the bottom, a small 2 piece Shredder will cost you around R550 – R700 locally. On the other side of the spectrum, a large 4 piece Shredder costs roughly R1 500 – R1 750. The medium 4 piece gifted to me will cost just under R1 000 out of your own pocket. 

Admittedly, this is a sum of money I didn’t want to part with when I was looking to purchase the Shredder myself – it feels like a lot for a simple tool. However, after 2 months of daily use, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at the price. It is justifiable because of the quality you get, which is unlike any grinder I have ever used. As I said before – quality often costs a few extra bucks.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, this is the best grinder I have ever owned. I’ve owned some awesome steel ones, the common acrylics and even spent my fair share of time with scissors and a shot glass. I have not come across a grinder that performs its duty as well as this one – and that’s not to say that there isn’t a better grinder out there. But I don’t think you can get the calibre of Santa Cruz in many other places, and not for what is a reasonable price at the end of the day.

If you ain’t chokin’, you ain’t tokin’
– Stoner Steve