Highly Recommended if you cant be bothered to use cotton and change your wick every week. The wick holds shape because of the braiding, you can dry burn once a week and your week will last a month maybe 2.
Note: Please be careful when using silica when its dry, as it's fibers are brittle and create micro shards, which if inhaled can potentially cause series lung issues, see "silicosis". So when working with silica, make sure you get glycerin BP from a pharmacy and wet the wick so that the shards don't become airborne.
With all vape products everyone should do little research on what they are made of and most importantly, how to handle and operate them.
1 Packet of 3mm Braided wick 1 meter long