All that said, lots of would-be smoking enthusiasts don’t quite understand bongs. After all, why would you bother setting up a smoking rig when you can easily roll a cigarette or use a vape instead?
In truth, there are lots of great reasons why you should smoke with a bong. Today, let’s break down what bongs are, how they work, and how you can choose the right bong for your needs and smoking preferences.
What is a bong?
Simply put, a bong or “water pipe” is a tool that filters smoke from burning herbs, like cannabis, through water at its base. Bongs have been around for thousands of years, practically ever since humans invented smoking. They’re invaluable smoking accessories for enjoying marijuana in a variety of strains.
While the majority of bongs were historically created out of glass or ceramic, now you can get bongs in many different materials, styles, and types. Bongs can even be used to enjoy marijuana concentrate or “dab.” You can use a glass bong, ceramic bongs and water pipes, acrylic bongs, or even bongs made of silicone.
How do bongs work?
Despite their simplicity, lots of MJ fans don’t really know how bongs work or why they are so valuable!
In a nutshell, bongs work by filtering smoke through water. To use a bong, you ignite herbs with a lighter or another instrument. The smoke from the ignited herbs then goes down through a tube into water, which is stored in a bong’s base.
When you inhale through a bong’s mouthpiece, the smoke from the burning herbs goes through a removable, diffused downstem. It then passes into the main base of the bong, allowing it to percolate in the water.
Essentially, the water in the base of your bong then cleans the smoke and cools it down, allowing for a more enjoyable smoking experience. You then inhale the smoke that’s been filtered through the water.
In contrast, smoking marijuana through a cigarette or through other methods can exposes your throat and lungs to hotter, harsher smoke, and potentially to more toxins. For a lot of people, smoking with a bong is the best way to enjoy marijuana!
How do you use a water pipe?
If you’ve never used a bong before, rest assured the process is pretty easy! Just follow this tutorial and you’ll enjoy high-quality hits in no time.
- Start by adding water to your bong. You can typically fill your bong’s reservoir by putting water through the mouthpiece. Try to use distilled and unchlorinated water, and don’t overfill — add just enough water to cover the opening of the downstem.
- Next, if your bong has an ice catcher, add ice to your bong. This helps to cool the smoke even further.
- Break up your chosen cannabis flower. Grinding your weed is preferred, since it’ll result in a smoother hit, but it’s not required.
- Then pack your bong bowl with your chosen cannabis. To pack it correctly, fill the bowl with your marijuana and spread it out evenly. Tap the bud lightly, just enough so it stays in place — don’t pack it in too tightly, or air won’t be able to flow through.
- Now you’re ready to light up. Choose a lighter or match, then put your mouth over the bong’s mouthpiece. If your bong comes with a carb (small air hole separate from the mouthpiece or downstem), cover it with one finger.
- Make contact between the bud and the flame. Try to hover your lighter over the bowl evenly.
- Inhale! For an intense experience, try to inhale slowly, as this will allow more smoke to fill up inside your water pipe.
Like all things, you’ll get better at smoking with a bong with practice!
Why should I use a water pipe bong?
There are lots of reasons why you should use a water pipe when smoking marijuana or other burnable herbs. It all stems from the water filtration system.
As detailed above, a bong’s water filtration system cools and then filters the smoke you create. When you inhale, the resulting smoke is cleaner, cooler, and more comfortable than it would be otherwise.
As a result, you can take longer and bigger hits, allowing you to enjoy the psychoactive effects of cannabis even more intensely. Plus, you spare your lungs from potential damage or irritation; say goodbye to constantly coughing or hacking each time you take a hit!
For many MJ enthusiasts, bongs have an added benefit: style. There are tons of high-quality, well-designed bongs that look fantastic, whether you store them on your shelf, on a table, or hold them in your hand.
Some bongs are even designed to be shared, so they feature removable mouthpieces. This contributes to a more sanitary smoking experience for everyone.
Bongs are great smoking tools for newcomers to cannabis since they’re easy, make the smoking experience more comfortable, and are fairly difficult to mess up.
What should I look for when buying bongs for sale?
There are lots of factors to consider when buying cool bongs, especially if you haven’t purchased one before. When looking for a new bong, you’ll want to consider:
- The size and height of a water pipe. Bigger water pipes allow you to take longer, larger hits, but they are oftentimes harder to clean, and they may be heavier. If a water pipe has a longer stem and neck toward the mouthpiece, that could result in the smoke being cooler by the time it reaches your lungs, resulting in a more enjoyable experience.
- The material the bong is made out of. Generally, you can find bongs made of glass, ceramic, or silicone. Glass is the classic material, but it can be fragile. Ceramic is a little more decorative, but can also be easy to break. Silicone bongs are newer, but they’re also cheaper and more durable.
- The style. Lots of people like to pick up bongs that speak to them in terms of shape or aesthetic. You can find lots of cool bongs with wicked shapes, such as spirals, that may add to your social smoking experience. Alternatively, maybe you prefer a straightforward water pipe with a basic shape and stem.
- Whether the bong has a percolator. Percolators are unique bong components that defuse hot smoke through water inside their primary chambers. Percolators with more surface area cool down smoke more effectively.
- The price. Of course, some bongs are much more affordable than others — but cheap bongs aren’t necessarily high quality. You may wish to consider the overall price of a bong online before buying one, especially if you are new to smoking. If you are new, stick with an affordable, durable bong while you figure out the best bong for you.
What types of water pipes are there?
Good news! There are tons of different water pipes and bongs you can purchase depending on your preferences, the type of grass you like to smoke, and other factors. You can find just about every type of bongs online. Let’s break down the different types of bongs by style and materials.
Bong Styles
Bongs come in all shapes, sizes, and design styles. Here are a few of the common configurations.
Beaker Bongs
Classic beaker bongs are the traditional water bongs you might be familiar with from appearances on many shows and movies featuring cannabis. They have wide bottoms that provide a smooth smoking experience and extra stability when holding your water pipe.
Perhaps more importantly, beaker bongs are usually a little sturdier and more durable than basic tube bongs. For example, you can set a beaker bong on a table and not have to worry about it rolling off the table and crashing to the floor as easily.
Lastly, beaker bongs are preferred by many since they hold extra water and smoke in their bases. That means you can take longer, harder hits once you build up some experience.
Gravity Bongs
Next up are gravity bongs. These come in a variety of different shapes, but they all share one core functional aspect: they use their water content to make a vacuum and draw smoke up for inhalation. They use a trick of gravity, in other words, to create an intense hit each time you inhale.
A gravity bong is best enjoyed if you have some experience smoking, so you aren’t overwhelmed with the sudden flush of sensation. Take it slow!
Dab Rigs
Then there are dab rigs: water pipes that are specifically meant to be used with marijuana dabs and concentrates. Think of dabs as concentrated squares or rectangles of MJ that you inhale a little differently from typical bong water.
In a nutshell, dab rigs filter their water and carry the vapor through a narrow chamber that ends close to the mouthpiece. This then releases the vapor for the user to enjoy; since the chamber is very narrow and concentrated, it maximizes the flavor.
While you can use dab rigs with flowers and herbs, you should really stick to using these unique water pipes for concentrates. You can even get new electric dab rigs from brands like Puffco and G Pen!
Mini Bongs
Lastly, there are mini bongs: smaller-than-average water pipes that you can potentially carry in your pocket or purse. These are perfect for enjoying a quick hit while on the go, provided you are lucky enough to live in a state with legal smoking.
However, miniature bongs don’t provide the same smoking experience or intensity as other bong types. Furthermore, they can be a little fragile, especially if they aren’t made with high-quality silicone.
Of course, there are other types of bongs than these. Ultimately, any type of water bong will get the job done if you choose the right type for your preferences and needs.
Percolator Bongs
Percolator bongs, or bubblers, have a piece of glass intended to dissipate smoke before passing through water. This causes a percolating effect or bubbling, and which results in cool smoke that is more comfortable to inhale.
Straight Tube Bongs
Classic straight tube bongs or straight neck bongs feature easy-to-clean designs and shapes. Because of their tall and narrow shape, some styles of straight-tube bong are easy to knock over, so store them somewhere where they won’t accidentally be knocked down!
Bong Materials
Consider materials as it relates to affordability, safety, and just personal preference.
Glass Bongs
A glass bong is a classic choice. Glass is one of the most common materials used for bongs due to its aesthetic appeal and relative affordability — depending on the style of bong you choose, of course!
Glass bongs deliver a premium smoking experience in all shapes and sizes, and even the type of glass varies. Borosilicate glass bongs are especially resistant to thermal shock, making them a great choice for the hot-cold duality of the water in your bong against the heat from your flame.
Ceramic Bongs
As their name suggests, a ceramic bong is made from ceramic material rather than other choices like glass or silicone (which we’ll cover next). While ceramic looks great, keep in mind that it can be very fragile!
Silicone Bongs
Silicone bongs are relatively new to the bong market, but they’re fantastic for a variety of reasons.
For one, high-quality silicone is frequently used as a material for cooking and baking, so you know it’s safe when ingesting or inhaling substances. For another, high-quality silicone can easily withstand the high temperatures needed to vaporize water in a water pipe.
As an added bonus, silicone bongs are a little more durable than glass bongs; they’re much less likely to break compared to glass bongs. Even better, silicone bongs are typically cheaper than high-quality glass bongs, so they’re excellent entry-level water pipes, to boot.
Try a silicone bong or straight tube bong if you’re new to bongs. They filter smoke well, often have an ice pinch to help with cooling smoke, and are some of the best bongs in terms of quality and performance.
What are the best water bong brands?
Thanks to the recent pushes for marijuana legalization in many US states, there are now tons of top water bong brands you can buy from. Let’s take a look at three of the best bong brands in the market today.
Grav Labs
First up is GRAV Labs: one of the most notorious water pipe creators ever (in a good way). It was founded almost 20 years ago in Texas and, ever since, has been making scientific high-quality glass water pipes and bongs.
If you’re interested in the aesthetic or style of glass bongs, you might not find anyone better. That’s partially because GRAV Labs employs glassblowing experts (over 30 in total). On top of that, this brand features a unique Helix water pipe design. The unique design allows for extra volume inside their pipes, meaning that the smoke has extra time to cool.
When you want clean, complex, and well-designed glass bongs, GRAV Labs is the way to go!
Puffco
PuffCo is a 2013 company that has merged technology, engineering, and design disciplines together to create high-quality bongs and dab rigs, as well as vaporizers. Thus, this brand is a great choice if you want to purchase not only a few water pipes but also other smoking accessories or specialized bongs for smoking concentrate.
Keith Haring Glass
Keith Haring’s glass water pipes are also great choices, especially for more aesthetically minded smokers. That’s because many of this brand’s water pipes are designed in unique and funky shapes, like mazes, spirals, and more.
You can find bongs from this artist and activist made of ultra-clear, high-quality, premium borosilicate glass. This means that they have the aesthetic benefits of glass pipes without as much fragility (though they still aren’t quite as durable as silicone pipes).
Wrap Up
All in all, bongs and water pipes are a major part of a consistent, smooth, high-quality smoking experience. If you’ve never tried a hit with a bong before, we highly recommend you do so. Bongs can enhance how you feel when you smoke and save your lungs from irritation or inflammation; what’s not to like?
Best of all, it’s easier than ever to pick up a quality bong (or two) at Cannabox. We’ve got bongs for sale, plus accessories from the above brands in a wide variety of styles, materials, and pricing points. Check out our selection of water pipes today!
