Bongs and Water Pipes: The Ultimate Way to Toke

Ancient humans got stoned. We know this because archeologists have found bongs thousands of years old made from gourds, rocks, and even skulls! Over our evolution, people have still enjoyed filtering smoke through water to cool it down and increase their hit size.

The only difference between the water pipes that our hunter-gatherer relatives used and our modern-day equivalent is the techniques and materials used to create them. Bongs provide a smoother, more refreshing, filtered smoke that's easier on the lungs to hit than using a dry pipe.

Today bongs are used commonly because of the large hit they build up and deliver all at once. A bong has one job, to get as much weed smoke into your lungs as possible at once, and it does it well.

Key Bong Features

We pride ourselves on carrying the best bongs at 420 Science. We have a wide selection of quality bongs that rivals any other online headshop. We are constantly adding new glass pipes for sale and are always looking for the newest trends in weed smoking devices.

Even though a bong is a fairly simple device, with a mouthpiece, chamber, and bowl, there are endless variations and sizes they can take. While glass pipes are the most popular, there are still impressive bongs made from silicone, metal, and even wood.

Glass water pipes are the most accessible type of bong to clean because they can be partially dismantled. They provide excellent filtration due to various percs and features. If treated carefully, they can last for generations. How bongs function is key to its popular use. 

Smoking out of a bong does require material to be smoked. While we know that most of our customers are taking on dried cannabis flowers, there are additional herbs like muslin, rose hips, and skullcap.

Water filtration in a bong cools down your hit as it moves through the water and is broken up into smaller bubbles. As the smoke passes through water and the percs inside your pipe, the tiny bubbles formed cool the smoke quickly to a temperature more comfortable to inhale.

There are dozens of percs out there, but they all provide smoother hits at some drag cost. Bongs that have perc like a tree perc bong and have a removable downstem are easy to clean. However, more intricate pieces, such as the fab egg or the inline perc bongs, offer smoother hits but are sometimes harder to clean.

Types of Bongs

There are many designs a bong can take, but they come down to four essential forms.

• Gravity Bongs

  Large chamber water pressure bongs. You can hand make these from different things in your home. However, you can purchase one like the Gravitron, which is glass and works way better than homemade. 

• Beaker Bongs

   Scientific beaker bongs have a large chamber that stores a big hit.

• Standard Tube Bongs

  Tube bongs can be made of silicone, wood, acrylic, but best of all is glass. These are the typical straight bongs you see. They tend to be affordable and available in many designs.

• Recycler Bongs

   Recyclers move water around over and over constantly to create a slower but more filtered hit.

Glass Bongs

Glass bongs are the cornerstone of pipe smoking. Glass is the perfect substance to smoke with. It's pure, nonporous, and easy to manipulate. Glass bongs can come in a huge variety of shapes and colors. 

Silicone Bongs

Silicone bongs are ideal for outdoor adventures and parties where a glass bong could be easily broken. Silicone is impact, heat, and smell proof. Many silicone bongs have additional features that glass bongs cannot, like additional storage compartments and the ability to break down into smaller pieces.

Bongs vs. Waterpipe

Is there a difference between a bong and a water pipe? Water Pipe refers to any pipe with water filtration, which could be a dab rig, a bubbler pipe, a gravity bong, or any standard bong.

A bong is a subcategory of waterpipe that describes the large format smoking pipes that stand upright and have chambers where smoke is gathered and then released when a bowl or carb is activated.

Components and Upgrades for Your Bong

While the perc and the shape of your water pipe are probably the most important aspects to consider, there are a ton of features that can change from pipe to pipe. Some bongs have a fixed downstem, while others have a removable one. There are extra additions that can make your smoking more pleasurable, like ice pinches, splash guards, and water line markers. Any bong can be improved with the addition of a few weed accessories like a showerhead perc or ash-catcher.

Bong Downstems and Percolators

The essential level of filtration that every bong has comes from the downstem. The downstem is the long glass tube that leads from the bowl down into the water. At the end of any typical downstem, there will be multiple holes for the smoke to be broken up into separate air bubbles.

A showerhead downstem has slits around the bottom of the stem and pushes bubbles to the chamber's bottom. Showerhead down stems have very little drag. A diffused downstem has holes in the bottom and the sides to eject bubbles in every direction. Both types of downstems can be fixed in place or removable depending on the design of the bong.

Often bongs are made with 10mm, 14mm, and 19mm joint sizes. It's important to know what size your bong is when buying parts like glass bowls or accessories like ash-catchers. An essential feature to check for is what type of joint is on the downstem of your pipe. Most beakers have 45º fittings, many straight tubes, and inline perc pieces with a 90º joint angle.

Ice Pinches and Ice Catchers

Many bongs have a groove, bumps, or some ice pinch to gather ice in the bong tube. Adding ice to your bong's mouthpiece neck will cool down the smoke some as it travels over the cubes. This helps keep the hit from getting too harsh.

Ash Catchers

An ash catcher can greatly improve the performance of your bong in many ways. First, they keep the ash from building up inside your bong water and making it gross. The ash catcher acts as a pre-filter for your bong to keep it clean. Adding percolator will also make your bong hit smoother.

Splash Guards

A splash guard is a glass screen that sometimes is installed at the top of the chamber right under where the mouthpiece begins or the bong's neck. This is there to block water from splashing up into the neck of the bong.

Bong FAQs

We get a lot of questions about bongs and all kinds of pipes. We're here to answer anything you might want to know about how water pipes or work what makes a bong worth buying.

How Much are Bongs?

Bongs come in every price range. We carry glass bongs that are both high-quality and affordable. Generally, bongs with few to no percs and walls thinner than five-millimeter thickness will be on the cheaper side, while pipes that are dense walled and contain many percs and colors will be more expensive. Most of our bongs are in the fifty to three hundred dollar price range but occasionally can go lower or higher if we get something special in. 

Do Bongs get you higher than other methods of smoking?

Unlike using a pipe, a blunt, or a joint, there's less harshness to hitting a bong.

• The chamber of a bubbler allows you to get a huge hit. Theoretically, glass pipes will enable you to get more THC at once.
• Joints take longer to kick in. With a water pipe, you get the effect you are after in just a couple of hits. When you inhale a more significant impact (as is the case with bongs), you can get an instant high.

What are the Best Bong Brands?

It takes decades of experience to become a master at blowing glass and making intricate, functional, and beautiful water pipes. We have worked for years to make close relationships with the best bong and pipe makers in the world like ROOR, GRAV, Zob, and many more.

ROOR has been around for over twenty years making big beakers from ultra-dense German Schott glass.

GRAV has been designing and making hundreds of styles of pipes, bubblers, rigs, and bongs for years and continues to innovate.

Red Eye Tek makes gorgeous bongs that shine with iridescent colors and fantastic functionality.

Time to Start Shopping for Your Favorite New Bong!

There are endless features and variety when it comes to shopping for a new glass bong. When you choose 420 Science as your online headshop, you get our enormous selection of only the best bongs, free shipping for orders over $79, and quick discreet packaging. Try and consider all these aspects when shopping for a new bong, and if you still are not sure what piece is right for you, reach out to us, and we will be happy to help!