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Racoon4
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Bong Purchase Guide (Updated 7-13-22) 2
#27856498 - 07/09/22 07:38 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Ive smoked a lot of bongs. Some bongs are good, and some are shitty. This is my guide to choosing a bong for purchase.
The Seal A tight seal is essential for proper bong function. If your bong has a poor seal, you are essentially handi-capped from taking big hits since every hit will always have an unnecessary amount of air dilution. However, if your bong has a proper seal then you will be able to take hits with 0 unnecessary air dilution. All of the air from the hit will come from the bowl, so the smoke can get a lot thicker than another bong with a poor seal.
This is why you should always check the quality of your bong seal. All you have to do is cover the hole of the bowl with your thumb and inhale through the bong. If you are able to inhale air in this position, then there is a poor seal. If you create a vacuum on your thumb from the suction then you have chosen a bong with a proper seal.
Quality is a big indicator of whether or not a bong has a good seal. Every cheap bong I've used have terrible seals.
Bowl Shape Bowl shape has a huge influence on how your bong will hit. If you want dense, thick hits you must get a narrow and tall bowl. The wider the bowl, the more air is needed to light the bowl, but the hit is smoother because there is more air. This is why hand pipes tend to have short, wide bowls and water pipes tend to have tall, narrow bowls.
 Pictured above is a tall and narrow bowl, perfect for a bong.
 Pictured above is a wider bowl that would have been more suited for a hand pipe.
Cleanability Ease of cleaning will vary wildly across different bowl shapes. If your bowl has an expansive inside (see picture below) then it will never ever be clean unless soaked in cleaning solution for a long time. You want a bowl with easy to reach places so you can get a majority of the resin out by just scraping.
 The bowl pictured above would be impossible to clean without a long cleaning solution soak
 This bowl has only exposed sides. It could be cleaned with just Q Tips and alcohol. A majority of the resin could also be scraped away with a scraping tool.
Percolators should also be considered when factoring the cleaning aspect. Percolators will quickly clog with resin so you must clean a bong with a percolator a lot more than a bong with no percolator to have the same function.
Build Material There are 3 main bong materials: - silicone - glass - acrylic
If you have a lot of money to spend, then glass is the best option. Glass is the easiest to clean since you can see exactly when every single part is completely clean. No smell will really stick to glass either.
Silicone is durable, although you can never fully clean it. When you smoke something out of silicone, the smell is permanently stained through the whole thing. If you try to smoke different substances out of a silicone bong youll end up having lots of different drug residues stuck inside your piece slowly releasing back into your lungs everytime you take a hit of anything from the bong.
I do not have experience with acrylic pieces. If anyone wants to chime in on their experience, I would love to read it.
Credits This guide is a community effort! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know! It helps us develop better and better techniques the more we learn.
OutsideOfMyMind - added info about bowl & percolator cleanbility LogicaL Chaos - corrected an error about the differences in seals
Edited by Racoon4 (07/13/22 02:29 AM)
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OutsideOfMyMind
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: Racoon4]
#27856734 - 07/09/22 10:01 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Cleanability is important too. Don't even think about getting a percolator, you MUST clean it daily or else the tiny holes get clogged and it will NEVER be clean EVER. Don't get a bowl that has an expansive inside, the resin builds up and forms a huge ball that will never come out.
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CHeifM4sterDiezL
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: OutsideOfMyMind]
#27856820 - 07/09/22 11:51 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Honestly if ur ripping huge bong loads u should first of all be using a high flow ash catcher secondly you should probably just be dabbing
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CHeifM4sterDiezL
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL]
#27856822 - 07/09/22 11:52 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Also yah flower pieces really should be cleaned after each use which is a pain in the ass but worth it.
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twighead
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL]
#27856846 - 07/10/22 12:58 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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I haven't cleaned my bong in 10 years and i'm fine
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OutsideOfMyMind
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: twighead]
#27856893 - 07/10/22 02:39 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
twighead said: I haven't cleaned my bong in 10 years and i'm fine
My lord. I can't even manage the nasty resin flavor after only one week. Your bong must taste like the dirtiest ass on the planet LOL.
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CapSlinger


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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: OutsideOfMyMind]
#27857004 - 07/10/22 07:33 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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I 2foot bong my vape. Its fuckin awesome hits.

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psi
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: CapSlinger]
#27857050 - 07/10/22 08:52 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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IMO the biggest factor in getting a really dense hit is getting the bong really cold. Ice in the ice catcher and ideally pre-chilling the bong in the freezer.
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twighead
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: OutsideOfMyMind]
#27857232 - 07/10/22 11:42 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
OutsideOfMyMind said:
Quote:
twighead said: I haven't cleaned my bong in 10 years and i'm fine
My lord. I can't even manage the nasty resin flavor after only one week. Your bong must taste like the dirtiest ass on the planet LOL.
My resin tastes good
smoke better weed!
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Racoon4
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: psi] 1
#27857256 - 07/10/22 11:59 AM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
psi said: IMO the biggest factor in getting a really dense hit is getting the bong really cold. Ice in the ice catcher and ideally pre-chilling the bong in the freezer.
Hmmm, I never thought about this. When I do use cold water it seems like the hits "thicken up" or get "denser." I wonder why. I'm gonna do some ice experiments today and update the OP.
Do u happen to know why this phenomenon happens?
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psi
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: Racoon4]
#27857284 - 07/10/22 12:17 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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My understanding is that gases are in general denser the colder they are, everything else being the same. I think this is why "heat rises" so to speak.
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OutsideOfMyMind
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: twighead]
#27857348 - 07/10/22 01:08 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
twighead said:
Quote:
OutsideOfMyMind said:
Quote:
twighead said: I haven't cleaned my bong in 10 years and i'm fine
My lord. I can't even manage the nasty resin flavor after only one week. Your bong must taste like the dirtiest ass on the planet LOL.
My resin tastes good
smoke better weed!
I do smoke good weed. Resin is resin.
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LogicaL Chaos
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: Racoon4]
#27857696 - 07/10/22 05:39 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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I definitely agree that having a properly-sealed bong is essential for a good hit.

However, I will disagree that glass-on-glass is the worst. I think it can be the best. I have a vacuum desiccator and it uses glass-on-glass for the vent-plug and its definitely airtight. Just depends on the quality of the ground glass connectors.
-------------------- "What you must understand is that your physical dimension affects everyone in the higher dimensions as well. All things are interconnected. All things are One. Therefore, if one dimension is broken or out of balance, then all other dimensions will experience repercussions." - Pleiadian Prophecy 2020 The New Golden Age by James Carwin PROJECT BLUE BOOK ANALYSIS! (312 pages!) | Psychedelics & UFOs | Ready to Contact UFOs? | The Source on Mushrooms | Trippy Gematrix | Dj TeknoLogical | Fentanyl Test Kits R.I.P. Big Worm || The Start of the Ascension Process was 2020. Welcome to the Next Great Era of Earth 🌎🌍🌏
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OutsideOfMyMind
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: LogicaL Chaos]
#27857792 - 07/10/22 06:33 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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I like glass on glass. The rubber seals are on all of the cheap poorly designed $10-$20 bongs.
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Racoon4
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: OutsideOfMyMind] 1
#27858022 - 07/10/22 10:15 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
LogicaL Chaos said: I definitely agree that having a properly-sealed bong is essential for a good hit.

However, I will disagree that glass-on-glass is the worst. I think it can be the best. I have a vacuum desiccator and it uses glass-on-glass for the vent-plug and its definitely airtight. Just depends on the quality of the ground glass connectors.
Totally agree! I just updated the OP and I think I got it this time. Let me know if you see any more errors please!
Quote:
OutsideOfMyMind said: Cleanability is important too. Don't even think about getting a percolator, you MUST clean it daily or else the tiny holes get clogged and it will NEVER be clean EVER. Don't get a bowl that has an expansive inside, the resin builds up and forms a huge ball that will never come out.
Totally agree too! Currently updating OP to add this info.
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philUPinSMOKE



Registered: 05/11/22
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: Racoon4]
#27858761 - 07/11/22 01:45 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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IMO beakers or straight tubes are the best, you can stack up the smoke and then just shoot it down quickly. The more percs the more resistance and longer it takes to clear. If you want a bong with percs then don't get a beaker, cos they're made to be tilted 45 degrees with the downstem vertical, and then your percs wont function. Don't put a 45 degree ashcatcher on a beaker for the same reason.
The best ashcatchers are the ones with no perc, just a little water chamber to collect the shit you snap through. If you have a bong with percs this is pretty much necessary, you will save so much time cleaning it.
I personally don't use bongs with any percs because they just make it hard to clean. If you use hot water in your bong it humidifies the smoke and makes for a smoother hit. Ice hits are nice but they cause res lips. Its all preference though, I know some people that put crystal light powder in their bong water for flavor.
Silicone bongs are good for a budget or if you're a clumsy fuck but they get gross super fast and never fully clean. Glass is just superior. I use chapstick on the joint of the downstem, it keeps it from getting seized(which is caused by water or alcohol drying in the joint) and keeps it from getting pulled out when you pull the slide. Another option for that problem is keck clips or sick clips but every time I order a bong I forget to add some to my cart so I've never tried them.
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Racoon4
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong *DELETED* [Re: philUPinSMOKE] 1
#27858773 - 07/11/22 02:03 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Post deleted by Racoon4
Reason for deletion: Irrelevant
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psi
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: Racoon4]
#27858885 - 07/11/22 03:49 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Sometimes ground glass joints will get stuck together. Lubricating them with something can apparently prevent this.
IME if they do get stuck together it's best not to use any twisting motion in getting them unstuck. I've broken some components not following this advice.
Edit: you were addressing a different point but something like chapstick would be stickier than it is slippery.
Edited by psi (07/11/22 03:51 PM)
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Racoon4
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Re: Airflow: The most important consideration when buying a bong [Re: psi] 1
#27859162 - 07/11/22 07:34 PM (1 year, 6 months ago) |
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Ah I see. Now that makes sense.
Thanks for the twisting tip, ive always twisted to get the bowl unstuck. Didn't know I could break my piece. Definetely gonna try lubrication
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