While there are many different types of bongs, is there a clear, unequivocally best type available on the market? Just looking at the sheer variety of what’s out there and understanding how the make, material, size and other factors impact the quality of your high is a massive rabbit hole that sends heads spinning for the uninitiated. Today, we’ll give you a comprehensive overview of the different types of bongs and help you pick the best one for you.
Types of Bongs – The Basics
If you’re a beginner wanting to get into the smoking game and considering buying your first bong, you’ve come to the right place. To begin our discussion about the different types of bongs, we’ll start by breaking down the key factors that influence the quality, strength, and feel of your hits.
- Bong size: The length of the pipe will make up most of the bong size while also greatly influencing how you smoke – the longer the pipe, the farther the smoke has to travel, for example.
- Material: Plenty of choices are available here, with acrylic, glass and silicone bongs being the most popular. The material your bong is made out of will directly affect smoking, since that impacts the reaction of the material to the heat being applied.
- Design: Beakers, straight tubes, round bases, dry pipes, bubblers – the shape and structure of your bong will determine a number of factors, including water filtration, vapor buildup or cooling.
Picking the Best Type of Bong For Your Needs
So far, we’ve covered the very basics of types of bongs, their design and construction. But that alone won’t suffice to accurately assess what type of bong will be best for you and your needs. For that, there are a few questions to ask before making a well-informed decision.
First, if you’re a beginner, don’t be tempted to jump the gun and get the biggest rig there is. Instead, start small. Our Aelia Collection is a perfect choice – its moderate size, glass make, and versatile application will serve you well, no matter if you’re lighting up concentrates or dry herbs. If you want to go even simpler, a classic 8” glass beaker is also a fantastic, well-rounded choice.
Second – length of sessions and company. If you want to light up with your red-eyed friends for prolonged periods and make it a communal, social activity, you’ll obviously want a bigger rig to pass around. Everyone hates it when the juice runs out right as they’re about to have their go. A wider, beaker or round-bottom base will hold more liquid, allowing your friends to enjoy it for far longer.
Finally, other factors to consider are durability and taste. Glass famously doesn’t impart any flavor, allowing you to enjoy pure, unadulterated hits of your favorite herb. The downside is that it can break somewhat easily, at least compared to silicone or acrylic bongs, which conversely can affect the taste. It’s a game of give-and-take, so adjust your priorities accordingly.
Last But Not Least – Bong Accessories
Finally, smokers more familiar with the lifestyle who likely already possess a few rigs in their house might want to expand their arsenal by adding some cool bong accessories. Dab tools or concentrate rigs are both excellent additions, especially if you want to get the most out of your extracts.
Additionally, these days, an ash catcher is considered a necessity. Filtering out debris from your smoke ensures quality and prevents unwanted damage to your health. Plus, a simple ash screen is super easy to insert, discard and/or clean when needed, so there’s really no downside here.
The Takeaway
So, what is the best type of bong? There’s no easy answer here, as everyone has their own preferences. To put it differently, the best bong is the one that is tailored exactly to your smoking needs. At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun while smoking herb, so shop around, experiment, and find fun ways to enhance your experience.
You may also read: How to Select a Pipe: 6 Things to Consider
