What is a bong?
A bong is a waterpipe that is often used to smoke cannabis or hashish. For many "potheads", a bong is the showpiece of their smoking collection. For that reason, it's not so strange that there's bongs available of several hundreds of euros. But luckily, there are plenty of cheap bongs available for the less wealthy stoners, that basically offer the same as more expensive bongs: a pure, tasty smoking experience that is unmatched by joints or vaporizers.
The advantages of a bong
Many people who have tried smoking a bong once, will remain a huge fan of these beautiful glass devices for life. And that's not without a reason. A bong offers many advantages over joints. Perhaps the biggest advantage of all is that you lose almost no smoke at all when smoking a bong, and the effect of your cannabis is much stronger. That is because you only take one big hit (or several, if you're a pro) and inhale much deeper. This helps you get the most out of your weed and to save a lot of money.
More and more weed smokers these days don't smoke cigarettes or shag anymore. So it's only logical that many weed smokers don't like to fill their joint with tobacco. When you roll a pure joint with only weed, you use a lot more herb than when you fill up the bong. Smoking a bong hit is therefore much more efficient for smoking without tobacco, because after only one hit you will already be stoned for some hours.
Also, bong smokers often simply prefer to smoke using their luxurious glass pipe. And that's understandable: a good bong lasts for many years, looks great in any living room or bedroom, and the smoke is simply much more enjoyable than that of a joint.
Buying a bong
Anyone buying a bong has the choice of many different shops and brands. But like many other products, some brands charge a lot of money only for the brand. We prefer the perfectly finished and luxurious bongs that don't cost more than they are really worth: high quality for a low price.
Honeycomb bong, percolators and diffusers
The wide choice of many different kinds of water pipes make buying a bong a little more complicated than some years ago. Thanks to the introduction of honeycomb bongs, percolators and diffusers there's not only a lot more to choose from than before, but the quality of bongs is also much better than 20 years ago. Honeycombs, perculators and diffusers are different ways to reach the same goal: better cooling, better filtration, and a smoother, more pleasant smoking experience. Be sure to have a look at our collection of HoneyComb Bongs and Percolator Bongs.
How does a bong work?
A bong works basically the same as any other waterpipe, with the most important difference between a bong and a hookah being that with a hookah or shisha the smoke is inhaled through a tube, whereas a bong has a mouthpiece on the pipe itself. If you buy a bong with a carbhole or kickhole, you draw the pipe full of smoke first and then release your finger from the hole, in order to inhale all of the concentrated smoke in one big draw (this is called "clearing the bong"). Another difference is that a bong is lit using a flame, instead of using coals like a hookah. To light a bong, you simply use a lighter or a bong wick, also known as hemp wick. Read all about how a bong works here.
The history of bongs
Even though many people think that the water pipe originates from the Middle East and the Arabic world, waterpipes have been part of human history for thousands of years all over the world. The word bong comes from the Thai word "bong" or "buang", which basically means "a waterpipe made from bamboo". Also in Laos, Nepal, China, Africa and America (among many others), indigenous tribes have been using bongs for many centuries. Most bongs nowadays are no longer made of bamboo, because glass offers a much better smoking experience than bamboo, acrylic or metal. That is why modern bongs are usually made from borosilicate glass, a high quality heat-proof and scratch-proof glass that is excellent for this purpose.