The bong marketplace in the US has gone off the rails

Braddah Waiheesohai said:
That's cool, but not so much for the glassblowers, craftsmen, and artisans responsible for making our glass. Some people want a conversation piece.
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The person I bought my very hard to find bong of PERFECTION makes her own glass. She also claims to be an Artisan. She just happens to have the absolute BEST bong design in the entire world and it only cost me $50 shipped from Europe.

I tried buying Murrican, but the Murrican bong market is literally Bonkers.

And this angled bong IS a conversation piece. Everyone that sees it will get a lecture on how this is BEST bong design in the world and no American bong sellers have it. And how cheap it is compared to inferior bongs that cost a lot more. And how easy it is to clean compared to more expensive designs. And so on...
 
Braddah Waiheesohai said:
If its wet you're doing it wrong, the down-stem hits the water, the bowl stays dry. You don't pull the whole down-stem out, and the hole is much larger allowing you to clear the bong easier. And to plug it you just put the bowl back in, no hands required after that.
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Hey bud. This not my first bong rodeo. Please give me a little bit of credit for knowing how bongs work. Yes, you can pull just the bowl on some bongs. The stem and bowl are integrated on others. Then you have to buy an extra downstem and a bowl which jacks up the cost more.

Now, if you have a PROPER carb hole, then you don't have to buy extra stuff or pull the bowl. There is more to the carb hole than simply clearing the bong.

The carb hole also allows for actual carburetion during the hit. Such as mixing a little air by partially opening the carb hole while taking the hit. This optimizes the smoke to air ratio for the perfect hit every time! Good luck trying that by slightly pulling the bowl while you try to hit it. It's not happnin, Mon! :Rasta:
 
Peat Phreak said:
Hey bud. This not my first bong rodeo. Please give me a little bit of credit for knowing how bongs work. Yes, you can pull just the bowl on some bongs. The stem and bowl are integrated on others. Then you have to buy an extra downstem and a bowl which jacks up the cost more.

Now, if you have a PROPER carb hole, then you don't have to buy extra stuff or pull the bowl. There is more to the carb hole than simply clearing the bong.

The carb hole also allows for actual carburetion during the hit. Such as mixing a little air by partially opening the carb hole while taking the hit. This optimizes the smoke to air ratio for the perfect hit every time! Good luck trying that by slightly pulling the bowl while you try to hit it. It's not happnin, Mon! :Rasta:
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Cool dude. You are clearly d bong lord.

Peace!
 
Chuckeye said:
This is what I ended up with, added a pack of screens to qualify for free shipping.

$30 for the bong, $20 for preformed screens o_O

8" high, beaker is harder to clean but less likely to tip over ;)

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Cheers
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Use @MileHigh cleaner it comes with brushes and everything you need to easily clean your pipes. It’s also great for cleaning your trimming scissors ✂️. CL🍀
 
CaptainLucky said:
Use @MileHigh cleaner it comes with brushes and everything you need to easily clean your pipes. It’s also great for cleaning your trimming scissors ✂️. CL🍀
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I can see the value of the cleaner/kit but I scrape off my scissors and smoke it :bongrip:

Cheers
 
The thing I dislike about most commercial bongs is they never seem to put the carb hole in the best location. I use a simple straight acrylic bong and the best spots are in back about 2" above the water line, or in front right below the bowl.
They put the carb hole on this one on the side up too high, so I plugged it and made my own, where the tip of my index finger lands while holding the pipe. In back under your thumb works well also. Up on the side like this makes no sense at all.

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I usually just rinse it out with hot water in the sink, and use bristle type pipe cleaners to clean the down-stem when it clogs up. I have no problem with my pipe having a little patina, lol! :laugh:
 
If I was looking for such a thing and not finding what I wanted then the next step would be going to the smoke or head shops that accept consignments from custom glass workers and glass blowers. Or visit a glass show and see what is offered. If someone there is making something close to what what is wanted but still not close enough ask if they will make something to specs.
 
I'm always late to the party. So much BS about the slides. They were created because carbs on water pipes were outlawed in the US back in the 80's. Remember 'freebasing'? Yep, they were using water pipes with glass bowls and carbs to smoke coke. Just have a look at the Toker II below. I used it for cannabis, but as you can see, it was a prime candidate for basing. THIS is the reason you can't find these being manufactured in US anymore. The carb was a way around the written law for the stoners.

If you like a slide, great... you have lots of choices. If you want a carb, well... you gotta see if you can get something out of Europe or unfortunately, China. My last German purchase was probably 12 years ago from Majic Glass. Majic Glass was a great source for a while. I don't think they're obtainable now. I have the Moonwalker 'Superkick'. The bowl, or what they call a chilum, is one piece, not a slide. I changed that just for ease of filling up a bowl, but make no mistake, the Superkick carb is the way to use it. There are other styles, but I liked this one best. They were all built to order and took months to get. I believe they do mostly scientific style glass hookahs now, but still can't get anything here. They also make the glass piece on my AroMed vaporizer.

fresh-bongs-moonwalker-1254.jpg


One piece I looked high and low for was the Toker II. It's another scientific, but a globe instead of a tube. In my opinion, the best ever made, and there's lots of lore on the inter webs that say the same. Some lovely folks brought it back! I used it last night actually. The best $99 I've spent in a while. I remember them being about $45 in the early 80's. They were originally made by Odyssey Glass, the same folks that invented the 'Steamroller'. Odyssey's been gone for a while, I'm not familiar with who's running it now.

toker_aroma.jpg
 
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