The Bong, Water-Pipe, Bubbler or Choof. We all know and love our favourite smoking devices, even dating back to the earliest and most primitive recorded human use of cannabis, bongs were found. Obviously not the bongs for sale that are available today.

Now with bongs for sale people go as far as to name, collect, decorate, display their water-pipes on show and even mourn the loss when they break into pieces or celebrating an addition to their collection. And yet for an item held so close to our hearts, we do not know much about the real history of water-pipes.

The History of Bongs

What you might have heard

The bong is a descendent of the hookah. The word “bong” is derived from the Thai word ‘baung,’ which means ‘a cylindrical wooden tube, pipe or container cut from bamboo.’

This history was mainly based on two factors that lead to incorrect findings

First, due to cannabis being native to Central Asia and second, the use of cannabis in China has been recorded throughout history, Archaeologists had always believed water-pipes were invented in Asia.

Researchers never considered the possibility that bongs could have been invented elsewhere and assumed that travellers introduced cannabis & water-pipes to societies as tobacco was spread across the Savannah as a substitute stimulant for kola. They were wrong.

first invented in Africa

Studies of African smoking devices and cultures had discovered that in the East and South of Africa people had been developing smoking devices before the arrival of tobacco, meaning Africans smoked cannabis long before they ever smoked tobacco.

J.C. Dombrowski discovered eleven smoking pipes in Ethiopia in two caves dating back to between 1100 and 1400 CE.

The primitive smoking pipes were tested, and ample cannabis residue was found! Archaeologists and researchers can’t truly date back to when cannabis and bongs first arrived in Africa, since then they’ve realised the history of water-pipes was wrong, but up until this day the official history hasn’t been corrected

Okay, enough with history, let’s skip a few thousand years and get to the present with all the fun stuff we have and can enjoy today.

Different types of Bongs

Bongs for sale are now available in all different shapes and sizes. In Europe, laboratory-style water-pipes are popular, cylindrical or bulbous, or as Erlenmeyer flasks. That’s because they were developed there (hence the common standard ground or SG). In America, artfully hand-blown self-made items are more popular. Below we’ll go through all the different types of bongs and why they’re shaped as such…

Ice Water-Pipe

Ice Bongs have ice pitches and is an option to cool the smoke just like percolators. They are available in various versions and can be used in fun ways to improve your smoking experience by adding fruits in-between the ice cubes.

Honeycomb Water-Pipes

Honeycomb bongs have flat percolators and are installed in one or more layers in the Water-Pipes to provide the smoothest smoking experience possible.

Percolator Water-Pipes

Percolator Bongs have percolators that swirl the smoke in the water – the smoke covers more surface area & provides better cooling. In addition, they filter resin from the smoke, resulting in a smoother throat hit.

Hollard Water-Pipes

Holland Bongs are vase-shaped Water-Pipes without standard ground joints, in which the down-pipe is secured by a rubber seal in the glass and should not be removed while smoking.

Bubbler Water-Pipes

Small bongs that produce a small amount of smoke are called bubblers. They are suitable for people who are not used to smoking or who are prefer a compact Water-Pipe. These are also great to use when paired with dry herb vaporizers, like the Mighty Vaporizer from Stores n Bickel.

Dabbing Water-Pipes

Dabbing bongs or dab rigs are used to evaporate (or vaporize) cannabis extract such as oil, wax or shatter. The extracts are not burned but evaporated (no direct contact with fire).

Recycler (Dabbing Water-Pipe)

Recyclers are dabbing bongs that use a special process to cool the smoke. They are designed so that the cooling water is sucked during inhalation in a second water reservoir. More circulation ensures better cooling. This second reservoir may be adjacent to the main body of the bong, above it or even inside it. Recycler Water-Pipes for herbs and pot are rare!

Glass Bongs – What’s so special about the glass?

Glass Bongs and their accessories to match are either made of High- or Low-quality glass variations. The most popular would be Quartz Glass and Borosilicate glass for the high-quality glass and then regular glass for the low-quality glass bongs for sale. Here are the differences in the glass variations:

Quartz Glass

Quartz Glass is made by melting natural quartz crystals of exceptional purity with an SiO2 content of 99.9% and allowing the melt to cool down in the shape and dimensions required. This provides the glass with excellent elasticity, superior compressive strength, withstands extremely high temperatures and extraordinary chemical resistance. Mostly used in the making of bong accessories such as Bowls, Bangers, Dabbing Tools and more.

Borosilicate glass

Borosilicate glass is a type of glass with silica and boron trioxide as the main glass-forming elements. Borosilicate glass is very well known to be more resistant to thermal shock than any other common glass, meaning it can withstand temperature differentials of about 165 °C (329 °F) without fracturing and is mostly used in the making of High-Quality Glass Bongs for sale.

Standard ground (SG) Joints is the diameter of the openings of a bong as well as the accessories are standardized. This way you are ensured to get an accessory for your bong that fits perfectly every time. There are three main different standard ground (SG) joints, these SG joints are taken from laboratory technology. The purpose of SG joints is to close precisely and be airtight, the SG joints are shaped slightly conical.

• • Common are SG 14 (14.5mm) and SG 19 (18.8mm)
  • Rarer is the SG 29 (29.2mm)
  • The much smaller SG 12 (12.5 mm)

How often do I need to clean my bong?

There are some “rules” that a lot of stoners don’t get, but the number one that needs to be recognized. There’s nothing worse than hitting a gnarly bong that hasn’t been cleaned properly or at all…

There are multiple ways of cleaning your bong, from Alcohol, Core Salt & Shaking it; to chemical free solutions with hot water. So, lets stick to these guidelines and be aware that dirty bongs do have health risks.

Bong Water

Pour fresh bong-water twice a day, if not more depending on usage. Note this does pose health complications if not maintained.

Cleaning your Bong

Depending on usage, on a Harsh Chemical clean with alcohol, you’d be able to get away with cleaning your bong once a week. Using a chemical free solution with hot water, your bong might be collecting resin and residue a lot quicker.

*Quick Tip*

Use a Carbon filter & fill it halfway with activated carbon – This little accessory will save you so much time and money on cleaning your bongs. It keeps your bongs cleaner for longer, acts as an ash catcher and filters out the heavy tar and residue you don’t need to inhale (Tar and residue usually builds up on the inner walls of the Water-Pipe).

Why are Bongs preferred over Joints or Blunts?

So, this is going to be a quick one… Bongs are much more effective delivery systems than Joints or Blunts. Seeing you’re able to get the maximum result (getting incredibly baked) with a small amount of cannabis, without adding extra tobacco.

Not only is it better for your health by decreasing the time spent on smoking a joint or blunt, but you’ll be experiencing a much purer and more enjoyable high! Being one of the main reasons why bong-smokers do prefer water pipes over traditional Joints or Blunts.

Get the Best Quality Bongs for sale at the Best Prices

So we all know buying silicone, plastic or acrylic bongs, it’s great when you’re strapped for cash or on your way to a festival where no glass bongs are allowed, it’s going to work great for the first hit, but when you get back for round two, it’s never the same again…

Therefore, at Vaperite, we do offer the “Festival Friendly Bongs” or the more affordable silicone bongs but focus on the best quality glass bongs available at the best prices! All the glassware, bongs for sale, accessories and more are all original European or American made glass, no knockoffs!

With more than 60 different glass bongs for sale available at Vaperite, from the most exquisite such as the Medusa & the well-known 9MM Flask Bongs, the classic ice bong, percolators, bubblers, dab rigs and more… It’s the perfect time to get the bong of your dreams!