Jake

Sections
1. Type of material

a. Glass
b.Metals

2. How to use them

a. How to use the carb

3. Where to buy a spoon

a. What to look for when selecting your spoon

4. Color Changing Glass

a. A note on "resin" (sic) or pipe tar

5. The law

1. Type of Material
Pipes can be made out of almost anything solid. Never doubt the creative practicality of a stoner. Everything from fruit and vegtables to glass and metals have been used. Most pipes are either glass, wooden, or metal. When discussing "spoons" however, used for smoking marijuana, we think of glass pipes with colourful designs on them. And that is what this article will mostly be about, but I will throw in a word on metal pipes.

a. Glass
Glass pipes are easily the most popular to the marijuana community. Glass does not heat up as fast as other materials, leading to longer sessions without burning one's fingers. It is also completely inert; the only thing that you taste is the burning cannabis. Everyone agrees: Glass is God. But there is one tragic flaw to glass: It shatters. To a stoner, this isn't just a pipe, this is a friend. There are so many happy memories with the pipe, they might have even named the pipe. Sometimes, it seems like someone is playing a cruel joke on us...however, the benefits of glass keep us coming back, no matter how many pipes are broken.

Glass is also the most beautiful material. Glassblowers have really taken pipes to their next level. They come in all sorts of sizes, with many different designs on it. You can find pipes that cost over $1,000, and truly deserve the classification of art.


b. Metals
Metal pipes are usually very cheap and can be found everywhere. Almost every stoner has had a few over the years. They are usually shorter than most glass pipes, which makes the smoke hotter. This, added to that metal heats faster than glass, makes for some bad burns all around, unless there is an insulating material around the pipe's stem and mouthpiece. Metal pipes that you buy are usually safe. Metal pipes that you make yourself are usually dangerous. The best thing about metal pipes is that they do not break easily; many stoners have a metal pipe for out-and-about affair, and keep their glass ones in the house.

2. How to use them
The first part of smoking from your spoon is first putting the cannabis in the bowlpack. The best way to do this is by breaking the buds into little pieces. This makes the airflow better, and provides for a nice even burn. Smoking un-ground nugs simply chars the outside of the nug.

Your spoon may or may not need a screen. Typically, the hole is not so big that a lot of cannabis falls through, so a screen is not needed. From your ground nugs, take one of the bigger pieces and place that on top of the hole. The rest of the cannabis can just be put on top. This should stop any pull-through until the last hit or two. This last hit is the reason some people buy screens even though they are usually unnecessary.

After the packing, it is time to start smoking. Simply place the mouthpiece to your lips, hover a lighter over the cannabis, and start inhaling. It is prudent to inhale rather softly, just hard enough to start lighting the cannabis. Inhaling harder than this results in some cannabis becoming "torched" , that is, wasted. You should not need the flame for the entire hit in most cases. Once the cannabis is lit, it should remain so until the end of the hit. Often, the cannabis will "cherry" , allowing you to take multiple hits without using your lighter.

a.How to use the carb
The carburettor is commonly called the carb, choke, or shotgun. It is a hole on the side of the bowlpack. When you are taking your hit, your finger should be covering the hole. Near the end of your hit, your finger is lifted. This makes it able to clear the smoke from the pipe.

The bigger the hole is, the more intense the clearing is. A large pipe with a large hole will actually push smoke down your lungs.

You can use the carb as much as you want. Everyone has a different method to using it. Although everyone's personal method is different, there are two main different ways to use the carb. One is the simple lift of the finger, the simple way. The only difference between smokers in this category is at what point the finger is removed. Others like to tap the hole multiple times to add and take away airflow quickly.

3. Where to buy a spoon
Metal pipes can be found at most gas stations or convenience stores. Glass pipes can be found here too, but they are mostly limited to $15-$30 pipes which are under 4 inches in length, thin, and have simple designs. These pipes are not unique, and once you've been smoking for a long time, you will have seen a certain pipe many times.

To find better pipes, stay away from the gas stations and convenience stores. You need to find a headshop or search the internet to get the higher end pipes. Also, places like record stores or tattoo parlors may have a small glass counter that has mid-range pipes.

What to look for when selecting your spoon
It really depends on how much money you are willing to spend, like all goods, you mostly get what you pay for. Good qualities to look for are heaviness and thickness. Bad qualities are thinness and imperfections.

Specific imperfections to look out for are chips, cracks, and large bubbles inside of the glass. These all compromise the structural integrity of the pipe, and you may find yourself shopping for more glass sooner than you'd like.

4. Color-Changing Glass
Most glass spoons have a color-changing feature. After smoking many bowls, pipe tar starts spreading throughout the inside of the spoon. The color is dark-brown or black. This changes the way that light hits the glass, resulting in the appearance of a changed color. Once you clean the pipe, it should largely return to the same color it used to be. Most color-changing is blue or green, but all sorts of color can be used.

Here is an example of color changing in action:

a. A word about resin (sic) or pipe tar
Resin is something that contains high amounts of THC on the cannabis plant. However, the word also means hash in Europe, and it means pipe tar in America.

When you have a lot of pipe tar, you can scrape it from the insides of your pipe and smoke it. There is a lot of debate on the wisdom of doing so. It is tar, and pretty bad for your lungs. However, there is a lot of THC to be found in pipe tar. There are a lot of harmful byproducts in smoking pipe tar, and the high is much shorter than a regular one, for unknown reasons.

5. The law
Any pipe that has cannabis tar in it is considered drug paraphernalia and is illegal. When completely clean, the pipe is legal because it could reasonably be assumed that legal herbs or tobacco could be smoked out of it. However, even if your pipe is completely clean, and it can be proven that you intend to use the pipe illegally, it would be considered drug paraphernalia. It is all about context. If you have nothing on you except a perfectly clean pipe, you shouldn't be nervous. If you get caught with a few bags of cannabis on you, the clean pipe can be confiscated and you can suffer an additional charge.

The reason headshops can sell pipes is because they have signs up that say that the pipes are for tobacco use only and that they are not responsible for their customers' actions. Because everything is based on "intent" in these cases, headshops operate in a legal grey-area, and are subject to the occasional raid. Even if on bogus charges, a raid often results in the loss of their entire supply, and the company cannot survive.

All pictures were provided by the Post your pipe thread.