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nubeegrrl

yesterday i went to this amazing head shop in oceanside, ca, and was just astounded by the array of water pipes for sale. after looking over the shelves and shelves of options, i realized that i have NO idea how to pick out the best quality pipe for my purposes. i was totally overwhelmed by the variety of sizes, shapes and designs!!!

what sort of things should i be looking for in a water pipe? what things should i avoid?

any basic info involving the best materials and designs would be very much appreciated - feel free to name a favorite brand or model, too. i think this shop had it all! and if not, there's always the internet, eh?

 

Bailey1138

First you have to decide what it is you're looking for. If you need to be able to conceal it easily, get a smaller one, no more than a foot or so. Have a lot of parties? Go for that 6-footer. About the best size for an average toker is 2-foot.

Get glass if you can afford it and you can trust yourself not to break it, otherwise go acrylic. Yeah, it's not as nice as glass, but it's like $30 for a 2-footer and it'll still get you real high.

Other than that, the only real rule of thumb I use for selecting a pipe is to wander around as many headshops as I possibly can until I find a pipe that screams out, "hey, I'm you! I'm your pipe!" You'll know it when you find it.

__________________
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nubeegrrl

my water pipe needs are pretty simple. i plan to use it at home, so it can be any size. i'm kinda small, so it can't be super huge to where i can't light it myself! probably only 2 or maybe 3 people will be sharing it at any given time, if that's an issue...

i was just thinking about how, when i bought a pipe, i was told to check for the thickness of glass, the size of the chamber and that sort of thing. i figure there must be best-case particulars for water bongs, too.

for instance, i noticed that some come with a moveable bowl (what the heck are the various parts called, anyway?) and some don't. some had a little hole in the back instead, like my pipe.

well, hope this helps for answering my question!

Bailey1138

I'll see what more I can add (I actually don't know that much about glass bongs, my experience with them is limited, but I'll tell you what I know).

The hole you are referring to is known as a "carb". The purpose of carb is to allow air to enter the pipe so the smoke will be forced into your lungs faster, so you don't have to spend all day sucking on it. You'll notice, that when you first start hitting a pipe or a bong, it will only fill up with smoke until it either gets full (try that on a decent sized bong!) or you remove your finger from the carb.

Bong's with removable bowls (slidepieces or pullout stems) work the same way, only the bowl itself acts like your finger on the carb and you just pull it out when you're ready to hit it. I like those better, it's just another thing you don't have to think about when you're really stoned. And I'm sure there's probably a difference in how they hit, but I've never done a side by side comparison.

From what I've heard, thicker glass is better, but I can't really vouch for that. Glass I've heard is better as well because I believe the smoke (or at least some of the THC) tends to stick to the sides of acrylic.

As far as chamber size goes, just keep in mind that it's gonna be filled with smoke, and you're gonna have to clear it. From what it sounds like, you'd probably want something around a foot to 18", probably 2 feet max. If it gets much bigger, you'll have trouble lighting it yourself. I hope that helps, good luck with the search, the only thing more fun than picking out a new pipe is breaking it in! good luck!

GotGods

well id look for thick walls a long stem that will go deep into the water and a large carb (stay away from slide systems half the time when you try to clear the chamber with those if your baked you get a mouth full of bong water and the hits arent as smooth either) and i would say for chamber size get a 2 inch chamber if you go for a bong under 14 inches,if taller than that a 1 to 1 and a half inch is fine

 

Flash195

well my favorite band is called sour