LEARN N ENJOY THE TRIP

This is another as it is from the internet educational purpose again ;) LEARN N ENJOY THE TRIP
The Bong Concept


The anatomy of a conventional bong is very simple. It consists of a bowl (and screen), a stem (sometimes optional), a chamber, some liquid, and an opening for the mouth(s).

The crude diagram above shows a generic bong. Water fills the container and stem just up to the carb. The water level should really be at least an inch below the "carb" ("carburetor," I guess) so that when the bong is tilted the water won't leak. The job of the carb is to regulate where the air will be supplied from. If covered, the air (smoke) will come from the bowl; if uncovered, air will rush through the carb and force out the smoke remaining in the chamber.



I won't go through a boring description of every part of a bong -- if you don't know, ask someone. The point I want to illustrate is that a bong merely forces the smoke to bubble up through water, thereby filtering it. Every bong works with this principle. I've tried many innovations on the generic bong for different effects. [More later.]



Not all bongs work with this method, however. Gravity bongs work on a different concept, but I've never seen one besides from the one I made with a friend [details later].



Why Bongs?

Not everyone uses bongs. New smokers may wonder why anyone bothers with bongs, and I know plenty of stoners who prefer joints to pipes or bongs.



Those who favor joints will wax romantic about the joys of rolling, of passing around a fatty, and of super-potent roaches. While I will not turn down a joint making its way around a room, I have never rolled one myself. I disdain joints mainly because of their wastefulness. Consider: While the joint is being passed around or stalled, it is still burning, losing precious smoke. If you grow your own buds you may be able to afford such carelessness, but that is a luxury. Most stoners must pay astronomical street prices for what is, in essence, a weed.



Bongs have a special advantage. A stoner can control the burning by using the flat side of a lighter to extinguish the bowl after taking a hit. [More on this technique later.] The practice of extinguishing the bowl can save a lot of pot in the long run.



Even those who don't habitually extinguish the bowl will still save more buds, considering the size of a bowl compared with a joint. A bowl holds a smaller amount of bud, so the most you can waste is the quantity a bowl will hold. Stalling a joint, though, will use up a much larger portion, depending on the size of the joint.



A bong burns a smaller surface area of bud than a joint does. It's easy to notice that a joint lets loose a steady stream of smoke into the atmosphere when it's being passed around, while a bowl tends to smother the embers underneath ash and unburnt bud. Stoners may notice that a stalled bong will release a very thin stream of smoke compared to a burning joint. Moreover, bongs pull all the smoke into the chamber while joints still waste smoke even while being toked.



Joints are much harsher on your lungs. While some joint-rollers will use pre-made filters, or a makeshift filter made from a rolled-up paper, nothing compares with the filtration effect of water. Ed Rosenthal of High Times has noted that water not only cools the smoke, but actually removes harmful impurities as well. [Boiling water is a good choice in a bong, too. More later.] Bongs have this advantage over pipes, which, like joints, pass the unfiltered smoke right into your lungs.



Pipes are a little better than joints since they use a bowl the same way bongs do. The burning is more controlled, and the bud will last longer. Pipes can be made out of materials which cool the smoke a little, but they will never cool it as well as a bong. Some commercial brands feature a "resinator," a small chamber in the pipe's midsection which stores a quantity of bud. As bowls are smoked, the smoke must pass through the resinator, over the bud. A lot of THC-laden resin will be despoited on the cache of bud, and when it is finally taken out and smoked it will make for a mind-blowing hit. I have never seen a resinator on a bong, but it would not be difficult to make a bong with one.



Pipes (including hitters) and joints have the distinct advantage of being very concealable and very portable. Hitters are great in crowds because they are the easiest to pack. Some hitters are even painted to look like cigarettes, so no one knows that you are smoking buds, though everyone can smell it!



As far as portability goes, bongs can be made in a variety of sizes. I made myself a portable bong out of a 12-oz. plastic water bottle. It works fine, though the filtration leaves something to be desired. Nevertheless, I prefer it over my corn-cob pipes, which I never use anymore.



Considerations in Bong-Making

When planning a bong, one should aim for specific goals. Should the bong be portable? Fancy? Colorful? Here's a partial list of characteristics which give a bong its individual personality:



airtightness

bowl size

choice of chamber/tube(s)

compactness/portability

decoration

draw

filtration

hit size

transparency

tube diameter

user accomodation

volume

etc.