

We’ve seen many stems come out along with the bowl once things get gunked up. However, there are far more intricate down stems with their own built-in percolators to further cool smoke.įor glass bongs, we recommend using a plastic clip to keep the down stem fixed to your bong. The most basic down stem is just a glass straw with a hole at the end to cause bubbling. Down stems come in many different styles with various functions. The down stem is the bridge between the bowl and the water in the main chamber of your bong.Īt the end closer to the joint, there should be a 10, 14 or 18mm sized hole. One of the most important parts of the anatomy of a bong is the down stem. Male joints became popular for designated dab rigs that use domes and nails. For smoking weed, you’re going to want to make sure the joints are female and not male.įemale joints allow the male jointed bowl piece, stem or ash catcher to be inserted instead of wrapping around the joint. Joints generally come in three sizes: 10mm, 14mm and 18mm size holes. In those cases, the bowl goes straight into the joint of the bong. Some bongs have a fixed stem with no removable down stem. There is also a joint at the end of all down stems. The part of the bong that holds your down stem is called a joint. They’re much easier to clean than the whole bong, and when you do, you won’t have to clean a bong as often as you normally would to keep the flavor and function on point. Some ash catchers come with built-in percolators to further filter and cool the smoke.Īdditionally, ash catchers will accumulate most of the tar and gunk from regular use before your bong does. This prevents ash from getting into your bong, and then potentially your mouth.ĭespite the name’s focus on that one function, ash catchers are useful for other reasons.

They catch the ash from your bowl when it sinks through the hole. You guessed it-an ash catcher is a glass attachment that catches ash. With a name like ash catcher, the function is a dead giveaway. If you don’t want anything making it past the bowl, go with a smaller hole screen, like the honey-comb style. There are several different styles of built-in screens with various-sized holes to suit your preference.

Many newer bowls have built-in glass screens, eliminating the need for smoking through thin-wired metal screens that need to be replaced often. Some are just for aesthetics, while others have functional purposes. Bowls come in several shapes and sizes, but often it is just a “push” or glass indent with a hole at the bottom. The bowl is where you pack your weed after it has been through a grinder or broken down. Bowl Piece Edward Esters/Shutterstockįrom weed to inhaled smoke, smoking a bong starts at the bowl piece. We’ll go over the anatomy of a bong to give you a better understanding of all the components and their individual functions. As a result, there are several more pieces of glass to worry about. Most bongs, however, are made of glass and consist of several components, as opposed to bowls, which are typically all-in-one. Bongs can be made of wood, acrylic, soft glass, borosilicate, silicone, metal, and other materials.

Bongs set themselves apart as a cannabis smoking apparatus because they have one or more chambers with water to filter and cool smoke. Bongs come in many shapes and sizes, but there are some features that you can expect to find on most pieces. The anatomy of a bong is varied and more complex than one might think.
