Bongs/water pipes. What's the difference?

I have a nice bong. Its about 16" high (giggle.. I said high..) kinda neat looking. LIttle vortex thing in it so the smoke swirls & looks kewl. I filled the water part with little blue glass beads to make it look neat & apparently it helps to cool the smoke? My sister gave it to me but I suspect its about a hundred dollar piece. Maybe a little less.

My question is I see things like the ROOR bongs & others that have ash catchers, percolators & what not. They are hundreds of dollars. I know there are deals & what not but the thing is this.

Why, would anyone, spend that kind of money other than pride? I have never smoked out of a $250 ROOR so I really don't know. Is the smoke better out of them or is it just a name brand thing?

Fuck, by the time you add things like ash catchers, ice holders, bubble things in the water portion the thing is 3' high (giggle) & looks like a piece of modern art.

They are pretty, but are they really worth the money & is the smoke that much better?

I have a 2 perc medicali bong, that was about 275. I bought a 120 dollar 12 finger ash catcher, and put a party bowl on it that was about 65 dollars. I also have a 60 dollar basic bong that was my first. I can tell you that given the choice i will always go with the bong that has about 400+ into it. The smoke is so smooth. I love it, everyone who comes over to use it wishes they could use it. I compare it to drinking nice scotch. I could get drunk on cheap whiskey all day, but its more enjoyable to drink nice scotch. Its a connoisseur thing.

Roor bongs give a nice clean hit. I have always wanted to buy one, just never got around to wanting to blow $300+ on a piece. Really, its the name and the clear hits you get. Ash catchers are always nice too so you don't have to clean the water out as much.

Hope I helped..

So your saying that there IS a difference on the actual smoke itself. I don't really understand your vocabulary though. Ash catcher I get. Thats the small "bong" that the bowl sits in. That whole thing goes into the intake on the bong. The other thing, not so sure. party bowl I assume is a large bowl. The 2 perc thing I don't understand & the 12 finger thing. That must be a size?

Of course there's always the scotch taste better out of lead crystal than out of a plastic dixie cup.

Anyone have a diagram of the various parts they can post? I bet ROOR has a site that would explain the various parts & functions.

Zong (Shape)



Bong with perc and ice catcher

Ash catcher with percs

Perc create smaller bubbles of smoke correct? The ice catcher is the 3 little dimples in the glass. I assume you drop a piece of ice down there it stops & the smoke cools as it passes over the ice.

The ash catcher with percs. Wouldn't the little holes in the percs get plugged?

My bong is angled so I don't burn my eyebrows off when I light her up I like the ice catcher. I may try putting ice in mine. its slightly different, but there is definitely a place to hold ice on mine. Didn't know that's what it was for

My bowl sucks though. Its like a 6-8" metal tube with a small bowl on the end. the bowl & pipe are about as wide as my baby finger nail. I don't know how to replace it though. I suppose I could measure it, or clean it totally (no residue at all) & take it into the head shop to find a replacement.

Nice thing about the small bowl is its always fresh.

When you get into a nice high end bong they have standard glass joint sizes (14mm and 18mm) which makes it easy to swap out. You are correct the percs create small bubbles which is what is desirable. The holes don't get plugged, but the glass does get dirty, which is why you clean. But the ash catcher helps with keeping it clean. I have a small bowl i use sometimes when I am by myself, but I like the big bowl for bigger hits and groups