Know Your Bongs

We’ve been told that our organic beeswax coated hemp wick are ideally suited for smoking from bongs; but the bong is a pretty wide-ranging device in and of itself, and has undergone some pretty crazy permutations in recent years…

Here, we explain what makes bongs tick. As to why bongs are a perfect match for Twisted Bee hemp wick? We’ll get back to that at the end. The bong, just like weed itself is often thought to have originated in Asia. Water pipes have been in use across Asia and Africa for centuries, and the word itself comes from the Thai word baung. Though it was known beforehand, it may have come into heavier use in the States following the Vietnam war; if all those ‘Nam movies have taught us anything, it’s that the troops enjoyed a smoke. Of course, those simple bamboo water bongs have taken on a life of their own in the time since then. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say that you can broadly divide modern bongs into three types. These are:

Straight tube

Straight tube bongs that aren’t all that different from their South East Asian brethren. They bubble loud and demonstrate a big old tower of thick smoke, and also deliver a cooler hit given the distance the smoke has to travel. Easy to use, reliable and classic.

Angled

These often glass bongs look sleeker and more self-consciously designed, but also offer a smoking experience that some would say makes smoking more comfortable and less intense. They go down lighter and smoother. Good for multitasking.

Custom

These are the really innovative ones that come in all shapes and sizes. They are great as collector pieces, impressing people or just looking real pretty. Nothing wrong with that.

This is kind of the tip of iceberg though.

You also might hear people talking about a “downstem”; this is the arm that connects the main tube of the bong to the bowl. Well, yeah, there’s three basic types of this too: the regular (just a small, straight tube) a diffused downstem (which diffuse smoke into a wider volume on its way into the bong for an extra bit of percolation) and a direct-inject (which uses a tube connected to the bong above water level, which avoids any resin clogs). The latter is really growing in popularity.

THEN, there are percolators. These are basically additional water chambers in the tube of the bong to diffuse smoke (give it more volume and combine it with air) and bring the smoke into contact with water for a second time; both make your hit smoother and cooler.

Already got an idea what bong might work best for you? Then back to where we began: why should you light your new piece with a Twisted Bee wick? Well, wicks burn at a lower temperature than lighters, and as we just explained bongs offer a cooler hit smoke than a joint or a pipe thanks to the distance the smoke has to travel before it reaches your throat.

These factors combine for an even smoother, cooler smoke than a bong would usually provide; in other words, it enhances the benefits that a bong already has!