What Are Bongs Used For

 Also known as a water pipe, the bong is made up of a bowl attached to a stem, which is then dropped down in a bowl of water. A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtering device typically used to smoke cannabis, tobacco, or other botanical substances. Most accessories to water bongs are advanced filtration designs which may improve the persons smoking experience, as well as the overall functionality of a water pipe. People use mostly water bongs to filter or to chill their smoking, going so far as adding ice cubes or special features such as ice-cold glycerine coils. 

Bongs distinguish themselves as a marijuana smoking device by having one or more water-filled chambers for filtration and cooling of smoke. Straight pipe bongs are simple pipe designs that only have one water chamber in the bottom part of the bong that filters smoke minimally. While these style bongs are not recommended for prolonged use by professionals or everyday usage because of their lower vapor count and water filtering, they can still be effective bongs while doing their one job. 

The primary benefit to smoking bongs is the experience: smoke is less annoying than smoking joints or blunts, while also being cooler thanks to water. While the general consensus is that using a bong makes smoking a smokable vapor more comfortable, due to the water filtering, it is not completely clear if it is cleaner or healthier. After a bowl is packed, and water is placed into a bong, the substance is lit, and smoke is drawn through water, producing a smoother smoking experience than with other smoking methods. 

As the smoke passes through water, the smoke from the weed is both purged and filtered, as well as being chilled. Because water is colder than the warm weed smoke passing through water, quite a bit of the heat is transferred into the water, making the resulting smoke that you are breathing in much colder. The percolator is used to filter out smoke for an extra amount of time once it passes through water on the ends of your buds. 

The percolator (shown above -- below, close) is a piece of glass that breaks down smoke before it passes through water, causing the bubbles to appear inside your bong. The smoke filters through the water as it passes through the downstem, which is a cylindrical glass piece with holes connecting the bowl to the bong. Using the water pipe, when a user puffs, smoke moves through the water, trapping particles, and also mixing with cleaner air and water vapor, essentially expanding the smoke. 

The primary reason is because the bong filters the hot smoke through water and then pipes it upwards -- all while cooling down the smoke before it hits the lungs. A bong is a favorite way for many to smoke cannabis, as it draws the smoke more quickly through a users lungs, exposing more mucus membranes to smoke, thereby getting a user significantly higher using a smaller amount of cannabis. A bong can be made out of any material impermeable to air as well as water. 

Bongs usually have a hole in the side (called carb, or, in Australia, a shotgun hole) which allows air to pass around the stem, allowing a larger volume of smoke to get into the users lungs quickly. Bongs, however, can be extremely stylish, both in a functional and in an unfunctional manner. A bong will typically have a draw-out carb, which is used by pulling the bowl off of the stem after the chamber has filled with smoke, in order to rapidly clean up and breathe out the smoke within. 

The bong in the present day is the rounded descendant of water pipes, which are still used by smokers today in China and India for enjoying cannabis and tobacco. While bong usage is more commonly associated with the 1960s hippy era, the usage of the water pipe for filtering and cooling smoked material is actually thought to have begun about 2,400 years ago.