If the bong is your preferred method of enjoying your weed, these are your best bets.
By Sean Tirman, Amanda Reed, and Johnny Brayson Smoking Accessory
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If the goal is to get high, you can’t go wrong with a bong: They’re perfect for group hangs or for solo sessions and they deliver immediate results. Bongs are the everyman of the weed-smoking world. But is there such a thing as a bad bong?
Well, never being ones to shirk from a challenge, we set ourselves to the task of answering that — and through rigorous testing, we found out. After much careful consideration, we determined that these bongs represent the cream of the crop.
The best way to test a bong is probably by using it for one’s daily smoking habit, which is exactly what our testers have done over weeks and months (and, in a couple of cases, even years). But they didn’t simply smoke and move on — they also paid special attention to the bongs’ designs, convenience, construction, ease of use and any special attributes therein, thus ensuring that every facet was taken into consideration before being deemed worthy of recommendation.
To learn more about our testing methodology and how we evaluate products, head here.
With most bongs, users will run into a few big issues: how to clean them easily, how careful one needs to be (breaking bongs is never fun) and even how to store them when they’re not in use are among them. This bong has answers to all those issues and is our new top recommendation. For starters, it is dishwasher safe and shatter-resistant, meaning you don’t have to be so precious with it. It also has a modular construction that makes it easy to take apart and it can store inside itself when not in use. It even has a magnet built into the top of the chamber so you can more easily stash your lighter when not using it.
And those are just a couple of the things that make this bong really great — according to our tester, it’s the best he’s ever used, and he’s used quite a few. If we had to nitpick, the shortness of the stem and its proximity to the bowl might make you feel the heat of the lighter when using it and the whole thing is a bit heavy, but these are really, truly minor issues at worst. For those who value convenience, this bong is exceptional.
Heir Waterpipes — which come in 11 or 13 inches — is the Rolls Royce of bongs. It’s made out of alumina ceramic, stainless steel and soda-lime glass, meaning it’s made to last. It features an ergonomic mouthpiece and a removable glass chamber that allows you to add ice or water easily and pop it in the dishwasher when you’re finished. The seven-hole design in the bowl prevents clogs and the 8-slotted percolator gives powerfully smooth hits. The price can be a hurdle, since not that many people have $260 sitting around. Regardless, it’s a beautiful addition to your home that just happens to get you incredibly stoned.
Sam Freedman first came up with the “half-baked” idea for Bento Bong, his Seattle-based start-up, in college when an acquaintance sat on a $300 bong that Freedman had collectively purchased with his four friends. “We started talking about how annoying it was that one part of the bong broke and we had to throw the whole thing away and buy a new one to replace it,” Freedman said. “Fast forward a decade and a few more broken glass bongs, I decided to create the bong I always wished I had.”
Bento Bong is made out of BPA-free Tritan TX1001 plastic, giving it the same durability as a silicone bong, but with a modular, sleek, packable, customizable design. Not that many bongs at this price point come with a percolator, are dishwasher safe and disassemble in seconds. Will it last forever? Maybe not, but if you’re just getting into bongs, Bento Bong is a great option.
Although Higher Standards also sells a larger beaker, the mini beaker, standing at eight inches tall, is the definition of small but mighty. The glass downstem has six slits that clean and cool the smoke to a silky smooth hit. The medical-grade borosilicate glass is seven millimeters thick, making the piece feel luxurious and durable. And, if you’re into dabs, the pipe also includes a 45-degree quartz banger, carb cap and concentrate tool, which is large and fits well in the hand. The bong is incredibly easy to clean, so much so that I didn’t have to scrub an inch after soaking mine in this bong cleaner. I didn’t know it was possible for a bong to have my heart, but this one does.
Editor’s Note: The Mini Beaker is extremely popular and is often out of stock, which is why it is no longer our top recommendation. If it’s currently out of stock, we recommend any of the other Higher Standards Heavy Duty glass products in the meantime.
Session Goods’ bong features a modern design that blends in seamlessly to your home and feels good in your hands. Two different bowls allow you to adjust the size of your hits, and four-millimeter borosilicate glass gives you peace of mind. The silicone base cover protects the glass and indicates the recommended water fill line for the best hits while hiding unsightly bong water.
Best of all, the company is a member of the Floret Coalition, an anti-racist collective of small businesses supporting and funding equity-oriented actions, and pledges monthly donations to organizations for their work in support of Black, Latinx and Indigenous communities.
If you’re really looking to take your weed on the go without anyone noticing, it’s tough to beat Puffco’s Cupsy. The bong is practically indistinguishable from a to-go coffee cup, but despite that somewhat gimmicky concept, it also functions quite well as a bong. Our tester was shocked by the smoothness of his pulls with the Cupsy, comparing them to a standard bubbler, and he also appreciated that the smaller bowl and chamber that kept him from getting too high — after all, this is a bong that’s meant to be used in public.
Our reviewer also loved how easy the Cupsy is to clean, as it breaks down entirely and has an aluminum base that doesn’t get as grimy as glass. Our tester’s only quibbles were the black silicone lid of the Cupsy, which is a magnet for flower, and he wished the bowl were a little easier to remove (and that the protective sleeve couldn’t be removed at all).
Not everyone has the luxury of space, and some people prefer discretion when it comes to their smoking habits. For those folks, we present this offering from Grav Labs. At just 8″ tall, it’s a much more compact bong than just about any others on this list, but it’s still functionally the same. That means, when you’re not using it, it’s a lot easier to stash away from prying eyes. Its short size and wide base also mean it is quite stable, so you (or your clumsy friends) are less likely to knock it over.
A completely ceramic bong, the Summerland Chongo combines aesthetics with durability. The full-size bong hits incredibly well and has a roomy bowl with a tight seal. You’ll have to look closely to see inconsistencies in the glaze, a reminder that this is made by humans, which is a feat at first glance. And Chongo is made with lead-free, food-safe glaze and ceramic, giving you peace of mind.
Ditch your MacGyver-ed grav bong for the Stundenglass, which uses the power of gravity to fill the chamber with smoke. And it provides contactless cannabis ingestion, meaning you don’t have to worry about mouth germs when toking. Although it’s $600 and a very large piece to have sitting around, it can be used to smoke food and drink and includes attachments to be used as a hookah. MacGyver wishes he could have made something this multifunctional.
The Marley Natural water pipe is made of borosilicate glass and sustainably sourced black walnut, making this piece perfect for a stoner who likes the aesthetics of big libraries, plaid and reading J.D. Salinger. Cleaning is made easy since the wood smoke chamber is removable. However, be warned: a lot of reviews say this bong is fragile.
Go go gadget toke time! This silicone bong has a hidden stash jar, rolling tray, magnetic lighter holder and a stainless steel poker: talk about coming prepared to smoke. The borosilicate glass bowl and diffused borosilicate downstem mean that this silicone bong might just be indestructible, which makes it much more suitable for travel than your typical fragile glass bong. But if you want an option that’s even more portable, check out the Eyce Mini Beaker.
This bong has it all: A lifetime warranty! Impact-resistant materials and design! An ash filter! A water-fill line! Plus, you can purchase different-colored percolators separately that allow for even smoother hits. Although it is on the higher end of plastic bongs, JET SubZero Water Pipes allow for complete customization.
What’s the biggest problem with most bongs? They look like bongs. Not this one from My Bud Vase, however, which is made from porcelain and styled to look like a flower vase (and, therefore, just as delicate as one). It’s one of the most singular-looking bongs we’ve ever come across, and that makes it stand out among a sea of too-obvious glass water pipes. That also makes it a great gift for the stoner gal in your life.
What You Should Know About Bongs
Although bongs come in many different styles, the anatomy of a bong is relatively the same across the board. First is the mouthpiece, from which you inhale the smoke. Then, there’s the tube and maybe an ice catch; the tube is, well, just a tube, and the ice catch stops ice from getting into the water chamber. The bowl holds the ground material, and the downstem connects the bowl to the chamber, which holds the water. Make sense?
Fill up the bong with enough water so a decent amount of the downstem is submerged; too much water and you’ll get splashed while smoking, while not enough water leads to a harsher hit. Then, fill the bowl with the desired amount of marijuana.
Put the bowl into the downstem, grab a lighter and find a comfy seat on the couch. Grab the bong with your non-dominant hand and hold the lighter with your dominant hand.
Light the bowl and put your lips inside the mouthpiece — you’re not taking a sip of water and you’re not trying to eat the bong. Suck (don’t inhale) so the water bubbles and fills the chamber.
When you have the desired amount of smoke, lift the bowl and inhale. Repeat as necessary.
Popular bong materials include glass, acrylic, ceramic and silicone.
Glass bongs are the most popular bong material on the market since they provide the cleanest and purest taste. Bongs made from borosilicate glass contain boron trioxide, which has a very low coefficient for thermal expansion. This means it’s incredibly durable and will not crack under extreme temperature changes like regular glass.
Acrylic bongs are the cheapest and virtually indestructible. However, it makes for the least versatile, since it’s difficult to add on accessories like percolators.
Ceramic bongs are durable, can be extremely beautiful and are only just behind glass for providing the tastiest hits.
Silicone bongs are the easiest to wash and clean since they are dishwasher-safe — although repeated dishwashing can cause the silicone to crack over time. They are also durable, well-priced, customizable and perform well compared to their comrades.
Compared to hitting a joint or smoking from a bowl, bongs provide a smoother toke thanks to water (and some ice cubes if you’re feeling jazzy). Since there’s no dry heat, which you get from a joint, your hits feel less harsh.
However, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), smoked marijuana — regardless of how you smoke it — can harm lung tissues and cause damage to blood vessels. And, smoking marijuana can lead to a greater risk of bronchitis and chronic coughing, according to the American Lung Association. Both organizations agree that more research is needed into the effects of marijuana on lung health.
If you’re looking for a possibly less risky way to ingest cannabis, try vaporizers, which use convection and conduction rather than combustion (the fancy term for lighting something on fire) to release the terpenes in the marijuana and have shown to reduce respiratory irritation (though vapes aren’t without their own potential health risks, particularly if using concentrates).
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