In the world of weed, vaping has grown exponentially in the last several years. And as always, even with no big-name products, bongs are a constant for many weed smokers. But what’s better than these two individually? Using them together! The vape bong represents the best of both worlds, with most vape companies offering a bong attachment as an aftermarket product. Here’s more on how it works.
What’s a bong?
I know, it’s an entry level question, but let’s go over it anyway. A bong is a waterpipe used to smoke cannabis, and other herbs. Though there are different designs, the general one in weed smoking involves a contraption with a water chamber, which can be sealed off when the mouth touches down. Attached to the water chamber is an opening for a mouthpiece (possibly with a tube), and an opening where the herbs are lit. The idea is to put your mouth on the mouthpiece and light the herbs while sucking in, so the smoke goes through the water.
Sometimes there’s a ‘carb’ hole attached to the main chamber, and this is used to let in more air. When lighting the herbs, this hole must be closed off to create a sealed water chamber, or the air won’t pull through. Sometimes instead of this, the mouthpiece itself is removable and works in the same way. This helps clear the smoke built up in the chamber. Cheaper bongs (and homemade ones) might not have either.
Bongs provide very strong hits, but they also do something else, they help filter the smoke. No, it’s not going to save you from the general dangers of smoking, but it does mean that some of the bigger or heavier particles get stuck in the water. Aside from vaping, this means bongs are the only way to smoke using fire, whereby some amount of smoke filtration happens.
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What’s a vape?
A vaporizer is a device that works to smoke herbs like marijuana as well. Although, unlike standard smoking, its not actually about breathing in smoke, but breathing in vapor. Smoke is obtained by setting herbs on fire, and then breathing in the product. On the other hand, a vape heats up an herb to temperatures that don’t cause it to burn, but do cause the compounds within it, to vaporize out. Think of a pot of boiling water, and the vapor coming off it. Same concept.
Up until several years ago, this term was only referred to devices which use dry herbs. In that case, the vapor is of a plant material. However, more recently, the word ‘vape’ has been associated with something a bit different, oil vapes. Oil vapes involve the use of a cartridge that doesn’t contain a dry herb, but an oil instead. This oil is comparably heated to a temperature that doesn’t allow it to burn, and which allows compounds to float out as vapor. In this case, the person is specifically breathing in oil vapor.
The whole point of a vaporizer is to create a cleaner experience, and to get away from the dangers of smoking. Some even prefer them simply because you can taste the plant more, and without the accompanying taste of smokiness. As of yet, despite smear campaigns, and governments working toward keeping people smoking (while saying the opposite), vapes have not been associated with the problems of smoking, and are repeatedly pointed to as a way to avoid smoking damage.
If you’re questioning why I’m saying this, consider that nearly every government taxes cigarettes to the point that they become a government industry (as in, the government makes the most profit, even ABOVE the cigarette manufacturers). Gives incentive to backhandedly keep people smoking.
So, what’s a vape bong?
The name should explain it pretty well. It’s a device that uses both the bong setup (to create huge hits), and the vape setup, so that those huge hits, are of vapor, not smoke. In that sense, it’s the best of both worlds. Not only can you ensure breathing in less chemicals, but you can also get yourself one of those mind-numbingly strong bong hits.
One of the benefits of a vape bong is that, even as the safer smoking option, vaporizers can still create hot vapor, and that is often uncomfortable for the vaper; even causing a lot of coughing. As an avid vaper for many years, I understand this discomfort as a temporary, non-threatening issue. It has never caused me damage in all my years of vaping.
As a comparison, if I smoke, my throat is sore, my asthma is set off, and I’ll within a short enough time, get a case of bronchitis. There’s a reason that smoking is the #1 cause of death in America and beyond. None of that happens with vaping. Or, at least, not to any degree seen now.
A vape bong is usually associated with a dry herb vape, but the functionality is good for either an oil cartridge vape, or a dry herb vape. While oil vapes still show a strong and uniformly better alternative to smoking, they do come with issues of additives; from coloring, to thickening or thinning agents, to flavoring, and so on. They also come with the issue of heavy metals leaching into the vape oil. Though nearly anything not involving lighting something on fire and breathing it in, is better; a dry herb vape is uniformly better than an oil one…though this is just my opinion.
A vape bong uses both mechanisms, and can cool the heat of a vape hit, whether from an oil cart, or dry herb. Usually its an attachment that goes in between. The air is sucked through the bong, into the vape, through the vape, back through the bong, and into the users mouth. Think of what a standard bong looks like, and then think of sticking a vaporizer where the herbs go. Especially for high temperature vapers, where combustion is actually pretty close, this not only cools the air down, but gives it an extra level of filtration as well.
Where to get a vape bong attachment
Vape bongs usually come as attachment pieces. I have yet to go into a dispensary and see a device on display that performs both functions. Since vapes vary in their design, there isn’t a uniform way for this to go, meaning its generally best to buy the aftermarket product of the company that puts out your vape, or to go into a smoke shop knowing what kind of a bong attachment will work with your vape.
Since I don’t know what vape you’re using, I can’t give any more specific advice. You can always play around to get things to work yourself, but sometimes its nice to use the expertise of the same company who crafted your vape equipment in the first place. The following are a few examples of the major or more popular vaporizer brands, and their own vape bong attachments, and those made by other companies to fit the device.
The first two are for the vapes I use most now – Dynavap, and the one I used most before this – Flowermate. The Flowermate adapter is $14.99, and fits on any Flowermate vape. The Dynavap adapter is $20.95, and in this case, due to the design, it takes the place of the body of the regular vape. You can also buy this piece direct from the company for $2. You would not need a new adapter just because you upgrade your vape with the same company.
The same is true for another of the biggest names. Let’s say you want to turn your Volcano into a vape bong, you can with this adapter. There are a ton of companies offering attachments for a Volcano vape. Same with two other popular products from the same company Storz & Bickel: the Crafty and the Mighty. If you have either of these, an adapter like this works, and you can buy it from tons of vape companies as well. Big name DaVinci puts out its own adapter for turning a vape into a vape bong, and only costs $9.49.
What about Pax, they’re pretty popular, right? Different companies provide adapters like this one, which runs about $37.12. Arizer is another giant in the industry, and you can get a vape bong attachment for their vapes, for about $14.95. And G-pen? Well, that company offers a range of products to help connect your vape to your bong, and you can see all the options right here.
Conclusion
The vape bong ain’t for the faint of heart. But then, no bong is. Get the best of both worlds with nothing more than a connector piece. And honestly, I bet if you’re really forward thinking, you can find a way to make your own.
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