Vapor Brothers Hydrator VS $40 pipesdaddy.com Vapor Glass Bubbler

I had originally purchased the Vaporbrothers CLEAR Precision Glass Hydrator™,

it, but then I broke it,

I felt pretty bummed and didn't wanna spend a bunch on another piece, so I decided to order this similar looking Vapor Glass Bubbler found on the Cheap, high-quality bubbler??? thread, with this bubbler posted by placetime. I had some leftover interchangable parts, I liked the VB Hydrator and this one was 1/3 the price. Yay.

Side by side


The $40 bubbler is a bit smaller. There is also a tiny bubble where the downstem meets the chamber. The glass feels a tiny bit thicker on the $40 bubbler, except at the very bottom where the Vaporbrothers is much thicker. The $40 bubbler also sounds distinctly different when tapped, kinda higher pitched, I'm guessing the sound of cheaper glass?

Also surprisingly pipesdaddy sent a keck clip, .

Vaporbrothers on left, pipesdaddy on right in all following images

Shipping box

Pipesdaddy impressed me here. It was filled with bubble wrap upon bubble wrap on every piece. It took me forever to unwrap and was sealed tightly with tape.

14mm Ground Glass Mouthpiece

The $40 bubbler's piece was a bit longer, with a less polished ground glass connection. Felt gritty sliding it in and out.

Glass Elbow adapter




18mm downstem fitting


And lastly, the diffuser, mine turned out a little different than BigDaddyVapor's purchase


VS the Vapor Brother's


At first I was disappointed by this, but then after several uses found it to be a blessing.

All in all I am happy with my purchase but can see the difference in quality, but functionally they work the same. Now I can look into buying some more glass and I won't feel as bad, he he.

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering about these...no joint sizes listed, etc. No replacement mouthpieces sucks. Found some Sheldon Black ones for $50, but that's more than a whole new bubbler.

18mm downstem with 14mm mouth piece

Here is the Vaporbrothers replacment mouth piece

Looks like Sheldon Black makes one with a removable downstem, pretty nice looking.

Awesome post Tweak! Thanks for the info!

One of the elbows seems much thicker than the other. Which is which? Do you have a preference for one of the other of the elbows?

Vaporbrothers on left, pipesdaddy on right on all except the first comparison image.

The pipesdaddy is thicker, but the VB seems a more polished frost. As you can see there is also a weird line on the bend in the elbow, like where they fused or bent the glass. I'm guessing this could potentially be a week spot, idk.

I prefer the pipesdaddy elbow because the Vaporbrother's one has a slight downward bend, which is in part why I broke my first bubbler (EQ + SSV wand sits pretty high). I'd prefer no elbow but rather a straight 18mm water pipe adapter. Like this one:



But with shipping cost, they cost almost half the price of the entire bubbler.

Darn,,, there's a copy of our clear precision hydrator out there already?? Purchasing by mail order is a little sketchy. The chinese glass basically gets the job done, although I would only buy it if I could see it in person before paying. The higher pitch noise you get when you tap it is the sound of more stressed and brittle glass that they make cheaply using quick n dirty formulations. If you buy our hydrator you'll get something that can bounce the floor a few times as long as it doesn't land on the ground joint. Of course ours will also have perfect fitting joints and no cracks or wobbly glass every time.

BTW, if you see a thin line in our parts between the joints and the body, it's because we're mixing scientific glass we bought in europe with what we get here in the US. It makes a strong connection except that there's a very faint line at the junction sometimes. All our glass is checked with polarized light to catch any hidden stress, just in case.

~LV

E I ordered mine quite a while back. It was my main piece I used. I put beads in mine to aid in the perc, bubbles so small, it will turn into foam, if you draw too hard. While it isn't my main driver now. It is the piece I chose for my grow room, if I ever need a quick vape, while working in there.

Actually got mine free shipping because they had a stock issue and it was like 2 days late going out, I complained and the guy shipped it for free... and a I still got it within 7 days. But, eh... I gave the guy and his bubbler a nice review.

For the money... it is an excellent buy. Its a good buy at twice that. You can see, just by it next to the Vapor Bros. While its obvious the build/glass quality isn't on the same level. I would probably buy the Vapor Bros if money wasn't the issue, but it is. I don't regret buying the cheaper piece.

Oh... and yeah. The cuts on the perc of my piece are comparable, though not as clean as the Vapor Bros.

I use a piece remarkably similar to that that I'm sure would cost significantly less if only I knew what it was called. Its a piece of scientific glass my friend gave me. Its basicly an 18.8mm joint with glass threads above it. It is used to hold thermometers in place in a condenser. Its kinda hard to explain so I took some photos.




This cap fits onto the threads. There was a small rubber ring in between the glass and the cap to create a seal where the thermometer went in.


From the top. The standard Da Buddha tubing fits neatly over the threads.

Yeah I figured as much. There isn't too much information about the difference in cheap vs quality glass, thanks for sharing this.

Sadly that is where mine landed, right on the mouthpiece ground joint. I hadn't even had it for a whole month, . Suffice to say, I now have a routine to always put my glass up after use.

Same here, the only thing I regret is I wish I would have bought the cheap one first, broke it and learned my lesson, then bought the Vapor Brothers one, hah. I actually probably would have went with the Hydrator Mini after seeing the photos in a recent thread.

Yeah, I definitely dig the Vapor Brothers. Looking at it next to mine (yours), it just highlights some of the flaws. Though, if Vapor Bros, where to change that perc to a straight/vertical cut showerhead... oh man, you're talking some NICE and SMOOTH hits.

@big daddy vapor

where do you put the beads (just drop it in the bottom of the bubble?), and how much do you use?

Yeah that is what I'm hunting for, a bubbler with a big fat chamber and a showerhead or circ. I'm hoping Leviathan's version fits the bill, though I can't tell in the cellphone picture.

Yeah in the chamber outside of your downstem, to add diffusion. I use the same amount it would take to fill your bubbler with water, then add water till it fills in the gaps.

Really works well with controlling the amount of drag you get from your bubbler by adjusting the water/bead ratio and/or different type/size of beads.

Had to do some spring cleaning, so while cleaning this piece, I decided to mess with the water levels again. Originally, being new to vapor, not knowing much about diffusion/percolation.... I had just tried high/low levels. All these months later, its easier for my ears to pick up on sounds I want to hear and the feel of the drag.

After screwing around with these things, this piece is back in my regular rotation. Currently back to main driver, until I can afford a decent/thick 12" straight tube for my 11-arm Krave tree percent. Hate using it in my beaker, way to much volume. Need 250ml or slightly more, for wider base and weight to hold perc up, without breaking it, or tipping it.

So what are you using now? I've found with my airsoft BBs I needed less water but it is much noisier from the BBs hitting the glass. Diffusion was great. But I just recently went back to only water and have it filled to just above the base curve, as in my first photo.

I'm really wanting something bigger myself just so I can watch it milk up, is there a reason you prefer a straight tube.

I'm just about 1/8" above the top of the curve on the downstem. During the draw, the perc is pretty damn close to perfect (for what you can expect). However, on the clear... I think its a bit weak perc-wise.

Personally, I'd just rather have a nice tube, that I can add accessories to. As mentioned, I have a decent 11-arm Krave perc. Solid built, has some cosmetic flaws (perc could sit straighter)... but its a dream to pull off of. I to, like watching that wispy vapor coming up the tube. Much easier to gauge my hits and can milk a trench, close to dust (I like to save some for tinctures and such). I would truly like a scientific tube with a tree (anything other than a cheap dome). Still in the 12" range. Wouldn't go any bigger than 14". But, honestly, I would be just as happy with a plain straight tube, of good quality. Unfortunately, I can't even afford that now.

I just bought a vapor bubbler from pipes daddy along with another diffused ashcatcher(somehow worked out the physics while stoned in my head, probably wont work out) and keck clips

pretty excited! I payed for USPS priority mail so my damn china glass better get here within 1 week from tomorrow!

idk how to edit with this new system, sorry for the double post but I got it in the mail!
I put an ashcatcher on there and it rips amazingly! Probably better without it though
worth way more than 40 bucks!

It'd be a LOT better with a tree or other perc.

THIS has become my absolute favorite piece to use now. I milked a well-cured trench, for over a day and my PA set around 40%, with this set-up.


Oh yeah, balance is perfect. Sits solid as a rock. Give it a slight lean forward for the pull and tree perc... woo hoo! (and, I'm back to my beads in the main chamber)

Does anybody use the Vapocane with a Vaporbrothers Hydrator? This is the Combo I consider getting at the moment and I wonder if it would work well.

I want to hear how it goes

Very well actually. I was surprised at how small the hydrator actually is when I unpacked it and I was afraid the heat may be a bit too close to the face during inhaling. But it has not been a problem so far at all, no burnt nose yet

I really love this setup, it feels very purist and delivers top notch vapor.

Oh by the way, which water level is optimal for a bubbler?

I set mine, about 1/8" above the point where it goes from curved to vertical. I think it percs best, right about there. Good flavor, very nice draw and excellent feedback.

After testing many different levels since june I have come to prefer about a cm to a 1/2 inch above the bottom of the diffuser for my launchbox (basically as little water as possible to be able to bubble nicely and have a very controllable draw speed). I go about an inch above the diffuser for my VG coil because that thing delivers a whole hell of a lot thicker, hotter vapor which the extra water and bubblage cool down

edit: High mistake. Double post.