Bong Question (EHLE, et al.) & more

HiC

HiC

Well-Known Member
Hey, everybody. OK, I'm about to embarrass myself a bit here. Despite my fancy avatar and ownership of now two different vaporizers, I'm still somewhat of a noob when it comes to herbal consumption in general, so please bear with me and this wordy post. I realize there are other forums where I can ask basic questions like these, but after searching through a few trying to find answers on my own, I decided to come back to FC where users seem to have retained most of their brain function and are more likely to provide some helpful advice. :p

So prior to fucking combustion, I'd been smoking out of a cheap little glass water pipe. I used a metal screen with it because I HATE the idea of losing even the smallest speck of kief down the stem and a screen is the easiest way to prevent that. After my research, however, I've just discovered that by using these metal screens, I've been unknowingly inhaling harmful metal ions. Great, just what I needed. I've used both silver and gold-colored screens, which I assume are stainless steel and brass, respectively. Apparently, the brass ones are more dangerous because they degrade more quickly. I have noticed that after extended use a few of the gold-colored screens actually started to break apart. I guess that should've been a red flag that things weren't right, but oh well, there's nothing I can do about the past. I just don't get why if these screens are so dangerous they're even allowed to sell them at smoke shops for use in pipes. Is it just a matter of these "ions" being a drop in the carcinogenic bucket along with all the other combustion nasties? Anyway, all I can do is prevent further exposure in the future, obviously.

So that leads me to my next question. I want to buy a new basic little bong for backup use and to use in conjunction with my PD. The EHLE Glass 100ml Cylinder mentioned on this board sounds like a perfect fit for me. Now this is where I hang my head in shame. I'm looking at the picture of this bong and the stem/bowl area looks kinda complicated and not like the ghetto bongs I've been using. Can someone please explain to me what's going on there? Just tell me what the parts are and their function? I see what looks like a sliding removable stem and I recently learned what "GonG" means. What I'm mostly interested in is if there's some sort of mechanism included that helps prevent unsmoked herbs and ash from getting sucked down the stem into the water. I've heard of "ashcatchers" and "diffusers" but still don't totally understand how they work. I just wanna know how to smoke out of a bowl like this without a screen and not inadvertantly suck stuff down the stem. Yes, I know I can just be careful and not suck so hard or plug up the hole with a larger piece of bud, but stuff still gets sucked down there, especially when used by guests. Sorry if this sounds totally retarded, but I just wanna know.

My final question has to do with the online supplier, EDIT. People have said they don't have a problem ordering stuff from the states and this seems like a pretty good price. I'm just concerned about customs issues. I hate going to headshops, but would it be worth it to check some out to see if they have anything comparable? The ones I've been to seem pretty over-priced and I hate having to haggle.

OK, guys. There are my questions. If you made it this far, thanks for listening and not laughing at me too hard. :lol:
 
HiC,
SpiralArchitect

SpiralArchitect

? & beyond
Is it just a matter of these "ions" being a drop in the carcinogenic bucket along with all the other combustion nasties?
Click to expand...
IMO, yeah... we live in a nasty, nasty world (smoke-free or not). I don't think you have much to worry about, but avoiding brass screens is a good call. SS screens are common in vaporizers, and I don't think the temp is generally high enough to merit any serious concern (not that their was any to begin with).

Can someone please explain to me what's going on there? Just tell me what the parts are and their function?
Click to expand...
Sure. :)

So you got the bong...
2lwtxm1.jpg


Then the downstem...
xmn2xc.jpg


And finally your bowlpiece.
2qwnfhz.jpg


You can see these all use the GONG (Glass on glass). The interchangeable parts and perfect seal make for a much more enjoyable, and aesthetically pleasing experience. Pictured here is 18mm, the other option is 14mm; which is what you may be after if your looking for a perfect seal with the PD.

Diffusers have multiple exit holes for the smoke/vapor, to diffuse the smoke, hence the name, and give it more surface area when contacting the water -- providing a smoother, cleaner hit. (Diffuser/regular:L/R)
nodev8.jpg


Ash catchers catch the gunk that would normally end up in your bong... .

What I'm mostly interested in is if there's some sort of mechanism included that helps prevent unsmoked herbs and ash from getting sucked down the stem into the water.
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You can either use a glass gauze or a screen. Thing is, if you've vaping through the PD -- I see no reason for an extra screen. You will have very little use for the actual bowlpiece. Simply mate the PD to the downstem.

If you live in the states, you should have no problem ordering from EDIT. I know Ohio cannot receive paraphernalia and a few other states... but people get it shipped to them regardless and it usually flies under the radar.

Hope this helps.
 
SpiralArchitect,
HiC

HiC

Well-Known Member
Wow. SpiralArchitect at my service! That was extremely helpful.

So the 14mm downstem and bowlpiece come with the EHLE, right? I couldn't totally tell from the EDIT description. I might wanna pick up an ash catcher too since it sounds like that might help with the problem I'm talking about. The prob is more with my girlfriend, actually. She doesn't like vaping and insists on using metal screens to keep the bud and ashes all contained for partial bowl hits and easy dumping. I'm trying to get her off them, but I wanna know how to show her that they're not necessary. She addicted to metal ions, man, what can I say?

So while I plan to use the EHLE with my PD, I also wanna use it for just regular smoking on occasion. Thanks again, SA! You helped ease my mind on the ion thing too. I'm kind of a hypochondriac who still tends to look for cheap ghetto work-arounds. Not exactly a smooth combo, I know.
 
HiC,
SpiralArchitect

SpiralArchitect

? & beyond
The EHLE. you linked above is 14mm. :)

If you are going to be smoking out of the bong as well, an ashcatcher is a good investment. You can also find glass bowls that require no screens, for example, an icepinch slide.
 
SpiralArchitect,
A

Alpha

Well-Known Member
There is a lot of bad info online about shipping across state lines. I can't find any reliable info on Norml or any other place online that points to an Ohio ban. Tommy Chong himself was quoted saying- "was that as long as you don't ship to two states, Pennsylvania and Iowa, you'll be OK".
 
Alpha,
J

jklasd

Well-Known Member
i didnt get this bong for that reason, though i live in canada. i happened to get a gear one, pics below. it doesn't hit quite as good as id like. if i put the stem of the pd too low, i cant get ANY air. its not packed tight either, just a little pressed down so it wont fall out. so my buddy said its cool with accpeting the ehle bong at his place (i was uneasy because i could not get a direct you will be ok, it was kinda even with people on both says saying your good or its risky) so i might pick that up later in a couple weeks.
picture120.jpg

picture108l.jpg

picture111w.jpg

its about 12", 14mm gong stem joint, 5mmthick glass.
 
jklasd,
SpiralArchitect

SpiralArchitect

? & beyond
IA OH and PA.

Vriptech won't ship there, so I can only assume in these 3 states paraphernalia is a no-go, or at least bad idea.

It's usually not declared as a waterpipe, or anything of the sorts. Their is no reason for them to open the package. Many, many people have been just fine ordering glass across state-lines, even internationally.
 
SpiralArchitect,
HiC

HiC

Well-Known Member
That's so ridiculous. It's only freaking GLASS for christsake. It's illegal to import GLASS to certain states? Well, that's a genius law. People will smoke out of anything they can find if they need to. If this is really to protect "The American People" I certainly think denying them cleaner, safer ways of consumption is the right way to go. Holy crap.

P.S. Thanks for that icepinch link, SA. I've got a lot more to learn. I'm trying to leave my makeshift ways behind me.
 
HiC,
A

Alpha

Well-Known Member
*Edit* I got an email explaining the issues with certain states. Basically it's not a good idea because certain states have a history of cracking down from time to time.
 
Alpha,
bluntfaced

bluntfaced

I'm El Diablo Baby!!!
Your girlfriend sounds a little ridiculous. She's worried about bud falling through into the water before it gets smoked? Learning how to pack a bong bowl so that won't happen is not hard.

Mostly she needs to quit trippin her weed is fine. An ash catcher just sucks that shit down into that water instead of in the bong so it doesn't get dirty.
 
bluntfaced,
Chubba

Chubba

Vaporbonger
That's so ridiculous. It's only freaking GLASS for christsake. It's illegal to import GLASS to certain states? Well, that's a genius law. People will smoke out of anything they can find if they need to. If this is really to protect "The American People" I certainly think denying them cleaner, safer ways of consumption is the right way to go. Holy crap.
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Aint that the truth.

Come over to Australia, our bongs consist of...

-A plastic bottle, water/gatorade/coke etc.
-A piece of plastic garden hose for the downstem
-A piece of cut up/rolled up soda can for the bowl

mmmmmm, plastic garden house fumes and smoking off a soda can (isn't that shit linked to various mental illnesses?).

GG Government, you sure make our smoking experience safer by making "waterpipes" illegal.
 
Chubba,
SpiralArchitect

SpiralArchitect

? & beyond
You can order them online and have them brought into your country. Many Aussie's do it. Yay for loopholes!
 
SpiralArchitect,
Chubba

Chubba

Vaporbonger
Indeed.

The large majority though (I would wager 95%+ at least), smoke as mentioned above.

Before the laws came in, a decent whack of people smoked through pyrex etc. because you could buy one from the local tobacco shop for $30.
 
Chubba,
E

Evil1

Well-Known Member
Evil1,
Chubba

Chubba

Vaporbonger
While we're on the topic of bongs - Hic I hope you don't mind me sharing your thread -

Firstly, what is a splash guard ?

Also - I am considering this bong :
http://www.everyonedoesit.com/online_he ? uctID=5780

or this one...
http://www.water-bongs-glass-pipes.com/ ? g/d-36025/

Does anyone have any thoughts on these ?
Is there a better, similair option ?

I'd like a multi chamber, perculated bong with ice catcher of medium to large size.
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DO NOT BUY THOSE BONGS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, END OF STORY

Weedstar is a piece of shit company, run by a piece of shit owner that puts out piece of shit glass.

Weedstar glass is china glass and low quality, expect the percolators to break very soon after you get the bong.

The owner is a shady character, all his designs are stolen, the majority of the pieces are direct knockoffs of famous US glassblowers, it's sickening. He has been caught out multiple times posting false reviews over the internet and in general defending his use of shitty china glass sweatshops.

I wish nothing but bad vibes to that company.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Onto your post though, splash guards are exactly that... they stop the water splashing into your mouth and are located above the percolator... it's just a dome with some slits in the side.

If you're going to buy percs, spend the money on a high quality brand (assuming you're in the US).

Otherwise for the same price as that weedstar you can get a nice 5mm diffused EHLE setup, will hit far smoother then those fake chinese percs.

Here is some bedtime reading on Weedstar for you

https://tokecity.com/forums/showthread.php4?t=24069&highlight=Weedstar

Spend a bit of time on Tokecity, these guys know glass.
 
Chubba,
E

Evil1

Well-Known Member
Thanks a million man and thanks goodness for forums. I probably would have bought one of those.

I failed to mention its to use with my soon-on-the-way Extreme.
Does anyone else have any info ?
 
Evil1,
Chubba

Chubba

Vaporbonger
EDIT is great for Ehle and RooR.de.

You don't need percolators for vapor, I would advise anyone to pick up a RooR.de 3.2mm or EHLE 5mm instead of those ~$150 china percs.

If you want extra filtration, get a diffuser downstem and if you want to go overkill get an A/C.

You can never go wrong with quality glass.
 
Chubba,
S

Skunkypete

Escape Artist
Chubba said:
Weedstar is a piece of shit company, run by a piece of shit owner that puts out piece of shit glass.

Weedstar glass is china glass and low quality, expect the percolators to break very soon after you get the bong.

The owner is a shady character, all his designs are stolen, the majority of the pieces are direct knockoffs of famous US glassblowers, it's sickening. He has been caught out multiple times posting false reviews over the internet and in general defending his use of shitty china glass sweatshops.

I wish nothing but bad vibes to that company.

https://tokecity.com/forums/showthread.php4?t=24069&highlight=Weedstar
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link Chubba. People could never explain to me why they Weedstar was such a bad company. I'll admit i've bought a couple of their bongs and always thought they were ok. China glass maybe but not like I drop that shit left and right and buying from EDIT they've always been good about replacing bad parts. I see the problem is more that they basically just copy designs. Seems the business model is something like take a picture of a nice bong and send it to China for replication without attribuation to the original creator. Kinda like glass pirates. I can see how that would rub people the wrong way. Having my design as a glass artist stolen and replicated thousands of time to create cheap copies of it would piss me off too. Thanks again for the info , i will make more informed purchases in the future.
 
Skunkypete,
Chubba

Chubba

Vaporbonger
An EHLE 5mm will be a beautiful setup.

You're playing with some serious glass there, you won't be dissapointed.
 
Chubba,
HiC

HiC

Well-Known Member
Hey, Evil1. No prob adding to this thread. The mods can even change the subject line to make it more inclusive if they feel like it.

I've got one question for Chubba. If Weedstar's a crappy company, do you think these WS Glass Gauzes are still worth getting?

Oh, and it appears what I'd been using before vaping was actually a bubbler. I'm still learning about this stuff. Anyway, it looked a lot like this one here with a slightly different shape. I got it for free in a promotional 420 grab-bag at a dispensary. It must've been cheap crappy glass cuz it only lasted a little over a month. I just broke the bottom out the other day by merely pushing down the stem too hard. Bong water on the carpet. Not cool. I assume my EHLE will treat me better. I've placed my order and am still waiting for them to replenish their stock.

As for the problem of weed bits falling down the stem, I'm still trying to find the best way to prevent that without using a metal screen. I'm hoping the glass gauze will help, in addition to packing better bowls. This is for my girlfriend, mind you. I don't smoke anymore. :D
 
HiC,
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