I would largely agree with that line of thinking but I have some China glass I would stand up against any equivalent US glass. Admittedly this is DH Gate stuff in the $80-90US range so you can expect significantly higher quality than say a $30 piece off the gate.
Picked up what I certainly consider a "cheap high quality bubbler" yesterday from the post office. Thick glass, solid welds all round & it hits like a champ with the coral perc.
Looks great!!
Nice choice.
People shouldn't be intimidated by the listed prices, or any stated prices, in the glass scene. It varies so wildly - if you look around there's a lot of jankless cheap high quality bubblers.
Prices aren't discussed openly, so any crazy deals you won't hear about the details. But they're easy to find.
Anything coloured will probably be 3 figures but nothing like $1000+. You can spend as much or as little as you like, there's too many options of glass blowers and some amazing hidden talent.
If you use glass daily IMO it's worth a small investment, and properly tempered, uniform borosilicate is strong. Most custom blown glass is made with the knowledge to avoid weak spots. And mostly by people that actually use their own designs, fine tune them and turn it into an art.
I started on China glass, got a feel for what I wanted and have now replaced it all. Some of it was nice, but all of it janky. The difference being, the close you look at DHGate items the clunkier they appear. The closer you examine artisan work, the more amazing it becomes.
Not all of it's great though, my preference is for a piece that 'shreds' with no potential splashback. That's a little harder to guarantee, a piece I got a mate to buy for himself so I could use, is a sucker for splashback. Still super nice, but it could be better.
There's certainly some quality glass available easily these days, Clean Clear Glass's seed of life perc is probably the best DHG option yet IMO, but crazy special prices like Maddabler's sale Stevenski jumped on, or just talking to a dude who makes sweet rigs, is the most satisfying way to be vaping I think.
But it pays to learn the ropes first with the inexpensive China rigs.
Back in the day we used to make bongs, I've smoked out of a heap different styles of bottles and other random objects.
The bong defines the hit, so you owe it to yourself to use one that is perfect.
. We used to always get our garden hose "trimmed" by local youth. I ended up cutting a bunch of 4" lengths & leaving them in a little bucket next to the hose with a sign asking if they could take the precut lengths. Some smartarse cut the hose in the middle one day. What a cunt. It is a sad day when you have to lock up your hose of an evening.
. The piece I posted is US glass but was a very good price so worthy of this thread.