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Choosing a dry pipe to transition from cannabis mixed with tobacco to smoking pure

drug_mentor

drug_mentor

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Jul 12, 2006
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Melbourne, Australia
Hey guys, I hope you dont mind I asked a similar question in a cannabis relevant thread over in my regional forum, I just thought perhaps I would get better responses over here since the paraphernillia I am enquiring about is quite uncommon in my region.

Basically I am looking to invest in a nice glass piece but am not overly familiar with the varieties and the benefits of each. Generally I have always been a bong and hash pipe (thin, metal, one-hit pipe) smoking dude, lately I have taken to smoking joints and the occasional blunt but of course I still keep my bong on hand. I am pretty sick of my bong (it’s pretty shit and very dirty) and I have been informed all these new 'pourers' fucking suck (as well as being relatively expensive), plus I honestly feel that using a water filtered device has negative impact on my lungs.

After reading, an article recently posted by tripppAR in AusDD, about the lack of real negative effects cannabis smoke has on the lungs, and personally knowing a few pure cannabis smokers who seem much healthier than the rest of us who smoke a mix. I am seriously re evaluating my use of tobacco with cannabis (except in spliffs, gotta have some baccy in a nice spliff!). The only problem is right now I find pure cannabis smoke to be VERY harsh (I rolled a 2.2 gram blunt of straight green last night and I could not stop coughing, the tears were streaming from my eyes constantly, granted I do have a chest infection atm but after 10 years of a mix my lungs don't tolerate pure bud well).

The two main types of non water filtered, glass pieces I am aware of are steamrollers and glass spoons. Normally I would think the steamroller is right up my alley, as I do like taking a large hit, but I also wonder if it might be a bit hard for me to go onto such an unforgiving smoking device with my current aversion to pure cannabis smoke. I also worry if this type of smoking device would be more inclined to push my tolerance to the point spliffs became less effective. In addition, do these come with screens? Even though I would not be mixing, I would still intend to grind my weed so a device with an adequate screen is essential.

The other option I can think of is a glass spoon/bowl, this option seems like it would be easier on my lungs/throat, and that it would make raising my tolerance to joints less of an issue. I guess the main questions I have about a spoon is do they get you high as efficiently/economically as a steamroller? And is it a great deal more hassle to clean than a steamroller? I know that these have a screen, so would definitely be suitable for smoking ground cannabis.

I guess the last factor I am concerned about is enjoy ability of the smoke, but I suppose that is really going to be subjective. I enjoy both a relaxing mellow smoke and taking monster rips, but currently I have spliffs for a leisurely smoke. I just worry fat hits of pure cannabis from a steamroller might be biting off more than I can currently chew.

I would be open to suggestion on any pieces I may of overlooked (if you want to try sell me on bubblers, go for it, but as I am trying to gravitate from bongs it really isn't the direction I plan heading in) and also if price comparison is allowed I would be keen to hear about that. (Sorry if that breaks the rules, I seem to have noticed a few price listings and assumed it was cool, if its against the rules please nobody answer this)

I am currently doing as much research as I can but most information out there is really geared towards the North American style smoker and doesn't really answer some of my concerns about the switch from Aussie style smoking. I would really appreciate anyones thoughts/opinions/experiences or even speculation at this point. I apologise in advance for the fact I asked like a million questions, I just only have the money for one good piece and it is important to me that I get the right one for me. Thanks guys!

Help out an Aussie who is trying to fix the error of his ways! ;) <3
 
I dunno many, I find that a bong is the smoothest way (apart from a vape, not tried one of them) to hit some pure weed.

If I want it really smooth, I get some frozen peas (no ice cubes in my house), but them in the bong with some ice cold water, put the bong in the fridge for about 10 minutes and then take it out pack a bowl and take a hit. it's like breathing in air.
 
Personally, I'd go with a nice glass spoon with about a .5g-1g bowlpiece that has a smooth and unobstructed airflow. Steamrollers are good for getting really high really quickly, but, for me, they tear my lungs/throat apart. The hits are always so damn big.... with a spoon, though, it's fairly easy to acclimate yourself to "pure weed smoke" by taking increasingly larger hits as you adjust to the change.
 
Deffs go with the bong if you don't want harshness. IME, straight weed is WAAAAYYYYYYY less harsh than when you ruin it with baccy as well.

I'd have to agree with Jib here. A nice generic looking glass spoon pipe, decent sized bowl, can't really go wrong. Try to find something Red Eye if you can. I find the hoots less harsh if I puff on the pipe like a cigrit (pull the smoke into your mouth, move pipe away, then a nice big inhale) as opposed to hauling on it like a joint (to the lips, haul straight to the lungs).
 
im gonna buy an ice bong (specifically the EHLE Glass - Ice Cylinder Bong 100ml), you could always try buying one of them? supposed to be smooooth as fuck.

Edit: and yeah i agree with GBM, i think tobacco smoke is way harsher (plus it gives you cancer and it's addictive) than pure weed.
 
A glass spoon isnt necessarily easy on your lungs, as youd still be inhaling a good amount of butane. You can avoid this, however, if you use hemp wicks to light your bowl, instead of a lighter.

In all honesty, its hard to find a bowl that will hit as well as a steam roller. If your heart is set on a bowl, but you want a powerful one, I suggest shopping around for a bowl with a large head, medium sized bowl, and if you can, chambers for smoke to cool before reaching your lungs. Youll get a much larger and much smoother hit. It wont necessarily be "smooth", as its still a piece, but its probably the best youll do for a spoon.

Bubblers are a nice way to go if you want a water piece but dont want the hassle of a bong. Though if youre going waterpiece, I say just go with a bong. Make note of the size of the downstem hole (I know thats not a proper name but im having a stoner moment), so if you want to get a new downstem, add an ash catcher, put in a skillet or oil dome, etc you know what size to get.
 
I know all you people who are used to straight weed find tobacco harsher, but I smoke cigarettes and have mixed tobacco with my cannabis for 8 out of the ten years I have been smoking.

I am still not quite sure what to get, people saying steamrollers tear up their lungs throat makes me think it could be too much, but perhaps I would get used to it quicker... The bong fiend in me has me thinking I would rather the better hitting piece but I will be spewing if I fork out for something too harsh for me to smoke. I guess I will have to suss out some headshops and do some more reading.

The main questions I have left are do you get spoon and/or steamrollers with small bowls? I am used to 'one hit' style smoking and really don't want to start packing half gram bowls. The other question I have is does a screen fit well into a steamroller? The bowls on them seem to be very cone shaped and I could imagine it being difficult to get a screen fitting perfect in there.
 
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Bongs can still be pretty caustic on the bronchii. The best thing for your lungs and bronchii really is a vaporizer of some sort. However if you dont want to shell out the cash for that id say just go for a bong.

You can fit a screen into a steamroller easy, and if youre having issues, there are curved screens for cone bowls.

And to answer your question, one of the pieces I have now has a relatively small bowl, but a huge head to it. It also has four mini chambers in the stem. The Small bowl to headpiece space ratio leaves for a huge hit, and the chambers in the stem give me a much smoother hit. I must say its probably the best spoon ive owned, as taking a fat hit from it feels like taking a medium sized bong rip.

Shop around for spoons if you have your heart set on one, look at the bowl size, head piece size, carb size, length, glass type, thickness, etc etc.
 
I already have a bong man, I am looking to switch to dry apparatus because imho water filtration creates as many problems as it solves. For one I have grown to like the taste less than unfiltered smoke, I find it often causes 'bong lip' and I feel as though long term inhalation of water vapours likely has as many adverse effects on the lungs as inhaling the shit the water filtered out would.

Its comforting to know a screen should fit into the stearoller cone type bowl, I am sorta leaning towards a steamroller (If I can find one! It's difficult enough to buy spoons in this country, everyone seems to use metal, one-hit 'hash pipes') just because I want a real good hit. I also have concerns that perhaps a spoon type bowl would start to taste a bit stale after a few hits?

One thing I notice about American pieces is they tend to have large bowls and yall always tend to hang shit on Aussies for their smaller one hit 'cone pieces' (even though most Aussie smokers I know can cash an average US bowl in one go, just sayin' :p) but I don't really like bowls that big. Do American style pipes have the option of smaller bowls that only hold like .1 or .2 of weed? I know the obvious solution is to just pack less but going on past experience it doesn't really matter how big or small a bowl/cone is I will pack it to the top...

Sorry to play 20 questions here guys, I know most of this shit should seem like smoking 101 to a choof head of ten years but we really do things a lot differently down under and I have rarely seen these paraphernillia in smoke shops, let alone ever had the oppurtunity to use them! The only US style piece I have used was a very nice glass on glass bong a friend of mine had years ago.
 
drug_mentor said:
I also have concerns that perhaps a spoon type bowl would start to taste a bit stale after a few hits?
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Not any more quickly then any other similarly-sized glass piece.


drug_mentor said:
Do American style pipes have the option of smaller bowls that only hold like .1 or .2 of weed?
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They're available, but more often than not in the form of dugouts/glass bats and those pieces with smaller bowls also tend to be much smaller than a glass spoon overall.

Steamrollers kill me, but I'm used to homemade, 1-2ft long versions. If you can get a professionally made, smaller steamroller then I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
 
drug_mentor said:
I already have a bong man, I am looking to switch to dry apparatus because imho water filtration creates as many problems as it solves. For one I have grown to like the taste less than unfiltered smoke, I find it often causes 'bong lip' and I feel as though long term inhalation of water vapours likely has as many adverse effects on the lungs as inhaling the shit the water filtered out would.

Its comforting to know a screen should fit into the stearoller cone type bowl, I am sorta leaning towards a steamroller (If I can find one! It's difficult enough to buy spoons in this country, everyone seems to use metal, one-hit 'hash pipes') just because I want a real good hit. I also have concerns that perhaps a spoon type bowl would start to taste a bit stale after a few hits?

One thing I notice about American pieces is they tend to have large bowls and yall always tend to hang shit on Aussies for their smaller one hit 'cone pieces' (even though most Aussie smokers I know can cash an average US bowl in one go, just sayin' :p) but I don't really like bowls that big. Do American style pipes have the option of smaller bowls that only hold like .1 or .2 of weed? I know the obvious solution is to just pack less but going on past experience it doesn't really matter how big or small a bowl/cone is I will pack it to the top...

Sorry to play 20 questions here guys, I know most of this shit should seem like smoking 101 to a choof head of ten years but we really do things a lot differently down under and I have rarely seen these paraphernillia in smoke shops, let alone ever had the oppurtunity to use them! The only US style piece I have used was a very nice glass on glass bong a friend of mine had years ago.
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Taste:

Even if you get a dry piece youre not going to be tasting the bud unless you use a hempwick. If you dont use a hempwick youll just be tasting butane. That goes for any piece, not including concentrate pieces. All your pieces are going to get grungy after a while, and then even with a hempwick youll still get that resin taste. To properly clean your bowl skip down to the bottom of my post, ill quickly explain my favorite cleaning method.

Bowl size:

Any size is possible. In America not all of our bowls are made who knows where and then just sold on the streets. Its not a one size fits all market here. There are oodles of glassblowers making all types of pipes at many different sizes, so really, shop around. Go into pipe stores, shop online if you need to (if its legal in your country), just search around. Youre not going to find your answer on that online, youll have to physically go and check out these pieces to find one that meets all your needs.

Cleaning 101:

What youll need -

Isopropanol Alcohol
Sea Salt
Plastic baggie

Method -

1.) Put your pipe in the bag
2.) Add salt - add more salt depending on how dirty the piece is. If its black, cover that shit.
3.) Add Iso - pour enough to submerge the pipe in the liquid
4.) Tightly close the bag
5.) Shake it like a polaroid picture (but be careful not to break the bag or drop it)

Youll see that the iso is turning black - thats good, thats resin coming off. After a while youre really just beating a dead horse. If youre pipe is that dirty, you may need to repeat steps 1-5 in a fresh bag with fresh salt and fresh iso. I also suggest using a q-tip to clean the inside if there are still spots.

Clean it out with water once youre done and let it air dry. You should have a piece thats as clean as the day you bought it.
 
Using a heated glass wand might be a good alternative to improve taste also.

I swear by water filtration, I always found little glass spoons to be too harsh. I've made a steam roller out of a paper towel cardboard tube in my younger smoking days and I remember it pleased me well (for what it was).
 
i have always found that with spoon pipes, i can pack as big or as small a bowl as i please, and it makes little difference.
when i'm conserving weed, they're really good (if you use a screen there is no limit to how little you put in there) and if i wanna pack a big one, that's very easy to do as well.
we've already discussed this, and you know my opinion already d_m, but just adding that bit of info.
mine have always tasted great too. if it starts getting a bit blocked up with resin, it's also fairly easy to break down and wash out with some combination of solvent/detergent/hot water.
i used to smoke so much through one of my spoon pipes that i completely filled the rounded bowl-end with resin.
 
Chainer said:
cannabis alone. sry if that didnt answer your whole thread, but you need a tl;dr
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I agree. If you're concerned about smoking herb get a vaporizer. There is no 'best' vape, they all have their positives and negatives. I use a Magic Flight launch box and it works great for me but I wanted a vape that's powerful, portable, and discrete.

They do come with an adapter in case you don't like using the batteries. IME I've found the batteries to work fine and one battery works on multiple vape sessions for me but I don't vape daily or even as regularly as I did when I was into smoking herb and smoked it on weekends or even daily at times so I just use just a coating of material and take one or a few vape hits and it still works and I get very high.
 
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any glass bong with a 14mil or 18 mil fitting for a bowl will be a good start grab some salt and alcohol isopropyl 91% or higher and keep that puppy clean -- it will be like brand new always
 
oh and if you are into harm reduction/prevention which if you are here then surely you are - invest in a nice volcano or something else thats legit
 
havent had the opportunity to try a magic flight yet but have heard awesomet higns about them other than only being able to smoke a few bowls off a charge./battery
 
Magic Flight is dope as shit, the only issue is that if they break theyre a pain in the ass to get fixed. With regards to bud vapes though, theyre definitely my favorite piece of machinery.
 
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