Appreciating the people and pieces that got us here
A look at where we've been & where we're going
Any way you slice it, 15 years is a long time. It’s the difference between a kindergartener and someone who can legally drink, or a newborn and someone with a learner’s permit. GRAV was closer to the newborn analogy 15 years ago, but now we’ve got our wheels firmly on the road. When GRAV started it was just the founder Dave Daily on his own, making Gravitrons by hand and peddling his wares at headshops and tradeshows. As we reflect on everything that’s happened between then and now, it’s inspiring and humbling to see all the ways GRAV has changed and all the people past and present who have helped this company get where it is today.
We’ve grown a lot since GRAV first started but we’re still driven by that same spirit of fun and love of the industry that started everything off. GRAV provides a unique opportunity for like-minded people to work together and put their skills towards a shared passion. Positivity, mutual support, and acceptance are at the core of cannabis culture, and that’s reflected in GRAV’s diverse group of employees who share an optimistic and open-minded outlook on life. But it’s not just people that make GRAV tick. GRAV has prospered for 15 years because of the products we produce. So let’s take a look at the pieces that made us, from the beginning to the present day.
Naturally, we’ve gotta start with the Gravitron. This was the first product Dave ever made, with the goal of replicating the homemade gravity bong many people were already familiar with. What resulted was the first all-glass gravity smoking system; something much more sophisticated, innovative, and marketable than a franken-bong cobbled together with plastic bottles. The Gravitron’s main attraction is its efficiency. No smoke is lost while using a Gravitron. It all goes through the single opening where you inhale, and it’s delivered in a pressurized stream that produces massive, hard hits.
Next up is the Taster, the sleek one-hitter that Dave originally developed for better hygiene at trade shows. The simple pieces had low enough production costs that it was feasible to pass them out at shows, allowing everyone to have their own small pipe to smoke out of rather than sharing pipes and germs. Dave didn’t think of selling Tasters until he was handing them out at the ACL music festival and happened to run into one of his established customers who expressed interest and told Dave to come by his shop the next day. From that moment on, GRAV was officially a multi-product company, and our success began to grow.
After the Tasters came the tubes, the backbone of any glass brand. GRAV gained enough people and equipment to develop a line of water pipes and then to expand into other categories as well. Within a year of selling our first Taster, we had about 50 different items available for sale. The Large Beaker is a good example of a classic GRAV water pipe because it’s big and bold and has an instantly recognizable silhouette. By developing an impressive family of water pipes like the Large Beaker, GRAV proved we weren’t just a one-hit wonder. We were here to stay, offering smoking implements that appealed to different styles of smokers rather than just those seeking out the best possible gravity bong.
We can’t go through the journey of our products without mentioning our reliable bestseller, the Classic Sherlock. It represents our foray into the hand pipe category, and how successful that adventure was and still is. The Sherlock is representative of what established GRAV as a unique and reliable brand: smart, clean design and attention to small details that make the overall smoking experience more enjoyable.
As we look towards the future, the cannabis industry is growing and changing, and so are we. Nothing illustrates that better than the 16mm Octo-taster with Silicone Skin. We took a classic glass product that we’ve been perfecting since GRAV’s inception and paired it with modern silicone to create an innovative shatterproof one-hitter. The Octo-Taster represents our move towards embracing new materials and technology outside of traditional glass while remaining true to our borosilicate roots. And those changes don’t stop at the materials we use. We just changed our purple branding to a more clean and classic black, and that mature aesthetic is reflected in our new packaging designs as well. We’re even remodeling our office so that the space we work in will be as efficient and stylish as the products we produce.
The most important product of all at GRAV is always the next one on the horizon. We’re continuing to expand out of the glass category, tackling new challenges like accessories and storage. It’s a constant adventure to find out what the product development team has up their sleeves, to get the first samples in and interact with them in person. But the most exciting part is the moment we get to share it with you, the customer. When you’re all as excited about a product launch as we are, we know we have a winner. And even when we release something that’s not a bestseller, getting that feedback from you is just as valuable and important, because it helps us do better next time.
So in the end, it all comes back to you. Anyone who’s supported us from the smallest spoon to the biggest water pipe has helped the GRAV dream to become and remain a reality, and you’ve also helped a bunch of weird Austinites pay rent and buy breakfast tacos. So what we’d really like to say is thank you for an amazing 15 years. We couldn’t have done it without you.
