You might think that after 17 years of the glass grind, we’d be feeling a bit listless. A bit uninspired.
You’d be wrong.
Our 17th birthday is here, and we are PUMPED. This milestone represents a cornerstone moment for GRAV, and we want to share why we’re feeling so invigorated this year. But to do that, we first have to go back to where it all began.
The Year Was 2004
A young guy named Dave Daily was toiling away in the home mortgage business, but it wasn’t where his heart was. He knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, to invent something tangible, something that meant something to people. Our fledgling designer and inventor met those challenges with the Gravitron, the first all-glass gravity bong.
It’s hard for us now to comprehend what a risky move this was. In 2004, recreational cannabis was still 8 years away from being legalized in a single U.S. state. And while there were head shops and glass blowers making some fascinating products, very few of the existing options had the modern, clean design that Dave sought to bring to stoner culture.
Up until the Gravitron, gravity bongs were made in college dorm rooms by cutting the bottom off of a soda bottle and submerging it in a bucket. GRAV’s all-glass version took the gravity bong out of the shadows and turned it into a collector’s piece.
A glass vase held the water, while a modified wine bottle created the smoke chamber. A rubber grommet at the top made the connection point between the bottle and the bowl. With the first all-glass version, Dave helped to legitimize this method of smoking, making it both safe, aesthetically pleasing, and fun.
So for GRAV’s first few years, Dave and a tiny team of friends cut and built Gravitrons by hand, while visiting local head shops and trade shows to make sales.
All Does Not Go To Plan
Dave’s original plan was for the Gravitron to revolutionize the way people smoked. He was going to sell a million of them, and they were going to be everyone’s daily driver. But while the sales footprint for the product expanded to 600 accounts, he couldn’t move enough of them to be sustainable.
By 2007, GRAV was in debt and on the verge of going under. The turnaround came after Dave created the glass Taster, a simple borosilicate tube with a pinch to create a bowl.
It was originally just a giveaway at trade shows, an easy way to sample different strains of cannabis. But almost by accident, he’d stumbled onto something exciting. Those 600 accounts? Suddenly, they were buying two products instead of one. Tasters began to fly off the shelves.
The sales from these unassuming little Tasters let GRAV build the team and increase production. We homed in on our scientific glass design through product lines like the Helix, Upline, and Stax collections. From one product in 2004 to two in 2007 to over 300 in 2021, GRAV has been playing with glass ever since.
So Why the Walk Down Memory Lane?
The cannabis world is a dramatically different place now than it was in 2004. Smoking was once considered unacceptable and immature in mainstream social circles. And just 17 years later, the stigma is dying, with recreational cannabis legal in 17 states and Washington, D.C.
Advocacy for decriminalization, legalization, and justice for victims of a racist War on Drugs has grown exponentially. Prisoners being released and records expunged—although there is still a long way to go.
GRAV has become the household brand that Dave envisioned back when he started. And it never would have been possible if the industry hadn’t grown and developed in parallel with the company.
With our birthday upon us, we’re riding high on gratitude—for the cannabis community, for this magical plant, and for the opportunity to do what we love day in and day out. And we decided to celebrate in the only way we know how—by revisiting an old friend.
The Old Becomes New
For the first time in 17 years, we’re reimagining the Gravitron.
We’ve improved this baby from the top down, starting with a ground glass joint and ending with a new platinum-cured silicone grommet at the bottom of the bottle. It’s a thicker, heavier, and all-around sturdier version of our flagship and namesake product. We’re so proud of where this handsome guy started, and where it’s going!
Here’s what’s new:
• Increased glass thickness 5x
• Replaced former rubber grommet bowl adapter with a ground glass joint
• Compatible with any 14mm bowl (for medium Gravitron) or 19mm bowl (for large Gravitron)
• New flange at the top of the bottle neck to make lifting easier and safer
• New platinum-cured silicone grommet at the bottom for a tighter seal
• Upgraded GRAV decal
• Studier packaging to prevent breakage.
The new Gravitron is what happens when a great idea is paired with great manufacturing. We’ve come a long way from hand-making grav bongs at Dave’s kitchen table.
And we’re not done yet.
The Next Big Thing in the Pipeline
We’re elevating the smoking game yet again. After last year’s successful release of the first-ever glass joints, we’re taking the next step into the flower business with GRAV Reserve, our new luxury line of pre-filled glass joints.
We’ve teamed up with premium cannabis cultivators in Southern California to fill GRAV glass with the freshest locally-grown flower—the kind you savor. Fragrant and terpene-heavy, these strains deserve all the glory, with no paper or glue taking away from the essence of the herb.
Wanna get technical? Here are the specs:
• GRAV Reserve Cake OG (Indica) - THC 23.62% / Total Cannabinoids 27.56%, 5.1 mg/g Limonene, 3.5 mg/g β-Myrcene, 3.4 mg/g β-Caryophyllene
• GRAV Reserve LCSD (Sativa) - THC 27.43% / Total Cannabinoids 35.82%, 17.7 mg/g Terpinolene, 2.9 mg/g β-Myrcene, 2.7 mg/g β-Caryophyllene
For now, these pre-rolls are available in select dispensaries in Southern California, as well as on Eaze in some markets. We hope that this is the start of a full-scale flower operation, soon to expand to more and more recreational markets.
As the cannabis industry continues to grow and mature, so too will GRAV. Creating new designs and ensuring that they work beautifully isn’t always easy, but it sure is fun.
Light one up for GRAV.
