Upgrading Your Bong
If you live for bong rips, you know that not all pieces hit the same. At GRAV, we aim to bring you innovative bongs and dab rigs for the best possible smoking session. But no matter how we make 'em, there will always be little tweaks you can make to improve and personalize your sesh.
Here's how to upgrade your bong for a nirvana-inducing smoking experience.
The Best Bong Upgrades & Experience Boosters
There are several methods of improving your bong or rig's performance.
1. Clean it up to make your hits fresh and flavorful
2. Swap out your bowl or add a banger
3. Add bong accessories like a dropdown or ash catcher
4. Experiment with water temperature
We'll take a closer look at each method.
1. Clean Your Bong for An Instant Upgrade
The quickest way to upgrade your smoking experience is to hit clean glass.
We're pretty partial to Grunge Off, a reusable, solvent-free cleaner that dissolves resin and gunk. Just pour it in, and let it soak for about 30 minutes. Then pour it through a fine mesh strainer back into the bottle (remember, it’s reusable!) and rinse your piece with warm water.
Voila. It's kinda like magic.
Grunge Off- Deep Clean Dirty Pipes & Bongs Don't let grime and buildup ruin ...
Grunge Off Super Soaker Cleaner, 16oz
$16.99
Shop NowIf you don't have Grunge Off, you can still get sparkling glass with some at-home cleaning supplies.
Rinse out your bong with warm water. Then fill the water chamber about halfway with 99% isopropyl alcohol and some coarse salt. Let it soak for a bit, then carefully shake it up. The salt will scour the glass clean. Give it another rinse with hot water and let it dry.
You can clean bowls and bangers the same basic way—just pour your alcohol and salt into a ziploc bag, add your glass accessory, and give it a shake after it soaks.
After cleaning your bong, your next session will be fresher and tastier than it has been in a while. Do this once a month for light use or once a week for heavy use.
2. Upgrade Your Bong's Bowl or Add a Banger
Changing the old slide bowl from your bong to a clean glass bowl will make a big difference in your rips.
For Smaller, Smoother Hits
If you don't like harshness in your hits, look for a bong bowl with a filter and a smaller flower capacity.
The 14mm Helix Bowl has dual roll stops and a limited capacity, perfect for smaller water pipes and Helix pipes.
The 14mm Cup Bowl has a medium capacity that's ideal for solo sessions, plus a glass maria to keep your fingers cool.
The 14mm Helix™ Taster® Bowl is compatible with any 14mm female joint and featur...
Helix™ 14mm, Clear Bowl
$9.99
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The GRAV® 14mm Cup Bowl is the essential sidekick to your favorite bong. The Che...
GRAV® 14mm Cup Bowl
$9.99
Shop NowFor Bigger, Shareable Hits
If you prefer big clouds, or you're packing for a crowd, look for a larger-capacity bong bowl.
The GRAV® Basin is wide and shallow, so it's easier to hit your herb with your lighter.
The Caldera bowl has a deep ol' chamber, big enough to hold about a 1/2 gram of weed. That's a lot.
And the high-volume Octobowl has a built-in glass screen to hold dry herb in place while giving you amazing airflow.
Stylized alternative to our standard offering. Comes in clear and 5 colors. Avai...
GRAV® 14mm Basin Bowl
$14.99
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Stylized alternative to our standard offering. This glass bowl is an upgrade for...
GRAV® 14mm Caldera Bowl
$14.99
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You want good airflow when you smoke. But if the hole in your bowl is too big, y...
GRAV® 14mm Male Octobowl
$11.99
Shop NowConvert Your Bong to a Dab Rig
If your bong is on the small-to-medium side with minimal percolation, you can usually convert it to a dab rig. All you'll need is a quartz banger to swap out for the bowl.
When choosing your banger, there are two important numbers to keep in mind:
-
Joint Size - Most bongs have a 14mm or 19mm joint, so make sure to get a quartz banger to match.
-
Downstem Angle - Bongs usually have a 45° or 90° angled downstem, and you'll need a banger that matches it so your banger will sit level.
Pop a carb cap on top of the banger, and you'll be ready to go with your newly converted dab rig.
Made of 100% quartz, this 25mm bucket is 3x thicker than your standard banger, w...
GRAV® 14mm 90° Seamless Quartz Banger
$25.99
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Made of 100% quartz, this 14mm dab rig banger is 3x thicker than your standard b...
GRAV® 14mm 45° Seamless Quartz Banger
$25.99
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Featuring a signature form by the internationally known glass blower and designe...
GRAV® Yo-yo Carb Cap
$34.99
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This bundle features six of GRAV’s most popular bong bowls. Each of these borosi...
GRAV® Bowl Bundle
$66.44
Shop Now3. Smoke Cleaner with New Bong Accessories
Supercharge your piece's performance with glass bong parts that catch resin and improve water filtration.
Add an Ash Catcher
An ash catcher does just what the name implies—it catches ash and resin before it can gunk up the water chamber in your water pipe or bubbler.
Ash catchers can get downright gnarly, while your bong and water stay pretty clear. And since they're small and removable, ash catchers can be submerged completely in Grunge Off or isopropyl alcohol, making them easier to clean than the bong itself.
As an added bonus, they also increase the smoke path, which can give you cooler hits.
The legendary GRAV Phoenix Ash Catcher provides extra percolation and the option to cool and flavor your bong hits. The overflow chamber can be filled with ice and citrus peels, while doing double duty grabbing ash and debris. The Phoenix Ash Catcher upgrades your piece into a super-filtered, hard-hitting smoke show.
Once you add the GRAV® 14mm Phoenix Ash Catcher to your setup, you’ll wonder how...
GRAV® 14mm Phoenix 45° Ash Catcher
$69.99
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Upgrade your arsenal with the GRAV® 14mm Phoenix 90° Ash Catcher.This bong attac...
GRAV® 14mm Phoenix 90° Ash Catcher
$69.99
Shop NowThe GRAV® Standard Ash Catcher is a smaller option with its own special features. A removable fission downstem provides extra filtration and a pre-rinse before smoke hits the water chamber.
The GRAV® Standard 45° Ash Catcher does the dirty work—holding on to that ash an...
GRAV® 14mm Standard 45° Ash Catcher
$59.99
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The GRAV® Ash Catcher is 5" tall and made on 38mm tubing. Its fission downstem d...
GRAV® 14mm Standard 90° Ash Catcher
$59.99
Shop NowSwap Out Your Downstem
If your water pipe comes with a removable downstem, you can change it out to customize your filtration and pull strength.
A diffused downstem with small cuts, rather than an open tube, gives you smoother airflow and microbubbles instead of big glugs.
GRAV's Fission Downstems give you smooth bubble action, and come in two sizes for smaller and larger bongs.
The 14mm GRAV® Fission Downstem is compatible with any 14mm beaker or straight-b...
GRAV® 3.3in 14mm Fission Downstem
$17.99
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The 14mm GRAV® Fission Downstem is compatible with any 14mm beaker or straight-b...
GRAV® 4.5in 14mm Fission Downstem
$17.99
Shop NowFor maximum versatility, the GRAV®14mm Adjustable Downstem is the way to go. It can extend from 4" to 6", so you can use it with all your favorite water pipes. And the tri-cut showerhead diffuser is easy to pull.
GRAV® 14mm Adjustable Downstem
The 14mm GRAV® Adjustable Downstem can extend anywhere from 4" to 6" and is comp...
$14.99
Shop NowAdd a Drop Down
If you're looking for a multi-function accessory that opens a whole new world, try a drop down.
Drop downs are versatile little friends. They help keep your bong or dab rig clean, catching resin before it hits your piece. They also create space away from your piece, so you can use larger accessories that might not otherwise fit. Plus, they keep heat away from your dab rig, if you're concerned about holding a butane torch too close to your rig.
GRAV® 14mm Female to 14mm Male Drop Down
GRAV® Drop Downs protect water pipes from damage due to extreme torch heat and l...
$19.99
Shop Now4. Experiment with Water Temperature
No need to buy anything here, just some experiments to run.
Most of us default to cold water and ice cubes, under the reasonable assumption that since cold water cools smoke, it therefore leads to smoother hits.
But there's a contingent of smokers out there that prefers warm water, saying that it actually makes hits smoother and less harsh.
Why?
A few reasons.
First, there's the difference in water viscosity. Warmer water is less viscous, so it creates lots of small bubbles, rather than fewer large bubbles. This means the smoke is exposed to a larger surface area of water, cooling it and creating smoother hits.
Warm water also creates more humid smoke, which won’t dry out your throat as much. Less coughing, less scratchiness.
Some even say hot water gets them higher but we haven’t seen any science to back that up, so your mileage may vary.
Play around with water temperature to bring your smoke sesh to a truly god-tier level. But don't go crazy with the steam—you don't want to burn your lungs.
The Best Way to Upgrade Your Bong? Get a New One.
If your old bong looks ragged and a new bowl is not going to do the trick, it may be time for a new smoke setup.
Our selection of straight tubes, beakers, and gravity bongs has been upgrading the game since 2004. Check out our Water Pipes Collection to find the glass you need to max out your next smoke session.
