My Bong Dilemma, Did I make a bad decision?

[Marlin7]

So a week ago I was at the local headshop. I saw this "ZOB" bong for $200, It had a triple perc tree, diffussor, Ice pinches. It was basically a copy of a Roor. So Im like fuck it ill buy thing.
I think that was my mistake, I should have done some reasearch first. I know nothing about bongs. I added a Roor ash catcher and it hits pretty well but has some drag at times. Now I have nothing to compare to because I have never smoked a bong before.
I have now done some research and looking at the quality of the Roor's, Lux's, PHX ect... the ZOB is sub par.
I gets me high and all but I look at the other bong and I wish I looked into it a little more. Should I try to sell this thing and go for the top of the line shit? Will I notice a difference? And lastly where would you reccomend to buy a bong online?

[DiAmOnD RaStA]

^^Grasscity.com is the only online shop you can promote here.


... Buddy had a ZOB a couple years ago, i think it was a decent bong. As long as the glass is thick, and its glass on glass... i dont really think theres that much of a difference between high end bongs.

How are the percs on there? Never seen ZOB percs. I would keep it, and then invest something else later.

[Marlin7]

Originally Posted by DiAmOnD RaStA

How are the percs on there? Never seen ZOB percs. I would keep it, and then invest something else later.

They look like the Roor triple tree, with diffussors on each of them. But when comparing to a Roor you can see the Roor is made better.

[zalzal010]

the bong will suite you just as well as its equivalent roor. sell it if youre only looking to smoke from brand name stuff .... some people are just like that I s'pose.

The build quality is surely going to be slightly better coming from the experienced blowers at roor, but IMHO the only things actually BETTER are the bistable joints and the thicker glass (7mm+), which adds at least $100 onto the regular price of said piece.

[MuttMunchies]

Originally Posted by zalzal010

the bong will suite you just as well as its equivalent roor. sell it if youre only looking to smoke from brand name stuff .... some people are just like that I s'pose.

The build quality is surely going to be slightly better coming from the experienced blowers at roor, but IMHO the only things actually BETTER are the bistable joints and the thicker glass (7mm+), which adds at least $100 onto the regular price of said piece.

Well the joints they use are much better on the roor, they never wobble (assuming your joints on your GonG bowls are also the best).

Also the perc trees are sub par on the zobs (most zobs use domes, so the fact its a perc tree..assuming it is... that aint bad for $200).
Is the tube 5mm thick? Throw up some pictures, the zobs have stepped up their quality it might not be a bad decision

just for comparison, a roor 24" double perc with roor diffuser was $299, so $99 more id personally go roor (before they stopped making them of course)

[zalzal010]

Joint wobble and fluctuations between different perc trees are hardly performance issues. You're not going to get a harsh hit because one tree is at a less-than-perfect angle, and you certainly arent going to get any smoke leaking through that wobbly downstem.

The OP seems to be concerned about the... 'structural integrity' of said bong. Bistable joints and thicker glass are the only things that have a chance of saving your investment in any kind of hard impact.

[MuttMunchies]

Originally Posted by zalzal010

Joint wobble and fluctuations between different perc trees are hardly performance issues. You're not going to get a harsh hit because one tree is at a less-than-perfect angle, and you certainly arent going to get any smoke leaking through that wobbly downstem.

The OP seems to be concerned about the... 'structural integrity' of said bong. Bistable joints and thicker glass are the only things that have a chance of saving your investment in any kind of hard impact.

I thought the OP was asking overall the quality of the tube, im just saying ZObs are lower quality. The structure and quality of the perc tree i think is part of the structural integrity, for some perc trees in non roor tubes are known to be too close to the walls and eventually break, also perc trees perform slightly different between brands.

Lux has introduced reinforced perc trees, which greatly improve the strength/durability (especially when cleaning)

u can get a lux perc as cheap as $225

[whosaysdank]

Originally Posted by MuttMunchies

Well the joints they use are much better on the roor, they never wobble (assuming your joints on your GonG bowls are also the best).

Also the perc trees are sub par on the zobs (most zobs use domes, so the fact its a perc tree..assuming it is... that aint bad for $200).
Is the tube 5mm thick? Throw up some pictures, the zobs have stepped up their quality it might not be a bad decision

just for comparison, a roor 24" double perc with roor diffuser was $299, so $99 more id personally go roor (before they stopped making them of course)

dont think 299 is the going rate for a roor perc

edit: and to address zala.. the two things you addressed DO affect structural integrity and bistabil joints arent really helpful.. you realize its just the seal that's thicker, not the entire joint

[MuttMunchies]

$299 is the retail price. Thats what i base the prices off of, no way to know the average US roor perc price...and now that they dont make them who knows what they can go for.

But Roor.us sells them for $299

[whosaysdank]

whats retail on a beaker perc?

[zalzal010]

pyrex is pyrex. no amount of glass experience is going to infuse any extra strength than what that thickness of glass would normally allow.

You're preaching to the chior if you're trying to get me to recognize higher quality... but what I'm essentially getting at is that 99% of any situations that could break a bong apply to any brand. I'd be willing to bet that the circumstances in which a bistable joint could save your bong are MUCH more plausible than those that the precision tree allignment can help with.

[MuttMunchies]

Originally Posted by Marlin7

So a week ago I was at the local headshop. I saw this "ZOB" bong for $200, It had a triple perc tree, diffussor, Ice pinches. It was basically a copy of a Roor. So Im like fuck it ill buy thing.
I think that was my mistake, I should have done some reasearch first. I know nothing about bongs. I added a Roor ash catcher and it hits pretty well but has some drag at times. Now I have nothing to compare to because I have never smoked a bong before.
I have now done some research and looking at the quality of the Roor's, Lux's, PHX ect... the ZOB is sub par.
I gets me high and all but I look at the other bong and I wish I looked into it a little more. Should I try to sell this thing and go for the top of the line shit? Will I notice a difference? And lastly where would you reccomend to buy a bong online?

Originally Posted by zalzal010

pyrex is pyrex. no amount of glass experience is going to infuse any extra strength than what that thickness of glass would normally allow.

You're preaching to the chior if you're trying to get me to recognize higher quality... but what I'm essentially getting at is that 99% of any situations that could break a bong apply to any brand. I'd be willing to bet that the circumstances in which a bistable joint could save your bong are MUCH more plausible than those that the precision tree allignment can help with.

I just dont see where the dude is trippin about breaking the tube. I interpret it as overall quality of the tube, not which tube is more or less likely to break if mishandled...

[Marlin7]

Originally Posted by MuttMunchies

I just dont see where the dude is trippin about breaking the tube. I interpret it as overall quality of the tube, not which tube is more or less likely to break if mishandled...

Yea I am not worried about it breaking. The one I have is like the one here all the way on the right

[zalzal010]

I felt the other issues had obvious answers. a tree perc roor and a tree perc zob of the same height and volume will smoke exactly the same to a first-time bong user. If he is already aware of the visual differences, I dont see much point in going over them again.

[Marlin7]

Originally Posted by zalzal010

I felt the other issues had obvious answers. a tree perc roor and a tree perc zob of the same height and volume will smoke exactly the same to a first-time bong user. If he is already aware of the visual differences, I dont see much point in going over them again.

So your saying that I will probably notice no difference? But down the road maybe? Its seems my decision is based on appearance and build quality