Bong vs vaporizer vs bowl vs joint, pros and cons

[inhale]

There's always posts about which one is better and recently one came up saying bongs make the tar pure, or something like that. I will clear this discussion up in this thread.



Bong/bubbler

Pros
- Reduces heat damage to the throat and lungs because the water cools the smoke.

- Filters some tar and water-soluble impurities in the smoke, but not too much.

- Smoother smoke


Cons
- Some THC gets lost into the water so the user has to smoke more to get the desired effects. This means that even though some tar gets filtered out, you smoke more from a bong so the thc to tar ratio isn't so good.

- Cleaning required

- Can't hide or swallow (or can you?) if a cop comes around


Neutral
- Depending on the size of the piece, it might be difficult to pass around in a group.


My opinion
- Bongs are fun to use

- The sound is awesome

- The smoother smoke is worth it, especially when you add ice cubes or snow



Vaporizer

Pros
- Conserves weed

- Does not cause damage to the lungs, except for minor heat damage maybe


Cons
- Studies have shown that the THC concentration in the vapor is not as much as previously predicted (90% or whatever), but other cannabinoids from the marijuana plant get vaporized. This results in a different high, discussed under neutral.

- Expensive

- Usually bulky and awkward to use with a group of people.

- Requires electricity, be it batteries or a wall socket.


Neutral
- The high is different. It is less paranoid and more of a brain-dead couch-lock high because THC is responsible for the 'up'/paranoia. Vapor contains more cannabinoids than and less THC than the other methods.

- Many people hate the taste of the vapor


My opinion
- Unless my aim is to conserve weed, I will probably never buy one.

- I don't like the taste of the vapor. I think it kills the experience of smoking.

- The high seems like a waste of time to me. You sit and stare at things for hours. My friend who uses the Volcano said: "I just sit on the couch and stare out my window, the high is like 'blaaaaaaaaah'", but he swears by his vaporizer. Best $500 he ever spent, he says.



Bowl

Pros
- No rolling, no setting up, just pack and toke.

- Easy to pass around in a group.


Cons
- Causes major heat damage to the lungs. Even joints are 'filtered' because the smoke has to go through the rest of the joint before into your mouth.

- THC gets stuck on the inside walls of the bowl as the smoke moves (resin), you have to smoke a LITTLE more depending on how long the smoke has to travel to your mouth.

- If a cop comes around, they are hard to hide.


My opinion
- I think they are fun to use and easy to pass around.

- I like the fact that you can just toke and put it away easily when you're done, with no further cleaning required, as with a bong.

- I like to roll a blunt and and stick it in the bowl. This helps with heat damage, and the 'bowl' now stays lit and slowly burns.

- Bowls are good if you're smoking alone, because it conserves weed. The smoke doesn't go into the air in-between hits, as with a joint.



Joint/blunt/spliff/etc

Pros
- Studies show that the THC to tar ratio of a joint is the best overall out of all the other methods.

- The smoke having to travel through the remaining weed is a sort of filter. This reduces damage to the lungs caused by heat, and the THC/resin gets stuck to the remaining weed, as opposed to the sides of a bowl, or the water of a bong.

- Easy to hide/get rid of fast.

- Small enough to pass around and carry with you.

- Rolling paper is available in many places.

- Flavored rolling paper/blunt wraps available.


Cons
- Rolling can be tedious, especially if you did not check the weather and you did not roll beforehand (i.e, rolling in the park and it starts to rain or get windy.)

- If you're alone, some THC will be wasted because the joint will continue to burn while you're taking your hit. In a group this doesn't happen because the joint is constantly going around.

- Paper costs money, and you have to buy more eventually.


My opinion
- Overall I prefer joints because I like to roll and I'm extremely lazy (when sober) and don't like to clean up.



Please read: Studies have shown that by holding hits in longer, you do not get higher.

Most people think they are getting higher but if you hold your breath, you will feel light headed and dizzy due to lack of oxygen going to your brain. This has nothing to do with marijuana and not only will it kill some brain cells, it will damage your lungs. No matter what method of smoking (obviously lung damage doesn't apply to cooking weed) you choose, the best thing you can do is to not hold hits in for too long.


References

This information is mostly from the book Understanding Marijuana, by Professor Mitch Earleywine and from Erowid.org


Hope this cleared things up. Please inform me if I have given any misinformation, or of anything to append. Happy tokin' -- and stay healthy.

[screwologist]

hell yeah good lookin out on that mayne....rep+

[Alex_09]

Good thread, a lot of good points.
Im happy about finding out that hold your hits thing, so it wastes brain cells?

[waterhurley]

god im sick of people saying you loose thc in the water... NOT TRUE! please check some facts before posting like you absolutley know. please read the post by infiniteawsome in the link. that should clear anything up.

http://forum.grasscity.com/showthrea...t=79673&page=4

edit: other then the bong theory everything is perfect in this post. wtg man

[HerbsINtheBurbs]

+rep man, this looks like it took some effort, and I agree with most of the point on it. I love all methods of use, even my vape, but the bong is still my fave

[inhale]

I checked out the facts. From Erowid and that book. It's a recent book from 2002. I will post the references the professor used to come to that conclusion in his book when I get back home.

[Wocka]

accually for the vaporizers u have it the other way around, u only burn thc no cannibinoids, cannibinoids give u the couchlock high and i never get that when i use my vaporizer

[waterhurley]

Originally Posted by inhale

I checked out the facts. From Erowid and that book. It's a recent book from 2002. I will post the references the professor used to come to that conclusion in his book when I get back home.

im telling you. thc is not water soluiable when its in active smoke form. its physically impossible. nothing can convince me otherwise. i herd my facts straigh from the hourses mouth.

[hendrixelixir]

Yes, it is true that THC is insoluble in water, making it necessary to make cannabutter to provide a fat to dissolve the THC in. However, I think the study that concluded that bongs actually have a lower THC:Tar ratio than the other smoking methods because the THC sticks to the especially sticky tars that can be filtered out by the water. "Researchers speculate this is because cannabinoids are exceptionally sticky and adhere to other solids," the solids obviously being tars and the rest of the particulates you see in dirty bong water. When things are burned, all the different components of smoke might be separated chemically, but not physically, which means while theoretical THC, in pure gas form, will flow through the water and into the chamber, but THC in real life, likely stuck to the many byproducts of combustion, will be held back by their far heavier tars. They do, however, point out that bongs may have a net benefit to them--less heat damage and the filtering out of other carcinogens other than tar, among other things.

The study solely measures the performance of smoking methods with a THC:Tar ratio. They are not making a decision as to which is the "better" method--only the amount of THC in equal amounts of smoke. You can hit a lot more smoke out a bong than a pipe, without a doubt. Bongs will always have a place in our collections because of the massive buffer of smoke that they can provide, allowing us to get a lot more smoke, a lot more THC, and a lot higher. The potential price we pay is more tars than the other methods, but it does its job, and it does it well.

So please, no more on this "Bongs are bad for you." Each has its pros and cons, which the starter of this thread objectively laid out in front of us. It's helpful to discuss which pros outweigh which cons, but when the facts are there, try to look into qualitative studies a bit more carefully before jumping to conclusions and discrediting a statement by a fellow blade.

Chill, man.

[inhale]

Yes, I never said THC is water-soluble, because it most certainly is not, otherwise we would be able to snort or just eat the bud as-is.

As was stated by hendrixelixir, the experiements only measure thc:tar ratio, and studies have shown that some THC is lost in the water. It doesn't specifically have to be because THC is water-soluble, we know it's not.

In theory, a vaporizer would provide 100% THC and zero tar. A bong would provide all the THC minus some tar and less harmful chemicals that might get filtered by water. In practice, this is not the case.

Also, I know that flame destroys THC and other cannabinoids. I'm wondering, if you keep lighting a bowl, does it waste THC compared to just having it stay lit? What about if you keep lighting a joint? I know that the THC you inhale is actually vaporized from the neighboring flamed end of the bud, not the actual burned bud itself.

[hydro_dank_man]

i dont know man ive smoked all the above at one time or another i used a shitty vap tho so i cant critisize or praize those im a blunt man/bowl i hate joints love bubblers tho

[Lebowski]

I disagree with the "holding in your hits doesnt get you higher" statement. THC isnt instantly absorbed into your lungs, on average i'd say you keep the smoke in for 5 to 10 seconds. Shotgunning with other people/animals proves that there is still THC left in the smoke, and I dont believe that the fact that I can get higher by holding in my hits long is only caused by placebo or lack of oxygen. If it were only due to lack of oxygen the extra high effects would only last a couple seconds associated with a possible temporary lack of vision.

[waterhurley]

Originally Posted by inhale

Also, I know that flame destroys THC and other cannabinoids. I'm wondering, if you keep lighting a bowl, does it waste THC compared to just having it stay lit? What about if you keep lighting a joint? I know that the THC you inhale is actually vaporized from the neighboring flamed end of the bud, not the actual burned bud itself.

ive wondered the same thing myself. i tihnk youre right but im not sure. all my friends, whenever they get there hands on some nice headies they ALWAYS grind it up before packing a bowl. they say its so when they put the lighter to it, it only needs a second of open flame to activate al that shit then it just cherries and ashes its self. they pack these bowls so u can use a lighter once or twice and not need one again. saves money on lighters if anything

[zalsrevenge]

All of them create different highs. A bong high is a nice stoney rush to the head with slow back-taperings. A vape is good for conserving weed, but the high is rather strange to some people and unwelcomed. Bowls are good for smokin nice and quick, but the high is more of a rush high with a short come-down time. Joints on the other hand have a nice rolling high that can usually be felt for a while. Also if you can roll well there isnt any reason why you can't conserve when smoking joints, just turn 1.5 grams into 3 alright joints that will keep ya goin for a few hours. Why isnt blunts in the title too? Blunts are by far the true connoisseur's smoking method.

[Teeler]

Bongs!!! Unite!