Beaker Bong Noobie Needs Advice! (TL;DR at bottom) Hey folks! Like any half-decent college student I too had been enlightened by the magical world of the green gold not long after moving out from my folks. In quick succession I shifted into a more regular day-to-day consumption of the magic and a year of smoking just blunts went by, until I made the unfortunate mistake of subjecting myself and friends to nights full of terror, scorching our delicate lungs with funky cheap-ass total torture devices/pipes (metal, yuk). I quickly disposed of this evil machinery. Two more years went by until blunts started to slowly bore me again. Then I was ready for my first proper 420 promotion, I googled and googled until I finally ordered this beauty: Isn't she gorgeous? (Boost Beaker Bong) Specs: ⋅ Height: 4400mm (approximately) ⋅ Wall thickness: 5mm (circa) ⋅ Diameter: Ø50mm ⋅ Joint: 18.8mm ground joint ⋅ Ice pins/notches ⋅ Shot/Carb hole ⋅ Frosted Label ⋅ Stem and cone included ⋅ One hitter glass cone included So 48 long hours went by and it finally arrived, by then I was well prepared. I did my homework, stocked up on the good stuff and it was a match; love on first sight, and though she's a big girl, I guess that's what I'm into now. Being as diligent as I am, I figured there's no more suitable place to ask for wisdom than in this temple right here. So let's get started: a) First of all I really dislike the taste of the metal screen, it's reminiscent of past traumatic experiences. The freebie screens I got with the bong aren't top notch quality naturally, I however read about these glass screens or "sea mines", and those got me interested. What would you recommend? What should I be paying attention to when buying them and what's your experience so far? I addition, I've also seen these metal screens with hinges. How are those? b) Lighter-wise, I think I might have joined the cult of the anti-butane. I'm a regular smoker and perfervid collector of vintage Duponts and Zippo's but inhaling unburned butane gass might be a little overkill on this one. I'll probably be ordering the honey wax hemp rope stuff, are there any other decent alternatives? What about matchsticks? c) And finally, as I'm still a complete noobie with practically zero knowledge of all the accessories out there: what goodies would you recommend and what would you suggest I'd get first? (E.g., is it worthwhile upgrading my stem?) My budget I'd consider to be "within reason" (it's a 50 buck bong), naturally I won't be spending a fortune over this fresh relationship, although I don't shy away from making a little investment either. If you feel like I missed out on something or have any other tips you think could be of use to me and other new students of the arts, then feel free to share! Thanks a lot in advance! ️ - TL;DR First bong, completely stock, complete noobie. Looking for "take my money" accessories and upgrades such as a glass screen thing or metal screen thing with hinge. Halp.
Use a titanium screen. DuPont has a kick ass "industrial lighter" perfect for bong work. S.T. Dupont Defi Extreme Single Torch Chrome and Black Cigar Lighter Get an ash catcher.
For a screen just break a glass bottle and use a Pease. And you will probably want a ash catcher Your bong will thank you Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Just don't use a screen and clean your piece often. You'll be cleaning it anyway so a little ash in there won't be a problem. I clean mine weekly or twice a week with isopropyl alcohol and use fresh water every session. Fresh water is a must broski! I only use an ash catcher if the piece hits a little to airy. It ends up being more to clean in the end. Nice piece though!!
a) I use brass screens. It helps to anneal the screens before use, to make them more pliable. Added bonus, this burns off any crap left by the production process. I found glass screens to be too much hassle to be worth it. I get most of my screens for free, so meh. b) butane has only 2 combustion products in a complete combustion, namely water and carbon dioxide. Match heads contain sulfur and other crap. Hemp wick or whatever probably causes more crud than a bic lighter. Zippo's and other fluid lighters use naptha or some other crud like kerosene. Ruins the flavour if you ask me, but then again if it's all you got, it's all you got. c) given that your bong has no percs, or stack of percs, an ash catcher isn't really required. I do like to use an ash catcher or pre-cooler (same physical object, but used for a different purpose), because to me it makes the rip feel smoother. Upgrading the downstem to something with a perc on the end could be nice. Depending on what you replace it with, it will change the way the bong rips. I've got 3 downstems for my bong, an inside-grind one with 6 diffusion slits on the end, no real drag on that one, but the diffusion is nothing spectacular. An 18mm one that's just a straight tube, it's chuggy as hell, but it probably has the least drag of three. And an 18mm one with a showerhead perc on the end, which is by far the most draggy of the three, but it has superior diffusion. I prefer the showerhead one, because it feels the smoothest, it makes a wierd noise though, not at all bong like. If you're going to spend on stuff, I'd say get a packet of sea-mines first, a pre-cooler / ash catcher second, and a perc'd downstem third. Though there is something to be said for having a second downstem, just in case you break one.
Fresh cooled water and a clean bong indeed! It didn't take long for me to figure out that's the way to go. I've been cleaning it after every session and refill inbetween as well. The bowl itself though I find too big to use without some sort of screen at all, unless I put a giant nugget in there it'll slide down into the water.
U don't need a screen . Glass ones suck because you have to take out the seamine every couple of hits because it will help the hole in your slide get clogged easier. Soverenty makes 4 hole slides. I think ehle makes a 6 hole slide. And Mobius makes 4 hole slides too. I use soverenty slides and they never get clogged. 4 holes better than 1. Oh the holes arnt huge either. Like some slides you can stick your pinky finger through it lol