How Is A Bong Cleared?

The air you pull through the slide pushes the remaining smoke out of the bong when you're inhaling.

 

Yea. You light the bowl, fill the chamber, then remove the bowl and give it a big suck to remove all the excess smoke (Which is the majority of the hit there).
 
Plus stale smoke tastes grows.

Personally, I'd rather lift the bowl than smoke from a bong with a carb.

 

So you can suck all the smoke into your lungs really fast, you lift the bowl after all the weed has been smoked in the bowl....It just makes clearing the bong so much easier, unless your bowl isn't filled with resin that you are always too lazy to clean 

 

because the bowl has a tiny hole so weed doesn't get sucked thru, when you pull it out you have all the area of the wider downstem to pull thru
 
also the bowl is usually full of weed/ash/whatever and you need good airflow to displace the smoke you just milked

 

I will try to explain this as simply as I can.  First here's a diagram so you understand the parts I am discussing.  

The reason you lift the bowl is to allow for air flow.  As you can see in the photo there is cannabis on top of the stem aka "in the bowl."  When you are heating the cannabis with the lighter the cannabis is being burned and therefore you are inhaling the cannabis.  You lift the bowl out aka "clear the bowl" to unblock (clear) the gateway that was previously the cannabis.  Now in place of the cannabis there is nothing and therefore you inhale air which allows for you to inhale all the cannabis material and then when you feel air you can exhale knowing you got the most out of your hit. Hopefully that makes sense.

 

yup.  when burning the bowl, the smokey air gets pulled thru the water (filtering out any ash and cooling the smoke a bit)
 
when you pull the bowl, now you get fresh air.  it replaces the smokey air that was in the bong, and the smoke gets pushed out and into your lungs.

 

nah, carb does the same thing as pulling the bowl, a low-drag source of fresh air.  either/or.
 
smoke whatever you like!  I'm usually a spliff guy, cause I love rolling, passing it around, dragging some delicious smoke outside on a nice day, etc. Got a pipe in the golf bag tho and a bong on the table!

 

you just get a feel for it... obviously you can't take too big a hit, so start small and try pulling longer before you release the carb and clear it
 
you'll know when you find your limit, try not to drop the piece when the cough attack sets in

 

 
its all personal preference.  some of my friends tap the carb throughout the hit, so it's never fully blocked.  i hit it almost like a bong, a long inhale then at the very end i take my finger off the carb (clear it) and the hit is finished.  it really depends on how much your lungs can take. taking big hits from a pipe will probably burn your throat if its a spoon since there is no water filtration, so start small, and increase your hit size as you get the hang of it.

 

with ur lungs yo