I have a budget of $50 (including shipping) and I've heard from friends and other more experienced tokers that a good thing for a first bong is buy a cheap acrylic body and invest most of the money in a nice glass bowl. I looked through the grasscity store and i am seeing perfect acrylic bongs and many different glass bowls, but the numbers are a bit confusing. How can i know which bowls and stems will fit in which bongs?
Honestly I'd save your money I dunno where you live but shipping from grassciy to the states is $25 most of the time. So I'd check your Lhs
If you have 50 bucks, go to your LHS and get a shitty tiny glass bong or a nice little bubbler. Unless your underage that is.
you aren't going to get a good bong(even acrylic) + bowl + shipping for $50. if you wait for a while you could upgrade the bowl at a later time, and just get the bong and use whatever bowl it comes with. or you could save and buy all glass which is a much more enjoyable smoking experience. you're also going to, most likely, have to upgrade your downstem before you could use most glass bowls with an acrylic bong.