My exploits in cannabis so far / where to go from here?

Hello everyone!

I have only been smoking for a couple months, sometimes frequently, sometimes not.
I have only smoked "dro", which here in Texas can either refer to the correct meaning - that it was hydroponically grown - or simply good quality "dank" sh*t. Whatever it is, I have in no way been disappointed!

My goal in posting this thread is to share what I think i've learned so far, and to hopefully get some advice as to how I can improve my smoking experience!

My first few times, due to a lack of equipment or joint-rolling knowhow, I originally packed my herbs into emptied Middleton's Black and Mild Wood Tip cigars- cutting them short since they can accommodate a rather large amount of material. I would share one of these with my girlfriend, and together we would smoke nearly an gram or two in only one sitting. Needless to say, we were blowing through cash!

She then introduced to me the concept of a waterfall gravity bong- and so five minutes of brainstorming, $6 and one trip to the hardware store later, I found a little piece of plumbing hardware that has been my best friend ever since. Though I've seen plenty of instructions on how to make one with tin foil and other household supplies, and granted I'm still naive when it comes to this sort of thing, I have yet to see anyone do it quite like this, so I'll offer a quick description (since I can't seem to be able to attach photos) of the components:

Its essentially a small (Inch and a half long) threaded brass tube with nuts that screw on at either end, one end being slightly larger than the other. (i've put black rubber grommets on mine to keep it nice and airtight but I don't think its necessary) The inside of the tube is tapered in the middle, so either end of "the contraption" (as we have nicknamed it) can serve as a bowl, one smaller and one larger.(one of the benefits of the nuts is that they can be unscrewed a certain amount without being removed- meaning its an expandable bowl. In my later adaptation with the hose, this allows it to function like a two stage rocket- smoking through the nut gets you pretty high, but then you just screw it off and keep going till you're in orbit! )
Anyway, you use a drill bit or a knife to bore a hole into the cap of a regular "Great Value" water bottle (which you will screw the contraption into) and then bore another smallish hole into the bottom of the bottle. After re-filling the bottle with water, and filling the bowl with herbs, you plug the hole in the bottle with your finger and screw on the cap.

Anyway, you then use the waterfall bong like so: While holding a lighter to the bowl, you release your finger from the bottle and allow the water to drain out. This creates suction and pulls thick smoke down into the bottle. It will continue to do this until you run out of water. Once all the water has drained out, you unscrew the cap and inhale the smoke. Its easy to trap the smoke inside the bottle with your hand, and this allows you to smoke it at your leisure.

The waterfall system is great because very minute amounts of smoke escaped into the air unlike the cigars we were smoking before. This not only maximizes the amount of smoke you get to inhale, but also minimizes odor! Also, the smoke cools as it collects in the bottle, so its a little easier on the lungs than a "blunt".
For anyone who can't afford a real bong or who needs something small and easy, I definitely recommend it!

Now, although we really enjoyed that system, the limited quantity of water in the bottle means that there's only so much herbs that you can burn through before you run out of water. If you want more herbs, you need to install it in a bigger bottle. Because my girlfriend and I started smoking more frequently, and thusly our tolerance had increased, I simply attached a somewhat thin (about AA battery diameter) hose to the bottle and stopped using water entirely.
This, so far has been my favorite method of smoking. The smoke collects in the bottle as you inhale, and the length of the hose (about 3 feet) allows for a great deal of cooling- meaning that this method has been the easiest on my lungs by far! This method also makes possible the 2-stage rocket technique I described earlier.

However, my girlfriend and I are wondering if its worth buying a REAL bong. We are happy with the results we get with my beloved contraption, but it would be sorta nice to have something that at least looked a little less "ghetto"- if only so that we can feel like legitimate, respectable stoners.

I'm curious what recommendations anyone might have on what the best thing is to buy. Efficiency is very important to my girlfriend, so she's reluctant to switch to something if she thinks too much smoke will escape into the air.

On a side note, our supplier has informed us that for whatever reason he's going to be getting mostly "corn" instead of "dro". Keeping in mind that I'm in North Texas, what is the significance of this? If we're used to smoking what we believe to be some pretty good stuff, will we be dissatisfied by corn? What do I need to know?

Any advice is much appreciated! And please let me know what you think of my contraption!

 

Haha you'd be correct! It was very late when I wrote this and I stupidly put ounce instead of gram. Honest mistake, I just wasn't thinking about it. My girlfriend is the one who is friends with our supplier and she (usually with my money) typically buys around one or two grams at a time- back when i was loading the cigars, we'd blow through that easily in one or two sittings. The thing i use now lets us get more bang for our buck so to speak.