Choosing A Bong: Glass, Acrylic, Ceramic or Silicone?

Choosing the right bong is not easy. Should I buy one made of glass, acrylic, ceramic or silicone? Often this mainly depends on your budget, but there are more differences between the most popular bong materials. Below you can read all about the most widely-used materials for bongs, and decide which one suits you best!

The most widely-used bong materials

Bongs are available in glass, acrylic (plastic), ceramic (stone), and silicone, among others. Each material has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Glass Bongs

Glass bongs are the best bongs. Although it actually depends on your personal wishes and method of use which material is best for a bong, it is undeniable that glass bongs offer the best smoking experience. Of course there are also small, cheap glass bongs that smoke less comfortably, but the very best bongs are all made of glass. And not just any glass, but borosilicate glass. Glass artists are able to create real works of art that function as a bong. For example, there are glass replicas of guns that work as a bong, skulls with incredible details, and much more: the possibilities are almost endless with glass.

Glass bongs are often equipped with percolators or diffusers: these are parts that spread the smoke through the bong water more effectively, and ensure that the smoke comes into contact with the water as much as possible, in order to optimally cool and filter the smoke. In addition, glass does not give off any strange odors or flavors that affect the taste of your weed. Together, this ensures that glass gives you the very best smoking experience of all bong materials. 

Acrylic Bongs

Acrylic bongs, like glass bongs, have been around for decades, but they are nowhere near as popular as glass bongs. Still, acrylic bongs have some advantages: they are inexpensive, less fragile than glass bongs, and often easy to clean. They are also very light compared to glass or ceramic bongs, so you can easily take them to friends or to festivals. And if you accidentally forget to take it home, you can just buy a new one for very little money.

But make sure to rinse an acrylic bong well after every bong hit, or after every few bong hits, and add fresh water. If you regularly rinse and clean a plastic bong or acrylic bong, it will continue to look like new for a long time. If you do not do this, the dirt can adhere to the plastic, and it becomes a lot more difficult to get it clean again.

Ceramic Bongs

Ceramic bongs (also called ceramic pottery bongs or ceramic bongs) are just as fragile (or even more fragile) than glass bongs, but do not have the advantage of being equipped with diffusers or percolators that improve the quality of the smoke. Then why would you choose a ceramic bong? There are several reasons for this: firstly, ceramic bongs are often real works of art. You get them in the form of a dragon, a penis, a naked woman, a mushroom ... you can't imagine it! Usually, pottery bongs are the most artistic of them all, and you might as well use them as decoration for your living room. Often you don't even see it's a bong until you take a closer look!

Ceramic bongs are often porous, but can also be finished in such a way that the surface is completely “sealed” and is therefore no longer porous. Then they are much easier to clean and the dirt (tar) does not easily adhere to the walls of the bong.

In terms of taste, ceramic bongs are usually a good "second best", after glass. This mainly depends on the design of the bong and how well you can clean it. A disadvantage of the ceramic works of art is that they are sometimes not so easy to clean thanks to the complex shape, so the taste can deteriorate over time. This can be prevented by rinsing and cleaning your bong regularly. You can also use LimPuro Tar Blocker for this, so that the dirt does not adhere to the walls of your bong.

Silicone Bongs

Silicone bongs have not been around as long as the bongs made of other materials, but they have become very popular in recent years. And that is not easy! Although a silicone bong usually does not give a particularly soft or pleasant smoke, they do have a huge advantage over the other materials: silicone bongs are virtually indestructible. If you drop a glass or ceramic bong, they break easily. You can throw a silicone bong off skyscraper, play football with it, or hit your friend in the face if he falls asleep from the weed; but it will not break! You can usually fold a silicone bong, which makes them extremely easy to carry or store. Ideal for clumsy stoners, and for stoners who like to take their bong outside or to parties.

Make sure you buy a bong of "food-grade silicone", and not just any cheap silicone bong. This can be unhealthy or even dangerous, because these bongs can release certain substances.

Other materials – bottles, apples, etc.

Now it gets really fun! If you are a bit creative, you can also make a bong yourself! The possibilities are almost endless. You can make a bong from fruit (for example from an apple, melon or coconut), from a plastic bottle (okay, we actually already talked about that material), from wood, metal, and so on! The only limit is your imagination. But think carefully about what happens to the material that heats up: you prefer not to heat plastic or aluminum foil, because that gives strange flavors and possibly even unhealthy vapors.

What is the best material for a bong?

As described above, there are different materials of which bongs are made, and each material has its own advantages and disadvantages. That is why we can only give you one good advice:

Choose a bong that suits your needs

Are you looking for a bong that performs phenomenally and cools and filters the smoke optimally? Then buy a glass bong (with a percolator), without any doubt. Are you a clumsy stoner who has already broken several bongs? Then consider an indestructible silicone bong, or a good acrylic bong. As a nice gift or a bong that is more intended for decoration, ceramic bongs (pottery) are often a good choice.

Were you able to make your choice? At Bongify we have the largest bong range in Europe under one roof (or actually ... on one website)! View all bongs or contact us if you have any questions after reading this article about the different bong materials.