Smoke pipes are made of many materials, including glass, metal, corncob, and certain kinds of wood. However, ask anyone who is a regular smoker and they will probably tell you that pipes made of glass are the only ones worth buying.
Glass bong
Glass bongs come in different types and shapes. Each type is best for a specific type and quantity of product. Each has unique advantages and benefits.
A Brief History of Glass bongs
Pipes have been around for thousands of years in one form or another, and smoking usually lasts longer. Various ancient cultures inhaled some form of smoke for various reasons, usually religious/spiritual, but sometimes social, or even to promote health.
Pipe smoking of various substances as we know it today is closely related to early North American indigenous cultures. Today’s pipelines were originally modeled on these, although they have evolved a lot over the centuries. Native American pipes are usually made of wood, clay, corncob, or animal antlers (elk, deer).
When pipes became popular in European society as a form of recreation, the materials used to make them became more diverse, but they were still mostly made of wood. Over the centuries, as technology improved and new resources became available, pipe makers began to use other materials to make pipes. Corn lollipops were very popular in the 19th century because corn was cheap and relatively abundant, while corn on the cob was otherwise waste.
Corn glass bong
While corncob pipes still exist, they have fallen out of favor in the mainstream for pipes made from more modern materials such as metal because they can withstand higher temperatures. The problem with metal pipes, however, is that while they can absorb heat without damage, they often become too hot to touch. This limits their use, especially when it comes to something more exotic than regular tobacco.
Metal shell glass bong
into a glass bong. It is difficult to determine the exact origin of the glass bong. Rather than being attributed to a particular individual or company, glass bongs are more likely to have developed with the development of glass-making techniques and the art of glass blowing, early glass bongs were both smoking devices and works of art (perhaps more) . They arose in a time when glass blowing techniques were honed and perfected, mostly in the last 50 years. Glass blowers making glass bongs is another of their art forms.
Sherlock glass bong
Soon, the glass bong caught the attention of smokers. At first, they appealed to smokers for their artistic value, but smokers soon realized that smoking a glass bong produced a taste unmatched by any other material. In fact, it is not the taste that attracts smokers, but the lack of taste. Pipes made from other materials provide some type of subtle flavor to the smoked product or substance, while glass pipes produce pure and clean flavors without any added flavors to the pipe itself. To illustrate this point, think of drinking wines without oak barrels and, more commonly, wines aged in oak barrels. Oak barrel-aged wines have unique flavors that non-oak-aged wines do not have. A more accurate explanation is the difference between bottled beer and canned beer. Glass bottled beer tastes different than beer sealed in aluminum cans.
Still hand-blown, contemporary glass bongs are both works of art and functional. Their designs range from simple to complex, abstract to concrete, or imitating animals or other objects. They look beautiful and work great.