Opinions - Is a pipe an economical way to smoke cannabis? What is the best type of pipe?

[Magicarp]

Economically speaking, is using a pipe a good way to smoke weed? Do you get "bang for you buck" relative to a joint.

My friend told me that with pipes that all the weed burns quickly and the smoke is lost too quickly thus it is wasteful. I don't know how reliable that statement is though.

I want to use a pipe because they seem convenient(no rolling) and healthy(don't even have the carcinogens from burning paper). However I am concerned about the reactiveness of metals and how harmful chemicals can be released. What material would be recommended instead? What style of pipe is best? I see some pipes have lids, can someone explain this to me?

I'm not looking for anything fancy with the pipe, I just want function, I don't care about aesthetics.

If its not worth using a pipe and its just one of those novelty things then tell me and I will just smoke joints.

Cheers

[augentier]

Out of all smoking mediums, SWIM loves smoking out of pipes and bongs. In SWIM's experience, joints & blunts waste the most smoke because it's constantly burning with the paper. If SWIY doesn't want to smoke an entire joint or blunt's worth, then a pipe comes in handy because you can just put a small amount of bud in it, and smoke it up. SWIM thinks smoking from pipes gets the smoker higher.

Glass and wooden pipes are SWIM's favorite..because with glass you won't get any taste altering the weed..with wooden pipes it seems the weed subtley picks up the scent/flavor/whatever of the wood. SWIM hates metal pipes because they taste disgusting and has heard that they can cause health problems (not sure about the validity of this..but makes sense to SWIM :P )

Also, go for a pipe with a screen (you can buy a screen and put it in yourself) so that bits and pieces of bud don't go flying into your mouth. A small pipe is, obviously, easier to conceal than a larger pipe..so that's something to think about. Hmm what else..oh yeah, SWIM bought a hella cute little blue glass sherlock pipe, but the bowl dipped and went back up, so whenever SWIM lights the bowl, she has to be EXTRA careful or the flame from the lighter will burn her nose and sometimes eyelashes Some pipes (usually metal) have lids that you can screw/turn off and load the bowl, the lids have holes in them ..that's where the flame goes. They don't spill as easy that way.

Basically the things to look for are a good clean material (glass is awesome), a screen (you know, this isn't ALWAYS necessary but it doesn't hurt), and its practicality as far as smoking goes..learn from SWIM's mistake and don't buy something with a bowl so close to your face that you might burn yourself. Oh, and if you don't break it..it's nice to have a pipe around for a long time, you can eventually start your own little collection

The only downfall of pipes that SWIM can think of is that they need to be cleaned every once in a while. Make SURE that the pipe's hole has a good opening that won't get clogged with resin easily. A lot of pipes have "carb" holes in them..you cover them when you inhale the smoke and can uncover when you want a blast of fresh air through the pipe..however SWIM thinks carbs are a little pointless but it doesn't really matter.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good input

[pokeyjo304]

swim always uses bowls and bongs when he is at home or at a friends house, but he likes to use papers or blunt wraps when he is out on the street, the reason is if you get caught with papers and no weed you cant get in trouble, but if you get caught with a bowl that has resin in it, even if you have no weed on you, then you can get arrested.

bowls and especially bongs is swims favorite way to smoke though.

[WhiteRhino420]

joints, blunts, bongs, zongs, bubblers, piece pipes, steam rollers, vaporizors...the list goes on.
it's all in swiy's oppinion...

swim favorite ways to get high or smoke weed has changed a lot since he has started.
right now, his favorite is pipes/steam rollers because one, they conserve weed a lot longer, two, swim loves the art of smoking (some people only smoke weed to get high, but swim does it not only to get high, but the social aspect and art of smoking weed is enjoyable to him), and last, there are so many choices of glass.

joints/blunts are fun but need a lot of weed to make a decent joint. Swim has about a half-eighth every week, needs to save bud, so glass/bowls come in, and still get him high

Bongs/Zongs rip harder than hard and are still swims top favorites, use quite a bit of weed but isnt harsh on throat and lungs but gets you higher than shit and plus, they way the work make you think and is genius

Bubblers can get in the way sometimes but every so often, when someone whips out a bub. swim cant resist. They are as harsh hitting in-between a pipe and a bong. Swim would only recomend getting one if it has a big chamber for smoke to build up and IF and only if, its an above decent piece of glass.
Pricing pretty high, sorry to say.

and last...
Vaporizors also vary in types of vapes but they dont need much bud to get you high at all.
The volcano is a forsure buy if swiy gets their hands on one, swim would highly recomend it. but some other vapes arnt that great. they taste bad, gives a drowsey/sleepy high but only one swim likes is the volcano, because it doesnt burn the weed, and after he uses the bud, he takes the "vape ash" and sells it to newbies, which is great because it looks like un-burt, new bud and it still gets them high, but not as high

So its all in someones preferance on what to smoke

[Micklemouse]

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[Magicarp]

Sorry, I was interested in buying a pipe for my friend. I shall start referring to him properly.

SWIM has decided on his glass pipe. Is a screen the same thing as a gauze? SWIMs bowl is 3cm and SWIM ordered 2cm steel gauzes.

[augentier]

SWIM has never heard of screens referred to as gauzes, however, it kinda sounds like it serves the same purpose.

[pokeyjo304]

yeah i think its the same thing, i also heard em called mesh

[assionyx]

Originally Posted by augentier

Make SURE that the pipe's hole has a good opening

but not too large! SWIM finds that to be one of the only downfalls of using pipes.

joints = burn too quickly (although SWIM loveeeees smoking them) and take a hell of a lot of weed

pipes = use w/e amount of weed you want, however, you have to light more than once so... the flipside to saving weed is lighting again and again (bad for you)

SWIM finds pipes an economical way to smoke... nothing gets thrown out, you can save the resin easily, they don't smell nearly as strongly as say, a lung would afterwards... and you can re-use again and again

[SHPONGLE SPORES]

SWIM smokes the gbong allllll the time, SWIM beileves the gbong is the only way to smoke. SWIM says one bowl will get you fucked!

[azrael2600]

Originally Posted by SHPONGLE SPORES

SWIM smokes the gbong allllll the time, SWIM beileves the gbong is the only way to smoke. SWIM says one bowl will get you fucked!

swim agrees smoking with a bong gets more bang for for swiy's buck.

[AntiAimer]

Glass and bong with water.(Note, the water only gets out so much but still leaves enough toxins to matter. Also never use a screen if possible which shouldn't be needed with glass, but there is always glass screens if needed.)

The best way is to either eat or vaporize. Then the health factor becomes 10 to none and the high should be better.

With all the studies out, THC truely is the safest drug one could take to get high. Can even be beneficial.

Also depending how one packs there Marijuana, there should be minimale waste. Even when useing joints or blunts.

[bongpunk]

bongs are the way forward to get a pothead stoned my son, antthing with a bowl is good, make sure that ur weed is niiiiiiiiiiicce un dry and u have a high powered lighter like the blue flame things, with hash grate it up fine and burn it hot, the thicker the smoke the better the stone. peeeeeeeaaace

[geezaman]

pipes in comparison to spliffs- economic smoking- pipes every time, with pipes you can completely burn your weed and get everything out of it....(lets ignore the fact the chemicals we want are actually destroyed when in direct contact with a flame, and infact only heat drawn past the bud further down the bowl/spliff is usefully in collecting the THC etc into an inhaleable vapor)

but seriously , with pipes SWIYs bud will go further. as for which type of pipe material wise they each have advantages,
metal ones seem to be resilient and easy to clean, and SWIM has found models like the Amazed, agent blue, bud bomb, bud bat to get SWIM very high/stoned very quick.
glass also easy to clean, but not as easy as metal , but also easy to break. absolutely ace for smoking hash oil from, SWIM has one that even without adding any more oil he seems to be able to get high off with every heating
wood, cleaning is a bitch, the wood will usually char on the bowl so cleaning doesn't really do much not much point, an occasional scraping out is as good as it gets. But SWIM has a sherlock that he Can toke on without any smoking material in and will get him mashed, because about 3oz has been through it and the wood has absorbed allot of oil, swim also likes the sherlock, because he can lay down in bed and smoke it sitting on his chest also the outside of the bowl can be handled as it does not get very hot... try handling the bowl of a freshly smoked glass or metal one )

well SWIMs gone full circle, its his 360th post

Reputation Comments on this post:

I agree

[Veteran Joker]

SWIM has a proper birchwood pipe he bought when cutting out fags, but now that he gave up on tobacco, uses it to smoke a mixture of peppermint and pot. The reason for the peppermint is twofold:

1) With it, it makes the smoke a lot smoother.

2) SWIM belivies pot shouldn't be exposed to a naked flame, and only lit via embers, as naked flames would destroy THC glands upon the bud, so using the dried peppermint leaves makes for something to light, and to get more out of the pot.

SWIM also uses raspberry green tea as it's softer than the peppermint leaves and thus superior even to tobacco for rolling up spliffs, but now has a vaporiser uses that. By far the best way to get your high.

SWIM doesn't reccomend consuming cannabis orally. You need more as the metabolism of it takes longer, and unlike with smoking where you quickly know how much you want, it's possible to overdose (Overdosing in regards to weed doesn't mean consuming 5 kilos in one sitting, it means however much you need to stop feeling the positive effects and to become overwhelmed with the high, which might make one pass out)

[mr. strawberry]

"water pipes" lol have always seemed to work great. hookahs are great fun to use (take the opium bowl off put a smaller one on unless your friend plans on smoking alot. with friends, in my monkeys experience, the one downfall with a hookah seems to be, the one with the strongest lungs wins so to speak.
"j's" are good. its almost an art to me to roll a nice coneshaped J. I went to high school with a guy from the neatherlands and one day when we were low on...you know... he (he rolled his own cigarettes) put some of his tobacco in with the J and i thought it would be absolutly horribe. i mean talk about drug abuse!!! but i must admit that it WORKED GREAT. a little bit went a looong way.
swim's first time was out of a beer can (hey it worked damnit) harsh but it did what it was intended to do (as long as the holes arent too big and you get a nice cherried peice shoot down and into your throat).

[Pinkavvy]

if swiy is going to go with a glass pipe, why add a metal screen? if swiy is avoiding metal and going with a glass pipe, get a glass screen .. they are called glass diamonds sometimes.

[Frivolous248]

Best kind of pipe, depends on preference but I think most would say glass, and I would agree. As for style, I've always preferred spoons, but maybe you'd rather a sherlock or chillum. Bubblers are nice if you want some water filtration but not a huge bong.

However swim swears by gravity bongs for getting the most 'bang for your buck'

[JDreaming]

If SWIY is going to sustain a pot habit... i.e. buy hundreds of bucks worth of pot over the next several months... SWIY might as well put $10-$30 down on a pipe or two. SWIM hates joints- they take a long time to make if you want to make them well, they burn the tips of your fingers when they're almost out. SWIM never smokes joints unless they're offered to him.

If SWIY is really cheap about paraphernalia, just buy a $10 standard pipe at a head shop to have it around. A better investment would be to spend a little more on a waterpipe ($30 can get a decent glass waterpipe if you look around). SWIM smokes through a water bong whenever possible as a safety and health precaution: Smoking pot through a water chamber is equivalent to smoking cigarettes that are filtered rather than raw tobacco. You will damage your lungs much more slowly if you dish out the dough for a waterpipe. Or, SWIY could probably make one with items from around the house in the time it would take to roll a really expert joint

[keats]

Swim's surprised to see so many people vouching for pipes as a primary smoking method. Swim's owned a pipe of one kind or another (several have gotten lost/stolen/broken) but never preferred them. Still, if SWIY plans to smoke weed regually SWIY best get himself a real piece, and a standard glass pipe is a good way to start. If you find yourself smoking more and have a place to store it, bongs/bubblers are really all around better. But even then it's handy to keep a small pipe you can take with you. SWIM's friend gave him a plexiglass one he got off a street vendor in manhattan last year and he was surprised to find it worked well and didn't break when two people dropped it over the course of the year.

Vaporizers are a whole different story. If SWIY gets into smoking regually a vaporizer is definately a worthwhile investment. A good vape is THE most economical way to get high, period. You waste almost no thc (and if you're smart you'll either do as another suggested and sell it, or do what I did which is make brownies with the vaped stuff) and you won't lose any vapor. SWIM recently got a volcano and it is definately worth it, but SWIM had a vaporbrothers late year (about 180$ IIRC) and it worked very well.

In any case SWIM would strongly discourage rolling j's, spliffs, or blunts with your own shit, especially if you're smoking alone. SWIM will throw down for them when others are rolling, especially on blunts (which are just fun to smoke) but it's not economical at all. If you want SWIM's advice buy a decent glass pipe now (20$ minimum, honestly, it's worth it to get a decent one) and then go from there.

Edit: Also JDreaming makes a good point about lung health. Swim would say in terms of preserving your lungs, the order goes: blunts<spliffs<joints<pipes<bubblers<bongs<vapes. One of the biggest advantages of having a vaporizer is the lung effect. Weed feels like a whole new drug when you can get TRASHED one night and have your lungs feel like nothing happened in the morning.

[new-urban-dreams]

Gravity bongs are cool but , its a matter of opinion ,SWIM likes a spliff but also enjoys a bong

[Twiglet]

swim likes bongs, but has baby so goes outside to smoke.neighbours can see swim so he makes spliffs.
mesh--screens--gauze- all the same thing, metal with holes in it.
Don't use alluminium foil. really bad for swiys
why do americans not use a roach? (a rolled up piece of card at end of spliff) so you can smoke it all and not burn lips and fingers?

[Perception Addict]

Originally Posted by twiglet

why do americans not use a roach? (a rolled up piece of card at end of spliff) so you can smoke it all and not burn lips and fingers?

Swim thinks in America a Roach is a reference to the end of a blunt/spliff/joint. Some of swim's friends use the card at the end of their blunts/spliffs however Swim does not think they refer to it as a roach. Swim's also seen roach clips and grown out fingernails used to avoid burning of fingers.

Also an advantage of not using the card at the end of the blunt/spliff is that swiy can save all his/her roaches for a few weeks and then roll them into a 'second generation' blunt.

Swim really likes to smoke from a glass bowl. She has tried the wooden bowls with the lids but didn't like the harshness of the smoke (Swim believes that the lid holds all the smoke within the bowl, making for less waste and, she thinks, thicker inhalation before the smoke dissipates). She agrees that if any screen should be used it should be a glass one. Also, if swiy is looking for a multi-purpose piece, swim has seen sherlocks used as bubblers, and they look pretty cool too.

Swim also really likes using a one hit (single hitter?) It looks like a somewhat convincing cigarette, and does exactly what the name implies. Swim likes to pack hers tightly before work just to get a little buzz. As for eating herb, Swim has done so on several occasions and really enjoyed it (and not having a raw throat), but agrees that the effect was unpredictably strong and she would be wary of doing it often.

[Twiglet]

Originally Posted by Perception Addict

Also an advantage of not using the card at the end of the blunt/spliff is that swiy can save all his/her roaches for a few weeks and then roll them into a 'second generation' blunt.


. As for eating herb, Swim has done so on several occasions and really enjoyed it (and not having a raw throat), but agrees that the effect was unpredictably strong and she would be wary of doing it often.

but surely it's no advantage as swiy's are just putting stuff at the end to just save it for later( and it tastes rough) why not use roach and just put the bit that would be at end in pipe (so it is not used as sort of filter)

eating herb is not wasting it. so appears too strong sometimes.
Simple eat less

[geezaman]

SWIM was waiting for someone to point out that "it's refered to as a roach because it looks like a cockroach!" apparently........
the advice of docter L. ron bumquist is open to all, all day long

If you know you know, if you dont you dont, If you think you did once you probably didnt but now think that about every new thing you hear because you smoke tooooo much and lack a memory..... peace