How To Make A Gravity Bong

The second installment of "Home Bong Design 101" is making a homemade gravity bong.

The "gravity" in gravity pipe is a bit of a misnomer so far as gravity is involved. More accurate perhaps would be a "pneumatic" bong or "hydro-pneumatic" pipe, as air pressure, water pressure and vacuum are the driving forces in a gravity pipe.

Aside from these technical based challenges to the name, colloquial names for gravity pipes are common.

Purportedly, in southern Illinois, gravity pipes are known as "givity" pipes, while in the United Kingdom and South America, they are known as a booch. Gravity bongs that incorporate buckets or feature other variations are known as waterfall bongs, compression bongs, aqualungs, depth charge or turbo.

There are many different ways to build a gravity bong, but the essential parts and functions are consistent across the board. This build your own guide is for a relatively simple, no frills, no fluff gravity bong. From these directions, this particular design and some incorporated modifications at a step or two will result in bong variants and hybrids like the waterfall bong.

The basic requirements for a gravity bong are a liter bottle or milk carton, a bowl, a slide, a pair of scissors or razor, and a screwdriver. The bowl and slide can be found at a tobacco shop or head shop. A sealant like silicon caulk (or any of the suggested air tight sealants from "How to Build a Water Bong) is necessary to assure an air tight fit for your stem.

1. Using the scissors or razor, cut the bottle in half. The bottom half should fit inside the top-half. The ideal fit is tight, but not so tight that they can't be pulled apart.
   
2. With the scissor or screwdriver (heated works even better), pierce a hole in the bottle cap. The hole should not be much larger than the stem. The stem should fit tightly in the hole of the cap. Fit the stem and bowl so that the bowl fits just above the top of the bottle cap.
   
3. Use the sealant to secure the stem and bowl as airtight as possible. Set aside to dry. Once dry the cap/stem/bowl can be screwed back on to the bottle.

The most important thing to remember when doing a gravity bong is to compress the bong before packing (especially before lighting!) the bowl.

 

 

How to Build a Gravity Bong. 2002. Bud S. Moker ThC/ SmokingWithStyle.com. 10 Nov 2006. www.smokingwithstyle.com

How to Make a Bong. 2006 Concept420.com 10 Nov 2006. www.concept420.com