Discover The Gravity Bong – What is it, and how do I make one?

If you’re interested in bongs, you’ve probably heard the term “gravity bong” before. But not many people know what exactly is a gravity bong, how does it work, and how do I make one? In this Bongify blog, we tell you all there is to discover about Gravity Bongs!

What is a Gravity Bong, and how does it work?

A gravity bong is a special kind of “bong”, that uses water and gravity (or actually difference in air pressure) to draw itself full of smoke. You don’t need to draw it full of smoke yourself, like a regular bong. All you need to do is light the bowl, lift the bong up, and inhale the goodness!

How does a gravity bong work? Most Gravity Bongs are made of a bucket and a bottle, or two bottles (one smaller and one larger). The larger bottle, or the bucket, is filled with water. The smaller bottle goes half into the water, and serves as the smoke chamber. When you pull up the “smoke chamber”, it the air pressure draws in the smoke. The efficiency of gravity bongs is very good, because you inhale nearly all of the smoke that’s produced, so nearly nothing gets lost or wasted.

Classic Gravity Bong in Operation (Source: Wikipedia) 

Gravity Bong Benefits

• Efficient way to smoke
• Hits very hard
• Easy to make and/or clean
• Fun at parties and with friends

How to make a gravity bong

A gravity bong doesn’t need to be expensive. You can just make your own DIY Gravity bong! There are several different ways to make your own gravity bong. We are going to show you how to make one with household items, without having to buy anything you don’t already (probably) have.

What do I need to make a Gravity Bong?

• Plastic Bottle
• Bucket (or larger plastic bottle)
• Aluminium Foil
• Knife

You probably have those items already, right? Let’s move on to the process of making a gravity bong. It’s actually very simple. The first thing you need to do, is cut off the bottom of the (smallest) plastic bottle. Don’t cut off too much: it’s best to leave as much of the wall of the bottle intact, so you have a larger “smoke chamber”.

If you have a bucket, all you need to do is fill it with water. If you choose to use a larger (second) bottle, you need to cut off the top of the bottle so that the other bottle fits inside. Again, don’t cut off too much / far! After cutting the bottle, fill it with water and place the smaller bottle inside.

The next step is to make the bowl in which you can burn your herbs. The easiest and quickest way to make a bowl is to take the bottle cap, make a large hole in it with your knife (or any other tool), wrap the bottle cap in aluminium foil, and make some small holes in it to let the smoke through. Attention: We do not recommend this method, because you might inhale toxic fumes when heating up the plastic bottle cap or the foil. A much better and healthier thing to do, is to buy a metal bong bowl & downstem to stick through the hole in the bottle cap. This metal downstem & bowl combination comes with a rubber seal, so you can easily make it air-tight. Another advantage is that you can screw off the bowl to empty it, and it can be re-used as often as you like!

Once you have the bowl (and possible the downstem) in place, you’re already nearly done! Your Gravity Bong is basically ready; all that needs to be done now is to load it up with herbs. Make sure to do it in the right order (first put the gravity bong together, and THEN load your herbs. Not the other way around). Otherwise, you might blow the herbs out of the bowl when putting it together.

What’s the best water bottle for gravity bongs? That’s pure personal preference. You can make a very small gravity bong or a huge one. Popular sizes are 2l or 3l gravity bongs.

You can also use a drill bit to make your gravity bong bowl instead of a knife, but in most cases, a knife will be easy and fast enough.

The best gravity bong setup is not set in stone: some people prefer to do it in a swimming pool with a huge milk jug, while others prefer a simple small water bottle. Try some different ways, and see which you like best! It’s even possible to make a portable gravity bong.

Buy a Gravity Bong

Why make your own DIY Gravity Bong, when you can also just buy one? When you buy a gravity bong, there is no need to worry about the best bowl, tin foil, a proper bottle or anything else. All you need is some water and herbs to smoke. And a lighter, of course.

Looking for an easy gravity bong? – just fill it with water (and herbs), and you’re good to go!

Glass Gravity Bong made by Black Leaf

Can Gravity Bongs kill you?

We’ve never heard of Gravity Bongs killing anyone, or even causing any serious harm. However, Gravity Bongs are NOT 100% SAFE! Especially homemade Gravity Bongs can be harmful to your health. The reason is that many people use the wrong materials, that give off toxic fumes when burning your herbs. Avoid using tin foil / aluminium foil, and avoid heating plastic (such as the bottle cap) to reduce the risk. If you want to be really safe, just buy a gravity bong.

Difference between gravity bong and waterfall bong

Since the first Gravity Bong was made, there have been many variations of this concept. One interesting variation of the gravity bong is the so-called waterfall bong. What is the difference between a gravity bong and a waterfall bong? They work very similar, but are not the same. A gravity bong is operated by pulling the “bottle” up, so that the difference in air pressure draws the smoke into the bottle without using your lungs. A waterfall bong works the same way, except instead of pulling the bottle up, you let the water run out through a hole (like a waterfall), which then creates a difference in air pressure which fills the waterfall bong with smoke.

Read more about waterfall bongs here.

Gravity Bong vs Normal Bong

So, is a Gravity Bong better than a normal bong? In short, no. Gravity bongs are a great way to get very high very quickly, and also perhaps more fun to smoke than a regular bong or water pipe. It will definitely draw more attention, but gravity bongs lack the cooling and filtration of the smoke by the water that makes regular bongs such a pleasure to smoke. The smoke doesn’t really go “through” the water, so it doesn’t get much cleaner or smoother. The water is just there to draw in the smoke, and not to filter or cool it. That’s why we think Gravity Bongs aren’t actually real bongs. Just think how far we’ve come with bongs over the last two decades, with stuff like percolators, diffusers and pre-coolers. Gravity Bongs lack all of these great inventions, but we are sure that there will be some very clever gravity bongs coming out that actually filter the smoke over the next few years!

Gravity Bong vs Joint / Blunt

Is a gravity bong better than a joint, or a blunt? That’s really a matter of personal preference. As stated above, a gravity bong lacks the cooling and filtration of a regular water bong, but it enables you to take HUGE hits. This is slightly harder with joints or blunts, because the smoke gets very hot. We think joints or blunts are better for relaxing and are hard to replace as a smoking ritual (pass the dutchie, right?). On the other hand, a gravity bong can be a very fun way to smoke, alone or together with friends. Besides, one good gravity bong hit can get you high for the rest of the day! So yes, a gravity bong gets you higher than a joint (with the same amount of weed).

Another possibility is to smoke your joint or blunt with a gravity bong. This is a variation of the regular gravity bong: instead of using a bowl with herbs, just stick your joint or blunt into the bowl (or tin foil, or whatever you’re using) and use the gravity bong to smoke it all at once!

Flip over Gravity Bong

One of the most interesting and popular variations of the gravity bong, is the “flip over gravity bong” made by Stündenglass. This hourglass gravity bong is a very modern take on the improvised bucket bong, and is a must-have for every true stoner building up a bong collection. This is also made popular by Seth Rogen, the hero from Pineapple Express, who tried smoking the Stundenglass Gravity Bong.