Bubblers

Bubblers are the less popular cousins of hand pipes and bongs, but they’re the perfect pipes for those looking for cool hits on the go. They offer the portability of a hand pipe and the cooler hits you’d expect from a bong. In other words, think of bubblers as a cross between a hand pipe and a bong.

Bubblers often feature a water chamber, a carb hole, a downstem, a mouthpiece, a weed bowl, and a neck. They function the same way as a bong, and the smoking process is pretty much the same. For example, you'll want to ground your herb using a grinder (or not, nuggets are fine too), then load up your ground herb into your weed bowl. You’ll then want to place your finger over the carb hole and light up your herb. The smoke produced will travel through the downstem and down into the water chamber, where the smoke will be diffused. Once you have procured your smoke and you’re ready to take a hit, uncover the carb hole and take your hit. The smoke will travel from the water chamber or pec to the neck and out through the mouthpiece. Bubblers are easy, but if you’re a newbie and need help deciphering these terms, read more below.

Components of a Bubbler

Weed Bowl: Bowls often have a conical or spherical shape, and they hold--you guessed it--cannabis flower. They’re also referred to as “slides” on bongs, as they can slide in and out of most bongs. However, most weed bowls on bubblers are fixed, as they’re built into the body of your bubbler. When you “pack a bowl” you want to ensure you don’t load up the bowl too tightly, otherwise, you’d be unable to produce smoke.

Downstem: Like bongs, most bubblers feature a downstem. Downstems are typically built into the body of a water pipe, and they’re shafts with slits where the smoke can travel from the bowl to the water chamber. The downstem helps diffuse the smoke in the water chamber, which helps produce those smoother hits. The general rule with downstems is that you want to ensure you submerge the slits totally and some more to be on the safe side.

Water Chamber: It is smaller than a bong’s water chamber, but it still gets the job done. You should fill the water chamber either through the mouthpiece or through the weed bowl.

Carb Hole: Carb holes help control airflow in and out of the bubbler. You should cover the carb hole as you light up your cannabis herb, and once you’re ready to take the hit, you release your finger to flush the smoke out.

Percolator: Perc bubblers are rare to come by, but they exist. They’re usually smaller by nature, but percolators create bubbles to create more surface area to filter smoke. Percs are the second line of defense in the smoke filtration process.

Neck: The neck connects the water chamber to the mouthpiece. Typically, the longer the neck, the cooler the hits.

Mouthpiece: Unlike a bong, where you seal your lips inside the opening of the mouthpiece, bubblers have a similarly designed mouthpiece as a hand pipe. It is akin to smoking out of a hand pipe, but you just incorporate water.

Bubbler Materials

Glass Bubblers: Often made with borosilicate glass, this is the most popular material used to craft bubblers. Glass is often the preferred material among smokers because glass doesn’t alter the taste of your hits.  

Silicone Bubblers: They’re break-proof and easy to clean. Silicone bubblers can be stashed in any dishwasher or can be cleaned by submerging them in boiling water. You can also let them soak in a bath of rubbing alcohol and clean the insides with a pipe cleaner.

Pros and Cons of Using a Bubbler

Pros

+ They offer cooler hits and they’re travel-sized

+ They’re durable and light

Cons

-They get dirty fast, so they may need to be cleaned more often than bongs

-Since the weed bowl is built in, most of the time, it is not possible to customize them using attachments

Types of Bubblers:

Sherlock Bubblers: These are some of the most popular bubblers you will find at PFN Pipes and other head shops. The key characteristic of this type of bubbler is the iconic curved neck and mouthpiece, which would replicate the shape of the iconic Sherlock Homes smoking pipe.

Hammer Bubblers: The water chamber on these resembles the shape of a hammerhead (the tool, not the shark). The “hammerhead” would be connected to the “handle,” which in this case would be the neck of the pipe (the mouthpiece rests on the end of it).

Sidecar Bubblers: These are neat pipes that look like your standard straight tube bongs, but much smaller. The key characteristic of this water pipe is the mouthpiece located on the side of the body that runs parallel to the floor.

Double Bubblers: You guessed it. These bubblers feature two water chambers where you usually find two percs. The purpose of these bubblers is to add extra cool and smooth hits.

FAQs

How much water do bubblers need?

Just enough to submerge the slits on your downstem and then some more; about ½ inch from the topmost slit.

How do you clean your bubbler?

It depends on the material. If you have a silicone bubbler, then you stash it in a dishwasher or you clean it by submerging it in boiling water. For glass bubblers, on the other hand, you want to use a glass cleaner solution made specifically to clean weed pipes, or you can clean them with a mixture of dish soap and water or with rubbing alcohol. The idea is to let the bubbler sit in either of these solutions for at least 8 hours and clean with a pipe cleaner to remove any clamped-on gunk. You’ll then want to thoroughly wash out the solutions with tap or distilled water. You’ll want to repeat this process as necessary.

How do you add water to a bubbler?

Bubblers usually only have two openings: the mouthpiece and the weed bowl. You can slowly pour in your water from either opening.