The Best Bongs for Every Type of Smoker 2023
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Best Bongs 2023
After testing dozens of water pipes our team found these 9 to be the most exceptional bongs you can find in 2023. They aren’t hand-blown works of art (who has that kind of money anyway), but they are, in my opinion, the best bongs you can buy right now.
Whether you’re looking for a cough-free bong rip, an indestructible water pipe, or the top medical-grade glass bong for daily home usage, I’ve got multiple options for you here. No matter your smoking preference, there is a bong or a brand in here you are going to love.
The qualities we look for in a great bong are a number of key variables. Your water bong should have amazing downstem and percolation for bubble production to deliver you a smooth, terpene-rich, cough-free (or reduced) experience. If glass, your bong should be made from medical-grade borosilicate due to its higher thermal shock range. What truly makes a great bong, in our opinion, is the bong’s ability to reduce lung irritation in the infamous “bong rip”. We gauge whether or not water pipes can deliver smooth bong rips all while promoting and enhancing THC cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids.
From indestructible bongs to cough-free rips, these are the best bongs on the market in 2023. If you have a more specific bong in mind make sure to check out our top picks for silicone bongs, glycerin bongs, and ice bongs.
Best bongs 2023:
- Best overall: Chill Steel ($299)
- Best no cough: Freeze ($129)
- Best modern: Mahuta ($299)
- Best glass: Gravs Wide ($150)
- Best travel: Cupsy ($89)
- Best space saver: Mini Bong ($149)
- Best aesthetics: Bud Vase ($100)
- Best filtration: LA Pipes ($50)
- Best Ice hits: Empress ($120)
Best overall bong
Who this is for: You want an indestructible masterpiece, built to deliver you an unmatched, icey-smooth, and utterly cough-free rip.
Why it’s the best: Just like insulated water bottles which keep your water chilled, this bong uses the same technology to keep the interior of your bong and bong water frosty cold with ice cubes all day long. The result: you can take massive bong rips that are as smooth as air.
My Thoughts: While I love glass bongs they are notorious for breaking and also overheating and that’s because glass works as an insulator trapping the heat from your combusted marijuana smoke. Have you ever noticed your first bong rip is generally pretty smooth, but the more you rip with glass the hotter the hits become? You won’t have that issue with the Chill Bong because the patented double-vacuum insulation prevents heat from absorbing into your bong and bong water. In the aftermath, I got huge bong rips, back to back, without any overheating in the water chamber. This is a huge deal if you are planning to share your bong with your spouse, roommates, or friends because nobody deserves that second or third harsh bong rip.
- Display worthy: no more hiding dirty resin glass bongs, this looks amazing displayed on my kitchen counter.
- Ice capacity: I could get about 4 X more ice cubes than a standard ice bong. The insulation keeps the icy bong water chilled the entire day.
- No cough: I got bong rips so smooth it had an air-like quality with zero tickle or harshness to the back of my throat.
- Handling: The stainless steel structure makes this indestructible and you can screw the neck off for easy cleaning, ice loading, and water changing.
- Ice refill: If you want the icy hits you are going to have to refill the water and ice cubes each day.
- Cooling time: When you place ice cubes in, it can take an hour to get the thermal insulation to chill the entire bong, so I always fill it up first thing in the morning.
- Drag time: there is no drag delay due to fewer bubbles from the ice cubes in the water chamber. This isn’t bad, it’s just different, so the smoke hits much faster.
- Mouthpiece: I had to really open my mouth or just push my lips inside, but you sacrifice comfort for aesthetics here.
Eliminate coughing
Who this is for: If you struggle with asthma or coughing from bong rips – this bong will eliminate coughing entirely.
Why it’s the best: The hot smoke generated from large bong rips can bring a lot of stress to your lungs. Coughing fits can make your smoking experience a dreadful process and it doesn’t have to be that way. The frozen glycerin cools your combusted smoke by 300° giving you a buttery smooth bong rip with zero coughing.
My Thoughts: Your hot smoke must travel through an explosion of water bubbles from the laser-cut percolator, and then flow up and down the water recycler on an infinite loop back down into the bubbles until you decide to pull the glass bowl. This would be enough cooling for most but once you remove the bowl the smoke shoots up through a borosilicate coil that is surrounded by frozen glycerin cooling an additional 300°! My first time smoking with this recycler I honestly thought I did it incorrectly because it felt like I didn’t really smoke. The bong rips don’t have a harsh kick in the back of your throat, it just feels like tasty air, in my opinion.
- Flavor-focused: I could finally focus on the terpene flavor profiles and not have to fight a cough.
- Zero coughing and throat irritation: The glycerin coil takes away that pinch and tickle that makes you want to cough.
- Extra large bong rips: If you have a higher THC tolerance this is perfect for taking much larger bong rips without worrying about the backlash of coughing fits.
- Beautiful action: watching the smoke vortex and fall back through the recycler’s arms was like watching a mesmerizing tropical storm.
- Freezing: You have to freeze the glycerin coils before use each time.It takes about an hour to fully freeze.
- Delicate: The build is beautiful but extremely delicate (I keep all freeze pipes in a dedicated space).
- Handling: The protruding glass arms are very delicate so make sure to tuck that side facing the wall to prevent accidents (tapping it against a stove pot can break it).
- Lanky: The entire build has a sort of “straight body” shape and it’s lacking a bottom-heavy structure. This makes it pretty easy to tip over.
Best bong for adults
Who this is for: You want beautiful handmade craftsmanship, and an elevated aesthetic, all while being 100% environmentally responsible.
Why it’s the best: You won’t find another water pipe that looks this beautiful, feels this natural, and still delivers icey smooth hits. What truly sets this bong apart from any other bong we tested was the brands mission statement. Owner Nick pledges to plant 5 trees for every bong purchased. Some some trees and plant some trees – hell yes.
My Thoughts: Let’s be honest, most bongs resemble scientific lab equipment or exude the typical atmosphere of a frat house dorm. As cannabis legalization sweeps across North America, it’s about time someone made a bong for the modern adult. Enter Oak and Earth’s meticulously hand-poured, hand-sanded, and hand-glazed bongs. Holding this bong was like holding art, and if you really take a close look you can see and feel all the perfect imperfections that makes each of these water pipes so unique. The wood used to encompass the ice-pinch is actually real, locally sourced wood, and when this sits on my kitchen counter it stands more as an accent piece you want to display rather than a bong you want to hide.
- Hand-made art: when I run my fingers along the surface I can feel the flawless ceramic finish due to the sanding work each bong received. Each bong really feels like art, not a commercial product.
- Display worthy: I loved how you don’t see all the nasty resin and bong water common with glass.
- Frosty smooth rips: The ice cubes cooled the smoke enough for a deeply chilled rip.
- Plant 5 trees: For every bong you buy the company pledges to plant 5 trees. It’s a nice thought each time I take a rip from this bong.
- High ice load: The ice pinch forced my ice cubes fairly high to the point the ice grazed my lips, so you need to tetris the ice cubes here and there.
- Bongwater: Takes a bit of trial and error for measuring the bong water since I couldn’t see through the narrow ice pinch.
- Maintenance: The splash guard made it really hard to see into the water chamber. Trying to clean this was sort of me just shaking water and sea-salt and hoping I got a good clean. I ended up using pipe cleaners and twisting them to really detail beneath the splash guard’s crevices.
Best glass bong for home
Who this is for: You want an ultra-durable, medical-grade glass bong for at-home smoking, that was meant to last years and years.
Why it’s the best: The ultra-wide base makes this bong super sturdy and prevents common tip-over accidents common with taller glass bongs. Ditch the lanky and awkward glass bongs, this glass piece sits beautifully and grounded on any table or coffee table. The glass is extremely thick (scientific grade) and can withstand bumps and dings that would otherwise shatter cheaper glass pieces.
My Thoughts: It seems these days online headshops are full of cheap factory-made glass from overseas. Gravs is an American glass-blowing brand known for using the highest quality medical-grade borosilicate glass. This bong bucks on traditional tall body style bongs, and instead opts for a space-saving, wide-body base that lets me place this water pipe comfortably anywhere in my house without worrying about it tipping over. The wide water chamber also promotes maximum water filtration alongside the conical six-hole fission perc that stacks bubbles so hard I could literally hear it “glug glug” while I pulled. While it’s not the smoothest bong in the world, it is the most practical bong for any glass enthusiast that solely smokes from home.
- Confidence: I loved how firmly I could grip and handle this bong due to the medical-grade glass. This bong won’t break from minor accidents.
- Comfort: The mouthpiece has a smooth finish that felt really good on my lips.
- Display worthy: The smokey grey tint (it’s not green) helps to mask the dirty resin and bong water – making it a perfect display bong at home.
- Terpenes: I got some very enhanced and terpene-rich flavors in my bong rips, common with glass bongs in my experience.
- Harsher hits: There are fewer cooling features so the hits can be harsh on larger bong rips.
- Lean over: Since the bong is shorter I had to bend over slightly to hit.
- Heavy bottom: The base is wider and heavier which makes it a bit burdensome to pick up and smoke (easier to smoke on a counter).
- Cooling: Would have liked to see some type of ice cooling option to reduce heat, but you can slide some ice cubes into the water chamber (it works but it wasn’t built for it)
Best travel bong
Who this is for: You want the perfect bong for traveling, hiking, driving, camping, and even for smoking in public.
Why it’s the best: This all-in-one stainless steel design makes this bong indestructible, powerful, discreet, and for the first time ever: truly portable. You can pack a bowl at home, drive with this bong, hike up a mountain, and then take a bong rip from the same bowl you packed at home. Name one bong that can do this – it doesn’t exist.
My thoughts: There are plenty of bongs that claim to be “travel friendly”. Yes, silicone bongs you can technically travel with, but you still need a stash jar to store your buds and you can’t travel with water in the chamber either – so silicone bongs aren’t technically “portable”. The Cupsy allows you to walk out of the house with a loaded cannabis bowl under the lid, and water beneath the air-tight silicone cap, so wherever you go, the minute you are ready you can take a bong rip anywhere you like without any setup! While this isn’t replacing my daily driver bong this is now the bong I keep in my car cupholder there whenever I need to take a solo cruise and let my mind get lost with the music.
- Ready-to-go: I loved that I could pre-pack the bowl, slide the mouthpiece over it, drive or walk anywhere with it and then smoke that same packed bowl.
- Discreet: You can leave this in your car’s cupholder, table, or almost anywhere and nobody will know it’s a bong.
- Easy to clean: I just snapped the silicone lid off, used some IPA and soap, and got all the resin off the stainless steel easily.
- Cold steel: the interior lining of the bong is made from steel so it keeps your water chilled for a surprisingly smooth rip from a smaller bong.
- Price: The price point is a steal, for $60 this is the cheapest bong on our list.
- Clogs: the bottom of the straw has a filter tip that tends to slightly clog, reducing the airflow. So expect to clean the tip daily to keep the airflow strong.
- Deep bowl: the bowl looks small but it’s actually deep. So when lighting your cannabis make sure not to engulf it in flames and instead promote a nice cherry ember.
- Not for daily use: while it’s amazing for portability, hiking, camping, and discretion it definitely won’t replace your daily driver at home. I would smoke my glass bongs over this one at home – any day. But you can’t smoke your glass bongs in public like you can with the Cupsy.
Best mini bong
Who this is for: You want a mini bong that delivers big results and saves you space, and money.
Why it’s the best: This 6-inch mini water pipe delivers you bong rips as smooth as a 12-inch bong (for a fraction of the price). The ice pinch helps cool your hot marijuana smoke before reaching your lungs, making it the first mini bong that delivered a fairly smooth bong rip all while letting me tuck this bong in any of my cabinets.
My thoughts: Mini bongs usually deliver very hot smoke and are known for splashing bong water back into your mouth. The neck of the bong lets me fit about 2-3 ice cubes in and this not only cooled the bong smoke tremendously it also works as a splash guard preventing bong water from entering my mouth. The downstem is also much thinner than standard down stems which gave the drawl inhale a much more controlled feel. The result was a smooth and controlled bong rip equivalent to a bong twice it’s size. So you get the power of a 12-inch bong for half the size and half the price. Win-win here.
- Ice pinch: The ice cubes help offset the smaller size, so I got much smoother hits.
- Built-in stash jar: Uses a cork system for airtight sealing.
- Controlled diffuser: the downstem is thin which manages the bubble production in a way that prevents splashback.
- Handling: super easy to clean, handle, and smoke because of the amazing miniature size.
- Discreet: you can hide this little gem in just about any cabinet.
- Tipping: It’s much lighter so you have to be careful with accidentally tipping it over.
- Maintenance: Because it’s smaller I got resin staining much faster, so you have to clean it pretty daily.
- Water cycling: Due to the smaller water chamber, you have to change the water just about every other day.
- Heated glass: When I took more than 3 bong rips back to back the glass gets pretty hot (I suggest taking one minutes breaks between hits).
A bong you won't be hiding
Who this is for: You want a bong that elevates your home aesthetics and also can be disguised as a Victorian flower vase when the in-laws arrive (flowers included).
Why it’s the best: It’s bout time water pipes got an elegant and high-class touch, finally catering to the feminine side. Each vase has its own personality and passion that will speak to you on a deeply personal level. There are dozens of styles, colors, and design choices and each bong has its unique flower pairing to complete the overall, display-worthy, look.
My thoughts: Face it, when you think of bongs you think of dirty college dorm rooms. It’s almost embarrassing these days to leave a filthy, resin-stained bong out in the open. I’m happy that I can finally tie the words “bong” and beautiful” in the same sentence. Everything from the cute certificate of authenticity to the flower pokers in the unboxing stage was memorable. Owner Doreen and her team genuinely put all their love into this and you can feel it. It’s because of amazing brands like this that make the cannabis world less “stoner”, and more beautiful and divine. You won’t be getting any fancy bells and whistles such as UFO percolators and glycerin cooling, but honestly why kill the vibe here, this water pipe does what no other water pipe can do: be classy.
- Artistic: Each water pipe comes with its unique flower poker that gives an overall balanced and stunning look.
- Hidden: When I remove the bowl and put the flowers through the mouthpiece, this looks exactly like a flower vase. Perfect for hiding your bong in plain sight.
- Ample filtration: The unique vase shape left plenty of water space, which meant plenty of bubbles, which gave me a fairly smooth bong rip.
- Harsher hits: There was plenty of water storage, so I got some decent cooling. The hits are harsher when compared to other bongs in this list, otherwise, it’s a pretty standard bong rip.
- Flower practicability: While I loved the flower poker, it’s not exactly practical. I ended up leaving it on the side because having it sit in the dirty bong water and then using that end to poke my bowl seemed a bit off-putting.
The most powerful filtration
Who this is for: You need powerful filtration and cooling so you can take massive bong rips that are smooth as hell.
Why it’s the best: There are 5 different elements of cooling to offset the sting from larger bong rips. Your hot marijuana smoke must travel through the water chamber where the diffused downstem cools with action-packed bubbles, 2 showerhead percolators, an ice pinch, and finally 14 inches of travel distance, delivering a super smooth bong rip experience no matter how much weed you stuff in the glass bowl.
My thoughts: At 14″ tall, this is the lengthiest bong on our list. But literally, every inch of this beaker bong is engineered to deliver you a smoother bong rip. It takes a bit of lung capacity to draw the smoke, but my goodness does this thing crank! You can literally hear the bubbles stack, crack, and pop off the glass as your smoke is filtered and cooled through each and every chamber. The result is a breezy smooth and terpene-rich bong rip that only classic glass can deliver.
- The taste: there’s something about tall glass bongs that just deliver terpene-rich flavors.
- Power bubbles: If you love water-cooling this bong stacks bubbles better than any bong on this list.
- Cooling: you get 5 forms of cooling from diffused downstem, two separate shower head percolators, an ice pinch, and an extended 14-inch travel distance which allows the smoke to cool more.
- Space: this thing is tall so it’s one of those bongs you can’t really hide in your cabinets.
- Splashback: I put a bit too much water in the shower head percolator chamber and got some splashback, so keep the water levels minimal there.
- Lung capacity: you need a lot of lung strength to pull huge bong rips with this device. I actually break the smoke drawl and the inhale in two – but the bong rips are huge so it’s worth it.
Ice cube bong rips
Who this is for: You want the most durable medical grade glass, a sleek modern look, with icey smooth rips.
Why it’s the best: If you like smoking with ice cubes, the Empress bong gives you that and much more. With 9 inches of ice cube capacity in the bong’s neck (2X the standard), I got bong rips that were divinely smooth. The hourglass ice pinch also doubles down as a splash guard preventing any bong water from entering your mouth.
My thoughts: I’ve broken a ton of glass bongs in the last decade. In retrospect, many of those bongs were cheap overseas glass, and it made me realize that not all glass is made equal. Grav uses ultra-durable, medical-grade glass that is built to last. When I tap my knuckles against the Empress borosilicate glass, I get that strong “thud” similar to tapping on a concrete wall. Its tapers and flares along the surface of the bong’s neck and water chamber give this bong a unique presence and quite an ergonomic grip.
- Ice capacity: the 9-inch glass neck let me stack a generous amount of ice cubes.
- Buttery smooth: the 8-cut percolator with the ice cubes gave me a super smooth and chilled hit, with little irritation to the throat.
- Medical grade: made from scientific/medical grade borosilicate glass, it can withstand many bumps and dings that normally would break a glass bong.
- Cleaning: There is no way to really detail the water chamber when I was cleaning, so expect some furious shaking with IPA and sea salt.
- Awkward bowl: The 14.5 mm male herb slide is solid, but it juts out where the flower bowl doesn’t sit upright. So if you don’t pack the bowl tightly enough the loose plant particles will fall out.
- Price: you are going to pay close to $200 for this bong, but it’s 100% because of the durable glass quality.
Understanding your water pipe
If you are brand new to the world of water pipes trying to find the best bong can be a bit overwhelming.
In this section, we cover all the basics so you can find the best bong that works for you.
What is a bong?
A bong is a vertical pipe that uses water to filter and cool the combusted marijuana smoke for you to inhale (learn how to inhale weed).
What is a bong rip?
Bongs typically allow for much larger doses of THC when compared to weed pipes or chillums. What makes a bong so infamous is its ability to combust a large amount of THC into the water chamber, and shoot all of the smoke (and THC) into your lungs in one massive hit. This is what is known as a bong rip.
Bong vs pipe - Key Differences
A weed pipe and a bong both use combustion to ignite your dry cannabis herbs.
The purpose of combustion is to vaporize essential cannabinoids within the cannabis plant matter, such as THC, CBD, and CBG for you to inhale.
One major difference is a pipe sends the combusted smoke straight to your lungs while a bong moves the smoke first to a water chamber to be cooled.
- In a pipe, you inhale the combusted smoke directly.
- In a bong, the combusted smoke goes into a water chamber for filtration and cooling, and then you inhale it.
Another key difference is how you inhale with a bong compared to a pipe.
- In a pipe, you light the marijuana in the bowl and inhale into your lungs directly.
- In a bong, you light the dry flower and pull smoke into the water chamber. Once you are ready to inhale you remove the glass bowl, which then shoots all of the smoke from the water chamber into your lungs, in what is known as a “bong rip”.
If the terminology doesn’t make sense you may want to read our article on how to smoke weed.
How to find the best bong
When you are shopping for a bong there are a ton of things to look for. In this section, I’ll share some of the key features I look at in determining what makes a water pipe truly exceptional and how I vet bongs in the first place.
Material: If you want a glass bong make sure that the glass is borosilicate and preferably medical-grade and thick (check the mm thickness). If silicone make sure your water pipe is platinum-cured not tin cured. I would stay away entirely from acrylic as the plasters tend to leach into the dab water. Ceramic’s only qualifying factor is that the glaze is a non-toxic water solvent.
Water chamber size: The bigger the water chamber the smoother and cooler your combusted smoke will be, meaning less throat and lung irritation. The smaller your water chamber is the hotter the bong rips become and this leads to coughing. There are two more elements that dictate how hot the smoke is and they are the bong’s travel distance and filtration.
Bong travel distance: the longer your dab vapors have to travel the cooler they become. So with smaller bongs such as mini-bongs, the travel distance is shorter so this means hotter bong rips once again. Some people can handle hot smoke but if you have sensitive lungs, like I do, hot smoke can lead to coughing fits and chest pains.
Water filtration: If you look in the water chamber of your bong there is usually a glass straw that touches the bottom with tiny slits in it. This glass straw is what you call a downstem. When you inhale the tiny slits create bubbles in the bong’s water chamber. The heated marijuana smoke glide across the bubble’s surface, cooling your smoke significantly, which results in a much smoother bong rip (with a significant suppression in coughing).
Percolators: Sometimes you can get upgraded filtration so instead of tiny slits there will be hundreds of laser-cut holes. This upgrade is called a Percolator and there are many variations of it such as the Shower Head percolator, tree percolator, disc percolator, and barrel percolator. These are all just fancy names for more bubbles because the more bubbles there are the cooler and smoother your bong rips become.
What we tested for
Here is a full breakdown of our bong review scoring system.
Below you will find why I docked stars and why each of the four scoring components was essential qualities for an exceptional water pipe.
Score 1: Harsh or smooth?
I rate bongs based on how smooth or harsh the hits are. The purpose of buying a bong is to take larger hits and to absorb as much THC in a single hit. A decade ago it was expected to have raging coughing fits, but now bongs have a plethora of ways to smooth bong rips to the point there is no more discomfort. If the bong rip was uncomfortable, harsh, irritated my throat, or made me cough in a painful manner I docked a star. 5 stars here means the bong was exceptionally smooth with little to no coughing or throat irritation.
Score 2 - Bong rip strength
The worst thing is to buy a bong and take a massive bong rip, only to not really get that high. This has much to do with the engineering of the bong, the fit of the slide, and just how well the water cycles and prevents stale marijuana smoke from being trapped in crevices. I’m looking for amazing bongs that can shoot all of the combusted marijuana smoke in one swift shot to my lungs. If I got a powerful bong rip I gave it 5 stars. The more stale smoke left in the water chamber the more stars I docked.
Score 3 - Durability/build
It wasn’t until recently that bongs truly get an upgrade in durability. Our only option 10 years ago was cheap over-seas glass bongs and uber-expensive hand-blown glass water pipes – hardly an in-between. It was common to buy and break a bong every year because of the glass. These days you can get stainless steel, medical grade borosilicate, and extra thick hand made glass, which makes it all the more durable and care-free to handle. I docked a star here just as a cautionary tale to let you know that this bong is delicate and you need to handle it with care. 5 stars mean this bong can withstand a ton of accidents and will last for years to come.
Score 4 - Easy to clean
This may seem like a trivial feature but how easy a bong is to clean makes a world of difference. Nobody likes cleaning a bong because the shape is extremely awkward, but new innovations have emerged such as the Chill Steel which let’s you unscrew the top for easy cleaning or the Cupsy which pops the top off for full detail access. If your bong is a pain to clean, chances are you are going to want to avoid cleaning it which means it will get pretty nasty and that’s how you get some dirty bong water. 5 stars mean the bong is super easy to maintain and clean, but if I docked a star just expect a bit of extra maintenance work to keep it in tip-top-shape.
Meet your expert
Jake Dela Cruz
Organic cultivator
Finding the best bongs was a challenge in itself. There were literally thousands of bongs for our team to select from, and many of them were essentially the same just with different logos slapped on. Our team tried to find notable bong brands that were bringing something fresh to the cannabis space.
My name is Jake Dela Cruz and I’m an organic cannabis cultivator, and I actually grow my own weed. All the massive bong rips taken to test these water pipes were smoking on strains that I grew like the Dosilato strain and the Gumbo strain.
I’ve been smoking cannabis for well over 20 years now, and have tried just about every type of water pipe.
While there are thousands of different glass bongs on the market, I tried to choose the best water pipe for each set demographic. Whether you want the best glass, smoothest bong rips, the easiest to use or just supporting a brand that gives back to mother nature – our list has it all. I’m confident there is a bong on this list that you will love. In 2023 it’s no longer about buying a giant bong that is solely a bubble factory, instead, these days people want to buy a bong that they feel comfortable owning in their homes. A bong that fits your personality, your environment, and most importantly something you aren’t embarrassed by or want to hide.
