Percolator Bong Guides
Once you try a percolator bong you will never go back. Trying a percolator bong for the first time is like putting on glasses for the first time, everything feels so much clearer. The hits you take will be super clear and easy.
All that said, it's not as if regular bongs are worthless compared to perc bongs, in fact, they're still one of the best smoking devices out there. Whether or not you opt for a percolator bong or a standard one depends on preference, how much you're willing to spend, and what your smoking experience level is.
Keep reading to see if a percolator bong is for you as this guide will tell you everything you need to know about perc bongs.
What is a Percolator Bong?
A percolator bong is essentially a bong with extra filtration. When inhaling from a perc bong, the smoke from your marijuana runs through mounds of bubbles, which helps to absorb many harmful contaminants. This is also where the bong sound that we know and love comes from. On top of removing contaminants, the water also cools down the smoke making it easier to inhale. This cool-down process happens for two reasons.
The first reason is that water naturally cools the smoke down, and the second reason is that water slows down the smoke, and this adds time for it to cool off before reaching your lungs. While standard bongs also cool and clean their smoke, percolator bongs add extra water filtration by breaking up the smoke. Think about using a percolator as running your clothes through the washing machine a second time. Ultimately, the added filtration from perc bongs means you'll spend less time coughing and you’ll feel more comfortable taking multiple hits.
Types of Percolator Bongs
As with all smoking devices, perc bongs come in all different shapes and sizes. Below we'll detail the most common types of percolator bongs:
Diffused Downstem: The most basic of the designs, a diffused downstem bong is sometimes not even referred to as a perc bong. They are perc bongs though because the smoke is percolated through small gaps under the water. Diffused downstems can be either fixed or detachable,
Disc: As the name suggests, disc percs filter smoke through the hole that sits in the middle of a circular disc. Disc percs are among the most popular type of perc bongs out there because they have an extremely high rate of diffusion. There are also a few closely related variants to disc percs that get grouped in this category.
Honeycomb percs for example, which are shaped like a honeycomb, are referred to as disc percs because they have nearly the same rate of diffusion and have a somewhat similar shape. Somewhat of a cousin to the disc perc is the circ perc, which takes the shape of a hockey puck. The reason the circ perc is more different from the disc perc (compared to honeycomb perc) is that the circ perc uses slits for diffusion rather than one larger hole.
Swiss: Swiss perc bongs have the most unique looks, the base of a Swiss perc will look worn or dented but this is part of the design. This beat-up and awkward look is exactly what it's called a Swiss perc for, as Swiss cheese is known for a plentiful amount of holes in its body. Donut-shaped percs are another type of perc bong that change the outside aesthetic of a bong greatly- these bongs have large a circular hole in the middle of the bong.
Turbine: Turbine percs, also sometimes referred to as cyclone or vortex percolators, send your smoke into a whirlwind as it travels to your lungs. Turbine percs are rarely used alone, rather they are stacked on top of other percs such as the honeycomb perc. So, if you want to be extra safe and ensure that you've removed every bit of contaminant you can, get a bong with a turbine percolator.
Tree: Hippies unite, the tree bong has the anatomy of a tree! Just like trees filter the air, tree percs filter your smoke. The smoke will travel up the trunk and then out to the branches where there are slits for the smoke to be percolated.
Showerhead: Imagine a shower head shrunken down and placed into your bong and boom, you're imagining exactly what a showerhead perc is. Smoke climbs up through a round chamber and then gets pushed out of the slits of the showerhead.
Matrix: If you want the most intricate and coolest looking perc bong, opt for a matrix perc bong. Matrix perc bongs are submarine shaped and send your smoke in every which way with their horizontal and vertical slits. Your bubbles will look as if they're dancing to a beat.
Other Information to Know
Percolators are great at keeping your smoke clean and your hits smooth, but unfortunately they do make your bong harder to clean. And if you don't clean them, that kind of defeats the point of opting for a perc bong in the first place.
This isn't a big deal; this is just to say that you should be aware that perc bongs may make cleaning time a bit more tedious. Just continue to clean your bong regularly, as you should anyway, and it's something you will get used to.
Lastly, understand that perc bongs do not by themselves get you higher. There is a myth flying around that perc bongs’ filtration process actually makes you higher, but this is not true. It's likely that this myth came from people getting higher using perc bongs because they were able to take more hits (because the smoke is easier on your lungs), but it's the taking extra hits that cause a more intense high.
If you took the same amount of hits with a perc bong and a standard bong with the same strand of weed you would be equally high in the two scenarios. Some also say that perc bongs may even strip some of the THC away from your weed during the filtration process. But there is no conclusive evidence of this, and even if this is the case, it would be such a small amount that the difference would be negligible.
Final Words
Percolator bongs are the gold standard of filtration; bongs are already great at filtering smoke without percolators, and percolators double the amount of filtration that occurs. They aren't for everyone though, they're more expensive and some people even prefer the less filtered smoke.
Still, if you're able to we highly recommend trying a perc bong and seeing for yourself, it's very likely that it'll become your favorite smoking method.
