Getting caught in a winter blizzard is anything but pleasant. People love to claim they can’t get enough of snow every year, but every time the blizzard strikes in, you can see the same people posting how they hate getting cold and having to put layers of clothes on themselves while millions of snow particles are hitting their face.
Fortunately, cannabis consumers have their ways of coping with bad vibes using some good stuff and their limitless creativity — hence the emergence of ice bongs.
If you feel like a contemporary version of Phidias — a Canadian one, speaking of winter blizzards — making a bong out of ice is a great way to kill boredom and get the coolest (didn’t see that pun coming) experience with cannabis ever.
You can make a bong out of ice both indoors and outdoors if the temperatures plummet and stay well below freezing point for long enough to get your masterpiece finished. In this article, we explain how to make a bong out of ice at home.
For outdoor sculpting, you can ditch electricity and man-made appliances, following the rest of the steps from our guide.
Making Your DIY Ice Bong in a Winter Blizzard: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you already have some experience in making DIY smoking tools, then this is a very exciting project.
It requires basic manual skills and lots of precision if you want to make your piece look like a pretty bong rather than Yeti after a crash with a truck.
But, if this is your first bong — there’s always room for imperfections, so as long as it cools the smoke, it’s a good one.
Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to make a bong out of ice in a winter blizzard.
Equipment:
- Two large bowls
- Two small bowls
- Screwdriver
- Duct tape
- Frying pan
- Lighter or torch
- Downstem
- Bowl
- Frozen shot glass mold
And your favorite strain, of course. You want to pack that cool bowl with some fine herb.
Instructions:
The process of making a bong out of ice involves a few stages. Here’s how it looks like step-by-step:
STEP #1: Prep Work
Start by filling the large bowls with water, but make sure you don’t go overboard — you need to have enough space to put the smaller bowls on top. Place the duct tape over the bowls in an “X” shape with the smaller bowl underneath to hold it down. Once you’ve gotten as close to the center as possible, stick both bowls in the freezer.
STEP #2: Making the Smoke Chamber
The best material you can use for making the smoke chamber of your ice bong are shot glass molds. Most dollar stores have these in stock, so buy a pair, fill them up almost to the top, and place them in the freezer until completely frozen.
Take the hollow cubes out of the containers, repeating the process until you get enough molds to create a nice, long chamber. However, keep in mind that the longer the chamber, the less stable your bong will be. When making the next molds, place your previously made ones in the freezer.
Now you want to put your pan on the stove over medium heat and flatten the bottom of your shot glass mold pieces. They will get dampened from flattening on the pan, so put them together (one on top of the other) until they merge with each other. Repeat the process with the remaining molds, placing them back in the freezer to harden up one more time.
STEP #3: Molding the Base
To make the base of your ice bong, take your bowls out of the freezer and remove the big ones from around the ice. This is actually the hardest step but if you run some warm water around the edges, they should go off easily without cracking.
Now, do the same thing to your base that you did to the pieces of your chamber, flattening them with a frying pan. Place both halves of your bong base together until they don’t slide apart, using gloves if necessary. You can help yourself out with a spray bottle to fill the gaps. Place this ice ball in the freezer to harden.
STEP #4: Carving the Holes
The next step involves carving out a hole for your smoke chamber. You’ll need to use a lighter or torch to heat up the head of a screwdriver and just melt your way into the bong. Don’t use too much pressure because your bong can break that way — it may take time to get there. Just make sure the hole is smaller than the inner dimensions of the smoke chamber.
Carve the downstem hole using the same heated screwdriver. Slowly shape it into the size of your downstem but don’t rush it.
STEP #5: Assembling Your Ice Bong
Begin by placing the downstem into one hole. Now that the bong is starting to gain some shape, you can flatten the edges of the smoke chamber again (if necessary), and just place these together, spraying them with some water to fuse the construct. Place the bong in the freezer once again to solidify for one last time.
How Long is an Ice Bong Good For?
That depends on how well you store it. If you don’t want your bong to start melting, try not to use it for longer than 10 minutes after taking it out of the freezer. You also need to handle the ice bong carefully, especially when changing the water or loading the bowl, as this kind of bong is very fragile — unless you’re smoking outdoors in a winter blizzard.
All in all, an ice bong is a great tool for smoking your herbs if you’re aiming at extra cool and smooth smoke, but if you’re looking for something more stable and durable, we recommend buying a regular bong with a built-in ice chamber. At FatBuddhaGlass, we have plenty of high-quality pieces equipped with this feature, so if you need a daily driver for cool sessions, feel free to browse our store!
