The History of Glass Pipes
In honor or all of our glass pieces being on sale, we wanted to give you a little history lesson on how we ended up using glass pipes in the first place ! Go ahead and grab yours (or your cannamug) and get ready for this adventure.
It Started In 30 B.C.
The art of glassblowing dates back to the Roman empire of 30 B.C. They used colored glass rods and blow tubes to start creating hollow glass containers for the richest, most elite members of society at the time. It took almost 2000 years for glassblowers to use this nifty little skill though to make smoking devices. And it was only in the 60’s (of course lmao) that glass pipes emerged as we know them now..
Modern Day Glass Pipes
So in between then and now, a lot has happened. George Bush’s administration had a sting operation targeting businesses across the country, including Tommy Chong’s. He was convicted of conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia and sentenced to nine months in prison. From that moment and now, though, a lot has changed.
Today’s glass pipes range from super affordable pieces to totally unique works of art that Salvador Dali himself would be proud of.
Timeline of Glass Pipes
30 B.C. – The glass-blowing technique started poppin’.
1492 – Christopher Columbus came across Native Americans who were all about smoking tobacco pipes. Those pipes were made of wood and other accessible material.
1559 – Jean Nicot, a French diplomat, brought a tobacco pipe back to France, and it quickly became a hit within the homies.
1600 – Clay pipes became all the rage and were widely accepted amongst the English culture.
1800 – The wooden tobacco pipe became popular and widely used for tobacco and now hashish.
1960 – Using glass to produce extravagant pieces of art to display and smoke out of, grew extremely popular in society.
1977 – The first glass pipe was patented.
2003 – America ran a sting operation on head shops and smoke shops to pull drug paraphernalia from being sold.
2010 – There are a plethora of glass weed pipes available. Glass-blowing techniques are fine-tuned, and production is taking off.
2018 – Glass weed pipes is one of the largest cannabis sectors, with some pieces going for over $100 000.
Types of Glass pipes
Today we have a wide variety of Glass pipes to choose from, Chillums, Bowls, Bubblers, Bongs, Percolator Bongs and of course Dab Rigs.
When buying a glass pipe or bong, you can get all glass or get cheaper bongs and pipes made with rubber or plastic joints. Metal bowls and metal or plastic down stems are also common on cheap bongs. Note that rubber, plastic, silicone, and metal are difficult to clean and not as safe as glass under high temperatures.
Well-made glass-on-glass joints are a major key to achieving a perfect seal on the pipe. The type of glass also makes a difference. Borosilicate is much better and can take heating and cooling that is a necessity for glass pipes. Borosilicate must be heated to much higher temperatures to melt also, giving its nickname “hard glass.”
Water pipes, also known as bongs, are super popular and range from tiny bubblers to human-sized tubes on the very extreme end. Flower smokers are looking to diffuse and filter their smoke as much as possible, so glass pieces with one or more percolators and plenty of holes for diffusion are best for a smoother smoke. Concentrate users have almost as many options of different glass styles as flower smokers.
A glass dab rig is the standard for most concentrate users. Concentrate referring to products like wax and resin. Almost any medium or large bong can be adapted to work for concentrates too, BUT you might sacrifice some flavor along the way.