Why people put ice cubes in their bongs

Bongs are a legendary way to get high. In fact, bongs are an iconic marijuana paraphernalia that’s been around for decades. They come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, from simple plastic tubes to more elaborate glass bongs. Essentially, however, they all feature a cylindrical structure with a broader base designed to hold water.

But you may have seen some newer bong models with little ice catchers over the cup, while others make do with a regular bong and add ice. What is the ice cream for?

Photo by Volodymyr Bondarenko/EyeEm/Getty Images

Benefits of Putting Ice in Your Bong

Beginners or cannabis connoisseurs alike can benefit from adding ice to a bong. It’s an easy and literally free way to enhance your bong experience. Adding ice has many benefits:

• Ice Cools Your Throat: While bongs have a cult following, there’s no denying that they can sometimes produce a harsh, harsh smoke. Oftentimes, you’ll cough up a lot harder than you’d like after a bong hit.

This is where the ice comes in. It significantly lowers the temperature with each inhale, resulting in a cooler, smoother hit every time.

• Ice Reduces Smoking Temperature: When smoking a bong with ice cubes, the smoke enters the chamber through the water. This water cools a few degrees before it hits the ice, whereupon the smoke is cooled even further.
• Ice filters the smoke: This is largely why many bongs come with ice catchers; Your enjoyment is secondary. The ice is such an effective filtration system for the smoke that it cannot by itself.
• Ice improves or enhances the flavor of your buds: The smoke you inhale from a bong with ice is not only filtered, but tastes better too. This will enhance the flavor, terpenes and flavonoids from your stash, although you can also add your own flavorings e.g. B. by using flavored water, fruits and even flavored ice cream.
• Ice Allows You to Take Bigger Hits: Bongs are known for the big hits you can take. All it takes is one powerful hit and you’ll be high for hours. Add ice – and you can take even bigger hits because it’s so much cooler and smoother on your throat.
• Ice serves as a splashback: nobody likes water splashing back out of the bong. This is enough to deter many people from smoking one at all. But adding ice already serves as a splash guard—as long as it’s placed over the water chamber.

RELATED: Does Bong Water Filter Some of the THC Out of Your Weed?

Photo by photographer/Getty Images

How ice catchers work

Bongs that have a built-in ice chamber provide a catch for the ice. As soon as you add it, the smoke from the bong travels through and hits the ice. Here it acts as a filter; From here the smoke temperature is also reduced to a much more comfortable level to smoke.

Remember to remove the ice cubes when you’re done with your bong session. This eliminates the risk of ice melting into the water chamber.

What if my bong doesn’t have an ice catch?

You don’t have to spend any money to enjoy these benefits if you already have a bong, even if it doesn’t have an ice catch.

Just add some ice cubes through the neck and let them sit on the water; This is just as useful and effective as using an Ice Fang. Just remember to give yourself some time before you decide to inhale. Another way to use ice is to simply drop the cubes on the bottom of the chamber, although this requires ice scavengers.

Never put ice cubes in the bong neck. This is dangerous because ice chips and frost can go straight into your airways and cause irritation. For this reason, unless you have an ice catcher, you should always put the ice cubes into the water through your throat, where this will lower the temperature.

Which bongs are ideal for ice?

In general, you could put ice on almost any type of hookah.

But it should be said that some bongs are better suited to ice than others. Of course, it would be advisable to go to a bong that already has an ice catcher, but it’s not essential. If you want to try the benefits of adding ice to your bong, glass bongs come highly recommended. It allows you to see the smoke as it swirls through and also enhances the flavor of your smoke.

Pipe and cup shaped bongs are the most logical for those looking to add ice to their bong. However, depending on the size of the chamber, you may need smaller ice cubes. You may also find that different ice sizes affect chilling temperatures and the hardness of your hit, so experiment a little as well.

RELATED: The Complete Guide to Cleaning Your Cannabis Bongs, Smoking Pipes, Dab Rigs, and Vapes

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk via Pexels

safety aspects

The practice of putting ice in the bong has been around for a while. It is generally safe and well tolerated.

However, if you suffer from respiratory conditions or are prone to asthma attacks, using bongs (even with ice) is not recommended. The intense smoke can irritate your respiratory system, so you’re better off not smoking and instead opting for other consumption methods that are easy on your throat and chest. This includes edibles, oils and beverages.

That being said, ripping a bong in much cooler temperatures thanks to the ice makes bongs that much healthier and safer for everyone else.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and has been republished with permission.