Gifts Under $50

Looking for a quality functional bong or water pipe, but want to stay under $50? Please browse our extensive collection of bongs under $50. The current bong market is dominated by high-end water pipes that cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. You don't have to sacrifice quality for the price. Whether it be the quality of the piece, the glassblower, or Company that produced the bong, or the sheer size of the bong, these water pipes can be priced out of range for many smokers.

Smokerolla has curated an ever-changing range of unique and diverse water pipes under $50. We have scoured the earth to offer you bongs that are priced below $50 but still have the quality, function, and look of bongs that cost hundreds more. Our selection is comprised of water pipes made from Pyrex glass, soft glass, and borosilicate glass.

All of the bongs we offer in our collection priced below $50 are hand made one at a time by a skilled artist. They employ the same techniques as the companies that sell more expensive bongs, but because we buy in such large volumes, we can offer these bongs at a discounted price.

One of the top-selling styles of bongs we sell is pyrex glass bongs. Pyrex glass is the same glass used for durable high heat cook wear. The smaller water pipes made from pyrex can be blown out similar to how a glass hand pipe is made. The blower starts with a glass tube, closes up the end, heats the tube, and blows it out to make the bong shape. A hole is made in the bong for the insertion of a grommet bowl, or a glass on glass joint is welded into the hole to allow for the use of a gong bowl.

Larger bongs are typically made on a lathe. The lathe spins the glass tube and allows the artist to weld different pieces together. When using a lathe, glass blowers can join different sections, including percolators, air chambers, and decorative designs. The different sections of a larger bong are made ahead of time and then assembled on the lathe. The base may be blown out like a traditional bong or more of a straight tube style. 

Some bongs, especially soft glass bongs, typically won't have a percolator built-in. The water filtration will happen in the water pipe base where the water is held in what is essentially a reservoir. You will pack your flower in the bowl, which is inserted into the down stem. The bottom of the down stem is below the surface of the water so that when you take a hit, the smoke has to travel through the water before it enters your lungs. This process filters the smoke to make for a more pleasant smoking experience.

More complex bongs, typically made of pyrex glass, have percolators built into them. Instead of filtering the smoke through the down stem only, a percolator adds another level of filtration. Percolators come in many different styles, shapes, and designs. One of the more basic percs is dome perc. It gets its name from the design. It is made of different pieces of glass that are made into a dome shape. One is inserted into the other, thus making a percolator. Tree percs get their name from the fact that their appearance is similar to tree branches. Tree percs can range from 3 branches up to 20 or more. They offer a higher filtration ability and a much smoother smoke over dome percs.

Even more complex percolators involve shower head, matrix, honeycomb, inline, turbine, fritted, spiral, and Faberge egg percs. These can be paired with each other to make extremely complex filtration chambers to allow for the smoothest smoke imaginable.

Standard water pipes come with a grommeted bowl. There is a hole in the water pipe, and a rubber grommet is used to adapt the downstem to the bong. Then the bowl slides into this down stem. With this standard setup, the bowl will have an o-ring to help seal the bowl to the downstem ensuring a solid pull when taking a hit.

On a glass on glass bong, a grommet is not necessary. A glass adapter called a “joint” is connected to the bong where the down stem hole is located. These joints are standard sizes of 14mm and 18mm. The area where the joint and the down stem meet is frosted or sandblasted, making a tight seal without using a grommet. Then the bowl slides in the down stem, and it seals without the need for an o-ring.

The most striking difference between the 2 types of glass used for bongs is their color. The soft glass bongs under $50 that sell usually have bright, vivid colors. They use millies, dichroic, and even glow in the dark glass to achieve bold designs. Pyrex glass, or what some call “scientific lab glass,” is clear when first made. The glass tubes come clear, and unless the artist chooses to add color, the finished bongs will be a clear design.

Pyrex glass can have colors added to it to make them stand out more than standard bongs. Glass artists can use color rods to make custom designs that accent the piece. Taking it one step further, artists can use colored glass tubes to make their water pipe and then do inside out or surface colorwork to make the entire pyrex bong full color.

When navigating the internet to purchase a bong, it seems there are endless choices, styles, and colors. Smokerolla has taken the time to curate a well-rounded inventory of glass water pipes to make the shopping experience a little easier and get you enjoying a new bong priced under $50 sooner.