-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
what were bongs like way back when?
- Thread starter jahrastafarii
- Start date
Back in the late 70's we would rape the science lab of any beakers we could sneak out, but they were few and far between. For years I had a bong made from a small Perrier bottle in my room and another made from a Heineken bottle in my car.
You would take the bottle and with a nail or a nail punch, tap the glass where you wanted your stem or carb hole and gently proceed until you knocked out a small piece on the inside (like when a BB hits a window) and then you could press the tool through and file the hole out to the size you wanted.
This method took a lot of time, practice, patience and bottles.
I never had the patience to tap and learned to make bongs with a dremel tool, although this took it's own patience because if you went too fast, the glass would heat up too much and crack or shatter.
I had a Heineken bong that lasted for about 10 years though, those were some tough bottles.
You would take the bottle and with a nail or a nail punch, tap the glass where you wanted your stem or carb hole and gently proceed until you knocked out a small piece on the inside (like when a BB hits a window) and then you could press the tool through and file the hole out to the size you wanted.
This method took a lot of time, practice, patience and bottles.
I never had the patience to tap and learned to make bongs with a dremel tool, although this took it's own patience because if you went too fast, the glass would heat up too much and crack or shatter.
I had a Heineken bong that lasted for about 10 years though, those were some tough bottles.
From what I heard original bongs came back with soldiers from Vietnam, made out of bamboo in the late 60's... I wasnt alive anywere near that time, but last festival I went to I bought a walking stick/bong, perfect for venues, and camouflaged bowl that fits in the bottom! :yay: Bamboo bongs work great 
Much love all! SL
Much love all! SL
Right on! I had a US bong. Had a tube that went from the lower chamber to the upper. Cops got it on the way home from a Rush concert in '77.
Man, I loved that bong. Had the little resin trap/cleanout on the bottom. So cool.
I had a couple of cheap acrylic bongs, a small glass water pipe seized by the parental units and a couple of Apogee's before I went to college.
At college, I was introduced to the Toke/Tobacco Master. I'm on my third one, though it has been retired. One of the local head shops here still sells them. Great bongs but I didn't like the screw in bowls and the stems were a bitch to clean. IMHO
Some of my friends has ceramic bongs and water pipes.
http://www.vintageparaphernalia.com/2011/05/apogee-bongs-by-stone-age-trading.html
At college, I was introduced to the Toke/Tobacco Master. I'm on my third one, though it has been retired. One of the local head shops here still sells them. Great bongs but I didn't like the screw in bowls and the stems were a bitch to clean. IMHO
Some of my friends has ceramic bongs and water pipes.
http://www.vintageparaphernalia.com/2011/05/apogee-bongs-by-stone-age-trading.html
Last edited:
Chillums rock clay or wood, were the precursor to the bong
First water bong I ever saw was made from Bamboo, entirly
First water bong I ever saw was made from Bamboo, entirly
as others have said, mid eighties, US Waterpipes put out a high quality printed catalog, my buddy ordered the Capital Hill to his house where he lived with his mom....at the time he was around 15 years old fucking balls. we used to take that thing around in a gym bag.
graffix was absolutely made with a soup can. i had an early version that was made with a milled metal hitter, did not have that clippy thing that came later on.
and as mentioned the cadillac of bongs back in the day the 21" TM, or as we used to call it The Executive. what a pain in the ass as far as bong maintenance goes. how about trying to get that fucking carb hole in the right spot you wanted it?????
i done homeade as well with a dremel tool, basically made a nice US Style straight tube, bout 2.5 feet had that thing all thru freshman year of college.
memories...I got couple of nice Illadelph pieces now, but my daily driver is a little straight US knockoff with the wooden and metal hitter.
peace
jip
graffix was absolutely made with a soup can. i had an early version that was made with a milled metal hitter, did not have that clippy thing that came later on.
and as mentioned the cadillac of bongs back in the day the 21" TM, or as we used to call it The Executive. what a pain in the ass as far as bong maintenance goes. how about trying to get that fucking carb hole in the right spot you wanted it?????
i done homeade as well with a dremel tool, basically made a nice US Style straight tube, bout 2.5 feet had that thing all thru freshman year of college.
memories...I got couple of nice Illadelph pieces now, but my daily driver is a little straight US knockoff with the wooden and metal hitter.
peace
jip
adapting a metal bowl piece to a plastic soda bottle cap and then using a bic pen to puncture a 2-liter bottle... using mostly scotch tape. If you stole a silver trumpet mouth piece for a bowl from a band date then you could make one in high school without needing outside supplies.
That was the shit in my town
That was the shit in my town
shit I used to actually use part of my trombone from elementary school. the Trombowl....
peace
jip
peace
jip
Glass head
Glass head
I remember Glass head, computer designed water pipes and bonds in 1975. We made them out of any kind of pipe. I have one I made out of 2" ABS plastic pipe that was 6' tall and bent in middle. Still use old style bong today. Difusers are a great addition. The 70's where you trust everyone who smoked weed....rw
Glass head
I remember Glass head, computer designed water pipes and bonds in 1975. We made them out of any kind of pipe. I have one I made out of 2" ABS plastic pipe that was 6' tall and bent in middle. Still use old style bong today. Difusers are a great addition. The 70's where you trust everyone who smoked weed....rw
This thread needs more pics of old school tubes!
these guys were up-north legends. now i see they went global
http://www.alibaba.com/member/us105066068.html.
skulls cobras penises boobs they made it all in house. now not so much
http://www.alibaba.com/member/us105066068.html.
skulls cobras penises boobs they made it all in house. now not so much
abellguy
Member
Cant find pics of it but the old school graphix was the shit with the metal can bottom. I remember the poster for them "one bong, three hits, and you're out". We had the three footer with quite a few notches on it from people straight passing out and falling over from standing around in a smoking circle after school in the woods o the good ole days 
o the good ole days 
Old School Jerome Baker. 15 years old or so.
used to use a 3 foot graffix with a turtle playing a banjo sticker on it. also had a 3 foot extension for it. 6 feet of bong smoke would mess us up for hours. took a friend to light it. unless you could hold a match between your toes. in high school in the late 80's i made this:
triple chamber made out of pvc with a pull off bowl. man that thing hit good. still got it, i may go for a nostalgia hit or two later
triple chamber made out of pvc with a pull off bowl. man that thing hit good. still got it, i may go for a nostalgia hit or two later
Hers the U.S. Patent for "Bong" circa 1977
http://www.google.com/patents?id=A4...tract&zoom=4&dq=bong#v=onepage&q=bong&f=false
http://www.google.com/patents?id=A4...tract&zoom=4&dq=bong#v=onepage&q=bong&f=false
S
SeaMaiden
First bong I ever used (late 70s) was made of bamboo. After that, bongs I bought or that friends had were always made of ceramic or bamboo. This was during the Isomerizer days.
One of the features of old bongs that modern bongs no longer have that I really miss is a place for the weed, usually in front of and slightly below the bowl. I miss that. Also, carburetion is very different now, I'm still a 'plug that little hole with your finger!' kinda gal, always have trouble with the slides (needed to be taught how to use the damn slide).
One of the features of old bongs that modern bongs no longer have that I really miss is a place for the weed, usually in front of and slightly below the bowl. I miss that. Also, carburetion is very different now, I'm still a 'plug that little hole with your finger!' kinda gal, always have trouble with the slides (needed to be taught how to use the damn slide).
I had a 3ft Graffix w/ the suede soup can base, 3ft extension AND the ashcatcher to match. Called it the Big Stick at 3ft and The Biggest Stick when we put the extension on for 6ft. You would have to have someone else light it, do pulls to get it full, pull the bowl and have them put their thumb over the hole to build up backpressure and then let it fly. We put many a college student down for the count with that thing! 
