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Medicali, Ehle, US Tubes beaker, or RooR?

Cur

Member
Well folks, the time has come. I soon will be transitioning out of my current job with mandatory random drug screenings and will be able to enjoy my long-lost passion. In preparation thereof, and while I have a good paycheck, I have toyed with the idea of buying a quality lab glass bong. A well-known large Internet retailer is currently having a sale for 20% off site-wide. I've narrowed my choices down to these four, and would like to hear opinions on quality/value. The difference between the cheapest tube and the most expensive beaker is $83, the difference between the most expensive tube and the cheapest beaker is $32, and from the cheapest beaker to the most expensive is $43.

Ehle 45mmx5mm tube with ice pinches. Current price $140. I understand they are the epiphone to RooR's Gibson, but how high quality are the tubes themselves? Are the joints sturdy? Does anybody have experience with an Ehle straight tube? 18mm>18mm downstem.

Medicali 45x5mm straight tube with ice pinches. Current price is $148. Same as above, but American-made. I notice the joint has a much different profile than the Ehle or RooR. What's the deal with that? How is the quality of the jointery and welds? I've heard (read) Medicali had issues with QC earlier on, but that they have come quite a way since then.

US Tubes 14", 5mm thick beaker base with ice ring. Current price, not on sale, $180. Really attractive, and I've heard great things about US tubes, although at 5mm thick is there going to be much of a difference from the others I am entertaining?

Ehle Myers beaker base 45mmx5mm with ice pinches. Current price $180. I like the idea of a beaker because on my old green star the ice would melt and cause the water to overflow during a long session. The beaker seems to allow more of buffer for ice--and I used to love using ice.

RooR little sistah 45mmx5mm with ice pinches. Current price $223. The most expensive of my choices, but also the most deeply discounted price. The only downside is it is only in stock with 14mm>14mm downstem. The RooR is a known quantity, and I will say, I spent some time as a teenager in Germany so RooR, despite being overpriced, has a special nostalgia to me. However, I am not sold on the idea of spending an extra $80 on nostalgia alone. However, if the joints and glass is worth the difference (in addition to the personal nostalgia) I will gladly pay the difference.

As you can tell, I like scientific glass. Im not much for heady work on bongs... I certainly can appreciate it, but it's not something for which I'm willing to pay the price.

Please give your experience. I'm not interested in any brands that I haven't listed here, so I appreciate those of you who will likely say "what about X or Y?" but that is not what I am looking for. Thanks to all of you in advance!
 
Last edited:

Cur

Member
No opinions at all, eh? Oh well, the saw is over now. I'll have to do more research and wait until Black Friday or something. I saw HVY tubes at aqua labs, so maybe I'll go that route. Who knows?
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
No fucking question about it.get the Ehle.they are better than roor in my opinion cause they don't pump out as many tubes as roor so there quality control is better.DO NOT get a HVY!!
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
If its the HVY I'm thinking of they were never that great.maybe I'm thinking of HEAVY or something. either way EHLE make great tubes.you can't go wrong.personally I'd get a 5mm 500 or 1000 with the teardrop ash catcher with flame polished logo and diffuser.I've been out of the scene for awhile but its still probably the best bang for the buck.

By the way,EHLE is made in Germany and is right next to ROOR factory. ROOR is great but you will get at least the same quality with EHLE for cheaper price
 

Cur

Member
If its the HVY I'm thinking of they were never that great.maybe I'm thinking of HEAVY or something. either way EHLE make great tubes.you can't go wrong.personally I'd get a 5mm 500 or 1000 with the teardrop ash catcher with flame polished logo and diffuser.I've been out of the scene for awhile but its still probably the best bang for the buck.

By the way,EHLE is made in Germany and is right next to ROOR factory. ROOR is great but you will get at least the same quality with EHLE for cheaper price

Oh yeah man, HVY used to be top of the line stuff, so you're probably thinking of something else? I never knew they did scientific glass until very recently, though.

Yeah, I was introduced to EHLE while I was living in Germany. I know they're German. I didn't recall them being so much cheaper than RooR, though. Just made me wonder.

Thanks for the advice. Anybody else have anything to add?
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
Oh sorry.my mistake.ehle aren't cheap but there cheaper than roor.US tubes are good too.the even have 9mm tubes.can't go wrong with them either.
 

REALPOTency

Active member
Veteran
Ehle glass bong is always good option for quality/price
i had some 3 different types 14 and 18mm ,
bent neck and straigth, i prefer bent neck 14mm but is depend your smoke style

-bent neck is soft-slow hit and you can smoke Reclining
-straight more fast-direct And should be used with a more straight posture or standing

14 or 18mm?
It depends on your lungs, throat and pipe
(long of tube/outlet diameter mouth/input diameter Bowl/banger/dome)
14mm for express smoke,soft
18mm is more for hardcore smokers

roor little sista good option too ,classic and vintage
 

Mukind

Member
HVY recently changed the way they make or their contractor makes their pieces. Joints are different, not as high quality IMO. Ordered one for 140, got it for 110 but dif joints.

Changed the female joint of the tube and changed the height of the slider needed. It takes a less than 3" slide only

I'd give you a link to the old one but for some reason malwarebytes is stopping me from accessing aqualabs....Sketchy
 
Us tubes is by far the best company of those listed. Do yourself a favor and get a 9mm us tubes, rather than the 5mm. It's better than all the bongs you put, combined. If you want a bong that you can put through your wall (literally) without breaking, that's the only one to choose.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
Wrong.ehle is the best bong unless you get lucky and get a well made German roor from a famous artist.yeah us tube are good but ehle and roor GERMANY are by far the best.not even debatable
 
utterly false. an ehle is no where remotely close to the build quality of a US tube. does roor even make a 9mm? their 7mm sure wouldnt pass the same 'break stuff with the bong' tests a US tubes 7mm would, and it would cost you like $600 instead of $240, for an inferior product. i wasnt kidding about smashing thru drywall with them. seen one bust thru 1/4inch cement board, joint first, no chips. Roor has no functional or quality advantage, their provenance as being a roor is the only thing cool about them. ehle isnt even worth talking about. german glass has not been competitive with american glass since 2008.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
if your talking about a custom worked tube your right.but a real roor off the kiln will go through strict quality control you can count on.I've been into glass awhile.and it's true I've been out of the glass scene awile but ehle and roor just hit better.if you wanna just go by thickness your right.us tube is the way to go.I have a gspot tube with a "solid tank joint" made in Germany.it's in my gallery if you wanna look.they break boards on their website.

But at the end of the day it's all preference.you want to spend 800 bucks on a fancy tube,get sovereignty or toro.you want a good basic solid tube you can customize,get an ehle or roor.
 
im not saying roor is a cut rate bong, im sure its the best glass in germany, but i have both and my us tube hits better imo. i had the roor first, havent used it in years. so functionally theyre next to identical, like you said its prefence at that point, so for me the durability is the deciding factor. and cost. us tubes are WAY cheaper than roors and cheaper than any comparable ehle. the us tubes dont come thinner than 5mm which is thicker than the thickest ehle i can find online, but i didnt look very long, so its hard to actually compare the two in build quality, but the thinnest us tubes is cheaper than the thickest ehle i could find, so it beats them in cost to quality ratio too.

but i LOVE porsches, and even tho japan has great engineering i just love german cars, so i understand your affinity for german glass. whatever gets you lit.
 

shithawk420

Well-known member
Veteran
I've seen 5mm and 7mm ehle.but they are custom I think.I didn't mean to come off as a dick.been on edge lately.if you say it's just as good I'll take your word.

I'd love a Porsche but I also love my fully loaded VW Passat with triptronic transmission with an Audi motor.even though jap cars are great my German interior is NICE!just sucks to find a mechanic who knows what they are doing.

Do have straights,beakers or both?that's an important factor too.
 

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