Custom Glass vs Wooden Pipe: Which Should You Choose?

Custom Glass vs Wooden Pipe: Which Should You Choose?

Posted by Puffr ,5th Mar 2021

It’s an argument as old as time itself. (Okay, maybe not as old as time itself, but at least as old as your stoner uncle.) Which is the better choice for optimizing your experience: the wooden pipe or the custom glass pipe? Wooden pipes have been with us for hundreds of years and were used for smoking cannabis as far back as the 16th century. Glass pipes, on the other hand, are a more recent development, tracing their lineage to the 1960s counterculture movement. Both have a proven record and both are dependable and discreet. So which one is better?

The Case for (and Against) Custom Glass Pipes

A pipe is a pipe is a pipe, right? Well, not exactly. At least not if you ask fans of glass pipes. They’ll be happy to spend hours waxing eloquent about the virtues of glass pipes; their peerless aesthetic qualities, their satisfying heft and more. For those who have never had one, let’s take a closer look at their pros and cons.

Glass Pipe Pros

Widely Available - Way back in the days of yore glass pipes were rare. There was no internet, so if your local headshop didn’t have glass pipes, you didn’t have a glass pipe. Today, they are the most popular form of hand pipe. You can pick one up from any one of hundreds of websites, and you can be pretty sure your local headshop has a nice selection too.

Aesthetically Pleasing - Each and every custom glass pipe is a unique piece of art. They are available in every conceivable configuration and color, with some more sculpture than pipe. If you are like most glass pipe owners, you spend a lot of time zoning out on the stunning beauty of your glass pipe after you’ve partaken of its contents.

Will Not Alter the Taste of Your Smoke - Wooden pipes have their advantages, as we’ll see shortly. But they also have a habit of imbuing whatever you burn in them with a slight taste of the wood. In most cases, it’s not overwhelming. But it is enough to turn some people off. That won’t happen with custom glass pipes. They provide a sparkling clean smoke every time (provided, of course, that you clean them once in a while).

Easy to Clean - Speaking of cleaning your glass pipe… All you typically need to do to keep yours clean is to soak it in isopropyl alcohol periodically. That should be enough to remove any resin stuck to the inside.

Glass Pipe Cons

More Expensive Than Wood Pipes - While most glass pipes aren’t going to break anyone’s bank, they are typically more expensive than wooden pipes. Sometimes, quite a bit more expensive. You have to decide if it’s worth it to you.

Heavier than Wooden Pipes - It’s not like having a lead weight in your pocket, but glass pipes can be noticeably heavier than wooden pipes. How heavy depends on the thickness of the glass and the overall dimensions of the pipe.

They Can Break - Wooden pipes will usually survive being dropped on the floor. More often than not, glass pipes will not. If you’re the careful type that shouldn’t be an issue. But for those of us who are not anal retentive, it could be.

The Case for (and against) Wooden Pipes

During the 60s and 70s wooden pipes and papers were about the only ways you had to enjoy your herb. Today, the wooden hand pipe has been upstaged pretty dramatically by the custom glass pipe. Nonetheless, they endure. Here are the pros and cons of wooden pipes.

Wooden Pipe Pros

That Retro Appeal - The aesthetic appeal of wooden pipes is their timeless quality. The wooden pipe sitting on your table today would not look out of place on a table in 16th century Constantinople. In a world where change is occurring at breakneck speed, it can be reassuring to have a little piece of timeless design in your life.

They Often Add Their Own Flavor to the Smoke - Some people enjoy the fact that wooden pipes often add subtle wood flavor overtones to their smoke. They will even seek out certain types of weed that they feel complement the flavor from the pipe. Whether this is something that would float your boat only you can say.

They’re Affordable - Not everyone has a lot to spend on a pipe. While others simply don’t think it's worth spending any more than you have to on one. For these folks, the wooden pipe is the common-sense choice.

Wooden Pipe Cons

They’re Difficult to Clean - While custom glass pipes are easy to clean, wooden pipes are the exact opposite. There’s no soaking it in isopropyl alcohol, so you’ll have to dig in and clean it manually. Even then you’re not going to get everything, and over time resin will build up and begin to foul the smoke.

They Have a Fairly Short Life Expectancy - Once that resin buildup reaches a certain point you’ll start contemplating tossing your wooden pipe and getting a new one. Depending on how often you smoke and how often you scour the pipe to remove what resin you can, you may be looking for a new pipe in just a few months.

They Often Add Their Own Flavor to the Smoke - Not only do you get the resin taste eventually, but the wood will add its own flavor to your smoke as we mentioned earlier. Some people are okay with that. Some are not.

Only you can decide if custom glass pipes are for you. Hopefully, our little guide makes your decision a bit easier.