We’d all love the highest quality custom bong out there. You don't want your piece to crack, break, or discolor. And of course, you want the best smoking experience.

Cheap imports suck. They might be easy on the wallet, but when they keep breaking it’s actually more expensive in the long run. You’re better off getting a solid custom water pipe that won’t let you down.

But with such a saturated market, it can be hard to spot the difference. You can easily get ripped off with a cheap import if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

That’s why we’re here to help. Let’s walk through the world of cheap imports so you know how to spot an imposter when you see one!

Consider the Price

If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you find a mini bubbler that’s inside out and silver fumed, it should not cost $5. The materials by themselves would cost more than that, let alone labor and production costs.

Bongs don’t have to be hundreds of dollars, but a good one should be a reasonable price.

Look It Up

Check out DH Gate. When a company orders something from an importer, and the manufacturer makes too many, they end up on DH Gate with hefty discounts.

Lots of companies claim that the pieces on DH Gate are knock-offs. But the brand name can be displayed if the work was contracted outside of the US.

So there will be knock-offs, but if there’s a name brand listed, that means it’s contracted outside of the US.

If you think you’ve found a customized bong on DH Gate, it’s definitely not real.

Is The Bowl Drilled?

You have to look closely for this one. Is it a push bowl or is the bowl drilled out? This is vital to your custom water pipe’s longevity.

If your bowl was drilled out, it's definitely going to crack. Drilling causes minuscule stress fractures that will expand and contract with repetitive heating and cooling - which is exactly what you do when you smoke!

Some glass pipes will be very obviously drilled out. The edge will be rough and the glass will be thick.

Also, you’ll be able to find glass particles in the pipe sometimes. Tap the mouthpiece on the counter at the store before you buy it. If something that looks like dust comes out, that’s glass dust.

Is It Fully Melted?

This requires an inspection through the bowl, carb, and mouthpiece. A quality customized water pipe will be melted fully. If it’s not fully melted, there will be elevated stringers. When a piece gets imported, there’s little care as to whether or not the piece is fully melted.

This matters because glass doesn’t do well when it has angles or if there are huge differences in the thickness of the walls. Angles are very likely to cause cracking. Likewise, variation in wall thickness will create unbonded sections of crystal lattice- more cracking.

Annealing

Proper annealing can’t really be seen with the naked eye. That’s why importers take advantage of it. If something can be done more cheaply without it being obvious, it’s going to be done more cheaply.

Some retailers even have Polariscopes to show customers the difference between imported products. When you magnify the piece and use a polarizing lens, you will see stress lines in the unannealed glass. This will cause the piece to pop if you set it at the wrong angle.

In addition, when one glass is mixed with another glass, it has to be heated up to nearly its melting point. This releases internal stress that gets caused by the different expansion rates of glass colors.

Some glass never fully liquifies, so it’s annealed for long enough that the stress gets released. This takes time and money, but will create the strongest piece in the end.

Fuming

If you love color changing, then you can really appreciate this. If you’re unable to see through the fuming on your glass pipe, it will never change its color.

The color change that you know and love comes from light coming through the outside of the glass, coming in contact with the resin that’s inside the glass, and being reflected back out through the layer of fume.

When light passes through the fume, the fume filters out wavelengths of light. For example, silver fume absorbs everything besides green and blue. That means that a silver fume pipe can change from red to green or blue- all depending on the leaf resin inside your pipe.

Imported glass is usually over-fumed. This doesn’t let the light come back through the fume, so the glass won’t change its color.

Our Smoke Shop's Final Thoughts

Clearly, there are so many benefits to having a quality pipe or bong vs having a cheap import. It’ll last longer, it’ll look better, and it won’t cause you any headache.

You may not want to cough up the dough if you’re used to just buying cheap pieces, but you’re probably sick of them breaking or disappointed when they don’t change color as advertised.

Plus it might be cheaper in the long run to pay upfront than to have to keep replacing your piece over and over again!

We get it. It's hard to know what to buy! But hopefully, this guide has given you some insight so you can avoid cheap imports and know what you're looking for.