How to Make a Reusable Gravity Bong From a Socket

Cricket67

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posted on 11 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Crafting a gravity bong can be a fun exercise in stoner-engineering, but having to remake it every time feels a little wasteful, right? For most gravity bongs the geeb piece, or the metal piece that the smokable material burns in, is made on the spot out of aluminum foil and a melted soda cap. That’s workable, but not ideal, and the fumes from heated aluminum foil are, well, not exactly good for you. This article will walk you through how to create your own reusable piece out of a socket wrench so you’re ready to rip whenever the moment strikes.

Warning: This method uses sockets (from socket wrenches) which are coated in chromium 6—a carcinogen. Lighting a bowl of herbs may not be hot enough to release the chromium, but if you smoke gravity bongs regularly consider buying a reusable geeb piece from a smoke shop.

Steps

Making the Bowl

Buy and clean a new socket wrench socket. Find some ½” or 5/8” (12 to 15mm) sockets or buy a socket wrench set. Some sockets come precoated in a thin layer of oil to prevent oxidation (rusting, basically). Since you should always use a new, clean socket, give it a once over with some rubbing alcohol to degrease it.

Fit the socket into the mouth of a water bottle. Put your socket into the top of a 16.9 fluid ounces (500 ml) water bottle to be sure it’s the right size. You’re looking for a pretty snug fit to ensure it’ll be airtight.

Wrap masking tape around the sides of the socket to make an airtight seal. To get a good pull, the inside of the bottle needs to be a vacuum. Wrap masking tape around the base of the socket until you almost can’t fit the piece into the top of the water bottle to make a tight seal.

Place the metal gauze in the socket, to create a “bowl” for the tobacco. Cut the mesh into a hexagon to fit the socket. You can buy metal screens at any smoke shop.

Constructing the Bong

Cut holes into the bottom of your bottle. Cut several holes along the bottom of your water bottle with a hobby knife. Use a 16.9 fluid ounces (500 mL) bottle to be sure it can fit into your water reservoir. If the holes are too big, water will flow out too quickly. The objective is to make the water flow out as slowly and steadily as possible to ensure that the resulting smoke is at its densest, minimizing waste of the vacuum generated in the bottle.

Cut the top off a 2 litre (68 fl oz) bottle. Get an empty 2 litre (68 fl oz) bottle and cut off the top. This will act as the water reservoir you put the smaller bottle into. Cut off enough of the top that no curved sides remain.

Place the water bottle in the 2 litre, and fill the larger bottle with water. Put your water bottle in first, then fill the 2 litre with water until the smaller bottle is almost submerged.

Load and place the bowl in the mouth of the bottle. Pinch a little bit of tobacco (or whatever you’re smoking) and fill the socket with it. Put the bowl snuggly into the top of the water bottle, and get ready to rip your bong. Gravity bongs are very potent, so test it out with a little bit of smokable material the first time you hit it.

Using the Gravity Bong

Light the contents of the bowl while pulling the bottle out of the water. Go slow and steady to give time for the embers to spread. As you pull the bottle up, it will fill with smoke from the lit material.

Remove the bowl carefully once the bottle is drained and inhale. Once the bottle is drained of water or the bowl is done, pull off the bowl (being careful not to burn yourself) and inhale the smoke. Keep in mind that the resulting smoke will be very potent, so don’t inhale too deeply.

Push the bottle back down slowly. If you push the bottle back in too quickly the water will splash out, and if your bowl is still in the bottle the ash will be shot into the air. Load and place the bowl in the mouth of the bottle if you want to go for round 2.