Don't buy cheap glass

The other night I was throwing a ball around with some friends and it bounced off the wall and tipped over my little green 'GEAR' bong and cracked it at the downstem. It was beyond repair, so I hucked it onto the roof of the school we were at. Later that night when I was about to blaze a bedtime sesh, I missed its presence so I hit up the headshop and bought what looked like a reasonable bong for $90. It's a straight tube, 5mm glass without a beaker bottom. Rather than the downstem being welded in like on a higher end bong, it is attatched to a rubber stopper and placed in a hole on the bong. I have a perc that uses the same system, but it's downstem is diffused so I decided to swap them. As soon as I pull out the cork on the new bong, a decent sized chunk of glass comes right off, and now I am left with a still useable, but less aestetically appealing piece, that is now weaker in it's most vulnerable area.

Called the headshop too, seeing if they would do anything for me, but I'm SOL. I was expecting at least an in-store credit since I am a good customer there (have dropped almost $1000 there), but they wouldn't help me out. I'm gonna clean it up and bring it in when the manager is working.

SO the moral of the story is, don't buy cheap glass, just like the title says...save your pennies and buy something that is going to last.

Anyways, I've had my eye on this Roor for some time now, so I'll probably put in an order sometime this summer...the bong I picked up looks very similar, but it lacks the RooR craftsmanship obviously.
http://www.everyonedoesit.co.uk/online_headshop/Roor_Bong_50.cfm?iProductID=1564

 

I'd go back and tell the headshop you want a refund :\

 

My $10 bong still gets me just as high as anything.

Althought tomorrow I'll have a nice new piece... Hell I might even go tonight I dunno.

 

Yea the owner lives down the street from me, but I don't wanna show up at his front door and ask. He never seems to be working when I go in, but I think I'm gonna clean it up, find out when he's working and then bring it in. I didn't even use the bowl that came with it, so cleaning it won't be hard, and cleanliness of the piece seems to be one of their main concerns.

 

You get what you pay for.

 

I know what you mean now. I just broke my bubbler right off where the stem reaches the "chamber". And I would like to save for a spoon thats made of good glass.


What exactly are some indicators of good glass?


I know some basics.

 

The thing is, the GEAR bong that broke when it was knocked over was cheaper than this tube, yet I had it for about a year. This new piece is also way thicker than the gear, but there was obviosuly a flaw where the downstem should go for it to chip that easily. I'm phoning again tomorrow morning to see if the owner is in, and I'll take it in to show him. If i were him, I would give me at least an in store credit...because as of now I won't be buying bongs from this particular shop again,.

 

^^ and if they won't give you any kind of deal just smash the thing on the ground and walk out.

 

^ that'd be really dramatic, and really awesome.

 

Hahah I would if it were totally fucked, but the bong still works. If worst comes to worst I'll have to get some superglue and glue the piece that chipped off, back on and put some glue along the crack to prevent it from breaking further.

 

yuck a brick thru their window

 

it's not the shops fault, it's the blower that can't weld a downstem into a bong so he uses this ghetto ass cork method. It's nice for cleaning, but it doesn't look great, but they are solid bongs for the price.

 

A $90 should not be breaking that easily, that's for sure.

 

Up till the mid-90s sometime, we did just fine smoking out of stone, wood, metal, ceramics, &c. They're less fragile than glass. Well, except maybe the ceramics.

 

tough shit man...from my headshop I can get broken or faulty pieces that get shipped in for free im friends with the owners son and daughter that work there though. If you've already used it though then there isnt much they can do for you, seeing as something illegals been smoked out of it. If your a good customer though then they should give you something back for it though

 

No visible cracks or stresses, symetricality. If it has marble-work, the marbles should be fused at least half the diameter into the pipe, or else it may break off very easy. You can feel the different qualities of the glass, and you can ask the shop owners where the piece is from.


Try going to a shop that specializes in local talent, as they will have better quality shit, and you wont be supporting sweat shop labor.

 

^^ but sweat shop labour makes things so cheap

 

Hahahahaha I joked about having a sweat shop in my basement once, loads of Indian kids chained to the walls...this one girl thoguht I was serious though so I went along with it and she hasnt talked to me since

 

That sucks, man! They definitely should help you out, especially since you've spend ovre 1,000 bucks there!

I have a nice thick ass bong, but the slide on it is SUPER thing and i'm ALWAYS afraid of it breaking. I think next time I visit the headshop I'm gonna get a nice thick one.

 

Yeah I am not buying cheap glass anymore unless I am looking for a piece for 10$ like a one hitter to bring for a special occasion.

If you are looking into buying a new bong you should really check out US Tubes. There joints ARE THE FUCKING SHIT. The joint on their 9mm bongs is fucking 38mm and comes with a VERY NICE 18.8 to 14.5 bushing diffuser. However their 9mm beaker is 310$, that does include priority shipping though, and of course it won't take fucking weeks like an EDIT order does.

Here is the link to US Tubes