Bong smokers - help?

[louise]

Will do, alone I usually smoke joints, but I know a few bong smokers who wont mind me measuring their mix and cones.

[Ernie420]

My last cone contained .1g of straight green, felt like a bit of a pussy though compared to Nays .15 Need to do more training i guess

[mjbarratt]

Hey folks, I've just constructed a 2 item poll at https://cannabis.community.forums.ozstoners.com/topic/56018-how-much-green-is-in-your-cone/

 

If those who've already responded in this thread can add their data to the poll that would be mighty useful

[bitterman]

In researching and doing extensive interviews (30+) for the Marijuana Australiana documentary (formerly Chronic: Need for Weed) - and being a former daily bong smoker for well over a decade, I can generalise here regarding the bong smoking practices of Australians, which as far as I can tell, are fairly unique to us antipodeans.

• We use small bongs, rather than the 3ft ornate monsters used in North America. Probably because they are less conspicuous and because Americans like everything 'big'.
  
• We use homemade bongs made from plastic/garden hose. Predominantly Orchy brand bottles back in my day (hence the term 'Orchy bong'), though Gatorade seems more popular now. These bongs are generally tossed instead of cleaned and are often near-black (and stinky) with tar residue (The recent banning of bongs will probably increase the use of orchies, to the detriment of harm minimisation).
  
• We use smallish metal cone pieces and downstems (if not a length of hose), where larger glass cones (bowls) are the norm in the USA and elsewhere.
  
• We don't take multiple 'hits' from large 'bowls', we 'punch' 'cones' in one inhalation (and seem to be proud of this skill) - generally as fast and hard as possible, though more savvy smokers will usually 'roast' cones, inhaling slowly until nearly all the material in the cone has combusted, before 'punching' it through the cone piece.
  
• In terms of non-homemade bongs, it seems Australian's prefer 'glassies' over ceramic bongs, the latter usually is usually made of non-transparent material, so the water and 'bong grot' can't be seen.
  
• Historically, we 'mull' up our smoking matter with tobacco. The ratio is subjective and varies between say 50/50 green/tobacco (or sometimes even more tobacco than weed) and say 80/20 g/t with cigarette smokers erring on the side of more tobacco. The practice of mixing with tobacco is a topic of much debate and I think it's safe to say, the more people educate themselves about cannabis, the less they maintain the practice of mixing with tobacco.
  
• If you wish to test the ranges of cannabis buy weight smoked in a cone, I'd recommend buying some cone pieces of varying sizes (though there's something of a standard cone volume in Au) and loading some herb (substitute or real) into said cone. Fill it up close to the brim for the lower end and try 'thumb jamming' a 'mountain cone/mount Fuji' for the higher end of the scale. You may also wish to repeat these measurements with a tobacco/herb blend using the ratios provided above.
  
• The bucket bong is reputed to be an Australian invention (some say NZ), though these are a novelty and not really in common use as far as I know.
  
• Drinking bong water is disgusting though unfortunately not necessarily an urban myth.
  

YouTube is a great source of anecdotal research regarding bong smoking. There is a competitive scene of people recording themselves smoking cones and/or bowls. You will find the idiosyncracies of our practices - and the difference between Aussie/American smoking - evidenced through searching 'bong rips' and 'aussie bong hits'. There is a whole section on all of the above in the film.

 

Great research you are doing Monica, I hope this helps.

[mjbarratt]

Thanks bitterman, that is a wealth of information.

 

And I think your comparison of Australian with US practices is important - when I first put together the survey, I was relying on a US measure, which asked how many hits people took. This now makes more sense given the comparative practices in US of larger bowls and taking multiple hits, which doesn't really equate to Aussie practices.

 

and I've 'liked' your documentary so looking forward to seeing it when it is done!

[bitterman]

Also I know Wendy Swift did some research into bong smoking practices which may help. Out of interest, the Orchy is immortalised at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum - have a read of the Statement of Significance

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=8741

 

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/insidethecollection/files/2011/11/2000.25.1-450x446.jpg

[Naycha]

In researching and doing extensive interviews (30+) for the Marijuana Australiana documentary (formerly Chronic: Need for Weed) - and being a former daily bong smoker for well over a decade, I can generalise here regarding the bong smoking practices of Australians, which as far as I can tell, are fairly unique to us antipodeans.

• We use small bongs, rather than the 3ft ornate monsters used in North America. Probably because they are less conspicuous and because Americans like everything 'big'.
  
• We use homemade bongs made from plastic/garden hose. Predominantly Orchy brand bottles back in my day (hence the term 'Orchy bong'), though Gatorade seems more popular now. These bongs are generally tossed instead of cleaned and are often near-black (and stinky) with tar residue (The recent banning of bongs will probably increase the use of orchies, to the detriment of harm minimisation).
  
• We use smallish metal cone pieces and downstems (if not a length of hose), where larger glass cones (bowls) are the norm in the USA and elsewhere.
  
• We don't take multiple 'hits' from large 'bowls', we 'punch' 'cones' in one inhalation (and seem to be proud of this skill) - generally as fast and hard as possible, though more savvy smokers will usually 'roast' cones, inhaling slowly until nearly all the material in the cone has combusted, before 'punching' it through the cone piece.
  
• In terms of non-homemade bongs, it seems Australian's prefer 'glassies' over ceramic bongs, the latter usually is usually made of non-transparent material, so the water and 'bong grot' can't be seen.
  
• Historically, we 'mull' up our smoking matter with tobacco. The ratio is subjective and varies between say 50/50 green/tobacco (or sometimes even more tobacco than weed) and say 80/20 g/t with cigarette smokers erring on the side of more tobacco. The practice of mixing with tobacco is a topic of much debate and I think it's safe to say, the more people educate themselves about cannabis, the less they maintain the practice of mixing with tobacco.
  
• If you wish to test the ranges of cannabis buy weight smoked in a cone, I'd recommend buying some cone pieces of varying sizes (though there's something of a standard cone volume in Au) and loading some herb (substitute or real) into said cone. Fill it up close to the brim for the lower end and try 'thumb jamming' a 'mountain cone/mount Fuji' for the higher end of the scale. You may also wish to repeat these measurements with a tobacco/herb blend using the ratios provided above.
  
• The bucket bong is reputed to be an Australian invention (some say NZ), though these are a novelty and not really in common use as far as I know.
  
• Drinking bong water is disgusting though unfortunately not necessarily an urban myth.
  

YouTube is a great source of anecdotal research regarding bong smoking. There is a competitive scene of people recording themselves smoking cones and/or bowls. You will find the idiosyncracies of our practices - and the difference between Aussie/American smoking - evidenced through searching 'bong rips' and 'aussie bong hits'. There is a whole section on all of the above in the film.

 

Great research you are doing Monica, I hope this helps.

 

I hope I am not the only one that takes your (bitterman's) 'research' with a grain of salt. Definitely do not agree with a number of your points though there is no need really to pick them apart piece by piece.

 

Good luck in your quest for fame.

 

Naycha

[bitterman]

I did say I was generalising and everyone's experience is different, so why not add to the thread? There is a researcher who could benefit from your insights.

PS your 'quest for fame' remark is pretty hostile. If I wanted to be famous I would have chosen something else to do.

[Naycha]

I did say I was generalising and everyone's experience is different, so why not add to the thread? There is a researcher who could benefit from your insights.

PS your 'quest for fame' remark is pretty hostile. If I wanted to be famous I would have chosen something else to do.

 

I was in no way trying to discourage you from contributing.

 

As I stated above there is no need for me to pick apart your previous comment, but if you insist that can be done somewhere more appropriate.

 

Naycha

[bitterman]

Maybe I'm out of touch? I'm in my 30s now after all. Shall we start another bong smoking thread?