Part 2 in the vaping with Water Filtration Systems series
By Herbert M. Green
Last week I talked about why you’d want to incorporate a water filtration system into your vaping routine. In part 2 of this series, I would like to discuss how you can hitch your vaporizer onto a glass piece. Get ready to get technical, but by the end, you’ll be a serious step closer to upping your vaping game forever.
Glass is the best in class and shattered yet unbreakable definitions
Before I begin with the how-to-part of this article, let’s go over some definitions. Both in part one and this part of the series I keep referring to (and switching between) ‘bongs’, ‘glass’, ‘glassware’, ‘water pipes’ and ‘water filtration systems’.
I have to admit, this can be a bit confusing. Rest assured, they all mean the same thing.
I keep saying ‘glass’ simply due to the fact that the best WFS (Water Filtration Systems: e.g. bongs, bubblers and/or dab rigs) are made from borosilicate glass. This material is strong, heat resistant, easy-to-clean and gives off no unwanted odours or flavours.
So, when I’m talking about a glass piece, a water piece or something similar, I essentially mean the same. They’re all WFS.
There are some WFS on the market that aren’t made from glass but from synthetic materials like acryl or silicon. Overall I wouldn’t recommend those because they’re usually low quality and bring their own risks, like flavour contamination.
It’s all about the millimetres
Another thing you’ll need to understand is the importance of socket or joint sizes.
Glassware like bongs, bubblers or dab rigs come in all shapes and sizes, but the sockets where the bowl (or in this case, your vaporizer) is plugged into are always size-consistent.
What you should know and be looking for is SG (Standard Grinding) measurements.
SG sizes tell you which vaporizer will fit your glass piece or vice versa. Or which adapter you should use to make two different sizes compatible (more on that later).
The most common SG sizes are SG10 (10mm), SG14 (14,4mm), and SG19 (18,8mm). You also have SG24 (24mm) and SG29 (29,2mm) sized connection points, but those are exceedingly rare and can be ignored.
Adapt and overcome: connect your vaporizer to glass with an adapter
Then there are definitions like ‘male’ and ‘female’ joints. Important distinctions to know because if you buy a glass piece with a male connection point (socket/joint) while your vaporizer needs a female joint to connect, you’re in a spot of bother.
In that particular case, you’ll need a male-to-female WPA (Water Pipe Adapter). Make sure though, that you get the right size!
If your vape needs an SG14 female socket to fit, but your bong has an SG19 male joint, you’ll need to order an SG19 male to SG14 female adapter. (Do those even exist? 🤔 Maybe that’s more a custom job)
This is a bit of an extreme example because you’ll rarely come across a WFS with a male joint (95% of the time they’re female) but it does illustrate the point that you should always double-check what kind of connection points and sizes you’re dealing with.
Here you see a male-to-female WPA
All vaporizers can be used with a bong (with a bit of help)
Vaporizer manufacturers have long caught onto the fact that the option to vape through a WFS is a big selling point. That’s why most brands have ways to connect their devices to a bong or bubbler, either with their own accessories or adapters made by third parties.
Storz & Bickel is such a brand that makes their own WPA for the Crafty+ and Mighty+ vaporizers. Just remove the standard cooling unit/mouthpiece from the device and stick either the SG14 or SG19 GonG Adapter SG on your S&B vaporizer, and you’re bubbling away in no time.
This Mighty has been connected with the GonG Adapter (female-to-male)
Another brand we (Dispensr. and me) love, Dreamwood vaporizers, makes multiple devices that are designed with WFS in mind. Take the Dreamwood Glow series for instance. The Glow series mouthpieces should fit snuggly enough to directly connect to a glass piece, although Dreamwood does make a glass WPA for the Glow that provides a tighter seal than the standard wooden mouthpiece.
But, what if you have a vaporizer that doesn’t connect to a WFS on its own or doesn’t have a dedicated WPA? Well, then should look for a Universal Water Pipe Adapter. These are kind of ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions and should work with nearly all vaporizers and WFS.
This Universal WPA fits almost all vaporizers and all but the SG24 and SG29 connections
Fully dedicated to glass
If you’re looking for a vaporizer that is truly dedicated to glass, without the hassle of a WPA, then you should go for a DynaVap vaporizer. All vapes that DynaVap makes since 2021 are made to fit a WFS. The mouthpieces of both the ‘M’ and Omni are tapered to fit any SG10 female socket, while the VonG mouthpiece is tapered to fit both SG10 and SG14 female sockets.
The 2021 ‘M’ by DynaVap fits perfectly in this SG10 glass bubbler
I love DynaVaps dedication to glass, so much so that my favourite vape setup for at home is the 2021 VonG combined with The Orbiter, a glass piece by Magic Flight.
How about it? Now that you know all you need to know what it takes to start vaping with a water filtration system, are you gonna take the plunge? Or do you still have some lingering doubts or questions? If so, let me know in the comments below or on any of Dispensr’s social media channels.
Peace out & Vape on!
Herbert M. Green
