There is no question that we all love our glass pieces. They’re fun to collect, fun to look at, fun to show off to friends, and of course fun to smoke out of. Sometimes tragedy strikes and then the unthinkable happens: your bong breaks. There are few things more devastating to a cannabis connoisseur than breaking a cherished piece. So how do you prevent this from happening? I strongly recommend that you try some of these (pretty much) foolproof tips.

Get a Case for your Bong

To prevent your bong from breaking, you should always have some kind of case or lock box for the pieces that are just a little more important to you. For bongs, you really cannot go wrong with a padded case, specifically designed for storing glass. For a pipe, a padded hard shell case is always a winner. If one is not available, wrap that piece in a pair of socks! Now you have something to do with all those orphan socks in your sock drawer!

Always Remove your Downstem/Bowl

 A common mistake among beginners is not removing their bong or water pipe’s downstem and bowl before putting the bong away after the smoking session is complete. You see this a bit more with older smokers who are not used to glass on glass and grew up using a rubber grommet. Glass on glass is definitely the way to go, but you know what’s going to happen to that glass if you put your bong away fully assembled? It’s going to get jostled around, it’s going to smack together, and it’s going to break. Always remove the downstem and bowl, and always wrap them up separately! You will have to replace fewer downstems and bowls if you abide by this simple rule.

Put Your Bong Away!

In addition to putting away the downstem and bowl, you should make the minimal effort to put your bong away after you’re done using it. I’m not saying that you have to put it away after every smoking session, just at the end of the day when you’re done using it for the last time that night. Leaving your expensive water pipe out on your desk, coffee table, etc. invites accidents to happen, and there are so many different fates that could befall your bong. Your cat could knock it over, your kids could topple it (though I hope you’re not smoking your bong around your kids). Even you could have a klutzy moment (that’s what tends to happen to me, anyways)!

Clean Your Bong Often

Wait, what does keeping your bong clean have to do with preventing your bong from breaking? Quite a lot actually. If you don’t practice good bong maintenance, you will have to do more heavy cleaning sessions on your glass. This may require you to be a little rougher with your piece than you would be otherwise. This will likely lead to accidents, especially if there are percs involved. Rinse your bong out after each use and you won’t have tragic accidents!

How do you prevent your bong from breaking? Tell us in the comments below!