What's The Difference Between A Bong And A Dab Rig
Bong, or Dab Rig? That is the question. Or rather, the real question is, what’s the difference?
What Is Consumed
Bongs are intended to be used for smoking dried flower, which is loaded into the bowl, lit with a lighter, and smoked. Dab/oil rigs use a THC concentrate that is usually referred to as “wax.” “honey,” or “oil” and are smoked with a nail.
Method Of Consumption
Bongs are used for smoking flowers via the combustion method of lighting the herb with a butane lighter or matches and inhaling the smoke through the mouthpiece. A dab rig is used as a way to consume vapor from a concentrate using a torch and a nail.
Bongs And Dab Rigs
There are a few differences between a bubbler and a bong. The first one is the size of the device; bubblers usually are a lot more compact in size, which makes them great if you are looking for water filtration on the go. The second one is the size and strength of the hit. A bubbler produces much smaller hits than a bong, both in size and strength. Because bongs tend to be a lot bigger in size, they produce larger hits than a bubbler, which makes it great for those with a slightly lower tolerance or people that like to smoke on their own. Another thing that differentiates a bubbler from a bong is the functionality. Bubblers are mostly equipped with a fixed downstem and sometimes even a fixed bowl. Therefore, they a bit more difficult to clean, but it also means that you don’t need to invest on additional accessories.
Size Matters
Bongs are typically larger than a dab/oil rig, except in a few circumstances. The reason is that since the flower is being combusted rather than vaporized, so the bong can be larger and the smoke will travel the length of the bong without dissipating. With a dab/oil rig the vapor needs to travel a shorter distance in order to stay potent and flavorful.
Price
A Dab/oil rig setup will typically run more expensive than a bong setup. The reason is that in addition to purchasing a rig, you’ll also need a nail and other dabbing accessories, such as a torch, dabber, silicone container, etc. Which can be very pricey depending on what you buy.
Bongs and Dab/ Oil rigs might look similar to the untrained eye, but they are slightly different due to the method of consumption and accessories used. A bong’s main purpose is for the smoking of flowers, whereas dab/oil rigs are obviously designed with concentrates in mind.
This does not mean that bongs cannot be used to dab, and dab rigs cannot smoke flowers, it just refers to their intended use. In fact, all you would need is the appropriate adapters to match your piece to what you need