The cannabis industry is brimming with innovative devices to facilitate your smoking sessions. Which tool should you pick? The dab rig vs. bong debate often arises among enthusiasts, and we’re breaking it down today.
These devices are similar but not interchangeable. Most importantly, you’d consume buds from the highest THC seeds through a bong and cannabis concentrate through a dab rig.
What if you have no explicit preference for either type of weed product? Choose based on these five differentiating factors.
Table of Contents
The Consumption Material
The primary difference between a bong and a dab rig is what you consume with them.
‘Herb’ is a general term for all unprocessed forms of marijuana, like raw flowers, hash, and kief. Anything you’d roll and light up. These products rarely surpass 30% THC.
Concentrates include vax, honey, rocks, and crystals. They consist of resin rich in cannabinoids and terpenes and can reach 80% THC, so you only need tiny amounts to get high.
You smoke herbs from bongs and concentrate from dab rigs.
As a result, it’s easier to get weed for bongs. You can grow buds or purchase them in a legal dispensary. Concentrates require a complex production process, so rarely any individual makes them at home. It takes a well-stocked shop to replenish your supply.
Smoke Quality and Potency
Next, let’s compare the toking experience with rigs vs. bongs.
When using a bong, you combust buds and inhale their smoke. The water filtration mechanism purifies and filters it, but the cloud is still thick and often heavy-hitting.
Dab rigs don’t burn concentrates. Instead, they heat the vax or honey to the point of vapourization. You inhale an aerosol, and its effect is gentle on the lungs.
How does this distinction translate into quality?
Either tool can induce a strong and clean high if consuming quality processed cannabis. The sensory experience differs, though. Concentrates have sweeter and less intense flavours than buds, lacking the distinct ganja aroma.
What about potency?
As a rule, concentrates are harder-hitting than flowers. For instance, Skywalker OG buds contain between 18% and 30% THC. Vax producers push it past 55% THC. Dab rigs let you get socks-off high from a single hit.
Size, Shape, and Design
Although they resemble each other, these two devices aren’t identical. Each contains minor tweaks to the base chamber-and-mouthpiece design to process a distinct substance.
Both devices have bulky bodies, with a downstem descending into a water chamber. This tube might contain percolators to aid the cooling process. The neck sits on top of it, connected to a mouthpiece for inhaling smoke or vapour.
Variations appear at the downstem. Bongs have simple bowls to pack with weed, while dab rigs introduce an elaborate dab naik. You drip concentrate onto it and combust it with a blowtorch.
Looking at dab rig vs. bong designs, the latter offer greater diversity. These old-school devices now come in countless iterations. You can get them straight or rounded, colourful or plain, in glass, silicone, acrylic, and ceramic. Dab rigs are commonly borosilicate glass and uniform.
Dab rigs tend to be smaller than bongs. Their vapour must reach the lungs before losing flavour and potency, so they rarely surpass eight inches in length. Average bongs are around 14 inches tall to fit the extra elements and provide greater cooling.
In a nutshell, shoppers seeking simplicity and a smaller size could choose dab rigs or the best selection of dab pens online. Those who love playful designs and personalization prefer bongs.
Safety and Ease of Usage
You now know how the difference between a dab rig and a bong manifests in appearance and purpose. Let’s look at the practical aspects of using them.
Bongs are generally safer than dab rigs, especially when you’re already intoxicated. You can break either with a low-quality model, but bongs run cool and won’t burn you. Dab rigs also require you to use a blowtorch, a tool that can pose a fire hazard.
As long as you’re careful, both devices are relatively straightforward. Bongs are somewhat more intuitive, but either is easy to figure out with a video tutorial.
Associated Costs
The price affects your paraphernalia choice, so let’s end with that point. Either tool can be budget-friendly or exorbitant, depending on the brand, material, and features. Prices differ for the complete setup, though.
A straightforward bong is usually cheap, even with accessories like ice catchers and filters. Besides the tool, you only need dried herbs and a lighter.
When using a dab rig, you require a dose of pricey concentrates and:
- A dabber for handling the concentrate
- A blowtorch for heating the dab rig
- Resin wipes for cleaning between sessions
For this reason, you pay more to toke with dab rigs.
Dab Rigs or Bongs?
There’s no clear answer to the bong vs. rig question. Toker preferences vary, and both offer the means to a superb smoking session.
The key takeaways are as follows:
- Rigs let you quickly consume concentrated cannabis. Buy one if you prefer smaller devices, have access to a well-stocked dispensary and don’t mind paying extra.
- Bongs are tools for consuming dried herbs. Choose them if growing weed, wanting to personalize your paraphernalia with added features, or toking on a budget.
If possible, why not mix and match? Buy seeds to cultivate marijuana at home and savour some top-tier herbs. Indulge in a concentrate for a sweet treat that tests your tolerance.
