Message-ID: <221412Z30111993@anon.penet.fi>
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: an53943@anon.penet.fi (Mary Jane)
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 22:08:58 UTC
Subject: Gravity.Bong.FAQ
Here is an article I hope readers feel is helpful, in response to all
the discussion about gravity bongs, how they work, and how to make them...
********************* BEGIN ARTICLE ********************
THE GRAVITY BONG:
I am a senior mechanical engineering student. My specialty is
design and prototyping. I have worked for several companies
learning how to prototype, and this comes in really handy for some
of my "other" projects. Here is a pretty simple one...
I was introduced to the gravity bong by a friend. He told me
the full name as described to him was the "Afghanistan Gravity
Bong". We were sitting around one night and decided to try one
out.
While I could go into detail concerning the mechanics of the
bong's operation, I don't think that is really necessary. The
reason it is called a "gravity bong" and not something else is
this is what someone called it, that is how they described it to
their friends, and now it is an accepted term for the following
setup. I have observed some people on the net arguing about
gravity vs. pressure vs. whatever. If you have comments like this
as a result of this description, I refer you to:
alt.engineering.geeks. The type of argument I have observed would
have been halted a long time ago by declaring a "TECH TIME OUT !!"
at our school. Take a hit man. I feel better now having said all
that, so... on with the important stuff...
GRAVITY BONG OPERATION:
STEP 1:
Place the bottomless bottle into a water source such as a
bucket of water, sink, bathtub, larger bottle, fishtank (just
kidding), etc...When the bottle rests on the bottom, the mouth
piece should be above the water level enough to grip the bottle.
I'm not sure if warm or cold water is best, or even if it makes
much difference seeing as the smoke is not bubbled through it.
STEP 2:
Pack the bowl and place it on the mouth of the bottle.
STEP 3:
SLOWLY!! draw the bottle out of the water, while lighting the
bowl. The herb should really burn and the smoke will look
intimidating. Stop when: a)the herb is all ash (preferable), or
b)when the bottom of the bottle is still an inch or so below the
water level in the bucket. Begin preparing yourself for a huge
hit.
STEP 4:
CAREFULLY remove the bowl without letting the bottle move
downward (up a little is o.k., but don't lwt the bottom come out
of the water), exhale deeply, and place your mouth over the
opening. Inhale quickly and completely, allowing your head to
move downward. Try not to drink any bong water as this kind of
sucks! (although its like learning to swim, it's bound to happen a
little).
STEP 5:
Don't cough and hang on tight!
PACKED
BOWL >> $$
I I I\/I
BOTTLE >> / \ BOTTLE >> / \
/ \ / \
| / \ | | / \ |
|~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~|~~WATER~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~WATER~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
\__________________/ \__________________/
BUCKET BUCKET
Step 1 Step 2
\/ = BOWL
% $$ = HERB
LIGHTER __ *% ** = LIGHTER FLAME
>> |__|@**
$$ SUCK
/\ I\/I ||
|| / . .\ || I..I
|| /. . . \ || /. . \
|| /. . . . \ \/ /. . . \
|. . . . . | /. . . . \
BOTTLE >| SMOKE | |. . . . . |
| . . . . .| | . . . . .|
| |~~~~~~~~~~| | | |~~~~~~~~~~| |
|~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~|
|~~~~~~~WATER~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~BONG~~~~~~~~|
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~WATER~~~~~~~|
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
\__________________/ \__________________/
BUCKET BUCKET
Step 3 Step 4
THE DESIGN:
FIRST TRIAL:
First, a 2-liter bottle and a suitable bucket were obtained
from the apartment. I cut the bottom off the 2-liter bottle and
set it aside. I was able to find a couple of screw on caps, one
of which was of the metal variety. I cut a rough hole in each,
and glued them together, with the cup sides facing out. Into the
side with the metal cap, a piece of screen was placed and fit real
nice. We were forced to build this little thing because we didn't
have a bowl handy.
This worked o.k., but quite a bit of air flowed in for the
quantity of herb which was consumed. Also, it was a pain to
unscrew the cap after lifting the bottle. Overall, we all ended
up having a great time and the first trial was still a success. I
leave this historical description in here because: a)this may be a
good enough system for you, or b)you are also in a pinch for
something right away as we were!
SECOND TRIAL:
Having decided the activity was fun enough to warrant further
development of the gravity bong, and having access to a machine
shop, I designed a bowl just for this purpose. This incorporates
a nice sized burn chamber (approximately = to 5 bat hits from a
small bat), a small screen, and an o-ring seal to prevent air from
passing anything but the burning herb. It drops out a pretty
hefty ash after each hit.
Here is a horizontal sketch of my gravity bowl design:
FITS ___
IN ____O| \ _______
BOTTLE >> / \__________/ _____|
| |+
|-----------------------/ + << SCREEN
HOLE >>>> |-----------------------\ +
| __________ |+____
\____ / \_______|
O-RING >> O|___/ BURN
CHAMBER
You could make the dimensions to whatever you think may work
best. I put a 1/4 in. hole through the bowl, with a 3/8 dia. burn
chamber that is .400 in. deep. It fits nicely inside a 35mm film
canister for storage and TRANSPORTATION to parties (no plans to
build more, though several friends have already tried begging!).
This new bowl works very well and burns quite efficienty,
filling the bottle with dense smoke. The only change I have made
to the apparatus is to offer the option of a milk jug in place of
the 2-liter bottle, with a plastic adapter atached to the jug
which makes the mouth the same size as a 2-liter bottle.
I built my setup some time ago, but the other day someone on
the net mentioned using a tuba mouthpiece. Not a bad idea. Also,
people have said they used aluminum foil with holes poked in it.
The point is to get a lot of burning done without using an overly
large volume of air.
TRIAL THREE:
This has not been done yet, but the plan is to design a multi-
user setup using a larger water bottle (like the Poland Springs).
TIPS:
To get really wacked, breath back into the bottle, allowing it to
rise back up to the beginning of step 4, and inhale again. Do not
however, deprive yourself of too much oxygen. I used this method
and took a full minute to take the hit, breathing in and out, and
was immediately wacked, staying that way for several hours from
one hit!
Have a "Gravity Party" with many friends - lotso fun!
Some people like to push the bottle to the bottom, and then
inhale. While this does act to push the smoke into your lungs
(kind of like breathing in a balloon), I don't really feel it is
any faster. If you try this, don't displace so much water that
the bucket overflows.
If it is your first time trying the system, do some trial runs
without packing the bowl and lighting it. This is a must for a
first time user from the point of view of risk reduction (won't
chance losing precious smoke).
********************* END ARTICLE ********************
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Bowl Suggestion
by RT
I read the faq on the gravity bong and there was a key element missing.
The key to a good gravity bong is construction of the bowl mechanism.
Using a standard glass or metal bowl connected to a long tube forces
the smoke to be filtered through the water, like a true bong.
Like so:
\ @@@@@@@ /
\ @@@@@ /
Hole in lid \ @@@ /
Duct tape to seal \ /
(it melts a little) _____/| |\_______ Two liter pop bottle
|| | | || (not to scale)
||----| | ---- ||
|| | | ||
||----| | ---- ||
| | | |
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^| |^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^ begining water level
/ | | \
/ | | \
/ | | \
/ | | \
/ | | \
/ | | \
| | | |
| | | |
| | | monster |
| | | rip! |
| | | | -- lift bottle
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^ end water level
| |
| |
When full unscrew the lid and bowl and enjoy
the biggest rip of your life!