Last year, I broke two glass bongs, a glass rig, and a glass pipe (and the pipe wasn’t even mine). At one time long ago, I used to be athletic with pretty good eye-hand coordination. Now, I’m an old man with cramping muscles and carpal tunnel who can’t stop fumbling and dropping items. It’s fine when I drop a writing pen or television remote but not when it’s an expensive paraphernalia accessory item. So to eliminate any more broken glass and a short life expectancy for another poor bong, I decided instead to try two different silicon Waxmaid bongs.

Hobee S

The Waxmaid 8.5″ Hobee S Silicone Beaker Water Pipe is made of platinum cured silicone material and certified “food safe” for culinary applications above and beyond FDA approval standards. And after a month, I haven’t broken it yet. Though I have dropped it twice.

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I have the black and red honeycomb design with the bent neck mouthpiece. The downstem connects the metal of my lighter (or dab tool) to the stem. I use the Hobee for flower and not dabbing, so mine came with a 14mm glass bowl that has six tiny holes instead of one larger hole to keep the flower from falling through. Even if some ash falls through, the downstem collects most of it.

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The bottom part of the Hobee S silicone beaker water pipe detaches for clean up, and once I set aside the glass bowl, I don’t have to worry about dropping it. The silicone is completely dishwasher safe and can be boiled. The bong also comes in a 6.6” Hobee Mini and an 8.7” Hobee with a straight neck mouthpiece.

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Crystor S

The Waxmaid Crystor S Transparent Silicone Double Percolator Water Pipe With Ice Catcher is larger than the Hobee with an added ice catcher feature. With ice loaded in its chamber for a filtered, smoother, and cooler hit, the dual percolator design circulates the smoke through the main chamber several times before inhale. The transparent chambers of the bong allow me to see just how much smoke enters to help control each hit.

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The Crystor S breaks down into three chambers and can easily be taken apart for cleaning. The bong came with a 14mm glass bowl. This one had the tradition larger hole in the middle. Another interesting feature of the Crystor S is the suction base design that prevents me from knocking it over.

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Overall, the Crystor S would be good to pass around at a party. Because I can’t go to or host bong parties, I use the Hobee more often than the Crystor. The Hobee is more manageable around a work-desk area, and the handheld 8.5” size is perfect for pulling the water pipe out of the medicine drawer and blasting a few hits before chores, cooking, gaming, or binging television. I’ll be interested to see how long these non-glass bongs last me.

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