Making Your Own Homemade Bongs

There are times in all of our lives when we have bud but nothing to smoke it with. In these cases, what can we do to satisfy our desire for THC?

In this article, we’ll show you three methods to make your own bong or pipe from materials commonly found in the home, so you can always smoke your weed regardless of what materials you have to hand.

The Basics of Bong Making

If you have weed but no papers, pipe, or bong through which to enjoy it, you may need to get creative. Often, there are numerous objects lying around the house that can be reconfigured into a makeshift bong or pipe.

It doesn’t always do your bud justice, but it will get you high.

When it comes to making a bong or pipe, there are a couple of fundamental features that all pieces need in order to work:

• Somewhere for the weed to sit and burn
• A mouthpiece that you can draw through

These two features are essential, and your endeavour won’t get far without them. As this article is all about making a DIY bong when you have no other option, we’ll keep this list to the two essentials, as we want to create something functional, not fancy.

Different Types of Screens

Ideally, you’ll want to fit your DIY bong with some kind of screen to stop burning, charred lumps of weed from entering your mouth. It may be that you have some purpose-made bong screens lying around, in which case you can just use those. Otherwise, you’ll have to fashion one out of something in the house.

Here are two options.

Aluminium Foil Screen

If you have kitchen foil lying around, then you should have no problem making a screen. Simply cut or tear it to the size of your makeshift bowl, use a pin or pen to poke several holes in it, and you're good to go.

These might not survive more than a couple of hits, but you can just make more as needed. To make ones that are a little sturdier, consider folding the foil over a few times.

Paper Clip/Wire

If you’ve no foil lying around, you could use a paper clip or piece of wire and turn it into a spiral. This method takes a little care and won’t work as well as foil, but it will still keep the larger pieces of weed from slipping through.

The tighter you wind the spiral, the better it will be at filtering out burning pieces of weed. So it’s worth making the effort at this first stage—you’ll thank yourself later!

What if You Don’t Have Anything?

It may be that you have no options to make a screen. In that case, you can:

• Make a bong from a can (see further below).
• Use some flammable material to go beneath your weed. This can be larger chunks of weed, or maybe tobacco. Tea could also work. Anything that isn’t finely ground and won’t be easily sucked through will work as a kind of filter. Just make sure you change it after each hit!

How to Make a Homemade Bong: 3 Options

Now that you have the necessary knowledge regarding what you need to make a bong or pipe, we’ll go into three different methods. Hopefully, at least one of these will be available to you when you need it. They are all very simple, with one requiring only a single piece of equipment.

Apple Bong

This one is a classic, and worth trying even if you don’t need to. Also, though using an apple is the most famous option, many different fruits and vegetables can be modified into bongs/pipes.

Here we’ll explain how to make an apple bong, and you can adjust it as necessary to whatever your kitchen has to offer you.

Equipment

• Apple
• Knife (optional)
• Pen
• Screen (optional)

Instructions

1. Remove the stem of the apple, and carve out a vertical hole using a knife or pen. Do not go all the way to the bottom of the apple, but rather about three-quarters of the way. The hole should be 2–3cm in diameter.

2. Now, using the body of a pen, push another hole through from the side. This should intersect with the vertical hole. If you like, you can continue pushing so it goes out the other side of the apple, in order to make a carb hole. Otherwise, you can just meet the main hole and stop there.

3. (Optional) Fit your screen.

4. Now you’re finished. Load your weed into the hole at the top, light it, and breathe through the hole on the side.

Plastic Bottle Bong

This one is also a classic. More than once, a temporary bottle bong has found itself being regularly used, gathering resin for many months and becoming well-loved.

Here’s how to make one.

Equipment

• 500ml plastic bottle
• Pen/downpipe/metal can
• Foil (maybe optional)
• Knife/scissors (optional)
• Lighter/cigarette
• Elastic band/hair tie (optional)

Instructions

1. (Optional) Create a downpipe. For this, you can use an existing downpipe, the body of a pen, or a rolled-up can. If you’re using a pen, then you will need to create a foil bowl to stop it from melting when you use it. This will need to be several layers thick in order to work. Otherwise, you can cut a section out of a can using a knife or scissors, and roll it into a tube. This can work with or without a bowl.

2. Place the downpipe into the bottle. To do this, the best way is to burn a circular hole with the end of a cigarette about halfway up the bottle. This tends to create the best fit. You can use a knife or a lighter, but this might create an uneven hole that lets air through. Push your pipe through until it’s almost at the bottom of the bottle.

3. Use an elastic band or hair tie to pull the top of the pipe upward, toward the bottle. Place one end on the side of the bottle opposite the downpipe, and the other over the downpipe. It should now go upward at around a 45-degree angle.

4. (Optional) Cut or burn a carb hole at around the same height as the downpipe.

5. Fill with water; about one-third of the way up the bottle.

6. Now, it’s ready to use. Load the downpipe with weed, light, and breathe through the opening at the top of the bottle.

Beer Can Bong

This method is the easiest on the list, and can really come in handy when all else is lost. If you can get your hands on some kind of drink can, then you can smoke your weed!

Equipment

• Beer/soda/seltzer can
• Pliers (optional)

Instructions

1. Pull the ring pull used to open drinks cans off the top.

2. Now, carefully place it between your back teeth. You want it to be vertical between them. Be careful! Bite down gently; you don’t need to use great force. It should fold in half under the pressure. Remove it from your mouth.

Alternatively, if you do not want to use your teeth (we don’t blame you), you’ll need a pair of pliers to create this shape.

3. Now, where it has folded, there should be two sharp corners. Pick a spot, around halfway to two-thirds of the way down the drinks can, and use these sharp corners to make several small holes, very close together. It’s best to make these on the side directly opposite the opening designed to drink through.

4. (Optional) Poke a hole in the base of the can to act as a carb hole.

5. Now, bend the can slightly to make an indent where you've formed the bowl. This will allow the weed to sit on the small holes while you inhale, without falling off.

6. Now you have a pipe. Stack your weed on the holes (the metal already works as a screen), and light. Breathe through the mouthpiece.

Are Homemade Bongs Safe?

Yes, relatively—but they are not ideal. If you are putting a flame anywhere near plastic, make sure it’s well-insulated in foil, or just don’t use it. It will melt, fill your lungs with noxious smoke, and not work anyway. Not worth it! Also, if you’re using your teeth to make a beer can bong, be very careful. With these two concerns out of the way, though, homemade bongs are otherwise safe, or at least safe enough for a single use.

If you fancy it, you could also try making a gravity bong. This method could help you when you have no other options, but it’s also well-worth creating in its own right.

Have fun!