Bucket Bong 101: How to Make a Gravity Bong

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Is there anything more quintessentially Australian than crowding around a shitty plastic outdoor table with nothing but your mates, some weed, and a good ol’ bucket bong?

We all know a buckie’ ripper. You know the type; he doesn’t actually have any bud to chuck in but you can bet your last cone that he’ll be talking up his gravity bong hitting abilities like he’s a young Don Bradman at the crease.

Yeah mate been hitting buckies since I was twelve. Even used me pool and an old wine barrel once. Didn’t even cough just ripped another.

gravity bong bucket bong 101
Source: YouTube

Obviously, your experience may have differed, but on the two occasions in my life that I actually hit a gravity bong, I got well and truly fucked up.

The first time I ever hit a bucket bong I had just started smoking weed and was around at a friends house sitting in a circle taking turns hitting ‘the buckie’ beside the aforementioned shitty plastic table.

Unbeknownst to me, you aren’t supposed to rip the thing out of the water as it delivers a pipe-style hit as opposed to the cooling power of a bong, and I proceeded to go into a coughing fit so intense that I thought the marijuana overdose count was about to hit #1.

If you’re wondering about the actual science behind the gravity bong, it really is quite simple to both understand and undertake!

gravity bong operation
Source: WikiMedia

In its essence, it’s basically just like hitting a bong, only instead of pulling the smoke through yourself and wasting breath, you let gravity do the work. Cheers Newton, love your work mate.

Using water to cool your smoke is a concept that’s been around for millennia, and a whole lot later than any Deep Purple songs would lead you to believe.

Yes; joints, blunts, bong totes, pipe rips, and even weed vapes are all improved by introducing a water bubbler into the equation.

The cooling properties of the water improve the taste and impression of the smoke or vapor while clearing up any other impurities. Now – let’s get down to some science, hey?

Gravity bong full setup

How to Make Your Own Bucket Bong

What you’ll need:

  • PET Plastic Bottle – one to two litres in size (34-68 fl.oz)
  • A bucket, or similar water-tight container
  • Some weed
  • A pair of scissors
  • Bowl or cone piece for your bud, preferably glass.
  • A herb grinder
  • Lighter
  • Blowtorch (optional)
gravity bong bucket bong tools

Step 1

To start with you’re going to want to chop off the bottom 25% of your plastic bottle. This is where the water will enter and leaving enough room for your smoke is essential!

With the scissors, simply stab a tiny hole, bend the bottle, and snip horizontally along the incision. You can use the same scissors to pierce a hole into the lid of the bottle.

Step 2

If you have a small dab torch or something similar, then this next step is going to be a whole lot simpler.

Place the bottle cap with the flat side upwards on a flameproof surface, an outdoor stone patio or large rock will do, and blast a tiny hole in the center of the cap.

CAUTION: AT THIS STAGE MAKE SURE YOU DON’T INHALE ANY BURNING PLASTIC OR BURN YOUR HAND ON THE TORCH. 

gravity bong bucket bong cone piece

Step 3

Once you’ve melted the plastic, pierce the blister with a sharp object, like your scissors, and proceed to slide the cone piece into the hole.

At this stage, you should make sure that the plastic has returned to a solid state so that you are not risking ruining your glass piece by covering it in melted plastic.

This will serve as the bowl for the gravity bong, and it being airtight is super important, so make sure that you don’t make too big a hole.

gravity bong ready to go

Step 4

Now you’re almost ready to have a crack at ripping your bucket bong! Fill your water-tight container with (you guessed it) water, chop up your bud with a grinder, and get ready to rip!

Before you chuck the lid back on the bottle, you’re going to want to slowly push the bottle, bum end first, into the bucket and slowly watch it fill with water.

Lighting the bucket bong can be a bit of a challenge – and mastering it certainly takes time. If you don’t want to be a mess like I was the first time I punched one, take careful note of the next few steps.

Gravity Bong/Bucket bong
Source: Leafly

Step 5

One little tidbit of advice that you should consider at this point is the following; DO NOT RUSH! There’s no homie hitting you up to rush the bucket bong rotation. Chill!

Being in a hurry is only going to make you fuck up and over-torch the weed, resulting in a shitty toke or worse, a bit of melted plastic with your cone.

Simply take the bottleneck in one hand, and slowly start to raise it out of the water. At this stage you should light your spark and hold it close to the bowl, taking care not to hit the lid or your finger.

hitting a bucket bog | gravity bong 101
Source: Grasscity Magazine

Step 6

By the time the bottle is nearing the top of the water, stop raising it and quickly remove the lid so that the smoke inside doesn’t turn stale.

Place your mouth over the opening of the bottle neck, or into it like a bong if it’s big enough, and inhale slowly as you push the bottle back into the water.

You can either hit it like a pipe and take a few long tokes, or ride the wave and smash that mother in one. Up to you, bucket bong warrior.

grav labs gravitron gravity bong
Source: Vapesterdam

If all of this seems a little bit too ‘home depot’ for you and you’re after a cleaner, more sophisticated way to get baked as fuck, there are even commercial gravity bongs on the market these days.

Grav Labs USA are the leader in this field and have a number of unique all-glass gravity bongs that are going to be a hit at your next summer pool party or BBQ.

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