One of the coolest parts about shopping at The Dab Lab is that we are always just a click away to answer any questions that you may have about products, prices, sales, and more. One question that we get a lot is ‘what is the difference between a bubbler and a bong?

It’s easy to see how some people might get mixed up, after all they are both typically crafted from borosilicate glass and they both hold and move water as a means of smoke filtration…but really, that’s pretty much where the comparisons end. 

NOTE: Technically speaking a bubbler is just another name for a water pipe. So technically a glass bong is a bubbler. But, many people have a specific type of water pipe in mind when they think of a bubbler. That is what we will be describing in the following texts. 

SIZE

The average bong is going to be 1.5-2x larger than your average bubbler pipe. This makes a nice bong the ideal daily driver for when you can sesh at home and keep your bong safe and secure. With a strong and sturdy base, you can rest your bong in your lap as you rip it, or leave it on the table in front of you.

For those who like to take the show on the road, a bubbler might be more ideal. With their smaller size, bubblers are much more discreet, much easier to safely transport, and require much less water to fill the chamber.

Bong Shown Above

STYLE

There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part bongs tend to take on just a handful of different shapes – with a long tube connecting a simple mouthpiece to a beaker or bubble shaped base. With their larger size, bongs can accommodate more intricate percolators, giving them some really awesome bubble stacking levels of diffusion. Where the overall shaping of bongs might lack in options, the vast number of different percs and the effect they each have on your smoking experience more than makes up for it.

Bubblers, on the other hand, usually display more variety in styling. Sometime the mouthpiece bends out the back like a sherlock pipe, or shoots straight off to the side. Bubblers are available with all sorts of different shape mouthpieces from tubes to discs to spoon style.

Bubblers tend to have simpler diffusion – lots of 2 or 3-hole percs. With their smaller chambers, stacking a thousand microbubbles just isn’t necessary, so the chug of the simple percs is very popular. Again, there are exceptions like  these awesome bubblers from Custom Creations that showcase a cool variety of perc styles.

Bubbler Shown Above

VERSATILITY

The bong has been a highly popular method of getting baked for decades now. But with dabbing on the rise, many people want a piece of glass that can multitask for them and handle both dank flowers and terpy dabs.

Yes, you can adapt most glass on glass fitted bongs with a dab nail of some sort and make it work. But the greater volume inside the large chamber of the bong deteriorates too much of the terps and flavor that we really enjoy as dabbers.

Some bubblers have a built-in push bowl and/or downstem, and might not be able to accept a dab nail. But, if you spend a few minutes browsing our awesome selection at The Dab Lab, you are sure to find lots of options that will allow you to burn your trees and vape your oils all out of one handy bubbler pipe.

So whether you are looking for the large rips of a bong, or if you prefer to savor the flavor with tasty tokes from a hot new bubbler, your buds at The Dab Lab have always got what you need.