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Thicket: Best Brand Name Bong on The Market

Thicket waterpipe bong
Written by Sarah Friedman

When it comes to bongs, it’s not always about a brand name. People pick up pretty glassware, or choose something from a local smoke shop, but there isn’t a name value to it. At least not on a big scale. Thicket might just be changing that by offering a super stealth, super smooth, brand name bong, perfect for travelling around, or just getting high in front of the TV.

Thicket put out a pretty awesome bong, but understandably, bongs aren’t for everyone. Maybe you prefer swallowing down a capsule, or an edible, or sucking on a vape. With tons of compounds out like delta-8 THC, THCV, and THC-O-A, the products market is bigger than ever, and we’ve got a bunch of great deals to get you started, or keep you on your way. Check out our selection of products in The Delta 8 Weekly Newsletter. And save big on Delta 8Delta 9 THCDelta-10THCOTHCVTHCP & HHC products by checking out our “Best-of” lists!


Thicket – a brand name bong enters the market

Whereas we all know names like Da Vinci, and Zig Zag, and the names and models of their vapes and rolling papers, there aren’t any big brand names for bongs. At this year’s MJBizCon in Las Vegas, I saw some interesting bongs, but only one that seemed like it had the ability to create a name brand market. The company in question, Thicket, created a transforming travel bong, perfectly thought out for the bong smoker, and perfectly designed to offer a great smoking experience.

The bong retails for $80 on the company’s site. In terms of replacement pieces, a new glass percolator, bowl and stem, and stopper, can be purchased for $35.99 from the website. Users also have the option of just buying a glass percolator for $24.99, or just the glass bowl, stem, and plastic stopper, for $12.99. Thicket also offers changing color rolling trays for $39.99.

The company offers a 14-day window for returns of unused parts, and asks those who want to return merchandise to contact their customer support for more information, and general procedure. Refunds are issued within 10 days of the company receiving back unused merchandise.

transformer bong

The Thicket Waterpipe design

It starts out looking like a metal cylinder. The outside is a metal canister and comes in several colors. Mine is a light shade of lavender. The two ends of the cylinder can be pulled off. In order to transform the bong into its smoking shape, a small plastic cork must be uncorked close to where the bottom panel comes out. Once removed, the water lock is broken and the top and bottom pieces can be taken off the cylinder. The top piece is pulled up, and with it comes the glass percolator of the bong. It can be detached when its small plastic nub is pulled from the mouthpiece hole, once the percolator is fully exposed.

The bottom compartment can be removed as well. Both the bottom and top have plastic water locking to keep the bong from leaking out. The bottom compartment holds the two glass pieces that make up the stem and bowl. They come originally wrapped in bubble wrap, but there are little nodes in the bottom compartment that they can be stuck into to hold them in place, when putting the bong away. The two pieces fit together, and then into the hole where the water lock was removed.

Water is put into the bong through the mouth hole, up to about where the cylinder ends, and the glass percolator starts. The glass percolator of the bong is comprised of the outer glass dome which functions as the collection area, and mouthpiece, and an inner dome for percolation.

Positives of Thicket Waterpipe bong

I am a bong smoker (and a vape smoker) so having the right piece of equipment matters. I found it to be exceptionally smooth. Could barely feel it go into my lungs. The bowl is large enough to get 3-4 solid hits off of. I admit I used the same water for several days, and it didn’t get gross at all. The company claims you only need to change the water every 2-3 days.

Upon time to put it away, I took out the stem and bowl and wiped them down, emptied the water through the top, and let the bong sit out to dry. The following day I put the stem and bowl below, and then reattached the top half over the mouthpiece and put it all away. Easy enough. It can, of course, be done with water as well. I redid the process with water inside, which indeed stayed in the contraption once locked.

The chamber is very good for collecting the smoke, and holding onto it until being released when the bowl is removed. A very nice, clean, cloud of smoke was created, and kept in the percolator well, as the shape does not permit the smoke to come out easily. Overall, I’d say the bong:

Thicket bong
  • Hits very smooth, with no throat burn
  • Has easy set-up and stowing
  • Has a great design, I really dig the whole transformer thing
  • Provides a certain amount of insulation for traveling
  • Is a good size – not too big, not too small
  • Doesn’t need water to be changed frequently, and can be conveniently stowed with water in it through a water lock system
  • Comes at a decent price point
  • Can be taken apart for easy cleaning, which the company provides instructions for
  • Is easy enough to get replacement pieces for

My throat didn’t burn like it often can with some bong designs. In terms of sturdiness, I found it sturdy enough to not really worry about it staying up, but just light enough that a big enough bump could cause an issue. I thought the transformation design was very interesting, and a great selling point. The bong allows users to keep the same water in it, while setting up and breaking down to change locations.

The watertight cannister might not be completely airtight, but it’ll certainly cut down on the smell of weed around, and allows for the transfer of the bong with water. Since it offers some insulation to the glass pieces, it can be taken around more easily than a standard glass piece that would always need to be wrapped.

Negatives of the Thicket Waterpipe bong

Not every product is perfect, and though I love this bong, there are certain concerns I have.

  • It does come with breakable pieces. The company does well to offer replacements at a decent price, and each breakable part can easily be replaced. This is still a pain though, and would require waiting for new pieces.
  • The Thicket Waterpipe bong isn’t unsteady when it stands, but it is lightweight enough that a bump to a table could send it on its side, and this could mean broken glass. Perhaps some kind of mechanism to stick it onto a surface could be useful.
  • Depending on how often a person might knock their bong over, the price point could seem high for constant replacements. It might be best for those who are quick to knock bongs over, to consider this before purchase, and to consider using glass in general.

None of these negatives are really that bad. If the company institutes some mechanism to allow it to stay upright more easily (suction cup, or table grip…), then the idea of it being knocked over and broken, is that much less of an issue.

Overall review

Size/Portability: 9/10 – It can be taken to different locations without even spilling out the water. It’s easy to assemble and put away. It might give the impression that it is slightly more durable than it is, though, and should still be handled with care.

Water pipe

Ease-of-use: 9/10 – Standard bong functionality, although it does require putting together. Once put together nothing extra must be done.

Quality of hit: 10/10 – Excellent! One of the smoothest bongs I’ve ever used. Barely felt it at all.

Mechanics/durability: 8/10 – The design is fantastic, but it does come with breakable pieces. On the plus side, those pieces can be replaced easily if broken. Any glassware does come with the caveat of being breakable. The bong design could possibly benefit from extra padding in the bottom section where the stem and bowl are kept.

Price: 8/10 – Though it retailed for $38 at the convention, it retails for $80 on the company website. There are breakable pieces involved, but this is the case with any glass bong, or glass pipe. The company does offer replacement parts at decent rates, so the price is decent so long as replacements don’t constantly have to be ordered.

Total: 44/50

Bongs

There’s a lot of talk about cigarettes and joints, vs vapes, but not a lot said about bongs. In fact, these days, dabs come up in conversation more as a newer item, but dabs are not actually bongs. They simply involve using a bong-like structure to vape concentrates, not smoke dry herb. In fact, while debate rages on in many places over the safest way of smoking, very little is ever said about one of the most popular ways of ingesting marijuana. A ‘bong’ is a smoking device that works to filter what is being smoked using water. It can be used for marijuana, tobacco, or other herbs. Bongs are somewhat like hookahs.

The earliest remains of water pipes come from Russia, where Iranian-Eurasian Scyth tribes (or more likely, their tribal chiefs) smoked out of bongs made of gold, some 2,400 years ago. After that, remnants can be linked to an Ethiopian cave, where from approximately 1,100-1,400 CE, 11 bongs were found made of ducts and bottles, created from things like animal horns and pottery from the time.

The first real writings about bongs come from Central Asia in the 16th century, where the Thai word ‘buang’ was used to describe bongs made of bamboo. When the use of water started with bongs is unknown, with some speculating that it originated in China during the Ming Dynasty, and then spread through the Silk Road. One of the famous bong stories of history took place during the Qing Dynasty, and relates to Empress Dowager Cixi, a Chinese Regent, who was buried with three of her favorite bongs.

Bong smoking really took off when tobacco became a cash crop in America. This coincided with a growing glass market, and the two came together in the 1960-70s with the production of blown glass bongs. The bong market took a major hit in 2003 when the government put out a campaign to try to limit their use, as the government tends to do. Millions of dollars were put into damaging the bong industry, which took down many retailers, and cut deeply into the estimated one billion dollar industry of the time.

Conclusion

bongs

It could be very interesting if a real bong market opens up again. If so, maybe we’ll see more and more bong inventions by different companies, and more interesting designs like the Thicket Waterpipe bong. For now, interested buyers should check out Thicket’s site if they want to get their hands on the newest, and coolest, bong experience.

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DisclaimerHi, I’m a researcher and writer. I’m not a doctor, lawyer, or businessperson. All information in my articles is sourced and referenced, and all opinions stated are mine. I am not giving anyone advise, and though I am more than happy to discuss topics, should someone have a further question or concern, they should seek guidance from a relevant professional.

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About the author

Sarah Friedman

I look stuff up and and write stuff down, in order to make sense of the world around. And I travel a lot too.