The stem is plastic I think, not sure, it was definitely harder then briar, but softer than acrylic, it worked and wasnt bad to clench. I liked itDo they have softer stems than Acrylic? Like vulcanite? I hear that they use ebonite which is supposed to be the softest of all and they don't oxidize, but at that price range I was wondering if they would be the same as acrylic in hardness? I have zero tolerance for acrylic stems as they do not have a soft natural feel like vulcanite does. I was thinking about getting this with a replacement stem: