In reading posts on this forum I find that many pipe smokers enjoy the flavor of tobaccos and the art of smoking even more than the pursuit of the buzz. Yet, there seems to be a taboo against smoking tobacco out of a bong. While water bongs are big sellers at "tobacco" shops, they are almost exclusively considered marijuana pipes. I would think if it is pure, ashless, clean tobacco flavor you were after, a water bong would be your first choice. After all, the water filters and cools the smoke, the percolator cools the smoke, and ice cubes are usually placed in the top of the stem to cool it even further. This creates a smoke that is almost impossible to cough from and is incredibly smooth. One could fill the chamber with smoke and take slow elegant sips off of the top. The glass stem could easily be completely cleaned after each bowl and there would be no need to "rest" the pipe.
The reason I attribute this modern prejudice against the bong is due to the smokers culturally associated with it. In researching this negative association, one finds it is part of a broader prejudice against all psycotropic drug use. It is easy to get mired down in false leads and confusing histories. To most easily discern how contrived and intentionally debasing this association is I recommend starting out by reading Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream by David McGowan, and then wising up with some readings on Cognitive Liberty.
While Sir Walter Raleigh may have copied the American Indians and started a trend with the traditional pipe, it doesn't mean that it is going to give you the best smoke, or that it was the preferred method of smoking by the Indians. In looking at the origin of the bong, I found that discriminating Indians were actually the first to appreciate it's effects.
"In order to deprive it of its acridity, some were wont to pass the smoke through bulbs, filled with water in which aromatic and medicinal herbs had been infused."
Tobacco From The Seed To The Warehouse by B. Rush Senseney M.D. 1878
Perhaps it is time we reclaimed the water bong as true connoisseurs of tobacco. There is no distinction in imitating an imitator such as Sir Walter Raleigh. Especially upon finding that when the originators of tobacco smoking wanted the best, they chose the bong.
The reason I attribute this modern prejudice against the bong is due to the smokers culturally associated with it. In researching this negative association, one finds it is part of a broader prejudice against all psycotropic drug use. It is easy to get mired down in false leads and confusing histories. To most easily discern how contrived and intentionally debasing this association is I recommend starting out by reading Weird Scenes Inside The Canyon: Laurel Canyon, Covert Ops, and the Dark Heart of the Hippie Dream by David McGowan, and then wising up with some readings on Cognitive Liberty.
While Sir Walter Raleigh may have copied the American Indians and started a trend with the traditional pipe, it doesn't mean that it is going to give you the best smoke, or that it was the preferred method of smoking by the Indians. In looking at the origin of the bong, I found that discriminating Indians were actually the first to appreciate it's effects.
"In order to deprive it of its acridity, some were wont to pass the smoke through bulbs, filled with water in which aromatic and medicinal herbs had been infused."
Tobacco From The Seed To The Warehouse by B. Rush Senseney M.D. 1878
Perhaps it is time we reclaimed the water bong as true connoisseurs of tobacco. There is no distinction in imitating an imitator such as Sir Walter Raleigh. Especially upon finding that when the originators of tobacco smoking wanted the best, they chose the bong.
