Live Stoner Chat A Nifty Little Trick for Pipe Smokers

[Nuggz]

Here's a little trick I learned from an older lady who has been toking the noble herb on her pipe since the 60s. She'd seen my frustration at having a clogged screen in my pipe and after I pulled it, found out I had no fresh screens on hand. This old gal just reached into her purse, pulled out her little stash tin, opened it up and then, to my bewilderment handed me a small glass bead. "Here," she said, "just put this bead in the bottom of your bowl. Problem solved."

I tried it, and to my amazement, it worked like a charm. My pipe smoked beautifully, and I didn't get a mouthful of ash or stash either.

To be honest, I haven't used a screen since. When I'm done with a bowl, I just take the bead out and put it in my stash box so I don't lose it. I also bought a few extra beads to have on hand just in case.

If you try this yourself, just make sure the bead is glass and not plastic. The size of the bead needs to be slightly larger than the hole in the bottom of your bowl. The bead will get all crusty and black just like a screen does, but all that crud doesn't matter when you use a bead, it works anyway.


Easy peazy…

 

[TimeTraveler]

Nice tip, though it makes me wonder: am I just the only pipe smoker in the world that doesn't use screens? I rarely get ash or the like, and even then it's only happened when my glass is squeaky clean. Maybe I'm just not using big enough pipes so the hole is small enough already?

 

[dankstyle J]

I was raised a round poor hippies they used pebbles or small rocks (gravel

 

[Ozone69]

I got into smoking with guys that used screens, so I've always used them. Got sold on trying out a "glass screen" (what the dude at the head shop called it) that's a little four pronged jack looking thing. Suspect it works similar to the bead idea in that it's pretty easy to keep clean and don't have to replace it unless I lose it.

Something like this:
http://www.everyonedoesit.com/online_headshop/Glass_Gauze__Large.cfm?iProductID=2803

 

[JM]

Nice tip, though it makes me wonder: am I just the only pipe smoker in the world that doesn't use screens? I rarely get ash or the like, and even then it's only happened when my glass is squeaky clean. Maybe I'm just not using big enough pipes so the hole is small enough already?

no... i dont screen either and have no issues... small holes in my pipes... and good weed... and I draw slow...

 

[Nuggz]

Well, being a creature of habit, I'd always used a screen, but hated having to futz around with them. Finding out that a bead worked just as well or better than a screen was a real epiphany for me. I was frequently found in the company of poor hippies, but never saw one use a pebble like Dankstyle suggested. I guess I ran with the wrong crowd of hippies...

 

[dankstyle J]

Always Round hippies not far from Eugene lol

 

[Nuggz]

Always Round hippies not far from Eugene lol

Yep. There are still plenty of Hippies left in Oregon. I see lots of young kids wearing their hair long again, but it always makes me smile when I spot a long-haired 80-year-old in the grocery store...still lettin' his freak flag fly!

 

[TimeTraveler]

Just found this little beauty digging around:

http://www.everyonedoesit.com/online_headshop/weed-star-gauze---clear-meteor.cfm?iProductID=4368

Basically serves the same purpose, but doesn't need to be oriented a certain way and comes in a variety of colors. I may be buying one of these myself in the near future.

 

[Nuggz]

@ Time Traveler - Basically, that looks like about a million other Chinese phony "lamp glass" beads, only it doesn't have a hole in it. You can find something similar in just about any Craft Store, and a heck of a lot cheaper too. I swear, the Head Shops just see us tokers coming!