Hi, i am looking to invest in a nice bong, but since i have been looking, i have been getting quite confused with all the different things some have on them.
For example, the bong i just looked at is a percolator bong with ash catcher, ice notches and a 4 arm percolator.
For starts what does percolator mean? and whats a 4 arm one? Also what are ice notches?
I. Percolators (aka percs) - these are inline air inlets that route the smoke through a sub-chamber of water to affect further cooling
A. Types of percs
1. Dome perc: This style of perc breaks up the smoke stream by forcing it up an inner tube into a dome, which redirects the smoke back down, through an isolated chamber of water
2. Tree perc: This style of perc directs the smoke through a series of small glass stems that route through an isolated chamber of water
3. Newschool percs: A variety of new perc designs have started appearing limited only by the creativity of glass artists - my favorite new style is flying saucer shaped with diagonal slices into the edge of parabola.
II. Ash Catchers - these are typically Glass-on-glass (GonG) fittings that go into the downstem (aka female) of the bong (where the bowl typically goes) with some form of percolator. While their cooling efficiency is usually not as good as an inline perc, they're called Ash Catchers because they bear the brunt of catching all the tars and getting filthy before the smoke travels into the bong itself.
III. Ice notches - these are notches in the top portion of the bong's tube intended to hold ice cubes to cool the smoke on the way up. In my experience, you never need room for more than 1 or 2 cubes.
Lemme know if there's any more jargon I can help with - or if you need pics.