Bongs and dab rigs deliver completely different experiences: Bongs burn cannabis flower with a lighter, creating smoke, while dab rigs heat extracts (oils) with a torch, creating vapor.
The core difference is the potency and what you’re smoking:
- Bongs burn cannabis flower with THC levels of 15-25%, creating smoke.
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Dab rigs heat pure extract with no plant matter with THC levels of 50-90%, creating vapor.
Dab rigs are up to 3x more potent than bongs, not because of the smoking device, but because dabs (what dab rigs smoke) are much more potent than cured cannabis flower (what bongs smoke).
Both a bong and a dab rig are water pipes. They look nearly identical, except a bong uses a glass bowl to hold cannabis flower, and a dab rig uses a nail or quartz banger to hold cannabis oils.
Bong and dab rigs are so similar in structure that you can easily convert a bong into a dab rig by simply swapping the bong’s bowl for a dab banger.
Is a dab rig or bong better?
Neither a dab rig nor a bong is technically better because they both smoke completely different forms of cannabis. A bong can be better if you prefer cannabis flowers at higher potencies, and a dab rig can be better if even the potency from a bong rip is not enough anymore (rising tolerance).
A bong is better for stronger hits with cannabis flower. A bong delivers much more smoke and active compounds than weed pipes and bubblers. So if you’re looking to smoke cannabis flower, a bong can deliver one of the strongest hits called a bong rip.
A dab rig is better if you need something stronger than cannabis flower. That’s not the only reason people prefer dab rigs over bongs. Smoking dabs, you get zero smoke, so it’s a much cleaner inhale and high.
What is healthier a bong or a vaporizer?
A dab rig is healthier than a bong because with dab rigs, you inhale vapor, and vapor has fewer harmful chemicals than bong smoke.
- With a bong, you are burning plant matter directly with fire, creating toxins in the smoke you inhale, like benzene, toluene, and naphthalene, but with a dab rig, you avoid these completely.
- With a dab rig, vapor also produces zero airborne particles and far less stress to the nervous system compared to inhaling smoke from a bong.
When it comes to smoking cannabis flower, bongs are the healthier option compared to blunts and pipes. That’s because bongs use water diffusion to filter out ash, tar, and toxins. Dab rigs are technically healthier because there is no smoke, but remember the THC count is so high it can overwhelm beginners emotionally and mentally.
The 8 main differences between dab rigs and bongs
1. Dab rigs love small, bongs love big
When it comes to bong sizes, bigger is better. When it comes to dab rigs sizes, smaller is better.
- A bigger bong gives hot smoke more time to bubble through the water chamber with the percolator. These bubbles trap heat, ash, and tiny bits of plant matter, leaving you with cooler, cleaner smoke for smoother hits.
- A smaller dab rig works better because vapor cools quickly. When hot vapor touches glass, it condenses into sticky oil, wasting concentrate. Shorter rigs keep vapor hot and potent, guiding it straight into your lungs.
If you use a very small bong, you can expect scorching hot bong rips (coughing) and inhale some ash and plant matter. If you use a very large dab rig, you can expect reduced potency from vapor loss.
When buying a dab rig, always go for mini rigs, and when buying bongs, go for XL bongs.
2. Bong rips vs dab hits
Bong rips are known for their power, thanks to the science and physics behind how a bong works.
- Bong rips: You’re inhaling a dense volume of smoke in one deep breath. This large hit stretches your diaphragm, which opens up your lung tissue to absorb more active compounds. Bong rips can be harsh on your lungs, so you want to use extra filtration like an ash catcher system.
- Dab hits: With dab rigs, concentrates are melted and turned into hot vapor, which flows through a smaller water chamber for slight cooling before you inhale. Unlike bongs, where you inhale one giant lung hit, dab hits can be a few hits per session.
Bong rips are much more intense on the lungs, whereas dab hits can be much smoother and less harsh because there is no smoke and the vapor is formed at much lower temperatures.
- If you want to make a bong rip less harsh, you can use a glycerin or ice bong to use ice to help cool hot smoke for a much smoother bong rip.
- If you want to make a dab rig harsher (more potent) you can heat your banger at higher temperatures to burn more active compounds in one, strong single hit, but the vapor will be scorching hot (cough).
3. Bongs are easy, dab rigs need skill
Dab rigs require a much steeper learning curve compared to bongs.
Bongs have fewer moving parts to set up and get started. A dab rig has more required parts and the set up is a bit more intense.
- Bong set up: With a bong, you need the bong, glass bowl, and a Bic lighter, and that’s it.
- Dab rig set up: With a dab rig, you need the dab rig, a capable dab torch, a quartz banger, carb cap, and dabber tool.
There are seven different dab rig setups, so it can get increasingly complicated with dab rigs. On top of that, the actual process of taking a dab is much more complicated than taking a bong rip.
- A bong rip: You light the cannabis, pull the smoke into the water chamber for filtration, and once the bowl has cashed (burnt out), you remove the bowl to help air push through the bong, pushing the smoke into your lungs for a bong rip.
- A dab hit: You have to heat the banger with a torch for the correct time. If you torch too long you burn your dabs, if you don’t torch long enough you get a puddle of wax that you can’t hit. Learning how long you torch your banger is what makes dabbing so much harder. What comes after is a juggling act between the torch, using a dab tool to transfer dabs into the banger, cap the banger, and rotate the carb cap to move vapor - yikes.
Dab rigs may seem complicated, but there is a precise formula to it (check out this guide for the exact timing on how to take the perfect dab). There are also different types of dab rigs that completely ditch the torch process, like e-rigs and e-nails.
4. Dab rigs give you more terpenes (better than THC)
Terpenes are the natural oils found in both cannabis flower and dabs, and are the hidden gems that give you therapeutic benefits far beyond flavor and aroma.
These compounds are extremely delicate and can easily be destroyed with high heat (bongs fire) or high-temp dabbing.
- Bongs burn terpenes: When you light cannabis flower, temperatures jump above 500°F, instantly scorching terpenes. For example you can destroy the Limonene terpenes which helps relieve stress, or the Pinene terpenes, which enhance focus.
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Dab rigs preserve terpenes: With dab rigs you have a choice, by low-temp dabbing or cold start dabbing you keep temps around 400°F, which is much safer for terpenes to release and form into vapor for you to inhale.
Terpene boiling points:
- Pinene (311°F): Clear breathing, mental sharpness
- Myrcene (334°F): Relaxation, better cannabinoid absorption
- Limonene (349°F): Mood lift, stress relief
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Linalool (388°F): Calmness, tension release
When you smoke flower from a bong, the flame from your lighter literally incinerates delicate terpenes instantly. As your cannabis catches flame and creates a cherry, the cherry (orange ember that ignites in the flower) is still too hot for terpenes. The flame and cherry destroy most of the terpene molecules, leaving a smoking, burnt flavor instead.
Dab rigs vaporize cannabis extracts at lower temperatures, preserving the delicate terpenes. To get the most terpenes in every inhale, make sure you are either low-temp dabbing or cold start dabbing. Both methods give you the maximum amount of terpenes with a dab rig.
5. Bong high vs dab high
Bong and dab rig highs are completely different because of what you are smoking and how you are smoking it.
Bongs burn cannabis flower at high temperatures using combustion: direct flame to the plant source. When the flame hits the plant, it instantly releases all the cannabinoids and terpenes for a powerful, fast–hitting high but also destroys most of the delicate terpenes.
Dab rigs vaporize concentrates at lower temperatures using conduction: heating the wax with a hot surface avoiding direct flame contact. The lower temperatures helps release all the terpenes safely as well as THC, giving you a more well-rounded high.
- Think of a bong as lighting and inhaling all of the cannabinoids at once (THC, CBC, CBG, CBD), but because it’s so hot, you destroy most of the terpenes. You inhale all of this at once for a very powerful hit that comes fast, hits hard, and ends fast.
- Think of a dab rig as releasing all of the terpenes safely along with the cannabinoids. That means you inhale more compounds with a dab hit, and the lower temperatures don’t force all the cannabinoids to release at once. This gives you a much cleaner and less overwhelming high.
This makes the effects of a bong rip much more intense and overwhelming, whereas a dab hit (even with higher potency) will feel much cleaner, even though the high may be stronger. If you are a beginner and your tolerance is too low, then a dab hit will give you way too much THC, making the experience extremely uncomfortable.
6. Dabs waste less THC
When it comes to bongs vs dab rigs, bongs lose more THC through slip-stream smoke. Let me explain:
- Bongs: When using a bong, you ignite the cannabis flower until it catches on fire (cherrying). Once the cherry is created, it keeps your cannabis burning even when you’re not inhaling, and all the smoke that slips into the air is wasting THC.
- Dab rigs: You heat the banger first and then drop dabs in once the banger is hot enough. Dropping dabs into a banger instantly begins melting the dabs and forming vapor for you to inhale. With rigs you immediately cover the banger with a carp cap to prevent vapor loss, forcing all vapor to move through the rig for you to inhale instead of getting lost into the air.
Slipstream smoke is smoke that you should have inhaled because it’s loaded with cannabinoids and terpenes, but it slipped away into the air. The same can happen with slip-stream vapor with rigs, but dab rigs use carb caps to prevent this, so per session, you are wasting far less THC using dab rigs.
7. Dabbing absorbs cannabinoids better
While both bongs and dab rigs can release all the active cannabinoids (THC, CBN, CBG, CBD), dab rigs help your body absorb more of these compounds into your bloodstream.
Bioavailability tells you how much THC from the cannabis made it into your bloodstream, where it can have an effect.
- Bong bioavailability: typically delivers around 20-27% of available THC
- Dab rig bioavailability: typically delivers around 50-75% of available THC
Dab rigs heat concentrates at lower temperatures (recommended: 350°F to 450°F), creating a fine aerosol mist (dab vapor). This aerosol mist carries tiny particles of cannibinoids and terpenes that your lungs absorb like a sponge, through the alveoli (microscopic air sacs in your lungs).
Bongs heat cannabis at higher temperatures, creating a thick smoke with heavy particulate matter that isn’t as easily absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs. On top of that, more THC is lost, and terpenes are burned away. In the end, dab rigs allow you to absorb much more cannabinoids into your bloodstream.
8. Dab rigs use conduction, bongs use combustion
The biggest difference between bongs and dab rigs is how the cannabis is heated. Bongs use combustion to create smoke, and dab rigs use conduction to create vapor.
- Combustion: Bongs heat cannabis flower directly with an open flame (combustion). When fire ignites the cannabis flower, it creates smoke and releases all the vital compounds from the flower into the smoke for you to inhale.
- Conduction: Dab rigs heat cannabis oils by putting it in a quartz container and then heating the outside of the container with a blow torch. This gets the quartz surface so hot it slowly melts the concentrates inside and turns them into vapor for you to inhale (conduction heating).
Heating makes all the difference: When you use a bong, the combustion process burns the flower with an open flame, creating smoke. This smoke carries not just THC and terpenes but also ash, tar, and other nasty stuff that can feel harsh on your throat and lungs.
With a dab rig, conduction heating vaporizes concentrates without burning them. This means you inhale vapor instead of smoke, which feels smoother, cleaner, and less irritating.
