The Visual Guide to Every Type of Dab Rig

The type of dab rig you choose isn’t just about style, you're choosing completely different experiences.

From futuristic e-rigs that heat at the push of a button to recyclers swirling hot vapor in a loop, each dab rig turns the same dab into a noticeably different inhale.

Buying your first dab rig can get confusing with mini rigs (potent hits), frozen glycerin rigs (no cough), and fun novelty designs all competing for your attention. This guide visually breaks down each rig’s shape, style, and material and how it increases or decreases potency, smoothness, and your overall session.

 

The best type of dab rig

 

The best type of dab rig is a smaller 6-8 inch borosilicate glass rig. Dab rigs produce less vapor than the dense smoke from bongs, making a smaller rig more efficient. A smaller rig keeps vapor potent and flavorful by minimizing loss during water filtration, which is common in larger rigs.

 

Mini dab rigs: Strongest 

 

 

Mini dab rigs stand just 4-6 inches tall, perfect for quick hits without drawing attention. Because the rig is so small, hot dab vapor passes through a shorter path, preserving more THC before it has the chance to cool off and stick to the glass walls, keeping your hits extra potent and flavorful.

Keep in mind that smaller size does mean hotter vapor, so the hits can feel sharper on your lung (cough, cough). Luckily you can upgrade your mini rig’s percolator to a honeycomb disc percs or go for a mini recycler which compensates for the lack of size to help with more cooling and filtration.

Pros:

• Pocket-sized: Easy to carry, hide, or tuck away.
• Potency Boost: A Shorter vapor path locks in flavor and THC.

 

Cons:

• Extra Cleaning: Resin quickly clogs tight spaces.

 

 

Beaker dab rigs: Best for beginners

 

Beaker dab rigs have a wide, stable base that prevents you from accidentally tipping your rig. Their iconic shape looks like an Erlenmeyer Flask straight out of your middle school science class, but this time you're actually paying attention, right? The flared water chamber provides extra filtration and cooling, making them great for beginners.

Beaker rigs are one of the best choices for beginners starting out and usually come equipped with a diffuser downstem, the simplest form of percolator filtration (semi-harsh hits). You can find upgraded models with stronger percolators to get smoother dabs.

Pros:

• Sturdy: You won’t tip this rig easily
• Affordable: Get started without emptying your wallet
  

Cons:

• Basic filtration: You’ll get fewer bubbles and less cooling

 

Straight tube dab rigs: Potent hits

 

Straight tube dab rigs are sleek and simple, giving you quick, intense hits with their narrow cylindrical design. Easy to handle, store, and clean, they're perfect if you want strong hits without spending big. A straight tube dab rig is modeled after the graduated cylinder and because of their tube shape, they offer very little water storage, which means less cooling and filtration.

Less water storage also means hot vapor passes through quickly without converting back into reclaim (THC loss). This means you get more potency in trade for harsher hits. If you prefer a smoother vapor, try a multi-chamber straight tube dab rig, which holds multiple filtration chambers.

Pros:

• Easy to clean: The Straightforward shape makes cleaning effortless.
• Strong hits: Less filtration means potent and flavorful dabs.
  

Cons:

• Harsh vapor: Less filtration means the vapor is much hotter in the lungs.
• Less stable: Slim design can tip over very easily

 

 

E-Rigs (electronic dab rigs)

 

The biggest headache with class rigs is guessing how long to torch your banger. Too hot, and your dab vapor scorches away valuable THC and terpenes, leaving you with a harsh, flavorless inhale. E-rigs solve this by letting you choose the exact temperatures, and that temperature stays consistent your entire session, preserving terpenes and cannabinoids.

Electric dab rigs ditches the torch experience entirely and the device runs completely on batteries and electricity. They’re compact enough to stash in your bag, quick to heat without any fuel, and safer since there’s no open flame. The only downside is the initial investing can cost significantly more than buying a classic dab rig set up.

Pros:

• Exact temperature: No guessing, consistent heat preserves flavor.
• Torch-free: Runs safely on batteries or electricity, no flames.
  

Cons:

• Higher cost: Initial setup is pricier than classic rigs.

Novelty dab rigs: Glass art

 

Novelty dab rigs are art you can inhale from! Shaped like your favorite cartoons, monsters, or even snacks, they’re perfect for expressing your personality while still getting great hits. Sure, they still have percolators and function just like standard rigs, but let’s be honest you’re here for the looks.

Most rigs look like boring scientific laboratory equipment, but novelty dab rigs are those conversation-starters you’ll proudly show off on your coffee table. Whether you’re feeling spooky with horror-themed rigs or chill with gummy bears, there's always an artistic expression you'll love.

Pros:

• Show off worthy: Express yourself with attention-grabbing designs.
• Exclusive drops: Limited seasonal releases 
  

Cons:

• Tough cleaning: Cool designs mean trickier cleaning

 

Honeycomb dab rigs: Smoother hits

 

Honeycomb dab rigs are all about smoothness. They have flat dis-shaped percolators with dozens of tiny holes sitting in the rig’s neck (usually as a second layer of filtration), or they are the primary filter in a straight tube rig. 

When hot dab vapor enters your dab rig’s water chamber, the vapor is forced to pass through these discs. The small slits in the disc splits the hot vapor into thousands of tiny bubbles, instantly cooling and moisturizing the dab vapor before it reaches your lungs. The more honeycomb discs your rig has, the smoother your hits become, but the trade-off is that the hits are slightly less potent.

Pros:

• Silky hits: Thousands of bubbles mean smoother, cooler vapor
• Effortless draw: Very easy to pull and inhale (zero resistance/less coughing)
  

Cons:

• Fixed percolators: Built-in disc percs cannot be removed, making cleaning harder.

 

 

Inline dab rigs: Total water diffusion

 

Inline dab rigs smooth out your hot dab vapor by using a horizontal tube suspended inside your water rig’s water chamber. This tube is an “inline percolator” and has 4-10 downward facing slits. As you take a hit, hot dab flows through these tiny slits, splitting in streams of bubbles that shoot to the floor of your rig, which quickly breaks completely diffuses hot vapor (breaks it apart) to cool before reaching your lung.

Stepping up from basic filtration (diffuser downstem), inline rigs filter stronger and doesn’t clog as easily. The only trade-off is a bit of drag when you pull since it takes more force to pull the vapor through every slit of an inline perc.

Pros:

• Smooth Hits: Heavy diffusion means moist and smooth vapor.
• Powerful cooling: Vapor spreads apart fully to cool hot vapor.
  

Cons:

• Drag: Slight resistance when pulling (more effort on lungs)

 

Side car/ bent neck rig: No water in your mouth

 

Sidecar dab rigs move the mouthpiece of your rig from the top to the side, creating a sharp angle that hot dab vapor can easily flow through but water can’t. This clever design lets you keep your rig smaller (more potency) without any water splashing into your mouth mid-hit.

Bent neck rigs are similar, just less extreme. Instead of removing the neck and mouth piece and relocating it completely like Side cars, glass blowers heat the neck to bend it at an angle to prevent water splash back but still allow vapor to flow to you. Both Sidecar and Bent neck dab rigs prevent water splash back with smaller rigs.

Pros:

• Splash-proof hits: Sharp angle stops surprise sips of rig water.
• Compact power: Smaller rig size keeps vapor potent and flavorful.

Cons:

• Awkward Cleaning: Angled necks and corners trap resin easily

 

Glycerin dab rigs: No cough

 

Glycerin dab rigs prevent coughing by forcing your vapor through winding glass coils surrounded by frozen, non-toxic glycerin. When the vapor twists through the icy coils, the vapor’s temperature drops dramatically turning harsh hits that make you cough into ultra-smooth easy inhales that your lungs will truly appreciate.

These windy coils not only chill your dab vapor but also lengthen the distance the vapor has to travel. This is good for bongs and smoke, but for dab vapor, the extra distance your vapor has to travel increases the chance that vapor turns back into oil form inside the coil (losing THC). If coughing is an issue a glycerin dab rig will solve it, but the potency will reduce quite a bit.

Pros:

• No-Cough Hits: Frozen glycerin transforms vapor from harsh to silky.
• Ice-Cold Vapor: Dramatic cooling gives comfortable, enjoyable hits.
  

Cons:

• Regular Refreezing: You’ll need to refreeze the coil before every use.

 

Recycler dab digs (super gentle hits)

 

Recycler dab rigs have extra tubing that loops hot vapor through two chambers rather than sending it directly to your lungs like classic rigs. As vapor circulates, some of it repeatedly drops back into the cool water, quickly soaking up the heat and smoothing each hit before you inhale.

This looping (or recycling) action cools and moistens vapor, turning hot, dry hits that irritate your throat into softer, more comfortable inhales. The only downside is that the vapor has more time to cool, causing some THC to condense back into oil and stick to the glass, slightly lowering potency.

Pros:

• Super smooth: Vapor loops through water for gentler hits.
• Less irritation: Moistens vapor to reduce coughing.
  

Cons:

• Potency drop: Cooling vapor longer reduces THC strength slightly.

 

Scientific glass dab rigs (borosilicate)

 

Scientific glass dab rigs use borosilicate glass (the same heat-proof glass used in chemistry labs), so they won’t crack when scorching hot dab vapor rushes through. Borosilicate glass rigs also feature laser-cut percolator slits which disperses hot dab vapor into tiny bubbles with precision, cooling and softening each hit before reaching your lungs.

Another advantage with scientific glass rigs is they won’t leak chemicals or weird flavors like silicone, acrylic, or metal rigs do. Each hit stays pure and tastes exactly as it should. Its smooth, non-porous surface also means fewer sticky resin build-ups, keeping bacteria at bay and slowing down water pipe mold growth.

Pros:

• Pure hits: Zero funky tastes or unwanted chemicals sneaking into your vapor.
• Heat-proof: Easily handles fiery-hot dabs without cracking.

Cons:

• Fragile: Tough against heat delicate parts (bowl, joint, downstem).

Heady glass dab rigs (hand-blown)

 

Heady glass dab rigs are handcrafted pieces of art from which you can actually dab. Instead of plain factory glass (scientific), heady water pipes have beautiful swirling colors, complex 3D designs, and shapes carefully sculpted by glass-blowing artists.

While the focus is on the art, heady water pipes are usually much thicker and durable than scientific glass and feature top-tier filtration even without laser cut percolator holes. Heady rigs are one-of-a-kind pieces made by real artists, and because of this craftsmanship, the prices are usually higher than scientific, factory-made rigs.

Pros:

• Exclusive art: Handmade rigs with designs no one else owns.
• Thick & sturdy: Stronger glass that still delivers smooth hits.
  

Cons:

• Pricey: Unique art and craftsmanship come at higher costs.

Silicone dab rigs (indestructible) 

 

Silicone dab rigs come in two types of food-safe rubber: tin-cured (budget) and platinum-cured (premium). Platinum-cured silicone easily handles hot vapor temperatures but also absorbs heat in the rubber longer, so rapid back-to-back dabs can get progressively hotter on your lungs.

What makes silicone rigs so popular is their toughness. You can drop it, toss it, pack it, and silicone rigs bounce back every time without breaking. This makes them the best travel rigs for business or outdoor camping. At first, you’ll notice a soft but rubbery taste in your vapor that fades away after a few sessions. They’re easy to clean, and best of all, platinum silicone’s surface naturally resists bacteria build-up making it just as class as scientific glass rigs.

Pros:

• Drop-proof: Survives falls, travel, and rough handling easily.
• Ultra-clean: Platinum silicone naturally prevents bacteria growth.

Cons:

• Flavor fade: Initial rubber taste in your vapor before fully breaking in.