Types of Weed Pipes: Spoons, Bubblers, Chillums and More
The main types of weed pipes are the spoon (or hand) pipe, the Sherlock, the one-hitter, the chillum, the steamroller and the bubbler. Each one burns flower in a small bowl and draws the smoke through a stem. They differ in size, in how much flower they hold, in whether they have a carb (a hole you cover, then uncover to clear the smoke) and in whether the smoke passes through water.
Weed pipes are also called pot pipes. Every type here except the bubbler is a dry pipe, meaning the smoke doesn’t pass through water.
Baller Club sells flower but no pipes, grinders or other glass, so this guide covers what goes in the bowl as much as the pieces themselves.
Types of weed pipes compared
Bowl sizes vary, so the amounts are rough. A standard bowl holds about a quarter gram.
| Pipe | How it works | Flower per fill | Hit | Cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spoon | Bowl, stem and mouthpiece, with a carb on the bowl | A standard bowl | Several, cleared with the carb | Easy |
| Sherlock | A spoon with a long, curved stem | A standard bowl | Several | A bit fiddly around the bend |
| One-hitter | A thin, straight tube with a tiny bowl at the tip | A pinch | One small hit | Easy |
| Chillum | A straight cone or tube held in the hand | Varies, from a pinch in small glass ones | One to a few | Easy |
| Steamroller | A tube open at both ends, with a bowl on top | A standard bowl | Fast, since the whole tube clears at once | Easy |
| Bubbler | A hand pipe with a water chamber and a fixed bowl | A standard bowl | Several, through water | More work: water changes and whole-piece soaks |
All six pipes in the table have a bowl for the flower, a stem that carries the smoke and a mouthpiece. Most also have a carb, and the bubbler adds a water chamber.
Spoon pipe
A spoon pipe is the classic hand pipe: a round bowl at one end, a mouthpiece at the other and a stem between them. Cover the carb on the side of the bowl with a finger while you light and draw, then let go to clear the smoke.
Glass spoons are often borosilicate, which handles heat well.
Sherlock and hammer pipes
A Sherlock has a long, swooping stem styled on old tobacco pipes, and the bend catches ash. A hammer is a spoon with a cylindrical bowl. Many hammers add a water chamber, which makes them bubblers.
One-hitter, bat and dugout
A one-hitter, also called a bat, is a thin, straight pipe sized for one small hit. Many come in a dugout, a small box with a compartment for ground flower and a slot for the pipe.
Push the bowl end into the flower to fill it, firmly enough that it won’t fall out, and clear the ash with a poker or pin after each hit. Grind small enough to fit the tip, but not to powder, which burns to ash fast.
Chillum
Traditional chillums, popular in India and Nepal, are straight cones of clay or soft stone such as steatite (soapstone), held in cupped hands and shared in a group. A small stone in the stem stops flower being pulled through.
Chillums have been known in the Americas since the 1960s. Small glass chillums are straight pipes, often sold as one-hitters.
Steamroller
Steamrollers are straight glass tubes, open at both ends, with a bowl on top. The end away from your mouth is the carb, and it can be awkward to cover with small hands. Cover it while you light, then uncover it, and the whole tube clears in one pull.
What is a bubbler?
A bubbler is a handheld water pipe, a hand pipe with a small water chamber that the smoke bubbles through on its way to the mouthpiece. Most have a fixed bowl and a carb.
Bubbler vs bong
A bong is bigger, and its bowl usually slides out of a downstem, which you pull to clear the smoke. A bubbler fits in one hand, needs only a little water and keeps its bowl fixed, so you use it like a spoon pipe. Our how to use a bong guide covers the bigger piece.
What weed pipes are made of
Hand pipes come in glass, metal, silicone and wood. The material changes how a pipe copes with heat and drops, and how you clean it.
| Material | Good at | Watch for | Cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borosilicate glass | Heat, and you can see resin building up | Breaks if dropped | Alcohol and salt soak |
| Metal | Survives drops | Gets hot near the bowl | Alcohol soak, as with glass |
| Silicone | Bends instead of breaking | Needs its glass or metal bowl insert for the flame | Soak only the bowl insert |
| Wood | Doesn’t shatter | Can char, and swells when wet | Wipe it, no soaking |
Borosilicate can take a sudden temperature difference of about 166 °C without cracking, while ordinary soda-lime glass, the kind in windows and jars, manages about 40 °C. A bigger jump can still crack it, so let a pipe that has been out in the cold warm up indoors before it goes near hot water.
Silicone rubber is rated to about 300 °C, far below a lighter flame, so on a silicone pipe the flame goes only on the glass or metal bowl.
How to choose a pipe
Match the pipe to how you’ll use it.
| If you want | Look at | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A first pipe | A glass spoon | A common hand pipe with a standard bowl, a carb and a short stem that’s easy to clean |
| A little at a time | A one-hitter or small chillum | It holds a pinch, so you don’t light a full bowl |
| Something to carry | A one-hitter in a dugout | The box holds the pipe and some ground flower together |
| Water in the smoke path | A bubbler | A small water chamber in a pipe you hold in one hand |
How to pack a bowl
These steps work for a spoon, Sherlock, hammer, steamroller or bubbler.
- Grind to a medium texture. Powder clogs the bowl hole. Fingers work if you don’t have a grinder.
- Plug the hole. Drop in a slightly bigger piece first, or use a screen.
- Fill loosely, firmer on top. Tamp gently. Packed too tight, it won’t draw.
- Test it. Draw through the pipe before lighting. If air barely moves, loosen the top.
- Light one edge. Cover the carb and hold the flame to one side. Lighting one edge, called cornering, keeps the rest unburnt for the next hit.
- Clear and ash. Release the carb to clear the smoke, then tip out the ash.
In a 2018 field study, researchers weighed bowls packed by 63 regular users. The bowls held about 0.25 g on average, though the users guessed 0.41 g.
Which flower suits a pipe
Any flower works in any of these pipes, so grade mostly decides what a bowl costs. This table prices a 0.25 g bowl at our lowest regular prices. Some strains cost more.
| Bag size | AAA per bowl | AAAA per bowl | Bowls per bag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 g | $1.07 | $1.25 | About 28 |
| 14 g | $0.89 | $1.07 | About 56 |
| 28 g | $0.71 | $0.89 | About 112 |
AAA flower costs less per bowl, which suits learning to pack. AAAA flower, our top grade, has denser, frostier buds and costs about 18 cents more per bowl at each bag size. Sticky buds gum up a grinder faster, and how to clean a weed grinder covers grind size and cleaning.
How to clean a pipe
Glass and metal pipes clean like a bong: a soak in isopropyl alcohol with coarse salt, a pipe cleaner through the stem, then a warm rinse. The bong cleaning guide has the full steps and a section on pipes and bowls.
The rest depends on the pipe:
- Spoon, steamroller and one-hitter: the path is short and straight, so a pipe cleaner reaches from end to end.
- Sherlock: bend a pipe cleaner around the curve, where the ash collects.
- Bubbler: change the water after each session. The bowl is fixed, so the whole piece goes in the soak.
- Silicone: take out the glass or metal bowl and soak that. Long alcohol soaks can break down silicone, so follow the maker’s label for the body.
- Wood: wipe it out and use pipe cleaners. Wood swells as it takes up water and shrinks as it dries, which can warp or split it, so keep it out of the soak.
Isopropyl alcohol has a flash point of about 12 °C (NIOSH), so its vapour can catch fire at room temperature. Let the pipe dry completely before you light it.
Topping a bowl with kief or a crumb of shatter, as in how to smoke shatter, coats the glass in resin faster.
Common questions
What type of pipe is best for weed?
A glass spoon is a common first pick, since it holds a standard bowl, has a carb and is easy to clean. A one-hitter suits a little at a time, and a bubbler puts the smoke through water.
What are the six types of weed pipes?
The six common types of weed pipes are the spoon, the Sherlock, the one-hitter, the chillum, the steamroller and the bubbler. Some lists count five dry pipes and leave out the bubbler, and longer lists add glass blunts.
What are the four types of pipes?
Weed pipe guides list different sets. Sorted by how air moves through them, hand pipes fall into four groups: bowl pipes with a side carb (spoon, Sherlock, hammer), straight pipes with no carb (one-hitter, chillum), steamrollers, whose open end is the carb, and bubblers, which add water.
What is a carb on a pipe?
A carb, short for carburetor, is a small hole on a weed pipe, usually on the side of the bowl. Keep a finger over it while you light and draw, then lift your finger to let air in and clear the smoke. On a steamroller the open end away from your mouth is the carb, and most one-hitters and chillums have none.
What is the difference between a pipe and a bubbler?
A bubbler is a pipe with a water chamber. In a dry pipe the smoke goes straight from the bowl to your mouth, and in a bubbler it passes through water first, which cools it.
How much weed goes in a bowl?
About 0.25 g, going by a study that weighed bowls packed by regular users, though pipes vary. At that size, a 7 g bag fills about 28 bowls.
Is a chillum the same as a one-hitter?
Small glass chillums and one-hitters are often the same straight pipe under two names. A traditional chillum is a clay or stone cone, held in cupped hands and shared in a group.
