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A downstem is a tube, usually made from glass, which runs down into the chamber of your bong. The downstem connects to an outer stem, which is typically part of your bowl piece.
Your downstem is essential for transferring smoke from your bowl into your bong. Without a downstem, your bong will be effectively useless!
Because your bowl and downstem need to connect with an air-tight seal, it’s important to get a downstem which is compatible with your bong and bowl piece.
All of our downstems and bowl pieces are measured in millimeters (mm). Be sure to check the size of your glassware before ordering to ensure you’re purchasing compatible parts.
Choosing a Downstem
When picking out a new downstem, the most important thing to do is make sure it’s going to be compatible with your bong and bowl piece!
To ensure compatibility, you need to look for two things: the joint size and the length.
The joint size refers to the circumference of the bong stem where it meets your bong to form a seal. If you get a downstem with a joint size too large, it won’t fit into your bong. Too small and it won’t form an airtight seal, which will make your bong pretty useless!
You can usually find information about what joint size your bong requires from the manufacturer’s specifications. Typically, glass downstems have joint sizes of 14.5mm or 18.8mm, although larger and smaller variants are also available.
Next, the length of your downstem is important. Your downstem needs to be long enough to extend down into the water contained in your bong’s chamber. If the downstem is not partially submersed, your smoke won’t be drawn through the water filtration of your bong.
If you’re not sure how long your downstem should be, try measuring the distance from the downstem hole to the bottom of your bong’s chamber. That will give you a rough idea of what size downstem you’re looking for.
While not always accurate, as a general rule of thumb, look for a downstem about half the length of your bong. You can usually find specifications for what size downstem is best from the bong manufacturer.
Diffuser Downstems
A diffuser or percolator uses a series of small hole or slits to separate your smoke as it enters the bong water. This separation, or diffusion, increases the effectiveness of your bong’s water filtration step by forcing the smoke to make more contact with the water.
Your bong might already incorporate one or more diffusers or percolators, but adding a diffuser downstem is an excellent way to step up your filtration game even more.
A good diffuser downstem ensures that your smoke maximizes its contact with the water from the very instant it reaches your bong.