Battle of the Bongs: Grav vs Roor
Posted by ADRIAN V
Bongs are one of the most staple pieces in every smoke-lovers collection, but which brand is the best? We’ve pitted GRAV and ROOR, two widely beloved brands against each other to see who comes out on top.
GRAV
GRAV (formerly known as Grav Labs) are one of our favorite brands here at Everyone Does It, and they have been creating amazing glassware and innovative designs for 15 years.
Before Grav was born, founder Dave Daily was working as a mortgage loan processor and building gravity bongs out of recycled materials like wine bottles and household supplies in his spare time. When Grav was officially founded in Texas back in 2004, the company launched with a single product to their name - the Gravitron.
Fifteen years on from the overwhelming success of the Gravitron, GRAV have become the ultimate example of the American dream. They now produce an extensive range of water pipes in a wide variety of styles, produced almost entirely out of borosilicate glass - a highly durable material, even at high temperatures.
While GRAV are best known for their amazing range of glass bongs, they also produce an extensive variety of hand pipes and bubblers.
ROOR
Since the company was born in 1995, ROOR has been producing excellent quality glassware in a diverse range of unique designs. Founder Martin Birzle developed ROOR around a philosophy of creating extraordinary art and glass-blowing craftsmanship. This philosophy has survived to this day, as the company has grown from a one-man operation to a large team collaborating with artists around the globe to create some of the finest smoking glassware on the market.
As well as winning the High Times Cannabis Cup several times over, in 2009, ROOR wowed the community with the Excalibur - the largest glass bong in the world.
Battle of the Bongs
While both GRAV and Roor sell a diverse range of amazing glassware, they specialise in entirely different areas. While ROOR produces amazing dabbing rigs for oils and concentrates, GRAV has an extensive range of excellently crafted hand pipes and bubblers.
Both companies prioritise innovative design and aesthetic as much as performance. ROOR have collaborated with people like Cypress Hill for a limited edition glass bong, while GRAV create amazing hand pipes modeled after the pipes of legendary literary characters, like Gandalf and Sherlock Holmes.
However, if there’s one thing both companies do well - it’s bongs.
GRAV’S strength is shape and technology
Since their inception, GRAV have become known for optimizing the unique Helix bong shape. By using this Helix shaped percolator, you can create a much denser, cooler smoke for optimum taste and thick clouds. This unique Felix smoke-cooling technology can be found on a huge range of GRAV products like bongs, glass hand pipes and precoolers, bringing the highest quality to customers of all different tastes.
This unique and innovative method of water filtration also ensures that customers of every price point can have the best smoking experience
ROOR’s innovative touches
Just like how GRAV optimised the Helix design, ROOR have made their name on innovative touches that produce cool, smooth smoke with every hit. This is achieved through design elements like ice notches for cooling down smoke, and the Diffuser down tube for the smoothest session possible.
ROOR bongs are so popular that they’re often the victims of counterfeiting, and the company has had to come out with authentication seals, QR codes and artist signatures on their bongs to verify true ROOR products.
Of all ROOR products, in our opinion the best is the ROOR Tech beaker bong, which utilizes a variety of different percolators for the smoothest hit. As well as built in ice pinches, this bong also includes a built in splash guard - so you can pull as hard as you want without worrying about getting bong water in your mouth. Each ROOR beaker bong is also scientifically proportioned to provide more smoke per draw, while maintaining an easy pull.
Which bong has won our hearts?
As the bong that started it all, the Gravitron has a special place in our hearts among the GRAV range. With the Gravitron, GRAV have maintained the same unique wine-bottle design that made the bong so popular in the first place, while paying homage to its origins in reworked, upcycled materials in founder Dave Daily’s garage.
That being said, out of the entire GRAV line our favourite model has to be the Helix range, which uses innovative Helix technology to circulate your smoke into a spinning, tornado effect. In terms of how this affects your actual hits, the Helix introduces more air into the chamber through 3 holes - which lightens the density of your smoke, making for a much smoother, easier hit.
In recent years, designer Stephan Peirce even reworked the original Helix design to improve functionality across the whole range, resulting in a sturdier, bottom heavy shape in the Helix bongs. You can even get a Helix hand pipe, with the same triangular-shaped smoke chamber.
GRAV vs ROOR - Who comes out on top?
While ROOR have collaborated with artists for huge feats of craftsmanship like the Ray bong, when it comes to their main line of products, the focus remains mostly on classic styles like beakers and straight bongs. This isn’t necessarily a negative, as ROOR have focused mostly on perfecting the science of their pieces rather than experimenting too much with style and design. However, because of this ROOR bongs are extraordinarily expensive, and simply inaccessible to most smokers out there.
In comparison, GRAV have really opened up the possibilities of smoking glassware design with the Gravitron and Helix range for the everyday smoker - because not everyone is a Cypress Hill rapper with cash to burn.
Considering they also come at a fraction of the price of your standard straight ROOR bong, GRAV bongs are much more economically accessible for the average smoker who wants to amp up their sessions, while still having a quality, easy-to-use piece that will stand the test of time.
With a standard ROOR straight bong retailing for upwards of $300, you could splash out on something as flashy as the GRAV Dual Action Inline Water Pipe and still have change leftover for a bubbler.
For us, GRAV come out on top - as a company they have truly worked to democratise the field of glassware, bringing high-quality, excellently crafted pieces to the average consumer - not just elite smokers.
And if it’s still good enough for Miley Cyrus, it’s good enough for us.
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