It happens to the best of us; you forgot your bowl at a friends house, or you accidentally broke your downstem and you haven’t had the time to drive to your corner head shop, or maybe you just need something quick, cheap, and disposable. Whatever your reasons, we have compiled a list of easy DIY bowls and bongs so that you are never left high and dry.

DIY Do’s and Don’ts

Here are some quick tips and tricks to make sure your homemade pipes get you high safely and without a hitch. 

Do:

• Be careful when cutting/burning holes into your materials
• Smoke out of bowls made from metal/tin foil
• Create deep bowls to prevent herb from flying out when lit
• If smoking out of a food item, make sure it hasn’t expired
• Use sturdy materials

Don’t:

• Smoke out of a bowl made from plastic, it will melt when lit and is toxic if inhaled.
• Smoke out of any “soft” foods

Pen One Hitter 

One of the easiest and quickest ways to make your own pipe, the pen one hitter is an ingenious invention with roots that can be traced all the way back to behind your high school bleachers (probably). Here’s how to make it:

Supplies:

• Pen with metal tip
• Herb
• Lighter 
• Gum (optional)

Step 1

Disassemble the pen completely and put the spring, ink tube, and “clicker” aside. You should be left with the main tube of the pen and the metal tip. 

Step 2

Place the narrow part of the metal tip into the tube so that the portion sticking out creates a cone shaped bowl. 

Step 3 (optional)

Chew up a piece of gum and use it to seal where the metal tip and the tube of the pen meet. If you don’t have gum, using a little force to jam the metal into the opening should also work (just make sure it is secure before you light it).

Step 4

Fill the metal bowl with ground herb.

Step 5

Place your mouth on the opposite side of the tube that the bowl is on. Light up the herb, inhale, and enjoy your new chillum! 

Apple Bowl

Apples aren’t the only foods you can smoke out of but many smokers prefer them when they are needing to make a quick bowl because the fruit is firm, easy to cut into, fits right into the palm of your hand, and the moisture from the apple cools down the smoke and leaves you with a tasty little hit. If you don’t have apples on hand, you can follow these same steps with a potato, banana, orange, or whatever else you have in your kitchen (I have even seen someone do this little trick with a strawberry, but be careful about lighting too close to your nose).

Supplies:

• Apple
• Pen/pencil
• Knife
• Tin foil 
• Herb
• Lighter

Step 1

Start by removing the stem from your apple if it has one, then take your pen or pencil and stab through the top of the apple down towards the middle, but don’t push it all of the way through.

Step 2

Using the same pen or pencil, stab another hole in the side of the apple perpendicular to the original channel you made. Push until your pen/pencil reaches the center of the apple; if you have done it correctly, the two channels will meet in the middle of the apple. 

Step 3

Place your mouth on either of the holes and blow out air to make sure that the channels are connected and to remove any pieces of apple that are congesting the airway. 

Step 4 (optional)

If you would like to make a carb for your apple, poke a third hole on another side of the apple until it connects to the first two pathways. At this stage, the top hole is where the bowl will be, and the holes on the side will act as the mouthpiece and the carb. 

Step 5

Using the knife, widen the opening of the hole at the top of the apple to make a little bowl

Step 6

Cut out a small piece of tinfoil and mold it into the bowl you just created. Then, using the tip of the pen/pencil, poke small holes in the tin foil so that air can get through, but not big enough that the bud falls out. 

Step 7

Pack the bowl with the herb of your choice

Step 8

Place your mouth on one of the holes on the side and your finger on the other one, and then light the bowl at the top and inhale. Remove your finger from the carb after a couple of seconds and continue to inhale until the smoke is cleared out of the apple. Enjoy! 

Water Bottle Bong

Using a water bottle bong is a stoner right of passage. Every smoker has used one at some point in their long career of cannabis consumption, and to carry the torch so to speak, we have outlined the easiest and quickest way to make this timeless classic.

Supplies:

• Water bottle 
• Tin foil 
• Small sharp object (safety pin, paper clip, thumb tack, fork prong, tip of a pencil, etc.)
• Lighter
• Herb 

Step 1 

Remove the cap off of your water bottle and dump out any contents that may be in it. Put the cap to the side, you won’t need it for the bong.

Step 2

Tear off a piece of tin foil and insert it into the mouth of the bottle, creating a little bowl. Wrap the excess tin foil around the top of the bottle to make sure it is secure. 

Step 3

Take a small sharp object such as a thumb tack and make small holes in the tin foil so that smoke can travel into the bottle. Make sure to not make the holes too big or your herb could accidentally escape. 

Step 4

Using your lighter, hold the bottle sideways and burn a tiny hole into the side of the bottle. This is where your mouth is going to go, so make sure the bottle has cooled down completely and that the plastic has re-solidified before trying to take a hit. I recommend letting the bottle rest for a couple of minutes after you burn the hole, and in the meantime you can grind your herb.

Step 5

Put the flower of your choice into the bowl that you made at the top of the bottle. 

Step 6

Put your mouth on the hole that you created on the side of the bottle and inhale while lighting the bowl at the top. 

Gravity Bong

It was my roommate’s hippie mom who first introduced me to the world of gravity bongs during winter break of my junior year of college. All I have to say is thank you Courtney, really, thank you. 

Supplies:

• One large bottle (either a gallon bottle or a 2 liter bottle)
• One smaller bottle (a regular water bottle will suffice 
• Scissors or a knife 
• Small sharp object (safety pin, paper clip, thumb tack, fork prong, tip of a pencil, etc.)
• Tin foil
• Water
• Herb
• Lighter 

Step 1

Cut off the top of the large bottle using either scissors or a sharp knife. Make sure that the smaller bottle can easily fit inside of the larger bottle.

Step 2

Cut off the bottom of the smaller bottle, about a half inch from the base. Remove the cap from the smaller bottle and put to the side, you won’t need it. 

Step 3

Fill the larger bottle with water until it is about 80% full.

Step 4

Tear off a piece of tin foil and insert it into the mouth of the smaller bottle, creating a little bowl. Wrap the excess tin foil around the top of the bottle to make sure it is secure.

Step 5

Poke small holes into the tin foil using a small sharp object so that the smoke can seep through.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT put your herb into the bowl yet.

Step 6

Lower the smaller bottle into the larger bottle until the water is about half an inch from the bowl you just created. After the bottle is inserted, hold it there and pack the bowl with the herb of your choice. 

Step 7

Light the herb and slowly lift the smaller bottle out of the water. This is going to create a vacuum that will draw the smoke into the bottle, but don’t completely remove the smaller bottle from the water or the vacuum will be broken. 

Step 8

Once the bottle is completely filled with smoke, take the tin foil bowl out of the bottle and quickly put your mouth on the hole so that the smoke doesn’t escape.

Step 9

Slowly push the smaller bottle back into the water and inhale. This will force the smoke into your mouth as the water re-fills the bottle. Enjoy your high, and your new engineering degree.

Waterfall Bong

Waterfall bongs use vacuum suction to pull smoke into the chamber the same way that gravity bongs do, but they only require one bottle instead of two, making them perfect for the stoner with limited supplies. The only tedious part of gravity bongs is that they have to be refilled in between each hit, which in my opinion, is a small price to pay for the massive high they create. 

Supplies:

• One large container (gallon or two liter bottle)
• Tin foil
• Small sharp object (safety pin, paper clip, thumb tack, fork prong, tip of a pencil, etc.)
• Water 
• Herb
• A lighter 

Step 1

Remove the cap from your bottle and place it to the side, you won’t need it for the bong. In its place, create a bowl out of tin foil and use any excess foil to really secure the bowl to the mouth of the bottle.

Step 2

Using whatever small sharp object you have on hand, poke small holes into the tin foil so that smoke can seep through.

Step 3

Using your lighter, burn a small hole in the bottom of the bottle and make sure it is a good size for you to be able to plug it with your finger. 

Step 4

Remove the bowl from the mouth of the bottle. With your finger plugging the hole at the bottom of the bottle, fill the container with water until 1 inch from the top. Re-attach the tin foil bowl.

Step 5 

Pack the bowl with the herb of your choice.

Step 6

Light the flower and once it is lit, remove your finger from the bottom of the bottle. This will cause the water to start pouring out and as it does so, smoke will be drawn into the bottle. 

Step 7

Re-plug the hole with your finger, remove the tin foil, and inhale from the top of the bottle until all of the smoke is gone. Enjoy!