What makes a bangin' banger?
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Choose the right banger for your sesh.
Lets take a look at the different parts of the banger:
- The BUCKET is area of the banger that you torch and where you insert your concentrates. The bucket consists of walls and a floor. The walls are the sides of the banger and the floor is the bottom of the bucket.
- The NECK is where the banger bucket attaches to the joint. These can come in 90 or 45 degree angles to fit different pieces. Higher quality bangers may feature a seamless weld to the bucket.
- The JOINT is the part of the banger that fits into your pipe. Joints can come in many sizes and styles: 10mm, 14mm, 18/19mm, male or female. Smaller joint sizes, 10 & 14mm are most popular, especailly for concentrates. Male fittings fit into the piece, making the piece female. Female fittings fit around a joint protuding from the piece, making the piece male. For concentrates, male joints
Banger options have multiplied exponentially over the past few years. From the basic buckets to the all-out terp slurper, each new style encompasses modern twists with classic staples. Knowing how different aspects of the banger can influence the way it hits will help you build a strong foundation for understanding how the different styles of bangers function.
When you look at a banger, there are a few basic things to take note of that will have the biggest influence on its functionality. These include but are not limited to: Wall & Floor Thickness, Opaque versus Quartz or Enhanced Floors, Flat versus Angled top, Beveled versus Straight tops and Diameter size.
Wall & Floor Thickness
THIN: THICK:
Some bangers can be thin as a wine glass and others thick as a stack of quarters. Why have so many options? Remember, Thickness of quartz directly effects heat retention. Thicker quartz will hold heat longer where thin quartz will cool off much quicker. Personal preference plays in which you might prefer.
Cold starters might prefer a thinner banger, so their concentrates heat up easily with short spans of torching. People who let the banger cool down after torching it to 1000 degrees, might prefer a thicker banger to maintain a preferred temperature longer.
Bangers today use varying thickness throughout to provide the best vaporization. Some may use thin walls and a thick base, while others may be 4mm thick on the bottom and walls. When evaluating how thickness plays into the banger, think about how retaining heat may affect use.
Opaque versus Clear Quartz or Enhanced Floors
Clear Quartz bottom bangers are the classics we’ve all come to know and love. Old faithful has stood by the concentrate community for years, devotedly serving its purpose. However, it does hold some limitations regarding overheating. Clouding and build up, caused by torching, can be impossible to clean. Proper cleaning after each use and care when heating can maintain this style banger perfectly to be your daily driver.
Have you ever seen a banger with a white floor? More commonly known as, opaque bottom bangers, these bad boys not only retain heat better than clear quartz, but also get hot much faster. Opaque quartz features a porous texture that allows for an optimized vaporization at low temperatures. Since the floor has tons of small holes, it traps the oil and exposes it to more area of the quartz than it would have experienced on a traditional floor. This creates more vapor, even when used at lower temperatures, on the initial draw.
Enhanced floors are starting to take to the market like the Highly Educated Gavel SE. They provide many of the similar effects as the opaque bottom banger by creating etchings in the floor to multiply floor surface area. Check out our Product Education post about the Gavel SE to learn more about enhanced floors and how they’re changing the game.
Flat versus Angled top
FLAT TOP:
When you look at the area of the banger you set the carb cap on, you might notice that not all bangers are created equal. Some of them feature a slanted top, while others are simply flat. The decision to go with a slant top banger may restrict your carb cap options down to only flat coin styles. The flat top usually will allow a bigger basin for the banger where the user can fit terp pearls. Carb cap options on the flat top will also be much easier since more of the cap will be able to go into the banger.
Beveled versus Straight tops
Beveled bangers feature a slight lip around the top ring of the banger (where you put your carb cap or marble). This lip allows for the banger to create a better seal around the capper or marble (especially if it is spherical like a marble). It also helps keep the marble in place a little better than the straight edge banger. Sometimes this feature is a little more expensive depending on the artist or manufacturer, but it is one that is almost necessary for anyone using marbles as their capper.
Diameter size
Diameter measures the distance between the sides of a circle. Bangers with a larger diameter will be larger.
Diameter of the bucket will determine how big of a carb cap you need and how may terp pearls you might want to use. Larger bangers could benefit from multiple pearls (two or three) while smaller bangers may only need one to two. Increasing diameter also increases floor size, which means there is more room for concentrates to spread out and evenly vaporize! As they say in Texas, Bigger is Better!
Materials
Quartz is a hardy and resilient material that is great for heating in the manner that concentrate users use it. However, many different materials have made their way into the market. Titanium is popular due to its heat retention and ability to heat quickly. However, glass bangers, while less popular, are definitely available. They do not hold heat well and are prone to breaking and cracking. Glass options are usually much less expensive. As a manner of cutting costs, some bangers only have quartz in the “torch-able areas” and use glass on areas like the joint and neck. While this doesn’t effect your smoke, it can affect the cost of your new banger.
Want to learn more about bangers? Check back to our General Education Blog posts often! Over then next few weeks we will be deep diving into each of the different banger styles. As they post we will link them for easy access below!
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