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By Smoke Cartel Crew on May 22, 2014

Everything you need to know about bong and rig glass joint sizes, shapes, and genders

Glass Joints, Glass on Glass, Glass Genders and Sizes Explained

When you first venture into the glass world, there are components that may come across as confusing. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there. What's the difference between 14mm and 14.5mm? My water pipe has a gender?! These are the questions I had when purchasing my first piece. I’m here to shed some light on these questions for you.

Standard Joint Shapes (Genders)

Male or Female

Let’s start off with genders. Yes, your water pipe has a gender. Yes, your bowl, ash catcher, adapter, drop down, nail, pretty much any accessory, has a gender. Now with this being said, we can figure out if your pipe is a male or female.

Water pipe with 14mm female joint and male slide

In the above picture, the pipe has a female joint. This means all accessories will have to have a male joint in order to be compatible with it. Opposites attract, right? Because this particular water pipe has a female joint, the male bowl will be inserted inside of the joint. To wrap this example up, if your pipe has a wide opening where your bowl/accessory fits inside of the joint it’s a female and will need male accessories!  

Nexus Puck with 14mm male joint and female slide

In this example, the pipe has a male joint. This means all accessories will have to have a female joint in order for it to be compatible. Once again, opposites attract! Because this particular water pipe has male joint, the female bowl will be be inserted onto the joint. The female bowl will rest on top of the joint, rather than being inserted inside of the joint. To wrap this example up, if your pipe has a more narrow joint that does the inserting into your accessories, it’s a male and will need female accessories!

Joint Gender Matching

Piece with a Male Joint Needs Female Joint Adapters and Attachments
Piece with a Female Joint Needs Male Joint Adapters and Attachments


Okay so now we know how to tell the difference between a male and a female. Time to move onto another questionable subject, sizes. Not only does your pipe and accessories have a gender to their joint,  those joints also have sizes! Don’t worry, it’s not as tricky as it sounds.

Glass joints have become standardized so you can switch between different bong bowls, ashcatchers, and other accessories. We'll give an overview on common glass joint sizes and shapes.

 

Standard Joint Sizes

10mm Male Direct Inject Quartz Nail

10mm

14mm Male Direct Inject Quartz Nail

14.5mm

18mm Male Direct Inject Quartz Nail

18.8mm

 

Here's a series of photographs of the same male Quartz nail in three different sizes. These guys display the three most common joint sizes that you will find in the glass world. From left to right you see the smallest to largest: 10mm, 14mm, and 18mm.

These are your standard joint sizes.  So lets say your brand new water pipe has a 14mm female joint, and you are looking for a bowl to properly fit it. You will need a male 14mm bowl for the pieces to be compatible. All in all, joint sizes will have to match up to be compatible, whereas the gender will have to be opposite.

To find the correct sized accessories for your piece, check out our selection of glass adapters.

 

Clarifying Terminology

Another question you may have; what is the difference between 14.5 mm and 14 mm or 18.8mm and 18mm and 19mm?

The answer is: nothing.

14.5mm is the technical term, as that is the actual measurement of the joint size. However, many people simply call the joint size 14mm for convenience. 

18.8mm is the technical term, as that is the actual measurement of the joint size. However, many people will either round up, or round down, and call the joint size either 18mm, or 19mm, depending on what part of the world you are from!

So, there you go. Now you know the basic information about water pipes and their joints!



About the Author

Smoke Cartel - Online Headshop

Smoke Cartel Crew

Written by the staff here at Smoke Cartel. Our passionate team of headshop professionals are dedicated to educating people on products in the online headshop industry, from glass, to vaporizes, and all the consumption devices and accessories in between.

We believe that knowing how your products are made, what they were originally designed for, and how to properly use them - is essential to keeping our customers happy. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to reach out to us!



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