That's a nice bong, I'll look at those for sure. Is that a diffuser or something at the end of that stem piece? (The part that's in the water, inside the bong.)
I'm no bong expert, but I bought EHLE after reading couple recommendations. It's good german(?) quality, and suprisingly cheap...
that's not entirely true, though you have the general idea. the german company that owns the RooR name had previously given a US shop the rights to produce tubes with certain specifications that could be sold with a RooR logo. now, in light of the number of fake tubes that were plagueing buyers everywhere, RooR germany has given the name to the shop that previously produced ZOB tubes, but as before, only bongs made to RooR germany's specifications can be sold with a logo. the company that used to make RooR.us became Sheldon Black, and they make very nice glass as well. RooR.de has said they are making an effort to make the difference between .us and .de a thing of the past, mostly by making .de's more available to US retailersLast month after RooR.us changed to Sheldon Black and starting making money, they are changing and are coming out with a universal line of glass, no distinction of US made or German made.
i won't buy a ZOB until they change that damn logo, i think it looks ridiculous, but you're right, they are stepping up their game in light of their newly acquired rights to the RooR nameFidel named all the top brands.
I'd go for: US ROOR (perc!) or DE ROOR (non-perc, but "nicer"), Toro (JP is a madman, and a friend), Ehle (if you know where to find them), SG glass (available in more and more headshops every day), anything Luke Wilson, US Tubes, DC by Darby, and also over the past 5 years I have watched ZOB step their game up to the point where I would probably buy one now. Especially 18" double percs for just about 3 benji's.
short of starting one of these arguments again, i have to disagree with you. Illadelph is barely comparable to RooR.us and Ehle, and certainly falls far short of competing with RooR.de, Toro, SG, or any of the companies mentioned earlier as high quality glass. the main reason for this is simply the quality of the material; Illadelph has been known to use cheap chinese borosilicate, as opposed to the much purer Schott's used in RooR.de, Toro, etc. also, Illa's quality control is, frankly, a joke compared to higher end companies, and often results in badly annealed or otherwise flawed tubes hitting shops. for $300, i'd just buy a US Tubes 9mm beaker and not have to worry about cracking under temperature stress or janky, thin jointsIlladelph is the way to go. I've hit RooRs, ZOBs, and other mentioned glass, and none of them stand up to Illadelph's quality. I have a beaker bottom and the pull on this thing is just unbelievable; seasoned tokers always complement my glass. I think just beaker bottoms run bout $300 and straight tubes in the ~$250 range. Depends on location and accessibility I imagine too.
I think you stole my inline ash-catcher just kidding but it's identical to mine.^^^^^
short of starting one of these arguments again, i have to disagree with you. Illadelph is barely comparable to RooR.us and Ehle, and certainly falls far short of competing with RooR.de, Toro, SG, or any of the companies mentioned earlier as high quality glass. the main reason for this is simply the quality of the material; Illadelph has been known to use cheap chinese borosilicate, as opposed to the much purer Schott's used in RooR.de, Toro, etc. also, Illa's quality control is, frankly, a joke compared to higher end companies, and often results in badly annealed or otherwise flawed tubes hitting shops. for $300, i'd just buy a US Tubes 9mm beaker and not have to worry about cracking under temperature stress or janky, thin joints