The ROOR bong has its roots in the late 1980s, created by glass blower Martin Birzle. A modern line of hand-blown water bongs, the ROOR brand has built its success on a strong foundation of intelligent design - combining sleek, minimalist form with unprecedented functionality. Unlike 80% of the other bongs I have smoked , roors dont seem like they are built like a toy. Also the difference between the other 20% is that it is built like high end chemistry equipment , not has art ( but they are still beautiful ). Now dont get me wrong, I'm all in support of hand blown glass and it is definitely the most attractive and expressive kind of glass bongs. But roors are built for performance.
Roors are available in 3 different grades (thicknesses of the glass, the more the better basically) this explains some of the price variation in seemingly identical bongs. They also come with little glass "screens" which are shaped like jacks, this works very well because they dont get messy like metal screens and when they do get sufficiently resinated you can just set them in the bowl and burn it off easely.
Roors bongs are made of glass and are very easily cleaned with hot water, soap and a little brush. The stem is easily removed from the actual roor bong, but has a perfect rubber seal when placed in the bong. The bowl fits into the stem by way of sandblasted glass (like the stuff they use for chemistry flasks ), which works incredibly well.
The 3 most important things when choosing a bong for me : how it smokes, how it looks, and how easy it is to clean. Roor bongs outperforms any other bongs I've smoked in my life. I'm not sure what it is about it, but you can pull alot bigger, denser hits off a roor bong than any other bong of its size (it even outperform a 5 foot bong i have). You can actually take bigger hits. You can change the density of the hit by moving the bowl out a bit to let a bit more air in (made very simple and precise with the chemistry seal). Also, you can hit it at just about any angle when you have the right amount of water in it, and it doesnt affect the hit at all.
As far as looks go, I've seen more artistic pieces (obviously), but the roor is hardly an eyesore. It looks solid and once you've hit it, you appreciate its presence on the coffee table a whole lot.
Ease of cleaning is another point where the roor exceeds all other bongs I've owned. Because it's such a simple design, it's really easy to just rinse out with warm water in the sink, and with the addition of soap and a big bong brush (found in any self respecting head shop for under $10), it can be restored to as good as new in about 5 minutes. Even better, you dont have to clean it very often. It doesnt have much water in it (i'd guess about a 1/2 cup) and you can see the water very clearly from the outside so you know exactly how filthy it is, which makes for good incentive to change it regularly (we generally change ours once every couple of bowlpacks), and when you keep that up, the bong doesnt get dirty at all.
Another of my personal favorite things about it is the sound it makes when you hit it... because there's so little water there, it doesnt make that gurgling bubble noise, but rather a sound that can only be described as a "roar." Once you've heard it, the sound is unmistakable. The thought makes my mouth water... :D I only hope I've done justice to the roor with my description.
by hieronymus Sun May 02 2004 at 4:50:02
ROOR bongs separate themselves from conventional acrylic and glass bongs in that they are constructed completely of the purest scientific grade borosilicate glass - no rubber components are used in the joints. Rubber expands and contracts quite a bit over time, gradually deteriorating, and as such, is prone to creating an uneven seal in the bong. ROOR's method of creating glass-on-glass joints guarantees a comparatively even, air-tight seal, capable of withstanding the tests of time and the tests of a good session.
Furthermore, with glass available as thick as 7mm throughout the pipe, damage from the introduction of extremely hot water, or the occasional knock on the table/sink/etc. (a frequent, if not unavoidable consequence of regular use and cleaning) is hardly a concern. This added material undoubtedly adds to the cost, but then, quality always does have its price, and many would agree that when taking all the advantages of owning a fine ROOR water pipe into consideration, that price is extremely reasonable.This being said, any ROOR bongs,is a fine investment for the herbal connoisseur, as one can easily take pride in owning a pipe that resides in the upper crust of smoking apparatus, enthusiastically recognized by heads across the globe.
