The Science Behind American Helix

What is American Helix?

American Helix is a brand of innovative pipemakers that explicitly design their pipes and adapters to spin smoke in a swirling tornado fashion. Whether it’s a piece that uses water or a dry piece, the American Helix swirl is one of the most immediately recognizable ways of cooling smoke. American Helix is manufactured exclusively from Grav Labs in Austin, Texas.  

How Does it Work?

Before ever reaching the iconic helix chamber, the smoke from your dry herbs or concentrate is forced through what is called a Venturi chamber. In fluid dynamics, the Venturi chamber is the effect that causes the velocity of a fluid to increase as it is passed through a constricted body. On an American Helix pipe, this means immediate better filtration for your smoke before it ever even reaches the percolator.

The main chamber of the helix percolator features a bulbous body shape with small slits. These little notches grant the spinning function by altering the direction of the smoke within the helix chamber. The spinning motion forces the smoke to cool down, while the bulb shape in the glass aerates the smoke to keep it smooth.

American Helix on Smoke Cartel

Smoke Cartel carries American Helix from Grav Labs in a couple of different styles. The Classic Helix Spoon is a popular dry piece, and has been raved about from many different reviewers across the Internet. If you’re more of a concentrate user, the Helix Steamroller will get you big hits with all that delicious concentrate flavor. For an entire rig, check out the Helix Stemless Straight Tube Vapor Rig or the Helix Flare Base Water Pipe so you can make those clouds in typical water pipe fashion. American Helix is also known for their adapters, which allow you to get an additional helix chamber to add on to your favorite water pipe. Now, they even have these adaptors for your vape pen!

About the Author

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!