What is an Ash Catcher?

Ash Catchers: Gotta Catch it All 

An ash catcher is an accessory designed to be easily added to (or removed from) your favorite flower tube. You may be asking yourself, “why purchase an ash catcher?” For starters, nobody likes to hit a dirty pipe. Ash catchers enable even the most relaxed smokers to keep their favorite water pipes and daily drivers significantly cleaner.

They work as a vessel to catch nasty residues and other byproducts of smoking - leading to bigger and better tasting rips from your favorite bong. Ash catchers are often loaded up with scientific percs to filter your smoke before it hits the main chamber and percolator of your bong. More percs means smoother rips. We know you silly stoners are always searching for a smoother hit, so purchase an ash catcher through SmokeCartel to make your favorite glass bong stack even more bubbles!

When choosing an ash catcher for your favorite water pipe, it’s important to know the following information to make sure you get the correct ash catcher for your pipe.

Note: Our article Everything you need to know about Glass Joint Sizes and Shapes covers joint gender and size - feel free to check the article out for a general explanation about water pipe joints and terminology.

1. Joint Size

Glass-on-glass bong joint sizes have been standardized since their inception and can only be one of the following three sizes: 10mm, 14mm, 18mm. If you have a Illadelph water pipe with a 14mm joint, you can only purchase an Illadelph ash catcher of the same size, unless you plan to use adapters. We recommend against the use of adapters for ash catchers as they add weight (more info on that soon) and can complicate simple set-ups.

2. Joint Gender

Water pipe joints are either male or female, and need to be paired with their respective counterpart. Remember, opposites attract! So, to continue the example above, if you have a 14mm male joint on your Illadelph tube, you need a 14mm female joint on your Illadelph ash catcher. This allows the ash catcher joint to sit on the tube’s joint, allowing for a perfect and tight fit.

3. Joint Angle

Water pipe joints are set up on either a 90 degree or 45 degree angle. Like the joint sizes, these also need to match. So, if your favorite Illadelph tube has a 14mm male joint that sits at a 90 degree angle, you must purchase a 14mm Illadelph ash catcher with a 90 degree female joint. If you were to purchase a 45 degree ash catcher, it will not fit your tube.

Other Tips: Weight

Another important factor in choosing an ash catcher for your water pipe is weight. If you have a small water pipe standing less than ten inches, you can’t purchase a massive six inch tall ash catcher. This is because the ash catcher would make your piece top-heavy, increasing the likelihood of an accident and breakage. On the contrary, massive bongs are usually paired with large ash catchers to keep the aesthetic consistent.

Make sure to keep the size and sturdiness of your bong in mind when purchasing an ash catcher to prevent any risky situations! Remember: ash catchers are mainly designed for use with flower tubes. The nature of concentrates and recent trends towards nano rigs prevent ash catchers from being ideal for oil set-ups.

We hope that makes things easy when you pick out your next ashcatcher with SmokeCartel. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to get in contact with our Customer Support specialists for further help. Happy Smoking!

Note: Our Basic Guide to Ashcatchers covers a few percs popularly used in ash catchers. Check it out to learn more about inline ash catchers, turbine ash catchers, and ash catchers with removable down stems!

Find the Right Ashcatcher for You

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!