Quartz Banger: Bucket Banger Buying Guide | What is a Banger

How to Choose the Best Dab Bucket Quartz Banger For You?

Step 1. Choose material

Step 2. Choose banger style

Step 3. Choose banger diameter

Step 4. Choose banger inserts

Step 5. Choose compatible carb cap

Step 6. Choose appropriate Joint Angle

Step 7. Choose appropriate Joint Size

Step 8. Choose appropriate Joint Gender

When finished reading, you will know about the different banger styles, sizes, inserts, and their accompanying functionalities.

As you know, there are many different types of nails, and bangers. Quartz Bucket Bangers are one of the most popular ways to dab, they are known for their superior taste, heat retention, heat up time and durability. Bucket Bangers as opposed to its other banger counterparts like diamond knot recyclers or terp slurpers, offer more temperature control, are more efficient leaving less waste and less to clean up while providing smooth milky clouds with maximum potency. These are some of the reasons why bucket bangers are so popular amongst enthusiasts.

That said, if you are someone who is a novice in the dab world, with so many varieties of nails and bangers, it can feel intimidating. We definitely recommend starting off with a simple quartz bucket banger. Even within the Quartz Bucket Banger category, there are many different styles, thermal, thermochromic, beveled, and the list goes on. There are also many styles of inserts ranging from bucket inserts to terp balls. Then to top that off you have many different function styles of carb caps, which should be paired with the proper inserts for the best experience possible. We’ll take it step by step for ya so by the time you finish reading this you will be able to make an educated decision as to what is best for your desired experience.

Let’s get the basics out of the way…

What is a Banger?

A banger is a type of dab nail, which when heated with a torch, or heating coil, allows you to consume your concentrates via vaporization, or more technically sublimation. A bucket banger is named such because of it’s bucket-like shape. A concentrate bucket banger gives you the ability to fit a lot of product inside, if you are someone who enjoys large clouds, while it’s insert compatibility and bucket material variations offer the most customized dabbing experience. Bucket Bangers are surely the most efficient style of Banger. Bucket Bangers come in all of the joint sizes and angles needed to fit your pipe. Adapters are also available when needed to fit onto any rig, bong, water pipe, and even nectar collectors.

Different Kinds of Bucket Bangers

Bucket bangers vary in many different ways,

Some different aspects to consider when finding the right bucket banger for you:

• Material
• Style
• Banger Diameter
• Accessories
• Thickness
• Joint Size, Joint Angle, Joint Gender
• Welding

#1. Material

Bucket Bangers come in different kinds of materials, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

• Quartz Bucket Bangers: Quartz Bucket Bangers are by far the most popular and preferred option, quartz is very durable and its high quality makes for very smooth and flavorful hits. It can withstand a lot of heat and its quality provides long heat retention. When properly maintained, it can last for a very long time.
• Ceramic Bucket Bangers: Ceramic are also very heat-resistant and heat-retentive and provide flavorful hits, but they are not nearly as durable as quartz. They can break very easily if you are not careful and because of its porous material, it can also be a little difficult to clean. Ceramic Bucket Bangers are not a popular choice for dabbers today.
• Glass Bucket Bangers: Glass is the more affordable alternative to quartz. It is much more prone to breaking and you need to be more careful when using the product, glass bangers are not a popular choice for this reason and are not really recommended.
• Titanium Bucket Bangers: By far the most durable material and easiest to clean due to its nonporous nature.Titanium however is much quicker to heat up so you need to be extra careful to not burn your product, and the flavor is not as potent as with quartz or ceramic. People looking for an extremely strong throat hit, choose titanium or choose to take hot dabs with quartz.

#2. Style

Bangers come in a variety of different styles, and with new dab banger styles emerging on the market constantly, we suggest coming back to check every so often. Each comes with different functions in mind, providing a large array of experiences for your dab.

• Angled Bucket Bangers: Angled bangers have a 45 degree angle cut along the top of the banger, requiring specific types of carb caps and a limited availability of inserts.
• Flat-top Bangers: Most popular. The traditional bucket shape, which is a cylindrical shape with a flat bottom and open even”flat” top. Flat top bangers pair with many types of carp cabs and inserts. The tight carb cab connection offers slightly added control.
• Beveled-Top Bangers:
• Center Core Bangers: These bucket bangers has a center core that acts as a secondary heating source for your concentrates.
• Opaque Bottom Bangers: These bangers come with a thick opaque bottom, which allows for longer heat retention. You don’t have to use the torch as frequently either.
• Thermochromic Bangers: These bangers come with color changing frittered glass in between two layers of quartz. They let you know, by their color, the perfect temperature to take your hit. The colors range from yellow, being cool, to red indicating it's very hot.
• Beveled Bangers: These bangers come with a beveled top, making it a perfect fit for a lot of carb caps with a flush seal. And some also have a beveled bottom, allowing for an even greater heat distribution.
• Vortex Bucket Bangers

Other notable mentions:

• Terp Slurper: The fairly new design has quickly gained popularity for its functionality. With a chamber and a bucket on the bottom, it comes with slits attached to a tube connecting the chamber to the bucket. You simply place your concentrates on the bucket after heating your bangers, and use the specifically paired terp pill and marbles to really get the full dabbing experience this bangers provides.
• Thermal Bangers: Contains an inner bowl at the bottom, which aids in retaining heat for longer. You also will not need to heat it up with your torch as frequently.
• Trough Bangers: These bangers look like a feeding trough, or a crane. The curved bottom allows for your concentrates to be evenly distributed.

#3. Size: Banger Diameter

• The Banger diameter is another component that should not be overlooked. Surface area is important when dealing with any vaporization or more accurately sublimation. As always we want to consider the Vaporization Rate vs the Saturation Rate, the larger the surface area, the more product can be placed and evenly vaporized when the banger is heated evenly.
• Banger diameter will also impact which inserts are compatible with the banger, whether due to sizing incompatibility or function incompatibility.
• The most popular diameter size is 25mm with 16mm, 20mm, 35mm also being available on the market.
• You can view our banger sizing chart to see the different banger diameter sizes and how to visualize the size at home with items lying around the house.

#4. Thickness

• There are 2 different measurements for thickness, there is the wall thickness and then there is the bottom thickness. The thicker the bottom and walls, the greater the heat retention and overall durability of the banger. Thickness does come at a cost. Using an extremely thick bottom banger will take longer to heat, however it will retain the heat longer. This would be important for those looking to maintain banger temperature while placing large amounts of concentrates into the bucket banger.

#5. Accessories

While picking your bucket bangers, it is also important to note and pay attention to the kind of accessories you pair with it, such as a carb cap, terp pearls or pills, and marbles.

• Inserts
  • Bucket Inserts: Varying in shape and size, bucket inserts offer a great cold start option or can be used for super heat retention.
  • Terp Pearls, Bangers Beads, Terp Balls
    • Terp Pearls: Also known as Banger Beads or Terp Balls, these are small quartz balls, placed inside the banger (1 or 2) which when paired with the appropriate directional airflow carb cap (namely a vortex carb cap) spin around the banger during inhalation. The spinning of the terp pearls helps evenly distribute the concentrate across the surface area of the banger, preventing banger hot spots, and creating an evenly heated area for a consistent experience. This allows for a higher vaporization rate even at lower temps as the saturation rate is evenly distributed.
    • Diamond Knots: When Diamond Knot banger inserts are heated, the grooves within the diamond knot offer extremely more surface area for the concentrate to fall through, increasing the vaporization rate of any bucket banger, consequently increasing the cloud size.
    • Carb Caps: There are just as many different types of carb caps as there are bangers, but there are two things to concern yourself with, the carb cap size, and style / functionality. The most popular carb caps have an airflow design that allows for your concentrates to evenly distribute in the banger, preventing pooling, and allowing the concentrated to evenly vaporize. When choosing inserts, such as terp pearls, getting a vortex carb cap or directional carb cab is crucial in making the pearls function properly. Take a look at our Carb Cap Buyers Guide, to learn more about which carb cap is best for you!

• Terp Pills/Marbles: These are specifically paired with a terp slurper, which has a terp pill in the chamber, covered by a small 15mm marble and the banger itself is covered with a larger 23mm marble acting as a carb cap.
• Reclaim Catchers: Possibly the most important accessory, a reclaim catcher is used to catch the concentrates that get sucked down the banger neck. Reclaim catchers keep your pipe clean by preventing that reclaim from falling directly into your pipe, and more importantly are able to gather the excess concentrates for use later on! Even when using a reclaim catcher, a rig or pipe will build up reclaim from natural condensation.

#6. Joint Size, Joint Angle, Joint Gender

• Choosing the proper banger joint size, angle and gender is crucial in making it fit your piece properly. You cannot simply choose a banger on its bucket style, the joint size and angle should be compatible with your pipe, otherwise an adapter will be needed.
• To put it simply there are 2 angles, 45 degrees and 90 degrees. There are several joint size options, typically 10mm, 14mm, 18mm, 19mm. There are 2 Joint Genders, Male and Female.
• Checkout out our Banger Sizing Chart which shows all of the different joint angles and sizes, explaining how to easily measure your pipe at home so you purchase the proper banger for your pipe.

#7. Welding

• If you are looking into investing in a quality banger, welding is an important thing to consider. You can usually spot noticeable differences between quality craftsmanship of a high quality banger vs a cheap banger. The most frequent breaking point for a banger, especially bucket bangers, is the connection point of the neck piece to the bucket piece. Being those 2 pieces are produced independently then connected, it is the weakest point. Fully Welded Bangers, also known as Seamless Bangers do not have this 2 piece connection point, its seamless connection is stronger and more durable. Fully welded bangers are typically thicker, higher quality and much more durable than non fully welded bangers. One important thing to notice is whether the joint is fully welded to the bucket. The entire banger should also be very smooth, clear of any hairline fractures, imperfections, bumps, creases.

Choosing the Right Banger For You

Congrats! You’ve made it all the way down here, if you’ve read everything above you now have proper bucket banger knowledge. If you have any questions, please be sure to follow the links to read some of these topics more in depth or simply contact us with any questions you may have! You should know about the different banger styles, sizes, inserts, and their accompanying functionalities. Now that you possess this knowledge, which bucket banger is best for you?

As you know, the slight differences of bangers make some styles and sizes better for certain times while other styles are better for other times. For example, a small 16mm bucket banger, with a bubble carb cap may be good for a tiny low temp dab, while a 25mm bucket, with terp pearls, and vortex carb cap would be good for an end of day session. Just as the different sizes and styles of bucket bangers impact the experience, so too all of the other banger styles. Don’t be shy, take a look!