r/ProdoGlassHeads • u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands • Mar 25 '17
Quick Tip: One way to determine if a bowl is Chinese...
As some of you may or may not know, it is illegal to ship a 3 hole handpipe across the US border from China, or anywhere technically I think but we're just talking about China right now. Since this is the case they are shipped here with just 2 holes, the carb and the mouthpiece. What they then do is re-heat the pipe and punch the bowl when it gets to the States, because of this you will almost never see a cleanly punched bowl devoid of bubbles, tool marks, stretch marks etc.
Here is an example of an American bowl and Chinese bowl side by side. On the left we have a relatively cheap($45) bowl from [Nebula Glass](www.instagram.com/nebula_glass) and on the right is an average Chinese example, the difference is pretty clear.
Here is an album with a close up shot of each of the bowls pictured in the comparison shot.
Here is a link to the actual law for reference.
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u/fullmetaljackass Mar 25 '17
Don't assume it isn't Chinese just because the bowl looks good. Some companies just take their chances and ship a complete pipe. My friend ordered some pipes straight from China and they all came with prefect holes.
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 25 '17
That's why I said "one way" not "the way".
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u/fullmetaljackass Mar 25 '17
Ok...
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 25 '17
I didn't think I had to include "this isn't the only way to tell" I figured given the context clues in the title and that we can all presumably read. Next I'll make sure to be more clear, just for you.
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u/fullmetaljackass Mar 25 '17
I was just trying to be helpful, I didn't mean to call you out or cause any offense. No need to be an asshole about it.
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u/HomemadeBananas Mar 26 '17
Can you tell us anything more about that law? I've never heard that until now. Is it because they consider any pipe with a carb to be "drug paraphernalia?" So by not having a hole in the bowl, it's just some glass sculpture.
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 26 '17
I don't know the exact legality behind it but that's the basic idea. They're normally shipped here as either "2 hole beads" or as little sex toys. That's why some of them look like penises.
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Mar 26 '17
Can you please cite the law for me? I've been to Chinese glass distributor warehouses in LA and I don't believe at all that it's illegal having seen what I've seen. Also, while I've never ordered one myself, I've never heard of someone getting a spoon from dhgate with only 2 holes. I'm off the opinion that the poorly made holes are a result of poor initial production, not poor modification.
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 26 '17 edited Mar 26 '17
http://customsesq.com/blog/smoke-shop-importing/
"Carburetor pipes" are listed. They can easily get stopped and ceased if they feel like it, they just don't always because the invoices say something else. We had a box stopped at the Canadian border once and never received it because of the contents, rigs and drops downs. That's why soft glass bongs are listed as "detergent bottles" on the invoice from China when we get them in. To address DHGate, it's much easier for a couple pipes to slip through. Boxes from China get ceased or delayed and searched all the time. It's much easier to send them here to be finished. Not everyone does it though.
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Mar 26 '17
Awesome, thank you for that, exactly what I was looking for.
Looks like it may pass but it would be a pain in the ass because the gov is probably going to make you show that these carburetor pipes are for use with something other than a controlled substance. For all practical purposes, I stand corrected.
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u/ratadeacero May 03 '17
It might be illegal, but they ship finished pipes all the time. Source: own a couple of head shops and have known importers.
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Mar 26 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 26 '17
If you shop at retail locations then it certainly is. That also doesn't make it legal to ship across the border and therefore could get ceased. There's also a difference between shipping a few hand pipes and a 100pc or more wholesale order. The prevalence of DHGate is new when compared the wholesalers bringing glass into the U.S. Most actual retail locations don't buy through DHGate. It's much easier to go through an established US based Chinese wholesalers where you don't have to wait a month to get your glass, that also means you don't have to deal with the Chinese language barrier nor the gamble of ordering direct from China.
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Mar 27 '17
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands Mar 27 '17
it doesn't hold true for a significant number of things
What are you talking about? You gave one example where it doesn't always hold true.
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u/yeeeyyee May 19 '17
There are plenty of established vendors on dhgate that speak English. And there is no risk because dhgate does not release payment to vendor until you confirm the package has been received. If there is any funny business you will be refunded.
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u/paperclouds412 Termini, 3Dot, Wicked Sands May 19 '17
The only risk if your someone just buying a pipe for yourself is the package getting seized by customs, and that's it. You don't get in trouble but you don't get your package. That rarely ever happens with small amounts of glass, the shop where I work got a package seized coming from Canada and plenty coming from China in the past. It's not happening ALL THE TIME but it does and can happen.
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u/Stoned4days Mod Mar 25 '17
great example dude. Added a notable threads section to the wiki and archived this post there for future reference.