The Best $5 ganja Gear
This is how a $5 glass piece is flipping my entire cannabis routine -
and whether you love glass or are joint-loyalist, it can flip yours too.
Cannasseur -
Ganja Gadgets -
Cannasseur - Ganja Gadgets -
The Best $5 Weed Gadget Money Can Buy
(plus the one bonus that changes everything)
Written By Aaryn Indica
This Article is
unsponsored
I love weed gadgets almost as much as I love weed. (Almost. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.)
From novelty lighters and artisan glass pieces, to high-tech dab rigs, I’ve spent a painfully pretty penny on weed gear in the past. Lots of them are well-made, many are worth pulling out on a blue moon. But it’s much rarer that an item makes its way into my daily blunt rotation. Not many things can replace the classic joint or beaker bong.
And yet – sometimes a new smoke buddy sneaks up on me.
Against my will, against my better judgment, and despite owning objectively “better” gear, the GRAV 16mm Whimsical Taster has become the most-used piece in my rotation.
It’s a $5 simple solution that’s out-performing my glass pieces. I did not set out to fall in love with it.
But the GRAV 16mm Whimsical Taster is the perfect reminder why the perfect glass piece is often the simplest.
How I got here (Against My Will)
Like most cannabis enthusiasts, I’m pretty concrete when it comes to my consumption habits. Bongs and dry herb vapes were my go-to for small dose, heavy hitting consumption. Easy. Efficient. Predictable.
But slowly, without meaning to, I found myself reaching more and more for an old, featureless stainless steel one-hitter I’d had forever. Unbranded. Cigarette-sized. Small opening on one end. Spring-loaded plunger on the other to ash it.
I’m lazy. It’s easy to clean, quick to pack, and supplies good hits. Only two or three good hits — but I kept coming back to it anyway.
Not because it was fancy, but because it worked. Packing this two or three times was quicker than rolling up a joint. And even better, it saved me weed.
After switching to my one-hitter out of laziness, I found my tolerance dwindling too. Two or three rounds was enough to get me comfortably stoned — making my occasional bong bowls feel like an indulgent trip to space.
Which made me wonder: if I liked this cheap little metal tube this much, what would a glass one-hitter do?
That’s when I found the GRAV Taster line at my local Brooklyn dispo, Beleaf. A glass piece for $5 (less than the price of a pre-roll)?
Of course that would pique my interest.
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What the grav taster Is — & The best $1 Decision i made
The concept of it is criminally simple. The GRAV Taster line is a basic glass chillum - a tube made of borosilicate glass with a .25g bowl on one end. That’s it. Pack it, light it, hit it. Done.
The cheapest option is a $4 Clear Glass 16mm Octo-Taster. Right next to it: the more “Whimsical” variety for just a dollar more, each with a distinct glass color and
design.
I paid the dollar.
What I ended up with was a smokey black glass base with a green-and-white Space Invaders graphic. Which — luckily for me — is perfect. Green is my favorite color and the darker glass shows less resin, which matters more than aesthetics once you’ve cleaned enough pieces in your life.
[ I should say this now: I’m not someone who loves randomness in design. The “you get what you get” element stressed me out a little. Thankfully, the folks at Beleaf let me pick. There were white, black, clear, amber, green, and pink options — each with one of the dozen-ish designs. Making them perfectly collectable for poor souls like me. ]
GRAV 16mm Whimsical Taster Review
When I started using the GRAV Taster, it only took a couple of days before it was officially added into my routine. Here’s the part that surprised me most: it somehow beats my bong, my joints, and my pipe in one go.
It has about the capacity of a bong, but it’s portable and easier to handle.
It has the clean glass hit of a pipe, but it’s easier to clean.
It has the handfeel of a joint— resting between your fingers, lighting up like it’s a thick blunt — but conserves way more weed.
I’ve been burned by cheap weed gadgets before. Most are awkward to clean, need charging, or contain parts that quickly disappear. Some even require blow torches to operate.
This isn’t that. No weird places to clean, no pieces that can get lost.
It’s smaller and easier to clean than a bong OR a pipe. Quicker to pack than it is to roll a joint. It’s durable as hell and personal — a stoner’s dream.
Think of it like the Clipper lighter of glass pieces. Dependable. Unfussy. Better than it needs to be. With adorable designs to match.
Plus the fact that it comes from GRAV — a brand that understands glass — shows in the Taster’s airflow and thickness.
Handfeel Matters More Than You Think
The thing that wins it for me, is that using it just feels good.
It has the signature sleek feel and clean hit of a glass piece, with a nice durable weight.
Sitting between your fingers, the Taster combines the best parts of a pipe with the tactile feel and portability of a fat blunt. The combination of craftsmanship and convenience make me reach for it again and again. It’s a design so simple and to-the-point, using it feels like a no-brainer. Using it feels like the easiest option.
The best part (a.k.a the part that saves me weed)
Let’s talk numbers, because this is where the best part (and disbelief) kicks in. The bowl on the GRAV 16mm Taster holds (a bit more than) .25 grams (or a quarter-gram) of flower.
I know this because I weigh my doses. Almost every time. For context, a standard bong bowl holds around .33g.
With the hits this chillum puts out, I’ve been getting comfortably lifted on half its bowl, which is insane, all things considered.
When fully locked and loaded, the 16mm bowl holds about 7 - 8 large hits (max), with the signature pull and plume of a good glass piece. It’s the perfect portion to ‘taste’ your flower and get you nicely toasted - a nicely balanced dose for pre-gaming the grocery store or waiting for the bus. When fully packed, its comparable to an almost-full bong bowl.
While this may make me sound like a lightweight — that’s exactly the point. This little chillum packs a punch.
it’s the silicone skin that seals the deal.
After using this baby daily for a couple weeks, I had gotten attached, deciding to promote her from intern to Lead Sesh Tool.
Before I knew it, I was back at Beleaf to pick up the Taster Silicone Skin - thankfully snagging the last one in Avocado Green.
Molded for the Taster perfectly, the silicone skin acts as both a mouthpiece and an on-the-go bowl cap. Which is perfect, because it fixes the one con with the Taster: weed debris.
The silicone skin knocks three things out of the park: elevating the handfeel just a bit, while making it portable, and stopping the scooby snacks. All while adding another pop of color that make these chillums too
cute to resist.
“It’s Just a Glass Tube. Why Hype It?”
If it were any other piece, I wouldn’t be. But it’s a $5 glass piece that somehow outperforms nearly all others - including my $70 beaker bong.
Not only is it easy to use and easy to clean, it also costs less than the average pre-roll AND saves a massive amount of weed. It’s so simple and effective, it makes all other glass pieces look over-engineered and unnecessary. This is the perfect piece for the lazy and/or prepared stoner.
Or really? Anyone who already owns a bong or a pipe. I want people to try it just to watch their reaction. It might even appeal to the joint-loyal-but-glass-curious out there.
I don’t know how it manages to do it. I’m just as surprised as you are. Try it so I don’t feel like I’m crazy. It’s the best $5 weed gadget money can buy you.
When it comes to weed, it’s rare that something makes it way into the daily smoker’s blunt rotation. But the GRAV 16mm Taster Chillum goes to show how the simplest of tools can be a stoner’s best friend.
I didn’t set out to be obsessed with a $5 piece of glass. But it’s lightweight, easy to clean, and packs a punch - how can I not be? Once you try it, everything else feels like 2 steps too many. With all the colorways and cheap price tag, I’m tempted to collect a couple.
But the real sign of its perfection is the fact that I only need one.
(Just Kidding, I got another.)
