Water pipes are hands down one of the best ways to smoke weed. They are smoother than dry weed pipes so your hit will be cool, minimizing the throat burn. The water also acts as a natural filter for the smoke, giving you more potent and flavorful hits. Many people think bongs and water pipes are interchangeable terms, which is actually not the case. Bongs are a subset of water pipes. All bongs are water pipes but not all of these pipes are bongs. There are actually two major categories when it comes to water pipes: bubblers and bongs. The age-old debate has always been: bubbler vs bong - which is better?