How to make a pipe out of aluminum foil

Published Jan 31, 2020 12:00 p.m. ET
iStock / pioneer111

We’ve all been in a cruddy situation where we have a nice bag of cannabis and no real way to smoke it. It can happen when your main piece breaks, or while out and about after an impulse purchase, and if you don’t have a head shop and some extra spending money, then you are out of luck. This is a scenario most stoners have found themselves in, which is a major motivator for coming up with unique ideas, and this one has been around for ages, with a few tweaks over time.

A good weed pipe needs a strong draw, a seal, a stem, a mouthpiece, and bowl, and all of that might sound like a lot if you’re looking around for materials to use to build each individual piece from scratch, but learning how to make a pipe doesn’t have to be difficult, and it almost never requires more than one type of material if you put your mind to it. This aluminum weed pipe is made from 100% aluminum foil, and you won’t need a screen, glue, or anything else extra to make it all work.

Steps on how to make an aluminum homemade pipe

You will need

  • Scissors
  • Aluminum foil
  • Toothpick (or some other sharp-pointed tool)
  1. To start, you will need a long chunk of aluminum foil, and it’s always best to keep it as wrinkle-free as possible, so be careful while you measure out an arm’s length of it from a roll.

  2. Lay the aluminum foil down on a clean flat surface and fold it lengthways 3 times. Once you are done, you should have a shape that is close to a square with 3 layers of metal overlapping.

  3. Now, grab one of the longest edges of the foil and start to bend it inwards into a tube shape. The roll should be about the same thickness as your finger for it to work properly, any bigger and it will be uncomfortable to fit your mouth around, and any smaller and it will be hard to finish the weed pipe without blocking off airflow.

  4. Make sure that the entire piece of aluminum foil is rolled up, and once you find the edges, use a small amount of moisture or pressure to help hold it all together. Luckily aluminum foil is flexible, so this extra step isn’t always necessary.

  5. It’s time to make the bowl of your homemade pipe, and it’s as easy as grabbing the widest end of the tube (if there is one) and twisting it just enough that you can bend the tip into a bowl shape before adjusting it so that it points upwards. Sometimes it also helps to keep a toothpick in the end of the tube that’s getting twisted to hold it open enough to maintain airflow.

  6. Now, take a draw through the open end of the makeshift weed pipe. If you feel too much hesitation, then you might have to untwist it a bit until you feel the seal break. Otherwise, you won’t be able to inhale your weed once it’s lit. If it’s good, then you are ready to move onto the next step.

  7. You already have the weed pipe you wanted, but one of the major flaws of aluminum is that it heats up really quickly, so if you want to avoid the feeling of hot lips, then you might want to take another chunk of foil, and use it to shape into a mouthpiece that will slide over the open end of the tube. Make sure to give it a gentle squeeze to seal it all up, but once this final step is finished, you are good to go.

This homemade pipe doesn’t need a screen because the hole inside of the bowl is small enough that it’s just not necessary, but you should know that they aren’t recommended for full-time use. They work as an excellent solution in a pinch, but aluminum foil isn’t going to hold up to more than a few uses before it’s ready for the recycling bin.

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