2018 marked the first year that High Times, AKA "Trans-High Corporation" took over the "Reggae on the River" show that was run for years by the Mateel Community Center.  The weather was hot and reggae artists arrived from near and far.

     7Pipe brought all our gear and set up camp for an epic three day event.  One of the highlights of the event was the stage debut of the Super Twisty, AKA the "Budzooka".  Don Carlos was finishing up his set when the 'fluffer' prepped the pipe for the Big Don.  One large puff later, the Super Twisty worked its' magic and was shuttled offstage, mission completed!  

     This show is distinct in that kids and families are everywhere.  Hence the "Bed Swing"  that boys and girls clamored over.  No cannabis stigma here; cannabis is a healing herb and a social sacrament at Reggae on the River.  

     7Pipe brought the goods and gave away hella swag!!  As always, 7Pipe fans show up in force to enjoy free hits, free swag, and our show special $40 Twisty deal that comes with one free gram.  Everyone loves to walk away a winner.  

     We saw our friends Slacktavis and Toker Poker.  Yummy medicated iced soda and Bic sleeves for everyone!  7Pipe had a great time, as it was also our first time going to this show.  The music was great, living amongst giant redwood trees for a few days is also no joke! Those things are massive.  We saw a whole hotel carved inside a fallen-over redwood trunk.  Enjoy the photos and see you guys next year!

     

If you're one of the few stoners left who hasn't tried the now world famous Twisty Glass Blunt, you may be wondering what is the difference between an authentic $50 Twisty from 7Pipe (the inventors) and a $10 knockoff?  

     The keywords you want to think about are safety and durability.  Safety because most if not all fake Twisty pipes use leaded brass.  As most people know, lead in excessive levels is harmful to the human body.  Lead paint anyone?  Why would the factories making the fakes use brass with lead in it?  The answer goes back to machine time.  Leaded brass is a softer metal, so it takes a lot less machine time to carve out the screw.  Less machine time means cheaper pipe.  

     The fact that the product is a smoking pipe, an item that you put to your lips countless times and heat up, makes it even worse.  

     The second word is durability.  Durability is the most common place where low quality products cut corners, because the fact is that to the consumer's eye, you can't really see durability.  To the naked eye, a one micron thick titanium coating looks the same as a 0.1 micron thickness coating.  The problem comes over time and repeated use, when that paper thin 0.1 micron thick coating is scratched off to reveal the lead-laden brass.  Talk about a ticking time bomb.  

     The maxim, "You get what you pay for." couldn't be truer here.  Fake twisty's often look exactly like an authentic 7Pipe Twisty Glass Blunt, but what you're actually getting is a potential health hazard from repeated lead inhalation.

     We at 7Pipe implore all cannabis smokers to be very diligent when buying pipes.  These are very intimate objects that should be built to last years, and materials need to be top-notch and pure.  Your health depends on it.  

     

By now I'm sure you have seen the dozens of listings of counterfeit products like the Twisty on Amazon and similar sites. Oddly enough, we have been banned from selling on retail sites like Amazon. Though this in itself is an issue, the bigger problem is the lack of regulation on counterfeit goods available through e-commerce retailers.

These unsafe and often untested products flood the market at extremely low prices, making it hard to pass up by unknowing consumers. We go above and beyond to use the safest materials and strictest procedures to make sure all our products are as safe as possible, even exceeding US and EU safety standards. Counterfeiters like Glunt, V12, and others could care less about the toxins you are inhaling. How do we know? Check out these shocking test reports we received from the US CPSC on lead content in our Twisty versus the counterfeits: https://www.7pipe.com/pages/safety.

Amazon has been able to get away with selling counterfeit products on their platform for years. They have been protected from liability by the terms of their third-party seller agreements. A decade old ruling found eBay was not responsible for trademark-infringing products sold on its marketplace set legal precedent that has so far protected e-commerce sites in most intellectual property cases. Times have since changed. What happens if a trademark-infringing or patent-infringing product is sold as part of "Fulfillment by Amazon"? That now means Amazon sells, stores, and ships the counterfeited product, which they have been caught doing with counterfeit Twistys' as show below. Unfortunately we fall into this grey area and are taking legal action against Amazon to get this major issue resolved for the thousands of people in this grey area with us.

7pipe Design Principles:
SAFETY
DURABILITY
FUNCTION
BEAUTY
 
These are the principles that the designers at 7pipe live by.  They are simple concepts that everyone can understand, and are a great fit for a company that sells premium product.  Let’s go over each principle in detail and dig a little deeper.

FUNCTION

As product designers, we are always searching out the newest and coolest function in a pipe.   If it works well AND it’s novel, you’re on your way to success.  Our invention the Twisty glass blunt is the perfect example of how a novel ‘function’ can create immense customer excitement, as seen as by the worldwide spread of the Twisty pipe, (both real and fake).  The challenge was this: how to create a pipe that doesn’t need to be reloaded constantly throughout the day.  What ‘function’ could we invent that would give you ten bowls of herb, ready at your fingertips, with minimal fuss?  It had never been done before, and that was the reason for the viral quality of its release.  The solution, of course, turned out to be an augur, which itself is a very old invention indeed.  The application of an augur to a weed pipe was the innovation.  I think people appreciated how simple the product was: a glass tube and an augur.  And when people understood how it worked, millions of minds blown. 
 
BEAUTY
It’s obvious to say that products should be beautiful.  It’s a no-brainer.  But beauty without functionality is hollow.  The pure juxtaposition of the two however, can create magic.  Again, the Twisty is the perfect example.  A smooth shiny augur encased inside a scintillating glass enclosure.  Truly exceptional.  It’s beauty allows a simple weed pipe to be appreciated by even non-smokers. 
There is also beauty in simplicity.  Simplicity makes everything more possible; things like durability, functionality, and safety, to be exact. 
 
DURABILITY
Durability is the most common place where companies cut corners.  It’s done because they can do so often while looking exactly the same as a premium product.  Again, the most recent example is the Twisty.  Fakes often look exactly the same as a 7pipe Twisty.  Where are the differences you say? Why is a 7pipe Twisty more durable?
Let’s talk about the coating.  Our Ti coating is a full micron in thickness.  This leads to a durable coating.  The average counterfeit might be .1 or .2 microns in thickness.  The whole point of fakes is the low price, so making a really thin coating saves them a lot of money, but they produce a product that will wear out a lot sooner than a 7pipe Twisty.
 
SAFETY
The bedrock of all product design principles is safety.  If your products are not safe, you shouldn’t be in the product business.  Safety is often a question of materials.  Choosing inferior materials often means using unsafe materials.  The most obvious example is the high lead content in Twisty Pipes.  (LINK)  Regular lab testing by a reputable and licensed laboratory will ensure that each batch of pipes is fit for the 7pipe customer, and will uphold the reputation of the company. 
In conclusion, we at 7pipe live by very classical, simple, and enduring principles of product design.  You will notice that ‘innovation’ is not one of our principles.  In our view, it is mostly a byproduct of our main values.  In the Twisty for example, the innovation of the augur was in service to functionality, not the other way around.  If you, as the consumer, like the principles that we live by, please keep us in mind the next time you need a safe, durable, and beautiful smoking pipe.

This year for Veterans day, we wanted to highlight the issues surrounding our veterans, and how cannabis has been a go-to treatment for typical Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms such as nightmares and insomnia.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs reports that every day, 20 veterans commit suicide; the astounding number has remained a constant since 2001-- without a doubt, many veterans are still looking for better ways to adjust back to normal life.

Usually veterans with PTSD are given pills by the VA to cope with their symptoms, but experience lots of negative side effects such as uncontrollable shaking and muscle spasms, and continued depressive thoughts. Therefore marijuana has been a popular alternative to soothe the nerves and wean off of addictive pills; after all many veterans live every day life as if they are still on the battlefield.

Veterans are not given access to marijuana through the VA, and their website makes clear their skepticism of marijuana usage for the treatment of PSTD. However, as states have started to open their doors to medical usage, some veterans have been able to try their hand at relieving their PSTD symptoms with the use of cannabis.
We decided to interview one of our customers, who is a veteran and has experience with PTSD. (The following text has been edited lightly for clarity).

***

Name: Anthony

Age: 35

Experience with PTSD:

I suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2005 then PTSD for 11 years following. These symptoms include anxiety, depression, nightmares. I don't like loud noises or crowds and especially being in new locations, I have to have my back to the wall while scanning for threats and exits.

The animal part of our brain knows two survival functions: fight or flight. We were trained to teach our human brain that we need to stay and fight, and that is happening 24/7×365 rather than once or twice a week...maybe to the average person not putting themselves into harms way. Adjusting to home is tough. Jobs are touch and go's to keep.

It must to be said that PTSD is not just a stigma for ONLY military personelle returning from combat, but also fire, police, and 1st responders. Anyone witnessing or personally a part of any tragic incident will suffer with the many effects of PTSD. Every person is unique.. therefore, every person will have their unique code/symptoms from what happened and every person will have their unique coping mechanism and treatment.

About Medication:

Medication in pill form has been a hit or miss for me. It helps to an extent. But [medicating herbally] helped me almost immediately. My anxiety is calmer, my mood is clearer, and my motivation had jumpstarted.

On using the Twisty Glass Blunt:

I like the functionality of the intake and the ease of use. I also like the Twisty for the ability to load what I might need for the day. The 7pipe employees are extremely friendly as well.

***

All this week until 11/17/2017, we will be giving away a Twisty Glass Blunt to a veteran for every purchase that is made with code VETERANRELIEF. Go to 7pipe.com, and make sure to share widely with friends!

Thanks Anthony for your interview!

Creativity is our engine at 7pipe, so we love to collaborate with other creative people.  Collaborations can take many forms and we’re open to any ideas that make sense.  I’ll talk about some possibilities below, but remember that this program is only open to our valued 7pipe customers who already own their own 7pipe Twisty. 

The Athlete: The athlete who competes regularly in his or her chosen activity, has had success at the amateur or professional level, and wants to show others how they use cannabis while pursuing athletic challenges.

The Illustrator: Love to have a pen in your hand?  Show us your best work, and maybe we can collaborate on a graphic glass tube.  Get national exposure with 7Pipe.

The Scientist: Raw computing power balanced by the creative energy of cannabis.  If you do experiments in the lab or out in the field, and use the Twisty to relax and process the days’ data, then please contact us. 

The Musician: Probably the most natural match of all.  Musicians have used cannabis throughout time to stoke  creative fires.  Let us document your talent on one of our videos and tell the masses of 7Pipe fans about you.

The Actor: Calling all thespians! Does smoking your Twisty allow you to enter character more smoothly?  Does it help soothe pre-performance jitters?  Let us know!

The Product Designer: Want to apply your product specialty to the 7pipe universe? Let’s collaborate on a limited edition product. 

The Chef: Another perfect pairing, cannabis and cooking go together like steak and fries.  Its renowned to make things extra tasty, it opens up the appetite, and it stokes conversation at the dinner table. The perfect triple threat.

If 7pipe is looking for you but we just don’t know it yet, please contact us and tell us about you.  Let’s meet and smoke some good sativa and talk about ideas.  

 

This is the definitive guide on how to avoid buying counterfeit 7Pipe products. It turns out that packaging is a good way to tell real from fake. Please see the images below showing real 7Pipe packaging and the inner box design. We have also evolved as time goes by, so be sure to inspect your packaging carefully.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twisty Glass Blunt Third Packaging Design

 

Twisty Glass Blunt Latest Packaging Design

 

Twisty Glass Mini Packaging Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many good reasons to buy a product from the actual inventor of the product (7Pipe invented the Twisty); first, you know that the inventor company will protect their reputation by using the highest quality and safest materials. Counterfeiters have no reputation to protect, so they go for the largest profit by using the cheapest materials. In a smoking pipe, that means there’s a real safety risk to the consumer. Second, if you buy real, you are supporting the actual fountainhead of innovation, which means the fountainhead will likely sprout more awesome products. If you buy fake, you are supporting a copier, and the innovations may come to an end for lack of support.

 

 

7Pipe is proud to participate in Pride SF each year, starting last year 2016. The costumes are just incredible and the crowd is super duper into our Twisty line of products. After taking a look around, we believe that next year, we have to have a costume contest. It’s totally like Halloween out there! Here are some of the more awesome costumes: 

    

This year, we showed off our newest product, the Twisty Glass Mini. People loved the steady, gentle hit, and many people took a Twisty Mini home to enjoy or gift. We must have smoked out more than four hundred people at Pride. It’s hard to keep so many mini glass blunts filled with flower! We have one guy just filling tubes all day long. Just check out these action shots:

     

Next year in 2018 Pride SF, look for 7Pipe again as we introduce another new product to our amazing lineup. If you want to enter our costume contest, just follow our Instagram or check our website to get our booth location.

 

This ad was placed in Culture Magazine (ireadculture.com) in their Feb 2017 edition. This photo was shot in Mexico City with a professional photographer and a local model agency. The Twisty Glass Blunt stands in Kodachrome color amid black and white.

The only way you have seen this graphic is if you are a 7pipe online retail customer. This is a sticker that comes with every order from our official online store. The graphic can be interpreted as a galaxy, but I see many other things as well. I see Technicolor smoke, radiospectrometry diagrams, infrared heat outlines, and many more if you happen to be smoking on the Twisty Glass Blunt.

 

 

 

Should I buy Twisty Glass Mini or Twisty Glass Blunt?
If you want to join the world of 7pipe Twisty, you have two options, the Twisty Glass Mini or the original Twisty Glass Blunt. There are a few things to consider before you make your decision.

Here's the deal:

Do you buy grams or eighths?
The amount of green you buy may give you an indication of your consumption/sharing level. If you buy eighths and share with buddies on a regular basis, you may want to buy the Twisty Glass Blunt. If, however, you buy by the gram to savor over the week, then the Twisty Glass Mini may be your gig.

Social or personal smoker?
Do you usually smoke alone or with friends? Maybe you love going to nature parks and sharing herb with friends. Or you may love to toke alone while painting a composition. Different smoking habits and tendencies will also inform your decision to buy either the Twisty Glass Mini or Twisty Glass Blunt.

Joints or Blunts?
This may seem obvious, but think about your preference for the classic joint or the blunt, and what experiences they offer. Everyone’s lungs are accustomed to differing levels of smoke, so let your preference in the classics inform your choice of the newest classics, the Twisty Glass Blunt, or Twisty Glass Mini.

Weekend or Everyday Smoker?
Do you only smoke on the links during weekends, or do you need to smoke every night to fall asleep? If you answered the latter, you may need more capacity than the Twisty Glass Mini offers. But if you only toke up on the weekends, you probably won’t be consuming large amounts of weed, so the Twisty Glass Mini may be just the ticket.

Considering the questions above will get you thinking about your levels of consumption, smoking habits, and quantities that you purchase. Make sure your check out our product page to see the exact capacity for each model, click here for Twisty Glass Mini and here for Twisty Glass Blunt.

                      

This ad was run in HeadQuest magazine (HQ) March 2017, a trade magazine, and it was our coming out party. We give credit to the platforms that allowed our Twisty Glass Blunt to go viral, Facebook and Daily Dot, but more importantly, we thanked all the stoners out there who saw something innovative and told their fellow stoner to check it out. Word of mouth, baby. 36 million views is not something that comes around everyday for a product company, and we think the Twisty will become a classic pipe for it’s simplicity and ability to make people say to themselves, “I need to try that.”

This ad was placed in ERB Magazine, an industry magazine, May 2017 issue. This ad is for our Twisty Glass Mini launch. In a twist, the red cloth both covers and exposes what lies beneath. The sly humor of our tagline takes a jab at the ever-inflated product launches of companies nowadays.

The one indispensable accessory to the Twisty is your lighter.  What you may not have known is that your lighter is also a nifty tool to cash bowls and pack new ones.  The method takes advantage of both the side edge and the flat edge of your lighter. Please feel free to view see our detailed instructions.

What I love about the Twisty is that it is actually packed from the bottom, not from the top like traditional spoon pipes.  In fact, this may be the only pipe or the first pipe or both to be packed from the bottom.  If you can think of one, please contact us and let us know. 

The surprising thing about my invention, the Twisty Glass Blunt, is that the obvious way to load the Twisty is the wrong way.  Or the inefficient way, anyways.  The immediate thought is to reverse the twisting direction and suck up the herbs against gravity.  Don't get me wrong, this method works.  The problem is that it is laborious.  The space for the cherry doesn’t make things any easier, as you’re then required to have a constant mound of herbs to reach the screw. 

This upward twisting action is the method I used to load my first few tubes of ground up Sativa bud.  As I played with my 3D-printed Twisty prototypes though, I became impatient and wanted a faster way to load.  The exact time and date of the Aha! moment has been lost to the cobwebs of my memory, but when it happened, it was a huge step forward for future Twisty lovers everywhere.  I will spare you the details, because you can see our detailed loading instructions , but suffice it to say that ‘pulling out’ is involved.