Complete Guide to Joint Sizes and Types

If you use water pipes or dab rigs, there inevitably comes a time when a part of your setup – whether it’s a bowl, quartz banger, or something else – will take a fall and break. You must then start your search for a replacement part, and it is only at this stage that many consumers realise they have no idea what they’re looking for.

With varying joint sizes, available in both male and female styles and angled in different positions, the process of selecting a replacement part that fits your existing water pipe can be daunting. Here are the key considerations to make:

• Sex of the joint (male or female)
• Size of the joint (10, 14 or 19mm)
• Neck angle (45° or 90°)

Joint sex

The first thing you need to know when you start to buy new accessories for your setup is the sex of the joint on your water pipe. Every elements of your setup – from water pipes and dab rigs to bowls and ashcatchers – is either male or female. Once you have established whether your water pipe has a male or female joint, you will know which accessories will fit it. As common sense will tell you, a female joint will fit with male accessories, and a male joint will fit with female accessories.

Joint size comparison

Now you have determined whether your water pipe or rig is male or female, you need to identify the size of the joint. Joint sizes are measured in millimeters and generally come in three standard sizes.

Making things a little more complicated, these three standard sizes are sometimes labelled differently when sold in smoke shops.

Identifying the size of your joint

For male joints, make sure you measure the external diameter of the joint, and for female joints, you should measure the internal diameter. This prevents your measurements from being skewed by the thickness of the material.

Identify the size of your joint by comparing it to the photos below.

Joint neck angles: 45° vs 90° 

When comparing different dab nails, you will notice that some are designed with a 90° angled neck, while some come with a 45° angled neck. This is to accommodate for differently angled water pipe joints, and to ensure that the nail is always facing upwards when connected.

• If the joint on your water pipe faces straight up to the sky, you will need a nail angled at 90° (right) to ensure it faces upwards when connected to your rig.
• If the joint on your water pipe faces in a diagonal position, you will need a 45° angled nail (left) to compensate for the sloped joint neck, and keep the nail facing upwards.