SWIM only smoked spice with the original machine. For her the spice is quite harsh regardless of purity.

SWIM wonders if it hepls to cool the vapor using a homemade labware bubbler.

On the other hand she is concerned about spice loss due to condensation on glass tubes walls and in water.

SWIM says condensation is absolutely not an issue, no matter how he's used a bubbler. The vapor will not be completely cool, but certainly not harsh.

"Harshness is relative". For Swim, water cooled vapor is still harsh, hot vapor unbearable. That's why he's looking into ice cooling. A water bong doesn't cool the vapor enough for him. But for most folks, this is propably a sufficient way to approach the problem.

The best for swim has been using a water bong with a diffuser and a good 8 to 10 inches of ice in the stem. Whether or not some of the vapor condenses back into liquid doesn't worry swim as the ease of intake is so much better than other methods he's tried. Although he can't imagine much of this happens. Some of swims friends who are gifted with better lungs can breakthrough in one hit with his bong.

Certainly harshness is relative, but as a frame of reference, SWIM's only been vaporizing for two years and is in no way a seasoned smoker (as he's rarely smoked anything at all in his life). SWIM finds that if used correctly, the vapor in a bubbler can be like air. A labware bubbler makes this very simple, since the vapor can be less thick than with a normal bubbler; however, the trick with a normal bubbler is to carb at every sign of full vapor buildup. It will likely always be harsh if allowed to get too thick. SWIM's buddies never have a problem with harshness using SWIM's prescribed methods, but SWIM likes to experiment and sometimes gets a harsh--generally from allowing the vapor to build too thick.

SWIM wonders whether sometimes harshness can be due to premature precipitation in the throat, rather than the heat of the vapor.

Thickness...that's interesting. SWIM always thought it would be a good plan to get VERY thick vapor to make a big inhalation possible.

SWIM's had his best experiences from three or four separate inhalations, as Terence McKenna recommends, but though the labware bubbler can build a pretty thick vapor in the chamber, it tends to thin out when drawn through the inhalation tube. Whereas with a standard bubbler, while SWIM can get a hefty amount with one breath, he still needs to carb it frequently throughout that breath; otherwise the toke will be just as thick as it is in the chamber, which can become a bit much for SWIM.

I've had great success using a homemade bong with water in it. the water cools the smoke down and aslong as i dont burn the spice it isnt that harsh at all, whether its nice shiny white crystals or yellow. INfact, the last time i used it i must have got it just right. I thoiught i hardly got any until i was thrown into DMT world, hardly noticed it going down.

This happens quite often for SWIM, as well. Sometimes he really can't tell how much he's getting unless he's keeping an eye on the vapor, until it kicks in, that is.