Buyer's Guide for Sovereignty Pillars

Which variation is the best?

When buying a pillar, there are a ton of different options and variations available on resale apps like GlassPass, since it's pretty difficult to find a new piece at a drop now.

Sovereignty has mastered the Pillar design and has been able to create multiple different sizes and shapes of the same piece with slightly varying function. Hollowfoot, straightfoot, natty neck, straight neck, peyote, 4arm, pint, full-size, or mini? There's too many to choose from, and it's hard to try them all, so I'll help break it down for you based on my opinions and experience. Please feel free to comment your thoughts below! 

First, let's start by going over what the Pillar is and why it's so unique.

What is the "Pillar"?

The "Pillar" is the term used to describe the percolator/model created by Sovereignty Glass. A pillar consists of anywhere from 4 to 8 arms in the center chamber, with a peyote ball perc, or a 4arm perc in the bottom, and a chamber at the top which leads to the mouthpiece. 

The function and innovation of the pillar is pretty mind boggling. The first pillar was created circa 2008 by Stephen C, Steve, the owner of Sovereignty Glass. The pillar's design is extremely unique, as it's basically a recycler built into a flower tube.

The smoke is drawn through the joint into the center chamber, through the tall vertical slits between the tall pillar arms. The smoke then travels down through the center of the center chamber, and out through the perc in the bottom, where bubbles first form. Those bubbles are then carried back UP through the pillar tubes, never touching the center chamber again. The bubbles and smoke are carried up through the tubes, into the top chamber where the bubbles pop and release the smoke into the mouthpiece section, where the splashguard blocks any extra water.

A true masterpiece of functional glass art. Let's get into the details of the different variations available for this tube:

Hollow-foot vs. Straight-foot

This is usually the most common question when it comes to buying a pillar, but it ultimately comes down to ease of use, in my opinion. The difference in function isn't very significant, but maintaining and cleaning it is. Let's start with the hollow-foot breakdown.

Hollow-foot Pros

Hollow-foot Cons

  • Allows the perc more room to breathe, fatter rips
  • Looks more unique
  • More water doesn't require cleaning as often
  • Can result in a heavier draw/pull
  • Requires a lot of water to fill, sometimes a full water bottle
  • When cleaning, takes a lot of iso/salt and strength

The hollow-foot is for those that want the pure pillar experience and don't mind the increased difficulty while cleaning. The straight foot is a little more user-friendly and allows for bigger rips.

Straight-foot Pros

Straight-foot Cons

  • Less water in the chamber makes the pull easier, more responsive with less lung power required
  • Much less water when filling
  • Smaller chamber makes it easier to clean, less iso/salt
  • Gets dirty much faster
  • Sometimes, the 4arm perc can choke on itself with less area to breathe
  • Doesn't look as beastly

The straight foot, in my opinion, is the better option for those who want to have a pillar and don't want to spend a lot of time maintaining it. The rip isn't much different, but requires much less lung power for those who don't smoke as often. Either way, you can't go wrong – I'd recommend trying before buying, if possible!

Natty neck vs. Straight neck

This is usually the next question when buying a pillar, and largely depends on how you want to experience the rip. Natty necks are short for "natural neck", since the shape acts as a natural splashguard. They require you to "kiss" the mouthpiece, while straight necks are much more similar to a regular bong with an inv4 perc splashguard. Either way, you don't have to worry about getting water splashed in your mouth, unless you overfill it. Let's break it down with natty necks first.

Natty neck Pros

Natty neck Cons

  • Allows you to really feel the function of the percs
  • Shaping makes it easier to rip it in your lap & hold it by the neck
  • Smaller mouthpiece (mainly personal preference)
  • Smaller mouthpiece usually means res lips are common
  • Some mouthpieces can widely vary in size if its colored

The differences between a natty neck and straight neck are mainly based on personal preference. The most important questions to keep in mind are: 1) Do you like a smaller mouthpiece or a wider one? 2) Do you prefer the look of the natty neck or the straight neck? The function isn't much different. 

Straight neck Pros

Straight neck Cons

  • Classic straight neck design lets the inv4 rage
  • Larger mouthpiece (mainly personal preference)
  • Slightly easier to clean
  • Res lips are rare
  • Looks less unique on a table
  • More airflow can make it harder to clear

Overall you can't go wrong with either one, and you should try before you buy if possible! Remember the 2 questions above to keep in mind when deciding.

Peyote perc vs 4arm perc

The perc at the bottom of the pillars makes a big difference. Generally, peyote percs are more smooth and 4arms percs are a little more chuggy. Personally, I think the 4arm works best in a hollow-foot since it has more room to breathe.

Peyote Perc

4arm Perc

  • Smoother, more consistent pull
  • Works well with straight or hollow-foot
  • Chuggier pull, more choppy
  • Works best with hollow-foots
  • Not available in mini pillars

The important question to keep in mind when deciding between these 2 percs is: Do you prefer a smoother pull or a choppier, chuggy pull? The Peyote is more consistent, with constant bubbles. The 4arm is a little more random and sporadic with its bubbles, leading to a choppier pull. 

Full-size, Pint, or Mini?

The sizes of each pillar are the most impactful decision when buying, because each one has a vastly different pull. See the chart below for more details:

Full-size

Pint

Mini

  • Primarily for flower
  • Heavy, restrictive pull that requires lung power
  • Mainly for flower
  • Light, responsive pull. Easy to rip
  • Slightly less water than full-size
  • Mainly for oils: a rig
  • Very responsive, very light pull
  • Tiny amount of water
  • TONS of flavor

The Full-size pillar is a heavy pull that delivers a huge rip. The Pint-size is much easier to draw on, and is personally preferred over the full size. The Pint is a little harsher for big rips, but has more flavor. The Mini is basically a rig, primarily used for concentrates. It fits in the palm of your hand, and is super responsive to pull on. I love using my mini straight-foot for flower, even though it hurts, because the choppiness of the pull is so satisfying and the flavor is crazy. The hollow-foot mini pillars are a little more dull of a rip than the straight-foots.

Differences over the years

There are some pillar prototypes floating around that have unique variations, but overall the pillar has remained the same over the years. The main things that have changed are 1) the shaping of the hollow-foot bases, 2) the number of grids in peyote percs, 3) the shaping of the natty neck, and 4) the colors of the bridges. All of these changes have been very minimal though.

Below are some pictures of different pillars over the years. (Yet to be added)

In the early days, Steve made all of the pillars. Some of them have retti bridges, which is an easy way to tell. There's only 1 other person who is able to make pillars at Sovereignty, so chances are if you own a pillar that looks different than what's coming out these days, you have a pillar made by Steve. However, there are hundreds of those pillars out there, so the fact Steve made them doesn't really affect the price much. Just know that the older ones are usually the better functioning ones!

Summary

At the end of the day, a pillar is a pillar. It really depends what you prefer in a rip. I love pillars, and they have great pricing on the resale market. It's hard to say which is my favorite, because it all really comes down to personal preference. I think everyone needs at least one form of a pillar in their collection. I've owned almost all of the variations, except for hollow-foot pint pillars. Those are probably super fire. But, I've only kept my straight-foot, straight-neck full-size, my straight-foot natty-neck pint, and my 2 mini pillars: one is hollow-foot, the other is straight. I like the straight foot better for function. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Sovereignty Pillars, and I hope I helped provide a little more insight when you're looking to purchase your first pillar. Reach out to me at riley@glasspass.co or on IG @bakolivesagain and I'm happy to help more :)  

2 comments

  • Your article is a perfect article without a hitch. Thank you. My site: OKBet app

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  • Love the post dude, had everything but the mini and agree with what you’ve said. Keep up the good content brotha, you’re just going up from here

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