RiO

The RiO parks a 14mm quartz banger directly above a butane torch sunk into the base, so the grime lands in three separate places: reclaim inside the banger, water and residue in the borosilicate bubbler sitting over it, and torch soot on the outside of the quartz. Stache's loudest warning is about the base, because isopropyl strips its electroplated finish, so nothing on the RiO gets cleaned while the unit is still assembled.

1. Lift the glass out the way Stache tells you. Hold the base from underneath with one hand, take the glass by its body with the other, point the mouthpiece neck away from your face, then wiggle side to side while pulling upward. Never lift by the neck. It loads the joint, and the one month glass and banger warranty only covers breaks at joints and welds.

2. Swab the banger while it is still warm. Dip a cotton bud in 91 to 99 percent isopropyl, wipe the inside of the 3mm quartz, then dry it with the other end. Stache rules out bleach, acid cleaners and anything abrasive, since scratches give reclaim somewhere to lodge and darken the quartz faster.

3. Deep clean a chazzed banger. Pull the 14mm male joint free and soak it fully submerged in 99 percent isopropyl and coarse kosher salt in a sealed bag, overnight if it is black. Rinse with distilled water rather than tap, because dissolved minerals bake in and yellow quartz. Scrape softened lumps off with the dab tool, reheat to roughly 600 to 800F to ash whatever is left, then cool, swab and dry.

4. Shake the bubbler, do not brush it. Tip the water out, pour isopropyl a quarter to half way up, add a teaspoon of coarse salt, seal the mouthpiece and the 14mm banger port with the silicone travel plugs and shake until the glass runs clear. Rinse in hot water. Neglected glass can soak for four to twenty four hours first.

5. Change the water every session. Fill from the mouthpiece to just above the banger port, and empty it before the unit goes back in the EVA case, otherwise standing water turns musty inside the foam.

6. Torch and base get wiped only. Remove the torch cold: take the silicone plug off the back, grip the black plastic collar below the nozzle, thumb above the ignition, and twist while pulling forward. Refill out of the base with the valve shut and the canister tip pointing straight down, three to six seconds for an empty tank, never topping off a full one and never sideways. Do not run the flame past sixty seconds.