well it's not just the hole you see.. ok the hole is about the same size, but it also nearl literally touches the bottom part of the pipe, so that makes it hard for particles to get by, then.. if they do, the particles have to come from the front part of the pipe, around the sides of the bowl (which is where they end up stuck, cuz the passage wave between my bowl and the stem is very small) it never really gets clogged or anything, at most all i have to do is get a needle (i keep one on hand) and poke the hole at the bottom and ti's good for another bowl