bbq lighters also give you that exxxtrrraa little bit of reach that can help.

i have a four footer, it sits unused in my garage. It doesnt make sense really, my 4 is a really wide bore (2 3/4" INTERNAL DIAMETER!) so even tho its only 4 feet, it pakcs a **TON** of volume. and ill say this much, i love to hit it, but hate to fill it, and if you fuck up at the beggining, you can end up getting liek two tinned out hits instead of one nice stout milky one.

ive found, that my IDEAL size is anywhere between 12"-24". I have a 14" bubble base that is the PERFECT lap bong for watching tv, and it has the most fuckin badass bubble ever on the bottom (like 7" diameter at the fattest part) that holds ALOT of smoke, so i guess its the same as having a much larger straight tube. I know it hgeld more smoke than my 20" striaght(rip)

i think the big bong vs small bong battle has been battled out to just personal preference.