Archive for the ‘Hookah Accessories’ Category

• THE GREAT VASE/OFF

  Date: 2010.08.13 | Category: Hookah Accessories | Response: 1

  

  In previous blogs we’ve gone over different types of bowls and different types of stems – but today… today we talk about the butt of the hookah. Some people like them nice and rounded, others like them thin and solid. What? Get your mind out of the gutter, we’re talking about the vase!

  TRADITIONAL VASES –

  You can generally tell where a vase originates due to its shape – this is especially true for a great deal of Traditional vases. Egyptian vases tend to come in the standard bell vase shape. This vase shape works wonderfully with a long downstem, but is sadly lacking without one. There are various modifications to this basic shape, but almost all of them will tip a little bit easily, which is their main flaw. Traditional vases often come with hand-painting… which can look really good when it’s well-done, but the mass-produced vases will often be sloppy.

  Here are some good examples of what to expect from your traditional vases:
  

  MODERN VASES –

  Modern Vases come in all shapes and sizes. Some are machine manufactured, others are hand blown. Once you’ve seen a modern vase and a traditional vase side by side, however, definite distinctions come into play. First and foremost, modern vases tend to have wild designs already etched or added into the glass when it was originally blown. This allows for a great departure from the traditional vases that have hand-painted and often shoddy work. However, Traditional vases have a tried and true design for getting the most smoke, while the bad Modern vases – since there are so many different shapes – tend to have somewhat “whack” designs. That’s right. We said whack.

  In any case, the most popular and utilitarian modern vases include: Sahara Smoke’s dish vase pattern where the broad bottom prevents tipping, Mya Saray’s bambino vase which is like a rounded grenade, and Social Smoke’s simplistic broad-based design. These are typically seen as the best modern vases for smoke and style.

  Here’s what to expect from the nice moderns:
  

  However, the opposite is also true for our modern vases… take a look at these travesties:
  

  MODERN VS TRADITIONAL — TAKE YOUR PICK!

  

• Knock, Knock! Hose there?

  Date: 2010.07.02 | Category: Hookah Accessories | Response: 1

  NAMMOR KM Hoses VELVET ROPE HOSE WITH METAL HANDLE MYA LARGE HANDLED HOSE	Nammor hoses are produced for Hookah-shisha and are one of the most popular hookah hoses on the market. Featuring a wrapped rubber design with no metal coil on the inside – they are completely washable. The other thing that makes the Nammor hose a crowd favorite is its long, solid handle and its sculpted acrylic mouthpiece. Finally, the Nammor has a wide gauge throughout its 72 inch length, making it a definite favorite for making big clouds. Egyptian hookah master Khalil Mamoon has created a wide variety of hoses to go with his hookahs – they generally have long handles, wide gauging for better pull, and acrylic mouthpieces. However, they have one hose that really stands out on the market – the Khalil Mamoon pro hose . It’s a bit shorter than your average hose, hitting only 60 inches overall, but it’s almost an inch wide in diameter! The Khalil Mamoon pro hose blows all other hoses out of the water as far as easy airflow goes. The only downsides to the KM Pro hose? It’s not washable and it’s the most expensive of the listed hoses. One of Sahara Smoke’s best sellers, these wide gauge, velvet covered hoses feature a 1 foot long metal handle at the end that is coated over with acrylic. Their total length is 72 inches, a full 6 feet of handle and hose. Most hoses on the market that feature a long handle are Egyptian styled, however this hose stands apart due to its modern styling, and sleek design. If you’re looking for a change from the traditional Egyptian handled hoses, this might be your best choice. Mya Saray has added their own large handled hose to their line-up and given it a very descriptive name. Shaped much like a Nammor or KM hose, instead of an acrylic mouthpiece it sports a removable standard wooden piece. Wrapped in the signature MYA stamped synthetic leather, these hoses also sport a wide gauge and can compete with the big boys. While they may not be as pretty to look at, these little hoses definitely get the job done. Their selling factor? This hose measures a full 80 inches in length, making it a beast.
  So there you have it, a good overview of several flagship hoses. Take it from us, any one of these hoses can greatly increase your smoking experience!

  

• Bowling for Bowls – What Works and What Doesn’t

  Date: 2010.06.25 | Category: Hookah Accessories, Hookah Bowls | Response: 1

  There are tons of bowls available for hookahs on the market today – with a host of different shapes and materials available, not all bowls are created equal.  What you’re going to get out of this blog is an overview of shapes and materials to help you make the best decision.
  CLAY, CERAMIC, AND PYREX – the eternal argument
  CLAY BOWL CERAMIC BOWL PYREX BOWL	If you see a bowl that’s not made out of 1 of these 3 materials… you should probably avoid it. There are a few bowls on the market that are made of aluminum that are effective, but due to metal’s tendency to heat up rapidly, shisha tends to burn more rapidly in metal bowls. First, there’s the old traditional bowls that are made of clay – and they’re made of clay for a good reason.  As soon as the clay is fired, it becomes a ceramic, and as such it gains properties that make it both heat resistant and deflect heat.  Once clay is fired it goes through a permanent chemical change that makes it remain that way forever – unless you really want to take the time to shatter it into dust. So, what’s the difference between clay bowls and ceramic bowls, since clay becomes a ceramic when fired?  Well, it’s all a matter of semantics, for sure, so bear with me for a second.  ‘Clay’ bowls are made from the reddish clay that is used in old pottery and bricks.  Think about a chimney in a house – more than likely it’s made of bricks.  In this case the chimney and the clay bowl are serving much the same purpose. Modern ‘ceramic bowls’ on the other hand are typically made with the less coarse, less heat resistant ceramic that’s known as “whiteware.”  If you see it unglazed it will be white or off-white.  This is the style of ceramic that’s used to make tableware like plates.  However, while it may not be the better heat reflector, since it’s less coarse it allows for more elaborate bowl forms – that’s why bowls such as the Vortex, the Phunnel, and Mya bowls that require more formation to perform a slightly different function will favor this material. Finally, there’s Pyrex, one of the more versatile materials on the list.  It doesn’t reflect heat anywhere near as well as clay or ceramic, but it’s the only way to get an entirely see-through medium, making it highly favored for aesthetic reasons, if not the most efficient way to smoke hookah.  The other positive side of Pyrex is that an experienced glass blower can shape it to their whim and create the most complex designs of any of the materials.
  SHAPES AND DESIGNS
  There are a ton of shapes and designs on the market today – but there are only a few that are tried and true.  There are some gimmicky bowls out there that simply don’t work the way that they were intended to.  Those won’t be mentioned – this is simply about the designs that work. First up – the Egyptian clay bowl.  These bowls tend to be somewhat shallow with 4 large holes drilled through the bottom.  Since the holes are large, it has increased air flow, but doesn’t work well for extremely juicy shisha such as Starbuzz or Fantasia.  A drier shisha is preferred – like Nakhla, Al Fakher or Ayam Zaman. Next, we come to the regular ceramic bowl – formatted after the clay Egyptian bowl, it tends to be a little bit deeper with smaller holes in the bottom.  Airflow is a little bit more restricted, but it works better with the moist shisha than the Egyptian bowl simply due to the hole size.  However, it also has a higher chance to overheat due to it being made of a “whiteware” style of ceramic.
  	Now, the acclaimed Vortex bowl is also made of a whiteware style of ceramic, but in this case, design overtakes material, making it one of the highest ranked bowls simply by using innovation to force the moisture to remain in the bottom of the bowl, making your smoke more flavorful and your tobacco more resistant to burning. Finally, we come to Pyrex bowls – and most bowls have a Pyrex version.  The Vortex shape, the standard Egyptian shape, and a whole host of other options fall into this category – and, as stated above, they may not be quite as practical as their ceramic/clay counterparts, but they will always be the most aesthetically pleasing, and a bit more expensive.
  So there you have it – the most common materials… the most common styles of bowl – and a few prime examples of how to best utilize them.  To be honest, if you read the entire blog, I applaud you.  I’m worn out from writing, it’s time to go pack a bowl – Happy Smoking!