jfaltous

[quote name='momentum' timestamp='1291659918' post='490495'] Ordering the hookah itself wont be an issue, if they tax it at all, it will just be 7% GST. [/quote] Down to 5% these days Usually on items up to $60 there will be no fees. Beyond that, expect to pay local taxes and a brokerage fee. If arriving via Canada Post, this fee is minimal (off the top of my head, $2-5). If arriving via UPS, FedEx, etc, their brokerage fee is closer to the $20-30 mark. Often you can buy from someone who will put a little white lie on the customs form to bring the value down to $50 or so and ship it by USPS to avoid any extra charges at the border. The downside of course is that you can't insure anything past that amount on the package. Great choice on the Vortex though, that was my first hookah too

I have the same problem when I'm adding a new set of coals to my phunnel bowl, and the solution I have is rather simplistic and still wasteful, but suits my purposes: 2 coconara coals (or AF/3k/etc) on any size phunnel, mini to large. Very generally speaking, the difference between the bowl size only really regulates how quickly you have to rotate the coals, and when I'll use a windcover to get more heat. Usually off the first set of coals I'll only rotate them once when its required, and I'll usually rotate them 1/3 of the way around the bowl. When I feel the coals need to be rotated again, they'll already be down below 1/4 their original size and ready to be replaced... so I'll just fire up a new set, and put them 1/3 of the way around the bowl on the portion that hasn't been touched yet, thus avoiding that ash taste. From there you can continue to rotate them around until they go out, but throwing on a new set will be way too hot and will give the ash taste anyways, so with this method you're still limited to 2 sets of coals (about a 2-2.5 hour session, with good use of a windcover). By that point I'm ready for a new flavor anyways, so even if the bowl has enough in it to last another 2 hours I'd rather be wasteful and pack something new. The ash taste only comes when you're adding a hotter heat source to a portion of the bowl that has already been burned through. There's always the option of peeling the foil back and giving it a little mix, getting the fresh shisha to the top, but if I'm going to do that much I'd rather just pack a new bowl.

I'd like to get in on this. I've had success with OG, but very very very limited success. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada - very dry here. To get the stuff to smell right takes days of acclimation alone, and even then its still got that burnt aspect to it. I've got quite a bit of Tangiers kicking around for it

Location might help if you only do local Why are you selling it all if you just bought it?

QUOTE (gunsboy @ May 20 2009, 09:53 AM) My HS order is not here yet I will never order anything from H-S Shipped Via: Priority Mail International Date shipped: 5/6/2009 The coals I am using now are shit. I hate them. Can't really blame H-S on that one, its USPS/CanadaPost that are screwing you over. Priority Mail International is 6-10 business days, and once its shipped its out of their hands. I've had some orders come in 3 business days, others in 15. There's no logic to it, I'm guessing its just dependent on how backed up and/or lazy the customs guys are. Also, my packages typically spend 4-6 days in customs and come out without problems, so I wouldn't necessarily worry about that just yet.

My Syrian has a very similar design on the stem (I think):

Flavors are something that will take time to figure out, that's for sure... One thing that I would look out for though, on the Myas you got 30 QTs and 15 hose adapters. I don't know if you made a special deal with whatever vendor you used, but typically a QT will come with a hose adapter that is valve-free, and I'm assuming the additional hose adapters that you bought are with valves... however when you go to a multi-hose setup, you'll probably want to switch out the regular adapter and put on 2 valved ones. If that's the case, you'll probably want to double up on the valved hose adapters. Or on the off chance that you got the extra hose adapters without valves, I'd personally recommend that you change your approach to using ones with valves (all you lose is the purge, and it's not like QTs purge well anyways).

Imo things like this should only be done if there is one organizing individual that's willing to front the costs, and not take money until there's a product in hand ready to be shipped... I personally have avoided group buys because of the large potential for complications, especially when there is a several month period between sending money and receiving goods. I support mush on this, it's not like he's saying not to do it, just don't do it directly on here. Going through e-mail works just as well.

QUOTE (ih303 @ Apr 19 2009, 12:45 PM) Great stuff, everybody. Thanks a lot for the feedback. I will be posting pictures in the next day or so so stay tuned to this channel. I have a question about hoses. I wanted to use something like a Razan or Grand, but the problem with those is you can't fit a tip on them. Personally, I don't mind swapping a little saliva at a hookah lounge but there are plenty who do. How do I solve this? Is there a hose tip anywhere out there that can fit over these hoses? How have you guys seen this issue be dealt with at other places? You can get hose tips that fit on the inside of the mouthpiece as opposed to the outside. Those work just fine on both Razans and Grands.

Oh, and on another note: be wary of the cheap alcohol idea. You're just inviting people to come there and get drunk for cheap, with hookahs on the side... and drunk people + hookahs rarely mix well. I'd suggest something like a "2 drink maximum" rule, or something of the sort, with an allowance for more based on subjective reasoning from the server.

QUOTE (ZWAN @ Apr 17 2009, 09:41 AM) At the HB in Calgary they have a somewhat decent pricing system First bowl $13 and a reload for $10.95 they also charge an extra couple of dollars for premium flavors http://cafemed.ca/menu.html check out there menu, some good ideas on there I didn't read through this whole thread, so I apologize if there's repetition here, but there's other factors to take into account. First of all, the prices here are CDN, so equate it to roughly $10 USD per bowl... but looking at this place in particular (and other Calgary places), keeping in mind that I haven't been there in about a year though, they use *tiny* Egyptian bowls (~5-8g), and give you two coals total per bowl. Most modern bowls use almost 2-3 times as much tobacco, and a phunnel would use significantly more than that. Also, they use cheap tobacco. There's the service aspect to be taken into account as well... At this and other local places they light one coal and put it on the bowl for you, and leave another in the tray (quicklights only)... and sometimes, not always, they'll come around and light the second one for you. But otherwise, you're on your own. So for that $10 price point, there's little in the way of hands-on service (meaning much less labor cost), there is no coal management that they do, no natural coals, etc. I would much rather pay $20 for a decent sized bowl with natural coals that are being replaced as needed by the people serving me. As for stepping it up to a more expensive brand, I wouldn't mind paying an extra $2 to $3 for a "premium" option. Keep in mind this is a selling point as well, if there's someone who doesn't necessarily know the brands but sees "premium" written there with a very marginal extra cost, they'll likely order it just for the sake of it.

QUOTE (bobo_piggy @ Apr 9 2009, 11:50 AM) I don't think so. H-S is one of the best vendor for international buyer IMO. I never get problem when i purchase shisha from them. My case, they alway write to the label as Fruit molasses. I've asked them specifically to do this in the past, and they said they wouldn't... so I just ordered the non-tobacco stuff I wanted from them. On that I also requested that they reduce the value and mark it as a gift if they could, and they didn't, so I got hit with customs. It was a small amount though, just GST and a brokerage fee. I've ordered from many vendors online personally, and I've read many posts about international orders on these forums, and I'd say H-S is without a doubt the worst choice for international buyers among the popular vendors. I know about 5 or 6 people off the forums that have ordered from H-S and every one of them has gotten hit with customs on their order.