Thunt

Enlisted Air Force, chiming in... I work in Finance and stationed in San Antonio, TX. Had absolutely no problem smoking outside of my dorm (inside is a no-no, obviously). As most have said, many people know what they are from being deployed. Now that I've been out of the dorms for a few years, haven't smoked on base since... That said, it's good knowing tons of people who are deployed who can bring you back loads of shisha.

San Antonio, TX.

Ok. Here is my set-up: 1) Filled the base with 8-10 ice cubes, then cool tap water until the stem is about 1" submerged. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14114605.jpg"]Pic[/url] 2) Connected base with stem. Tested for leaks (SUCKING on hose. Good seal). [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14114623.jpg"]Pic[/url] 3) Used 3 half Coconara coals on burner. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14114636.jpg"]Pic1[/url], [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14114644.jpg"]Pic2[/url] 4) Opened Al-Fakher apple esk and fluffed into bowl, slightly over the rim. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14114655.jpg"]Pic1[/url], [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115104.jpg"]Pic2[/url], [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115115.jpg"]Pic3[/url]. 5) Flipped over coals. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115024.jpg"]Pic(BEFORE FLIP)[/url], [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115048.jpg"]Pic(AFTER FLIP)[/url] 6) Covered with heavy duty foil, poked holes. Not ALL the way through, but at least a little bit into the shisha. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115255.jpg"]Pic1[/url], [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115456.jpg"]Pic2[/url] 7) Flipped over coals again, they look good. I think. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115544.jpg"]Pic[/url] 8) Set bowl on stem, coals on bowl. [url="http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14115816.jpg"]Pic[/url] Results: Got smoke from first pull. Excited! Getting decent flavor. Nothing too great though. I can taste a hint of apple. This is pretty constant through the whole session. After about 5-7 pulls, it got really harsh (NOTE: I'm not sure what the definition of "harsh" is. I'm assuming it's when you get that nasty feeling in the back of the throat causing you to cough). Fearing too much heat, I took a coal off. It got a little better, but I had to limit myself to small, light pulls due to harshness. I found out that purging the smoke from the base allowed me to take a nice pull. Would get a decent amount of smoke and not too harsh. So I was doing that one after 1-3 pulls. All in all, I moved the coals around and would flip them every 5 or so minutes. As I said before, not a whole lot of flavor. I'm guessing I'm not managing my heat properly. AND/OR not really knowing how to pull. I realize you're not supposed to pull into your lungs. I've never really smoke a cigarette before, so I cannot compare. I'm just sucking the air/smoke in and blowing it out (like a cigar?). In conclusion, a lot better session than last night. I feel like I'm headed in the right direction. Maybe a different brand of shisha? I want to be able to really taste the flavor, and not really concerned about the buzz. I'm thinking about trying StarBuzz. Comments? Help? Anything would be cool. Thanks!

Oh, and yes, I sucked into the hose, not blew. My bad! Correct, blowing would just open the purge valve. In the process of drying the Hookah and getting ready for some Al Fakher Apple Esk. Pictures a-come'n.

Thanks for the quick replies! I'm going to clean out the Hookah and start from scratch, taking pictures all the way through. Hopefully we get the the bottom of this!

Little background info: About in April or May of last year, I joined this site to get familiar with a Hookah that was given to us as a wedding gift. It turned out it was a pretty lame, horrible brand Hookah which was the reason we were getting really bad sessions out of it. Well, that and the shisha we were using was one of the worst brands as well as the coals. Needless to say, after browsing this site a while last year, and posting a little, I got myself a nice Hookah (KM, tri-metal)/shisha (Tangiers, Al Fakher)/small funnel bowl/etc. After reading up a ton on how to pack/smoke the Tangiers, I gave it a ago after acclimating for a while. I remember getting a light buzz, little smoke, but hardly any flavor. Not sure if it was because I live in San Antonio (south-ish Texas) and the Tangiers not being acclimated well do to our humidity. I also remember trying the Al Fakher with no avail. Discouraged, as well as a bunch of life stuff piling up, the hookah got set aside..... UNTIL NOW. [url=http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/All.jpg]Pic of package[/url]. Last Night: I brought the Hookah down from a top the refrigerator, dusted it off, and decided to smoke the living hell out of the thing... or so I thought. The Tangiers I have left over was gone. It smelled horrible (I guess from being over a year old, sitting in a Tupperware container). I wasn't going to chance getting myself sick, so out that stuff went. I still had my Al Fakher. Strawberry was open, but sealed very well, and the Apple I haven't even opened. I decided to give it a go. Here's what I did, step by step: 1) Filled the base with about 10 ice cubes, then with cool tap water up to the point where the stem is about an inch below the water line. 2) Started up the stove and put 2 Coco Nara coals on the burner. 3) Moistened the rubber seal on the stem and rim around bowl for easy connection. Connected. Made sure I had a good seal (covering top of stem and blowing into hose). 4) Fluffed the Al Fakher (Strawberry) into the Egyptian Bowl. [url=http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14094344.jpg]Pic1[/url], [url=http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14094357.jpg]Pic2[/url], [url=http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s209/TheHuntSA/2010-03-14094337.jpg]Pic3[/url]. Now, I brought the shisha up to the top of the bowl, maybe a tad below and did NOT pack it down. I wrapped heavy duty Reynold's Wrap around the bowl and just poked holes in the foil (not all the way down into the shisha). 5) Set the bowl on the stem, coals on the edge of the bowl, and puffed away. Ended up getting very, very little smoke. Got a little flavor. Also, got a headache after many pulls trying to get smoke. Not sure what it is I'm doing wrong. I would *LOVE* to get awesome smoke and great flavor. Any/every help would be very appreciated. Would love to waste away today perfecting this art. I remember reading that people were using the funnel bowl for Al Fakher.... are people still doing that?

Thanks for all the info! Is there an easy way to split these coco naras in half? It's been painful so far, lol.

3 halves was still harsh. :/ I knocked it down to 2 halves and still.... ugh. I am getting some good flavor... but this harshness is killing me. I packed it with a fork, and I think I got it down pretty good. The one thing I think it might be is the foil I'm using. It's a cheap generic foil, and not heavy duty Reynolds. I'm thinking it might be too thin and heating it way, way too much.

QUOTE (ilikemyusername @ Apr 29 2009, 03:43 PM) thats got to be the smallest phunnel i've ever seen, that thing is tiny, where did you get it? The funnel on the hookah in the picture is just a small tangiers funnel from HC.com. The egyptian bowl the hookah came with in next to the base.

QUOTE (mushrat @ Apr 29 2009, 03:40 PM) use 3 halves if you have to..spread em out. take the coals off and let it cool and try again. Yeah, that's what I figured. Already had 3 halves on the burner getting ready to go. Thanks!

Okay. Started with 3 Coco Naras and took my first few hits. Harsh. Dropped down to 2, and still harsh. Turned both on their sides and still a little harsh. :/ Maybe I'm a newbie smoker, but I'm trying not to cough after every hit. You guys ain't kidding about this buzz. It's wrecking my face right now.

QUOTE (mushrat @ Apr 29 2009, 11:00 AM) Welcome to the forum and thanks to both of you for your service to our country. Ya, a stup up to a KM from a cheap Mitsuba will be a pleasant change. What's in the little cartons? Thanks! And you're very welcome! Opps! Forgot to tell y'all about those. They're Fusion Pineapple and Orange. I think both of them were thrown in my box as a "gift", because I didn't order them. Either that or they goofed!

I should have got it yesterday, but the FedEx guy wouldn't drop the box off at my apartment office. I apparently needed to personally needed to sign the damn thing. After I found this out, I called the FedEx Shipping Office and they said they can hold it there so I can pick it up after 8am the next day. That's when I called into work and told them I wasn't going to be there tomorrow and they let me get away with it (I'm active duty military, too). So today I have my free day off and drove downtown to pick up my box. And here are the pics: The Box The Box (open) The Hookah/Shisha Gold (Sorry for the cellphone pics. My wife is deployed with our camera.) That's a tri-metal KM with a small funnel bowl on the top. Coco Nara coals, Al Fakher Golden Esk. Apple, Al Fakher Golden Strawberry, Tangiers Kashmir Peach, and Tangiers Bubble Gum. Currently acclimating the Bubble Gum. Smells awesome. We live in a 1 bedroom apartment so it took 2 seconds to fill the place up. This is a *huge* upgrade from our old hookah (Picture). I cannot wait to smoke this thing. I almost want to pack the Al Fakher now, but I want this baby's cherry popped with Tangiers. I want to thank HookahCompany.com for sending out the order and packing it super nice. But most of all I need to thank you guys and this forum in general. You've all taught me a lot in the past month or so. I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now without this site. Thanks! I look forward to all the threads I'll be making when I'm pissed off because I won't get Tangiers right the first time.

I hear ya. I'm just used to having a couple boxes of 50g of crappy shisha laying around. I've never had this much at one time. I'm super excited!

Well, $170 later.... ORDER PLACED! Went with the tri-metal hookah. Went with the Nara Coals. Still got the Small Funnel and gasket. 2 Tangiers: Bubble Gum and Kashmir Peach 2 Al Fakher: Golden Strawberry and Golden Esk. Apple) Hopefully it comes this weekend. :] Thanks for all the help!

QUOTE (Stuie @ Apr 22 2009, 08:38 AM) Either KM will be fine. A lot of people here have the hafa and love it and a lot of people have the tri metal and love it. Can't go wrong with either one. Cool Thanks! Also, anyone know how long it's going to take the order to get to my place? They ship this stuff from the US, right?

QUOTE (n0s @ Apr 22 2009, 08:35 AM) Looks like a good order to me. I'd get the tri-metal hands down, such a beautiful stem. I'd also get coconara's instead of AF coals, haven't tried the AF ones myself but I love coconara's. Yeah, I've heard people talk about both. I might swap the AF coals for the Nara's.

From HookahCompany. Hookah: http://www.hookahcompany.com/ruby_pharaoh_...h_3764_prd1.htm or http://www.hookahcompany.com/al_bakr_khali...h_3784_prd1.htm ? Shisha: Getting loads of Tangiers, Al Fakher, and Starbuzz. Is there a way to see what flavors they have in stock? I'm getting tons of shisha, and I just don't want to order all of it and just have my new Hookah with zero shisha to smoke. Coals: Japanese Style Silver Coals Al Fakher Coconut Coals Other: Small Tangiers Funnel Bowl Hookah Hose Gasket Opinions? I'm a 50% newbie when it comes to this stuff. Though, I think I have a really good idea on how to go about things just from browsing this forum everyday for the past 3 weeks or so. Thanks!

Rapid City, eh? I'll need to tell all my Air Force peeps at Ellsworth AFB to check you out. I'd love to drop by if I ever go TDY there.

New member here from San Antonio, Texas. I already made a thread on the General Board, but I think I should at least post an introduction here. Both my wife and I are active duty military (Air Force). She's currently deployed to the middle east. We got married last August and for a gift, her brother got us a Hookah from an EarthBound store at a local mall. We purchased a bunch of shisha there as well. Soon do I realize the cheapness of both the hookah and shisha. Before we got married I've been to a few Hookah lounges and got really accustomed to how a hookah should smoke and taste. Long story short, the Hookah is pretty cheap and the shisha is even worse. I'm looking at upgrading everything and planning on maybe putting an order in tonight if this go well. Anyways, I've been lurking the forums here for a few weeks now. I've been learning a lot and hope to put all this information to use here within the next few weeks. Thanks!

Wow! You guys are amazing. What a great community. You guy's seem to be very passionate about this, which I love. I'm going to take in all of this and do some more research tonight. Thank you for all the information and the links. I'll keep you all updated and I'll be sure to be back here with any questions I might (will) have. You all have been most helpful. Thank you!

I'm from San Antonio, Texas and have been into smoking Hookah for a few years now. First few years, I'd just go to various Hookah Bars/Lounges and just hang with friends now really getting into the technical side to smoking and just kicking back, sucking on the pipe. About 8 months ago, my brother in law bought us a Hookah as a wedding gift. He got it from an EarthBound store in the mall, and it shows. It's an Inhale Brand and seems to be pretty cheap (rubber o-rings cracking, paint chipping off, etc). We picked up some generic tobacco and coals and we were on our way. Little did I know we were doing a ton of things wrong, from using room temperature water, lighting the coal, placing it in the middle until it's out, etc. Long story short, I want to start from scratch, buy a really nice Hookah, and really get into this. The Beginners FAQ has been very helpful. I feel that I can get started very easily with all the info provided. Although, I still have some questions: 1) What would you recommend as a very good Hookah? I don't want a starter (kinda already have one). I would like to spend $100-$200 in a nice Hookah I can take care of for a long time. Also will be needed a funnel bowl, since I'm assuming those are commonly used now. Buying online would probably best suit me, correct? Is there a good place to buy Hookahs online? Any modifications I should be aware of? Special pipes? Bowls? I would like to purchase a new Hookah as soon as possible, so links would be very helpful, as were you got your Hookah, etc. 2) For tabacoo, I'm going to start with Tangiers and probably stick with that. Everyone here seems to be pretty much set on this. Is there a good site to buy tabacoo from as well? 3) Any good Hookah shops in San Antonio/Austin? I can find plenty of bars, but no shops. Can't seem to find any info online. I think that's about it for right now. I'm sure I'll have other questions. This site/forum has been most helpful so far, and reading all the past threads have further my knowledge in the Hookah World. Thank you for your time.