Traditional Hookahs And Quality Issues

[mushrat]

There have been a lot of complaints lately about the quality of Traditional hookahs bought from a variety of vendors. From them not looking EXACTLY like th eone in the picture to sloppy welds and bent hose ports. Thus beginneth the sermon.

Look folks, These traditional hookahs from Egypt, Syria, etc are NOT being mass produced in some hi tech factory. They are being hand made in small workshops all over the place, using often salvaged materials, and being turned out using methods that probably havent changed much in a few hundred years. The actualy cost if you were going directly to the people making them is liekly about 10-15 bucks per hookah. And there are no quality control laws in effects in most of these places. WHAT KIND OF QUALITY DO YOU EXPECT?

You think each and every one is going to be perfectly polished, straight, with perfect welds, no excess metals, no dings and dents? Lets be reasonable.

And where do you think they are getting the materials for the downpipes for instance? Home Depot? Alcoa? I seriously doubt they are getting fresh, new piping from a plumbing store. These pieces are found where they can get them. I remember someone cutting open a traditional hookah and finding the down pipe was a piece of old gas line. And we've already discussed lead solder in the welds.

Guys, these hookahs are each hand made, in small shops, as fast as they can make em, using what they have on hand. They are going to each be unique with their own flaws and personalities. For you all to expect each hookah to look exactly like the one in a picture is being unrealistic, and while many folks are looking for the cheapest you can find in a particular configuration, you are going to get the quality you pay for. And these things come from the middle east by the shipping container. Thousands of them per container. It's not like the vendors we get them from personally inspect each hookah to make sure it looks exactly like the one they have in the picture, and i doubt they can send the ones that are a little off back. They are going to sell what they have. If they held back the ones that were a little off I suspect they'd run out of room in their warehouses real fast.

People today are used to mass produced perfect copies of things, you want that, get a Mya. You want a hookah with personality that actually looks like it was made by a real person in a real workshop, in some real traditional place, learn to live with a bent port, a sloppy weld, a bubble in the glass, and remember, if you demand lower prices, you run the risk of demanding lower quality.

Thus ends the sermon, I'll see if I can find te thread with the pictures of the cut open hookah.

[shisha fan]

i agree with you to some extend. sometimes it can be a good thing if something isn`t mass produced.
i have some traditional egyptians and some mass produced, and they all smoke great. after a while
you get a sense of what you`re looking for in a hookah, therefore you can better start off with a cheap
egyptian. i got my first hookah when i was 14 and i didn`t know anything about what makes a good hookah,
i`m glad i didn`t buy a $250 one the first time.

[Johnny_D]

Mush is right.

Outside of MYA you are going to be hard-pressed to find identical hookah's [even from the same workshop]

Allmost all are made in the Middle East. What is often seen as a 'flaw' is really part of the 'charm'.

It's not like were paying £100's for these things! Hence why i tend to replace my hookah's on a yearly basis. [The old one's are relegated to the museum]

JD

[mushrat]

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2112&hl=
http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showtopic=7578&hl=
http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2009&hl=

Some threads of interest.

[shisha fan]

the thread about stainless steel is mostly true, but if you`re willing to spend $80 you`ll get a really good hookah for that (from my experience)

[LebanonPride]

nargileh is a piece of art! u have to accept the flaws in products as part of the art which adds to the charm and bueaty of it!

my first arg would not seal - it is a traditional lebanese piece with a small base and small bowl - it took me 2 years to get it to smoke RIGHT and bubble every time . . it is an art and a way of living for many of us arab / habibi that you must learn to appreciate !! no 2 argileh is the same!

[LassicJr]

There have been a lot of complaints lately about the quality of Traditional hookahs bought from a variety of vendors. From them not looking EXACTLY like th eone in the picture to sloppy welds and bent hose ports. Thus beginneth the sermon.

Look folks, These traditional hookahs from Egypt, Syria, etc are NOT being mass produced in some hi tech factory. They are being hand made in small workshops all over the place, using often salvaged materials, and being turned out using methods that probably havent changed much in a few hundred years. The actualy cost if you were going directly to the people making them is liekly about 10-15 bucks per hookah. And there are no quality control laws in effects in most of these places. WHAT KIND OF QUALITY DO YOU EXPECT?

You think each and every one is going to be perfectly polished, straight, with perfect welds, no excess metals, no dings and dents? Lets be reasonable.

And where do you think they are getting the materials for the downpipes for instance? Home Depot? Alcoa? I seriously doubt they are getting fresh, new piping from a plumbing store. These pieces are found where they can get them. I remember someone cutting open a traditional hookah and finding the down pipe was a piece of old gas line. And we've already discussed lead solder in the welds.

Guys, these hookahs are each hand made, in small shops, as fast as they can make em, using what they have on hand. They are going to each be unique with their own flaws and personalities. For you all to expect each hookah to look exactly like the one in a picture is being unrealistic, and while many folks are looking for the cheapest you can find in a particular configuration, you are going to get the quality you pay for. And these things come from the middle east by the shipping container. Thousands of them per container. It's not like the vendors we get them from personally inspect each hookah to make sure it looks exactly like the one they have in the picture, and i doubt they can send the ones that are a little off back. They are going to sell what they have. If they held back the ones that were a little off I suspect they'd run out of room in their warehouses real fast.

People today are used to mass produced perfect copies of things, you want that, get a Mya. You want a hookah with personality that actually looks like it was made by a real person in a real workshop, in some real traditional place, learn to live with a bent port, a sloppy weld, a bubble in the glass, and remember, if you demand lower prices, you run the risk of demanding lower quality.

Thus ends the sermon, I'll see if I can find te thread with the pictures of the cut open hookah.

I just found this site last night and I love the discussions that occur here. After reading this one I became concerned. I am a new hookah owner so please be easy on me. I have a brass Egyptian model. In my limited experience, it smokes quite nice. It does have evidence of what you mention about weld points. I can't find the earlier threads you refer to about lead solder. Can you either point me to those posts or reexplain the topic? How do you know if these are lead solders? Is that a problem?

Thanks in advance all.

Lassic Jr.

[mathuv]

Yeah egyptian hookahs arent that expensive either, you get what you pay for. nice post mushrat. Like where I live, an egyptian hookah can go anywhere from $25 for a 12 inch one to $60 for a 32 inch giant. I live in Malta, which is close to Africa so hookah isnt that expensive here, i get 250g of Nakhla for about $4. Im gonna buy myself a small 12 inch hookah tomorrow =)

[Huskysibe]

Nice post Mushrat, you are spot on! The small inconsistencies are part of the personality, thats what makes them so cool IMHO.

Billy