My Set

[Katmew]

My boyfriend and I bought a hookah set about 3 weeks ago and have gotten nothing but problems. The first time was that the hose was tight and it wasn't a good hose, but luckily it came with a second hose which was way better. After about a couple days we figured our shisha we have been using was not that good of a quality. We bought better brands and fixed that problem and went from instant lights to regular coals. So we fixed all the minor problems. Here is the real killer. We were thinking for the past couple weeks that the real problem was the set. My boyfriend had reassured me that the set really doesn't matter but I've also heard that anything can afftect the taste. First off there were suppose to be rubber-band type things near the nozzle to where the hookah hose is suppose to attatch to because you want to tightly secure the nozzle and you also can screw and unscrew it off to clean. Well after a while the rubberbands just fell off, so the nozzle would just spin and spin and spin around and our only choice was to tighten it with foil. We had also bought a new bowl because the inclusive one broke. But before that the hoses broke too so we bought a new hose. We have been investing a lot of money into our hookah set and recently it doesn't seem to be work figuring out that we just bought a bad hookah set. The hookah set was bought from any old tobacco shop that doesn't know much about hookah, setting it up, coals or shisha. It was only $40 but retail it was $60. It is a minature set and it is about 15-17 inches high.




This is almost what it exactly looks like but the in the middle above the water bowl, instead of the metal, it's glass. Those were what the crappy hoses looked like too. And the inclusive bowl broke so imagine about a half inch taller bowl and everything is blue instead (not like it matters).

Sorry for the essay but I'm trying to give as much discription as possible to find out the broblem I am having.

List of problems and the set up:

Need to know what type of hookah set this is.
My smoke is not becoming thick. When it is thick it's either too much coal or too harsh.
The Natural coals I have dont last long even when I put it on the foil at bright orange.
I break up the shisha when putting it in the bowl and after I use it I refrigerate it and it does not taste as good.
The foil I use is normal foil folded in two.
I use toothpicks to poke holes.

[racemyghost]

I didnt read your essay ( ) but i did read your list of problems.

1.what brand coals are you using?
2.make sure the stem is only about 1" into the water
3.do NOT refrigerate your shisha!! and what brand are you using?
4.what kind of hole pattern do you use?
5. that hookah looks like the one my cousin got me from chinatown for $15 (no offense) and its vary poorly made. The piece that you plug in the hose broke off, rust after 1 use, pipping diameter is way to narrow to get any decent hits. Its just pure crap (mine, dont know about yours) So i leave it as decoration on my desk.

[Katmew]

Im using coals from the local Hookah shop I go to. They gave me 2 dollars worth of coals that lasted me about 2 weeks of off and on smoking so I dont really know unless I go to them and ask. All I know for now is that they are natural

The store I went to told me to refrigerate it. Why shouldn't I? (out of curiosity) What is the difference.

The hole pattern i use is like a tick-tack-toe shape with the middle, middle-top, and middle-botton all punched out

What type of set should I buy? I am low on cash and all the decent sets I've seen are over $80. I am kind of in a pinch with money right now. Does the size of the hookah set count on how well I get a hit?

[hookah hippie]

put many holes in the foil not only a few

secondly you don't put shisha in the fridge because it makes the tobacco's juices messed up

also make sure your hookah is air tight

[Foos]

To answer some of your questions:

Dont refrigerate your shisha because it has no positive effect to it. In fact I think it can have degrading effects, what ive read here is basically store your tobacco in the same conditions your going to smoke it in.

I would look into some of the online retailers for better products. There is a whole list of them in the vendor review section. Ive had great experiences with a lot of the vendors and ordering things online is usually cheaper than buying in stores due to high mark ups.

Heat distribution is a large part of getting a good session. If your using natural coals make sure they are completely ashed over, don't pack your bowls too tightly, place the tobacco, don't push it down too much. Start off with small amounts of heat and work your way up. If you drop 3 large coals on the bowl to start your going to burn the shisha resulting in bad taste and harsh smoke.

As for buying a new pipe, there are a lot of good hookahs out there for under $80. In my opinion size does matter, the larger the pipe the better the smoke, BUT again its really up to how you set it up and how you manage your heat. In fact I don't think you should consider size too much if you buy a new pipe, quality is more important.

Hope this helps. Edited October 31, 2007 by Foos

[Sonthert]

My boyfriend and I bought a hookah set about 3 weeks ago and have gotten nothing but problems. The first time was that the hose was tight and it wasn't a good hose, but luckily it came with a second hose which was way better. After about a couple days we figured our shisha we have been using was not that good of a quality. We bought better brands and fixed that problem and went from instant lights to regular coals. So we fixed all the minor problems. Here is the real killer. We were thinking for the past couple weeks that the real problem was the set. My boyfriend had reassured me that the set really doesn't matter but I've also heard that anything can afftect the taste. First off there were suppose to be rubber-band type things near the nozzle to where the hookah hose is suppose to attatch to because you want to tightly secure the nozzle and you also can screw and unscrew it off to clean. Well after a while the rubberbands just fell off, so the nozzle would just spin and spin and spin around and our only choice was to tighten it with foil. We had also bought a new bowl because the inclusive one broke. But before that the hoses broke too so we bought a new hose. We have been investing a lot of money into our hookah set and recently it doesn't seem to be work figuring out that we just bought a bad hookah set. The hookah set was bought from any old tobacco shop that doesn't know much about hookah, setting it up, coals or shisha. It was only $40 but retail it was $60. It is a minature set and it is about 15-17 inches high.




This is almost what it exactly looks like but the in the middle above the water bowl, instead of the metal, it's glass. Those were what the crappy hoses looked like too. And the inclusive bowl broke so imagine about a half inch taller bowl and everything is blue instead (not like it matters).

Sorry for the essay but I'm trying to give as much discription as possible to find out the broblem I am having.

List of problems and the set up:

Need to know what type of hookah set this is.
My smoke is not becoming thick. When it is thick it's either too much coal or too harsh.
The Natural coals I have dont last long even when I put it on the foil at bright orange.
I break up the shisha when putting it in the bowl and after I use it I refrigerate it and it does not taste as good.
The foil I use is normal foil folded in two.
I use toothpicks to poke holes.

I think thats a Mya or an Inhale. Its pink. It wholesales around $12 with the case.
Leaks or constrictions are the reason your smoke isn't thick enough. The hoses on those are notably thin and crappy. That is, assuming you are packing your bowl properly. Using the foil to seal things up may be most of the problem. It needs repair or replacement.
You need to keep those coals on the heating source until they develop a white dust all the way around them...that indicates they are actually burning. It is possible to get them heated very hot...(yellow-orange), but they still aren't burning, so when they cool off they are useless again.
Foil is fine. The way you put it on is fine...doesn't matter much, really.
I like more, larger holes...if you use less tobacco, fewer, smaller holes are the way to go.
Refrigerating sheesha will shorten its shelf-life, if its a high moisture content tobacco. It doesn't improve it, for the most part.

[shisha fan]

i think the problem here is the hookah. i`m sorry, but it is not exactly one of the better pipes. and what were you thinking when you bought a pink one?(no offence) Edited November 1, 2007 by shisha fan

[Foos]

i think the problem here is the hookah. i`m sorry, but it is not exactly one of the better pipes. and what were you thinking when you bought a pink one?(no offence)

The OP never said that the hookah in that pic is theirs. OP actually said it was blue.

[RayVer]

hey actually I think my g/f has the same hookah! hers has a black vase and is a 1 hose. It smoked pretty good. She hasn't had problems with it yet.

[Katmew]

Thanks for the reply guys. This really helps. And also I think I've used the crap hookah set enough times to get the shisha packing and the coals right. My boyfriend and I use grilling coals to heat our natural coals. It's something we've made up and that has worked in a cheap way because he has a grill and a lot of grilling coals he does not use. We get the natural coals heated up until they are BRIGHT ORANGE all around and when they sit on the foil in the beginning we have to replace them often until the shisha is heated up and yes we do punch a lot of small holes. After the shisha is heated then the coals nicely ash over so then they're fine and we leave them alone. I know that we are doing the shisha right because when the smoke gets into the water bowl thing (sorry for my newbness) the smoke is almost so thick that you can see only a small outline of the pipe and the smoke is not harsh at all. So now I believe its the set. I'll be looking around to see if I can find any good sets and post them up for you guys to see

And again thanks a lot guys I am not lost anymore.

And by the way, mine was blue That was just a picture of what it looked like, and not the color.

P.S. I use the shisha brand Layalina mixed fruit and mint. And I was wondering do you guys get the full flavor of the same package even on the second and third time after opening it? Edited November 1, 2007 by Katmew

[ZenSilk]

It could justa s well be the height of the hookah, you'll get much warmer smoke than you would if it was taller than 25".