A comparison - Social Smoke vs other guys

[ioannisds]

So, I just placed my second order with Social Smoke the other day, and
today I decided I wanted to add a charcoal basket to my order. 
After chatting with their live customer support, I was again reminded
how truly spectacular their service/products are.  No, I am not
whoring myself out like, ahem, a member whose name rhymes with
bath .  As some of you will
remember, my first order with Social Smoke was not 100% perfect, but
they made things right in the end, and this is what really matters in
my opinion.

I ordered another hookah from another company (that will go unnamed)
awhile back, and I have decided to do a side by side comparison of what
I got from Social Smoke with my first hookah, and what I got from the
other guys.  I don't want to say who this other place is publicly
on the forum, but if you MUST know, you can PM me.

I took some pics, and will post the links/my observations below. 
I think you will see that Social Smoke truly kicks ass in the Egyptian
hookah department.      

[ioannisds]

First off, the bases from both companies are very nice.  My
original from Social Smoke was cracked (got a replacement without
hassle).  This is more a problem with the UPS idiots who have
trouble reading the big red stickers that say FRAGILE on the outside of
the boxes they throw at my front door.  It was actually packed
very well, and I ended up with enough styrofoam peanuts to fill a
fellow employees locker at work.

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/bases.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/bases.jpg[/url]

[cypress]

[quote name='ioannisds']No, I am not
whoring myself out like, ahem, a member whose name rhymes with
bath .   
 [/quote]

Dont call him out like that.  We dont want to have any animosity
here.  Have you looked at the copy cat  forum lately? Its
growing. What we need is to play nice here because apperently some of
our members are going over there.

[ioannisds]

The stem, to me, is the most important part of the hookah.  A
quick and dirty weld will yield air leaks, the Kryptonite of your
smoking experience.  This is where Social Smoke far surpasses the
other guys.  My stem from Social was flawless and airtight. 
I am sorry I cannot say the same for the stem from the other
place. 

Here is a weld on the neck of the Social Smoke stem:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem3.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem3.jpg

And a weld on the other stem:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherstem3.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherste.../otherstem3.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/s...erstem3.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/s...erstem3.jpg

As you can see, the Social Smoke stem is much cleaner, and more
attention was paid to fit and finish.  Same kinds of issues where
the hose enters the stem.  This is where I had an air leak on the
other stem.  Notice how the weld is focused on one side of the
ring, leaving the other unsealed. 

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherstem1.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherstem1.jpg[/url]

I was able to fix the leak with a torch, as I really did not want to go
through the hassle of sending it back and waiting for a replacement
that would in all likelihood not be a whole lot better.  For
comparison, here is the same spot on the Social stem:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem1.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem1.jpg[/url]

Again, much cleaner, and with a good seal.

Finally, the nut welded on the end of the stem to keep you from ripping
open your flesh (I assume) was much nicer on the Social Stem:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem2.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialstem2.jpg[/url]

Especially when compared to the nut on the other stem, which popped off
(please try and ignore the solder/discoloration.  That was my
doing when I repaired it):

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherstem2.jpg%5b/url"]]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherstem2.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/o...erstem2.jpg

[ioannisds]

[quote name='cypress'][quote name='ioannisds'] No, I am not
whoring myself out like, ahem, a member whose name rhymes with
bath .   
 [/quote]

Dont call him out like that.  We dont want to have any animosity
here.  Have you looked at the copy cat  forum lately? Its
growing. What we need is to play nice here because apperently some of
our members are going over there.

[/quote]

You are right cypress.  I apologize.  Feel free to take that part out of my post.  Sorry.

[ioannisds]

Next the hoses.  The Social Smoke hookah came with what I am
assuming is a Mya hose, as it looks exactly the same as the two hoses I
ordered from Mya to replace those that came with the other
hookah.  The other hookah came with cobra hoses.  They look
nice, but draw too tight, are not washable, and just do not feel as
good in the hand as the Myas.  Sorry, no pics of these.  I am
assuming you all know what the Myas look like, and I sold the cobra
hoses to somebody at work who wanted them.

[ioannisds]

Finally, the accessories.  You'd think these would be pretty much
the same across the board, but there were huge differences in quality
as well.  I like to use screens, and the Social Smoke screen hole
pattern is much more evenly spread across the top:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialscreen.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialscreen.jpg

Especially when compared to the other screen:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherscreen.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherscr...otherscreen.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/s...rscreen.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/s...rscreen.jpg

Yes, the Social screen smokes much better.

Big difference in brushes too.  The nice, big, fluffy Social Smoke brushes:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialbrushes.jpg"]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/socialbrushes.jpg[/url]

And the other brushes, in need of some Viagra:

[url="http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherbrushes.jpg%5b/url"]]http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/otherbru...ushes.jpg[/url]://http://home.usamedia.tv/ioannisds/o.....ushes.jpg

I did not do a side by side of the bowls, as I ordered a stainless
steel one from Social Smoke, and a clay one from the other place. 
Apples and oranges.  Both were fine.

Again, I am not trying to promote Social Smoke because they are sending
me some freebies or anything like that.  I am just trying to share
my experiences with two different companies, and how Social Smoke comes
out on top in every category.  I just feel that you can't go wrong
with them. 

[Lakemonster]

Very interesting pics.....
It would appear that the person who made your second hookah was rushing the brazing.. not heating the area up enough to get the solder to suck up into the cracks.
Solder will clump on you like that if you dont get the area good and hot.