Comparison: H.s. Pharoah Vs. Km Hafa

[acolorado]

Since recently buying my first KM (the Hafa from hookahcompany.com - 32 inches) I thought others might be interested in seeing how it stacks up against another pipe (the Pharoah from Hookah-Shisha.com - 30 inches). This review was made using the two pipes, a nammor hose on each, the same flavor of shisha, and the heba diffuser. Both pipes sell for the same price.

Stem:
Pharoah - stem is made entirely of stainless steel. Easy to clean and looks nice - no weld marks. Seems to be a standard egyptian design and construction. The purge is terrible - you have to blow like a hurricane to get even a bit of smoke out. The hoseport is a definite negative as it constricts the airflow (look at the picture of the pipe on H.S. and you can see how small the base of the hoseport is). I thought it was great before I got the KM .

Hafa - stem is made of a brass core, a brass downstem (looks like brass anyway), and a stainless steel exterior. Sturdy, no weld marks, and looks nice. The most important and impressive feature is the huge width of the core. It is easily twice as large as the Pharoahs, and has almost no drag at all! The hoseport is also huge (even the hole from the heart to the hosepipe is bigger). The whole arrangement results in an incredibly easy and pleasant draw. The purge is amazing. The only downside is that some oil may be left over in the stem from manufacturing which needs to be cleaned out before it's used (scrub, scrub, scrub) .

Hands down the KM is already a far, far better pipe. Others have said it and I'll confirm, the hits are so easy it's just like breathing!

Tray - On the Pharoah the tray is fairly shallow and just sits on a bulge of the stem. It is terribly unstable and tips down to an angle on it's own. The Hafa tray is twice as deep, and rests on a second tray build into the pipe. The only downside to the Hafa tray is that it doesn't lock into place, and may rattle if a difusser is not used.

Again, the KM wins easily in my book simply because it stays in place.

Base:
Pharoah Genie Base - this base looks beautiful, and is certainly large and capable of holding alot of smoke. The mouth is fairly small though, and the only way I could get ice into it was by crushing the ice first (too much work!). Glass is thick and well made.

Hafa - the Hafa base is also stunning and also quite large. A huge improvement over the Pharoah is the much wider mouth, so ice cubes drop right in. It is also thick and well made.

Yet again, the KM is superior.

Side by side they both look good. But once you start to smoke them, it's like night and day. The Hafa draws so smoothly it's like smoking a piece of heaven! The easy purge is something most might take for granted, but after using the Pharoah it's a wonderful feeling to be able to clear out stale smoke without taking the whole thing apart. The tray actully sits horizontally, and again, after using the Pharoah it's nice to be rid of the irritation of watching the tray tip over on it's own. Not to mention I can now put ice in the base without needing a blender.

KM has earned a fan today!