General Hookah Safety

[gr!m]

I am anything but a veteran Hookah smoker, though I have learned a great deal about the ins and outs of smoking through trial and error over the past 4 months. For any newcomers to the Hookah world, this post is for you. Following are some very important safety tips I've picked up from my own, and others' errors.

1. When lighting QLs it is best to light them outside or in a room that is well ventilated. Try not to inhale the fumes given off in the lighting process. When QLs are in the process of lighting they give off large amounts of toxins such as CO (Carbon Monoxide).

2. When lighting natural coals make sure they are completely glowing hot before you put them on your bowl. The easiest way to tell if they are ready is a light ash and when you lightly blow on the the entirety of the coal glows red hot. Again, if it's not fully lit more CO is given off giving the possible dangers of CO poisoning which is nothing to laugh about.

Quick Note: CO levels in your body of 1 to 70 ppm (parts per million) is OK. The side effects from this amount may be unnoticable, but on the higher end of that scale you may start to feel a few symptoms. These include: headache, nausea, lightheadedness, dizziness, ect. Sometimes these may be confused with a powerful buzz, a buzz is much more relaxing and will not make you feel nervous or anxious.

3. Stay away from the carpet. I learned this one the hard way and now have two big burn holes in the carpet. If you must place your hookah on the floor ley down a special hookah carpet or scrap peice. This way if it does tip it wont likely land on anything expensive. I made myself a til plate to stand it on, works like a charm!

4. If it gets harsh, start over. Nothing will make you sicker then prolong exposure to harsh smoke. Remember, practice makes perfect. After 4 months I still get harsh smoke every now and again.

5. Beginners are better off with washed. It will ease you into the feeling of being "buzzed". If you are a hardened smoker already, unwashed is fine.

6. Always make sure your stem and hose are not rusty or corroded. Again, if inahled, the particles can really damage your system!

Now, if I have not scared anyone away. Hookah is a wonderful hobby surrounded by culture and great company. You will never feel the same comradery as smoking with close friends. Don't let anything scare you, it's all in practice.

if any of you hardened veterans here have anything to add that I may have missed. Feel free!

[MechAnt]

Great little write up! You covered nearly all the points needed.

Can't think of anything to add right now, I will once i think of it

[jayson]

1. When lighting QLs it is best to light them outside or in a room that is well ventilated. Try not to inhale the fumes given off in the lighting process. When QLs are in the process of lighting they give off large amounts of toxins such as CO (Carbon Monoxide).

I agree. I have never had the bad QL taste issue and I use the Golden Coals. I always take my lighter and heat the coals up for a minute on both sides. This seems to get rid of any of the quick light agents that are on the surface of the coals.

[boulderkid303]

Love it, but I don't agree with # 5. I think when you first start smoking you should get your ass handed to you

[Cybersist]

im going to agree with all of these points, but also add one:

Don't setup your hookah around intoxicated people unless you do not mind a) a broken hookah, b ) burns, or c) people mistaking harsh hookah for a good one.... tricking you in the near future. Edited February 23, 2008 by Cybersist

[Yeathatsawesome]

see thats what worries me about QL cause of CO you think natural coals are better?

[Lysolz]

If you do happen to drop a coal on the carpet and/or expensive objects - do not panic!

If you panic, you lose your sense of logic - thus doing something stupid. In my case, grabbing the red hot coal with my bare hand.

[RayVer]

A tip to add to the carpet suggestion.....

If you have no choice but to smoke on carpet then get yourself a cheap rug to go on top of it. I actually have some cheap walmart rugs ($5 each) that I set on top of my carpet when smoking in my room. When i'm not smoking I rolled these up and put them away. If it ever gets burns - no problem as no one would see them.

[Bulldog_916]

Maybe this tip is preference based, but.... Take a small amount of time between inhales, up to a minute. Eat a lot and drink a lot of fluids while you smoke. If you feel yourself start to get sick or nauseous, stop smoking and get a glass of water. You arent doing yourself a service by smoking past your tolerance point.

[mathuv]

try and explain to your friends what harsh smoke is.. not the first time i've walked by a hookah being smoked by friends and tested out the smoke (some of them even give me ugly looks as i take multiple drags and purge whilst fixing the heat management.. they think im hogging it) only to find it harsh.. i guess i've developed a sort of sensitivity to hookah smoke, like my friend would prepare a crap bowl and smoke it and say "hmm its not bad" then id take a hit and rush to puke..

[*HOT&SMOKING*]

Something to add that someone said the other day....

If you have to smoke on a carpet, then keep a bottle of water near by...incase a coal drops you can extingish it.
Which might mean a bit of a wet carpet for next 24H but rather that than no carpet because it got bunt away
BTW once you put water on the burning coal quickly clean up as you don't really want to get coal stains instead of
burns because then you are not helping the situation.

H&S

[thecoalition]

1. ALWAYS FOLLOW PROPER HOOKAH ETIQUETTE (or the house rules)
2. Never leave hot coals unattended and/or throw them away without making sure they are out. We don't want another "my dad just ran down the stairs with a flaming garbage pail....im grounded."
3. Harsh smoke doesnt mean you have to start over. Remove the coals, purge, let settle for a min or so, put coals back on in different spots.

[HarryTheHookaMaster]

1. ALWAYS FOLLOW PROPER HOOKAH ETIQUETTE (or the house rules)
2. Never leave hot coals unattended and/or throw them away without making sure they are out. We don't want another "my dad just ran down the stairs with a flaming garbage pail....im grounded."
3. Harsh smoke doesnt mean you have to start over. Remove the coals, purge, let settle for a min or so, put coals back on in different spots.

and of course theres the rule: Don't light a cig off the coal, it's bad Karma!

Never smoke around dumbshits, they will break your pipe during some act of stupidity.

If you start getting a headache, take a break, go outside and take a few deep breaths...nothing like O2 to clear the head!

Buy coal in bulk. Nothing sucks more then running out of coal during a good smoke.

Always use clean water in the vase. Dirty water tastes like shit.

Never smoke through alcohol (a shot or two in the water is ok, just don't fill the base with it).

I never smoke in a lounge that has loud music. If its blaring when I walk in, I walk out. I want to relax when I smoke...

Keep your equipment clean.

Have an ashtry nearby for ashing.

Just a few thoughts... Edited February 24, 2008 by HarryTheHookaMaster

[staygone]

im going to agree with all of these points, but also add one:

Don't setup your hookah around intoxicated people unless you do not mind a) a broken hookah, b ) burns, or c) people mistaking harsh hookah for a good one.... tricking you in the near future.

d) skip all the above and don't be the center of attention while setting up the hookah. Do this every week, never one of those happened. Just gotta get less clumsy drunk friends I suppose

Cool write up, maybe something to go with particles in your system with the hose too (Referred to #6).

-QM

[mathuv]

I never smoke in a lounge that has loud music. If its blaring when I walk in, I walk out. I want to relax when I smoke...

its personal preference really. i go to a lounge with loud club music (its also a nightclub) and i still relax. i go there because my friend likes dancing on the bar and im not ashamed to admit i like watching her

[AmunRa]

The carpet is probably the part of smoking hookah that gets the short straw. I have dropped coal frags severl times, but that's where a good cheap throw rug comes in handy.

I lite mine on the stove, put it on the bowl, and then take the bowl to the pipe which is usually on my coffee table. This cuts down on the carpet burns. I agree with most of the points made above btw.

[HookahDude831]

nice article, maybe sticky it for all the new hookah smokes we have here?

[mathuv]

The carpet is probably the part of smoking hookah that gets the short straw. I have dropped coal frags severl times, but that's where a good cheap throw rug comes in handy.

I lite mine on the stove, put it on the bowl, and then take the bowl to the pipe which is usually on my coffee table. This cuts down on the carpet burns. I agree with most of the points made above btw.

i find heatproof mats to be better, i dont know what material theyre made of but theyre soft and "rubbery" and they dont melt quickly, i put a coal on one to see how long it would take to melt and it took quite a while before the coal started going through, or for a cheaper alternative by a sheet of cork.