New to Hookah.

[MR Bubble]

Try your luck with foil.
MR Bubble

[[LB]]

f**k i just wrote for like an hour and then by a mistake pressed a
button on the page that made me lose everything, so let me just take
some highlights from my last thing i wrote.

Make sure the charcoal is red and glowing, take it to a dark area to
see if its red- it doesent have to be white, sometimes its too late. I
just try and eliminate the black and then im good to go

Also about charcoal i usually only use one, then when it is glowing red
(make sure when you do this it is safe to have charcoal flying around,
try a cigar box or somethign) When it is glowing red, i stab it and
break it into little crystals of hot charcoal, then place them evenly
all over the bowl- and i get a very nice even burn- this can be done
half way through your session or before either one. MAKE SURE that you
dont get charcoal all over the floor i always do now my carpet is a
mess.

Make sure your bowl is not crammed! It should be loosely crumbled and AIRATED! use a toothpick or poker to make sure there is proper circulation

lastly, you might be making the same mistake i made my first couple
sessions. Your base should be filled so that the stem going into the
water is only submerged about 1+1/2 Inches i hope this helps.

[Steviethepope]

In additon to what others have said, try putting ice in the water.

[Steviethepope]

Ummm yes I just reread your post and I have decided that part of what you are doing is not letting the coal get red red red hot hot hot and then letting the charcoal sit on top of the foil for atleast 5 minutes. Start slow puff puff puff and then take drags. Also make sure you have lots of small holes. I use a push pin but anything about the size of a tooth pick would do (pointed not round)

[yashman19]

I don't quite understand why everyone seems to think that letting the
coals sit ontop of the bowl for a certain time period helps with
anything... If you've ever gone to a cafe, they set your hookah up,
plop some coals on top and tell you to have at it, they don't say sit
there for 5-10 minutes for the hookah to warm up..

Infact, I've seen cafe's that will actually rig up a vaccum to the hose just to get the thing going quickly.

So I may agree that you should wait till the coals are fully lit before
putting it ontop of the bowl, but its not necessary to have it sit
there. Acutally puffing on it is the best thing to do if you wanna get
your session going fast.

Just my observations though. Everyone has their own techniques, just
saying that this isn't something new smokers should have to worry about.

[MR Bubble]

After re-reading the problem a couple of times, I still think the metal screen is key to not having a good smoke. I have been smoking hookahs for going on 5 years and most of the time have wonderful success. However, every time I have tried the metal screen, it turns into a miserable failure. I think the problem is that some screens and bowls just don't mate up too well. It sounds like his coal lighting technique is good (though 2 Three Kings is a little over-kill) and his screen/bowl combination may be the culprit.
Here's how I do my 3 kings: Snap 1 coal in half with your fingers. If you need to, score a line across the face of it with your tongs. Next, take each of the halves, and snap THEM in half. Now you should have 4 pieces. Light them up in a little pile on your ash tray. When they get nice and red-hot, place them on your foil. Place them like you are puting them back into a disc again. There will always be a little space btween each piece. This improves air-flow. Also, since they are in pieces, the overall heated area is a little bigger, and improves heat dispersion across the foil. Some brands will require a little more heat than others. AF seems to need a bit more heat, but NAkhla is good with just one piece. For those brands requiring more heat, break up another coal and drop 1 more of the quarter pieces in the charcoal layout on your foil. Adjust as you need to.
Also, be cautious as how many holes you punch. Too many on the outside of the bowl can lead to a weak smoke. Too many in the center can lead to quite a bit of coughing and gagging from smoke being too harsh (you wish you had this problem!) As a rule of thumb, I usually make most of my holes toward the center, where the coals lay on them, but I make just a few on the outside of them.  When I punch my holes, I put the bottom of the bowl to my mouth and inhale. I am checking how well I can get a draw. Too tight of a draw gives me a headache. Too easy a draw gives little enjoyment. You will find just the right draw in time. But for now, try the foil, while breaking the coals up into quarter pieces. Let us know what happens.
MR Bubble

[yashman19]

Very good explanations Mr. Bubble.

A majority of people use foil, but there are those out tehre who use
screens, and have gotten good with them. Mush likes to use screens, and
has found a way to get good heat distribution through a chimney of foil.

I myself haven't had that great of experiences with screens, so have given up on them and just stick to foil.

Start testing different methods while using the foil, wether it be more
or less coals, using a windscreen, or creating a make-shift foil
chimney. You'll figure out something that works for you sooner or
later, don't stress my friend

[garyknowz1]

Thanks for all the great ideas folks. This is indeed a very helpful, friendly community. I will certainly implement these in our next round later this week.

[mopower84]

Welcome to the world of Hookah Gary,

I would have to agree with Mr. Bubble, it allways seems to be a better
smoke with foil, unless one is very gifted with with thier heat
managment ability.

As for foil, the kitchen stuff works fine, and there really is no need
to fold it over. It works great as it is, only thing to remember is to
put the shiney side facing the tabacco as it reflects more heat toward
it.

As for coals, the 3 kings are quicklites so you should be able to get
them going fine with just a lighter. Once there is no more black coal
visable after lighting, if you were to blow on it gently in low
lighting you should see it glowing. As for you stove, an electric is
actually prefered for lighting natural coals, just put your coals right
on the coil and turn it on high, the natural coals will be ready in
just a couple of minutes.

This forum seems to be the end all, be all, of hookah knowledge so i'm
sure you will find what you need here to make the most of your hookah
time.

P.S. I'm sure all the folks here on the forun would agree that any wife
that insists upon you buying a new hookah is definatly a keeper.

[mushrat]

The al waha brand is not too bad, a step above Nakhla to say the very least. Some flavours are better than others however. What Flavours do you have?
as to the question of getting quicklites going faster, why? you in a hurry or something? This is smoking a hookah, its supposed to be slow and relaxing. You think quicklites take time, you should try sitting there with a small torch and a piece of tree sometime  Just Light the 3 king first, set it down someplace safe, and then start the rest of the hookah prep. Time will go by much faster and by the time everything is ready, I'll bet you coal is as well.
Onto the screen issue. I think part of my sucess, besides getting a screen almost immediately after getting the hookah so I was still on the low side of the learning curve yet, is that my bowl and screen are almost perfect match.

This allows for better heat distribution and good air flow as there is no screen hanging over into nothing nor any uncovered area of the bowl. I've also gone onto a windcover instead of the foil chimney wrap for ease of set up. but the foil wrap is still a great bethod for heat control.
My bowl is also rather deep so I can get a good space between the coals and the Ma'asell to create an oven effect witha layer of hot air instead of a direct burning if the caols are right on the Ma'asell.
 
Let us know if you have any more questions and remember, its a fairly straight foreward device and it's going to take experimenting (with some really horrible failures) before you get you're particular technique perfected. And even then you are STILL going to have nights when NOTHING goes right. 

[garyknowz1]

More great tips. Thanks!

[mopower84]

I haven't had any of the al waha brand but double apple(2 apples)
is one of my favorite flavors. It is also kind of one of the "old
standards" of  flavored ma'salls so I kind of feel that all hookah
lovers should try it at least once. Zaghloul is also an "old standard"
but 2 apples is a whole lot tastier.
It is good to know your roots.
I have not yet had the 5 stars either but I hear it is one of the best
mixed fruits on the market, come to think of it, I really need to make
a point to get some cash saved up for my list of flavors to try.
Have fun trying all those flavors, there is bound to be some you are gonna really enjoy.
Also be sure to let us know if you got your hookah smokin as it should, and let us know how you liked those flavors. Enjoy

[mushrat]

I've smoked the Al Waha Orange. Very nice. check out my "brief reviews" for a quick run down. The AL Waha melon was tasty, just not sure what taste, if you know what i mean.

[HookahCulture]

Here's something for y'all.....

You'll notice on the screen one tab is longer than the others.
Leave that one unbent, flat. Turn the other tabs just down so the
screen stays on the bowl. No need to wrap those legs around the bowl to
pry them off later?
The long tab is your frying pan handle.
Just make it so you can lift the thing off with that tab once it cools from the coals you took off.

I don't mind the screen at all, it works well with 2 quick-lites or a
couple short fingers. Coverage is key here, but that's adjustable.
I've always gotten better smokes from foil though, each bowl is an experiment for perfection.