What Exactly Makes A "good" Hookah.

[patio87]

So I have this junk hookah, but as I was smoking it today and testing it it seems to have good seals. I can't really figure out what else would make a hookah "good" other than how well it seals? The hoses are garbage and hard to draw from, so I would obviously get new ones, but what else, am I missing something. And how do you know a bowl is cashed, how should the shisha look?

[SimplexCoda]

well, this all depends. By junk do you mean it doesnt smoke well? Cause that might not be the hookah at all. It might be the way you are packing the bowl, or the way you manage your coals. But what i look for when buying a hookah are things like: Having a nice wide hose port and purge port, having a nice wide downstem, and being hand made, not machine made.

[SimplexCoda]

The point of a purge is so that if you smoke by you self or you and your friends smoke slowly then you can blow into the hose and expel the the smoke that has sat in the base for a long period of time and become stale and flavorless in the base. A hose should help you get smoke. But before a hose can allow more smoke to go through, there has to b plenty of smoke readily available. When you smoke is the base full of nice dense smoke?

[ilikemyusername]

what makes a good hookah is your skills in setting it up.
what makes a junk hookah is if its falling apart.
the only hookah i'd call junk is one with a downstem thats so small its hard to draw from.
if you take a puff on the hose port and can feel a vacuum in your lungs, its a junk hookah.

[hookah hippie]

A good hookah is one that is made careful has no airleaks and is made of a metal that will last a long time

[Codename067]

There are many factors.

Air Tight, solid build, good/clean welding, big sized gauges, good purging valve...ect..all of which found in a given KM.

[NJE03]

Durability, functionality, aesthetic value. These factors are what determine a good hookah. Edited July 22, 2008 by NJE03

[VDDZ]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned. How much water you put in your vase can affect your experience, at least I've found. You have to find a sweet spot, where the water is above the downstem, but the drag is not to hard. The more you fill the vase, the "more" filtering you will get, but also a harder pull and water can get in the hose :X . To little and you'll get harsh or hot smoke. I personally try to always have a diffuser at the end of my down stems, it's a ball fitted with a rubber and drilled full of holes; search the forums for other methods and try it out. Lemme know if the water in the vase or diffuser helps your hookah troubles.