is bigger better?why?why not?

[pavlakos_politakos]

just continuing  a small debate with mushrat.feel free  to contribute.so...i think bigger  is better when it comes to hookah because the  smoke has more  time to cool and lose some of the bad sh*t on the way down.mush  says the  opposite.he says the smoke gets stale(loses flavor?).i dont wanna turn this into a feud so no side picking please,just express your opinion.

[fishdog]

I dont nessicarrily think bigger is better just because heat rises...i dont know if the smoke in the chamber does anythign different from that of the outside world but...yeah i would Imagine the heat would rise to the top of the base so the cooler air would technically be near the water while the hotter would rise...not sure to tell ya the truth but thats my 2 cents

[dizzing]

that's actually a really good point.  although once you hit the thing, all the smoke in the chamber ends up coming out anyway.  all i know is, on my current hookah when i had a longer stem and the smoke chamber was larger it hit much harsher and with less flavor.  pipe length really seems like it could contribute to the cooling, but the water does a whole lot more than any stem.. plus at that stage the smoke is condensed by the pressure of the water.  then, in the hose the smoke travels far further than it would in the stem anyway, getting even cooler.  the difference is probably moot as far as stem length goes, the only real factor seems to be smoke chamber size.  and as far as i can tell larger is definitely not better.

[yashman19]

I've never noticed any difference in harshness, flavor or lack thereof
between my 18" egyptian and my 36" egyptian, but I did notice that I
get much thicker smoke out of the big boy.

Good luck finding a solid answer on this topic, as everyone seems to
have different views and experiences with their hookahs. Just thought I
would add my own 2cents.

[pavlakos_politakos]

well you all add good points but we yet to see mush coontribute  his  2 cents.

[coldfire22x]

it seems like there's too many variables to really do a side by side comparison ... are the bowls packed exactly the same?  same sized holes and placement in the foil?  coals burning the same temperature, etc.?  are you taking draws at the same volume and rate? :Pand on top of it all, isn't the "harshness," etc., largely subjective?  i mean, to a point .. you can definitely tell.  but once it gets close, who has the most accurate back of their throat

[mushrat]

PP: you've seen my 2 cents..its what STARTED all of this in the other thread remember?
Of course it's subjective coldfire.... All we can really do is collect people's prefrences and anyone who is wondering can decide for themselves...

[yashman19]

[quote name='coldfire22x']it seems like there's too many variables to really
do a side by side comparison ... are the bowls packed exactly the
same?  same sized holes and placement in the foil?  coals
burning the same temperature, etc.?  are you taking draws at the
same volume and rate? :Pand
on top of it all, isn't the "harshness," etc., largely
subjective?  i mean, to a point .. you can definitely tell. 
but once it gets close, who has the most accurate back of their throat
[/quote]

Also, some downstems have a much wider diameter than other stems, which
allows for a lot more air-flow to get through. This could affect the
way the bowl burns, because you are able to pull way more smoke through
than if the stem was narrower.

You are definately correct coldfire. There are too many thigns which can effect the way a hookah smokes.

[Johnny_Z]

I've always been of the mindset that the perfect smoke can be found in the middle ground between big and small.

 I think theres a downside to both large hookahs and small hookahs
and what it really comes down to is personal preference.

 With smaller hookahs (20" and under) I think the flavor is often
stronger because the smoke doesnt have to travel such a long way, as
smoke is prone to losing a bit of it's punch as travels. The smoke also
seems to stay colder in small hookah which I find to be very
satisfying. Small hookahs also tend to be much easier to draw the smoke
through and generally don't clog as much.
  Because of their size, small hookahs are naturally quite
portable and easy to take wherever you may go. Many of them come with
carrying cases as well.

  The downside of small hookahs? Because the smoke doesnt travel
so far and has less water to filter through it rarely ever becomes as
thick as the smoke you'll get from a medium or large hookah. You can
get it really thick by loading on the coal, but at that point you
really run the risk of burning the ma'assell. Some small hookahs can
also be prone to tipping over if the base wasn't blown just right.


 And then theres large hookahs (30" and over in my book)... 
With large hookahs you'll usually get a smoke that is much thicker then
normal and is really well filtered.
 
 But I think there are more downsides to large hookahs then there
is upsides. With a large hookah the smoke can often lose much of it's
flavor from having to travel so far and can become harsh quite bit
easier as well. Another downside is that large hookahs often require
quite a bit of lung power to pull the smoke through such a large
chamber. And if the base isnt really well built, large hookahs can be
much more prone to tipping over then a small one would... and coal
burns on your carpet just arn't cool!


 
 And finally I come to my favorite size of hookah... the medium
ones! I consider a medium hookah to be ones that range about 24" to 26"
tall.
  With a medium hookah I tend to get a flavor thats almost as
strong as what I would get from a smaller hookah, but with the
thickness of smoke I might get from a larger one. The smoke doesnt have
to travel too far so it stays fairly cold and the lung power required
to draw a puff is increased only slightly over what I would get from a
small hookah, which is actually a good thing in my book. I like having
to "tug" a little bit for my smoke. I've also found medium hookahs to
be more stable and tip less easily. And while not as portable as small
hookahs, many medium hookahs come with travel bags or cases and arn't
too difficult to take places (just don't go trying to fit them in the
top case on the back of your motorcycle )

 
 The only downsides I've found with medium sized hookahs is that
they do take a little bit longer to clean then small ones, and can
occasionally clog like their larger brethren.


All in all I'd say I really like small hookahs for the ease of travel,
quick setup time, and generally good flavorful smoke. I never cared for
the larger hookahs as they always seemed to be kind of a pain to setup
and never really gave me quite as good of a smoke as the smaller ones.
But my favorite hookahs are truely the medium sized ones that provide
me the most of the good aspects of small and large hookahs and few of
the negatives.

 
 Like the Buddha, I have found my path in the middle ground

[methodical13]

[quote name='Yashman19']I've never noticed any difference in harshness, flavor or lack thereof between my 18" egyptian and my 36" egyptian, but I did notice that I get much thicker smoke out of the big boy.Good luck finding a solid answer on this topic, as everyone seems to have different views and experiences with their hookahs. Just thought I would add my own 2cents.[/quote]
 
I think you got it right on there...the only difference I've noticed is I get a lot thicker smoke with the larger hookah, bu other than that I don't think there's much of a difference

[pavlakos_politakos]

wow! who knew such a small question  could have so many answers? i see everyones point and i guess it is  just a matter of preferance.

[HookahCaterpillar]

My theory is this... The smaller the vase the less room for smoke to
fill up. So the smoke gets harsh because of it. Also the less water the
less time it takes for the water to get all nasty which causes
harshness and an off taste.

[dizzing]

[quote name='HookahCaterpillar']The smaller the vase the less room for smoke to
fill up. So the smoke gets harsh because of it.[/quote]sorry, i don't follow your logic...?  Why does it get harsh because of that?

[HookahCaterpillar]

sorry that didnt come out right, what i meant was the smaller the vase
the less water. The less water the faster the water gets all nasty. The
bigger the vase the more water and it can handle more shisha and stuff
that gets in the water. I have noticed that when the water turns yellow
from the smoke and stuff it makes it harsh. The water gets yellow alot
faster with a less amount of water.

[dizzing]

ah... yeah, excellent point 

[[LB]]

no caterpillar i think you were right the first time it just needs to be explained- harshness can be a result of the tobacco burning too fast- and you know what happens when that happens- seroius smoke density. If the smoke is way too dense because its one of those little vases it could get harsher- maybe my science is wrong TANG!

[[LB]]

sh*t also when you pull in on a large vase your taking smoke that was there before as well, thats gonna help cool it down- imagine hooking up the hose right to the pipe directly without crossing through the vase- That would be rough and hot!

[HookahCaterpillar]

Now heres another question for debate... What if you had a small stem
but a big vase? For instance taking a baby junior hookah's stem and
putting into an egyptian style large vase? My theory is it wouldnt be
harsh at all. I dont know if it would fit in a big vase but if it were
modified in a way that the stem was long enough and it could fit what
is your opinion guys?

[[LB]]

na the farther the smoke travels along the pipe the more time it has to cool. You have to think about the extremes, what if you put the bowl directly on the vase and just hit it- youd get some pretty harsh smoke.

[Sonthert]

Here comes Tangiers!His wizened and educated answer will enlighten everybody!Thank you, thank you! You're really  special, thanks much. This question first bothered me in 1998. So, I went to, what were the greatest minds of hookah at the time. I asked them and 50% said smaller was better and 50% said larger was better. So I decided to pursue this investigation MYSELF! I have studied the mass transfer aspects, the thermal transfer aspects, the thermochemical implications, the physics, the fluid mechanics, the organic chemistry and the separation implications. I looked into industrial equipment that has a similar function, like cooling towers, and looked at the ramifications that their engineering could potentially have on the question. After seven years of study and thought, I have come to a conclusion: I have no idea.I think you're all right.

[dizzing]

hahahahahahaha