Large Black Sahara Hookah Stem

[OneGreenMonstah]

Hey was wondering if anyone knows much about the sahara stems? ...how does the quality compare to KM/MZ/Mya etc... are they even handmade or some Chinese crap? ...also they come apart i'm assuming by the availability to buy replacement parts on hookah-hookah.com for them, is the inside brass?
I think these stems look cool and I like the idea of being able to easily convert a single hose to a 4 hose (although 99% of the time smoke single hose)

...let me know what you all think of this... Ultimately I would just be adding the stem to a sahara base and a razan hose, tangiers funnel bowl

thanks a bunch

[MechAnt]

The general consensus here is that Sahara Smoke stems are pretty much junk and don't smoke that well. The one that you posted actually looks chinese and no good.

If you want convertible, just get a MYA. Also chinese made but great quality.

[Santino]

I would not recommend that. Has China all over it.

[Hippo_Master]

Santino took the words right outta my mouth.

They look worse than the normal stems, and also they are plated common chambers... yuck.

[OneGreenMonstah]

what exactly is a common chamber? i've been reading that people arent big fans of them whatever they are

[SimplexCoda]

what exactly is a common chamber? i've been reading that people arent big fans of them whatever they are

If you look at the part of the hookah that goes into the top of the base to make it air tight (the heart). This is the chamber. A closed chamber will have one openings for the down stem, hose ports and purge ports. A common chamber looks like a bell when you look into it. Jus one giant opening and holes for hoses and such. Common chambers are super hard to clean IMO.

[Sonthert]

A traditional bell has a hose port and vent attached to the bell and distinct tubes running from each of the hose ports and the bell through to the bottom of the bell. The bell that the hose port and vent are attached to can be an open chamber (where it looks like a bell with a hose port and vent attached) or a true common chamber where the bell looks like a traditional bell, but a slightly closer inspection reveals the holes open into the bell instead of having tubes and the entire bell sees smoke, as the hose port and vent are just attached to the bell. So a common bell and an open bell are very similar, except and open bell is missing the plate of metal on the bottom of the bell with the holes in. A traditional bell, if you cut off the bottom bell plate, it would have two slightly kinked tubes sticking out of the hose port and vent running down to the bottom of the bell (where you took the bell plate off).

Traditional bells are better because they are easier to clean and more reliable for long-term use.

Open Bell designs and common chamber designs are much more difficult (impossible?) to clean and usually indicate an inferior quality product. If I were exaggerating slightly, I would go so far as to say a good quality hookah can't have a common chamber or an open bell.

[OneGreenMonstah]

sounds good... thanks for all the help!