Packing A Phunnel With Brands Other Than Tangiers?

[bigasif]

Hey,
Like one of my other posts asking questions about maintenance of my new bambino that I'll be setting up soon when I pick it up from a buddy of mine..I have a couple other questions regarding to things I'll be a newbie to...

First off, I also ordered a small tangiers phunnel bowl...and it'll be my first time using a phunnel...EVER. Until now, I've only used clays/egyptians...nothing special. However, all the tutorials I seem to find with packing a phunnel are tangiers related. I didn't order any tangiers (though I do plan on picking up some lucid tasty peach from SmokinMoose before I head outta town with my bambino) and all the shisha I ordered is either Starbuzz, AF, and I think I got some Nakhla DA. So far, I've just been packing my bowls by dropping the shisha loosely into the bowl, trying to make it line up just under the rim, so that it doesn't get all charred from the coals. However, I know tangiers in a phunnel is the complete opposite of that. So yeah, how should I pack other brands in a phunnel?

-Starbuzz
-Al Fakher
-Nakhla
-Tangiers LUCID


Also, I'll be picking up some coco's from Moose too, so I hope to make the change from 3kings QL's to coco's. Any specific advice on the transition? Number of coals on a small phunnel? Different amount of coals for different brands of shisha? Different patterns, etc on the foil?

Thanks in advance guys! Seems like I can always turn to the boards with whatever questions I have and you guys always come through...sweet.

Cheers.

[momatik]

-With Starbuzz, AF, and Tangiers Lucid, pack it like you have been doing. The sprinkling technique.

-With unwashed Shishas (Nakhla, Tangiers, etc), acclimate and pack it like tangiers. You'll get better smoke that way.

As far as advice with cocos goes:
-Depending on which you coco's your using, and how your cooking them, spend about 4-7 minutes on each side.
-Make sure they are red all around before taking off the burner
-Don't take them directly from the burner to the bowl. In my experience, cocos come off the burner way too hot. Let them chill for a bit before you put them on the bowl. When I say a bit, I mean like a minute.
-For a small phunnel, you'll never require more then 3 cocos. My advice is to cook up 3, put 2 on and experiment with that 3rd. Get a feel for it and see what works best for you.
-Flip them every 15-20 minutes or so. The bottom side will get black. Don't worry about it.

[nickimholte]

-With Starbuzz, AF, and Tangiers Lucid, pack it like you have been doing. The sprinkling technique.

-With unwashed Shishas (Nakhla, Tangiers, etc), acclimate and pack it like tangiers. You'll get better smoke that way.

As far as advice with cocos goes:
-Depending on which you coco's your using, and how your cooking them, spend about 4-7 minutes on each side.
-Make sure they are red all around before taking off the burner
-Don't take them directly from the burner to the bowl. In my experience, cocos come off the burner way too hot. Let them chill for a bit before you put them on the bowl. When I say a bit, I mean like a minute.
-For a small phunnel, you'll never require more then 3 cocos. My advice is to cook up 3, put 2 on and experiment with that 3rd. Get a feel for it and see what works best for you.
-Flip them every 15-20 minutes or so. The bottom side will get black. Don't worry about it.

i for some reason was under the impression that you pack lucid like og tangiers? dont know where i got the idea from

[evilded777]

I have no idea why anyone thinks you should pack washed and unwashed differently. Really, what's up with that? What's the difference if it has nicotine or not? Or if there's more water in it? While the extra water takes up space that could be better used for something, say "flavor", at least when the water heats up it helps to diffuse what flavor there is.

I pack everything pretty much the same way, and get excellent results (well, with the differences in brands excepted).

The key is the phunnel: its unique design, and excellent heat retention abilities. The only reason I can think of for "sprinkling" (and BTW, just htf does one "sprinkle" something that is wet and sticks to your fingers?), is to keep airflow in a standard bowl. The phunnel has no such requirement for retaining airflow. But for the best smoking experience, one needs to properly heat the contents of the phunnel. A firm, even pack is always going to give you better results; its the science of the matter... what really heats the tobacco is CONDUCTION, not convection as so many people erroneously espouse. The movement of air across the coals is not enough to bring the contents of the bowl to the right temperature for it to smoke, the air holes in the foil are to allow you to actually draw air through the pipe; not to allow heat in. The coals in contact with the foil, and in turn the foil with the bowl, conducts heat... (a far more efficient process than convection for this application; we're not talking about heating/cooling your house) and firmly, evenly packed tobacco is going to be a better conducter than loosley packed tobacco with lots of air pockets, etc.

Now that I've ranted, I fully expect someone to disprove my science (but I don't think that's gonna happen).

//edit

And really... unwashed and washed have nothing to do with acclimation either. Cooked and Uncooked, to my knowledge, are what separates those that need acclimation and those that don't... hence why Tangiers is the ONLY tobacco that tells you, right on the package, that you might have to acclimate it.

[Arcane]

thought i replied to this thread already, but i have different ways of packing shisha depending on brand...and even though evilded says there's probably no reason to pack differently between unwashed/washed, my packing coincidentally is split between washed and unwashed. didn't purposely do it this way, it was more the cut of the tobacco that played the role.

AF/Starbuzz: "sprinkle" shisha (evilded: i take a pinch of shisha and rub my fingers together and it just falls into the bowl), till its about 1/4in above the rim. then foil the bowl. the foil will push the shisha down.

Nakhla/Tangiers(any type):

Lazy Method: Grab 1 huge pinch of tobacco and place it in the bowl. Repeat until bowl is full. Even out tobacco with fingers/fork. Foil over and press down with my palm. There should be a small drop from the rim to the foil. Kinda like ColibriDon's packing vid. If the phunnel outline is clearly seen...I put a little more tobacco in the bowl and repeat the foil process.

Not-so Lazy Method: Drag the phunnel bowl through the tobacco and use a fork to push the tobacco into the bowl till its full. Use the fork to even out the tobacco and clear a hole for the phunnel. Drag the bottom side of the fork along the top of the bowl to push the tobacco down until its even with the rim. Foil over and press down with my palm. Yes, I know that it kinda makes the fork packing superfluous but, I do it anyways. Check to see if there's a small drop from the rim to the foil and that the phunnel outline is not pronounced.

Like I said earlier, it didn't really mean to have a different packing technique for washed/unwashed shisha. Its just that the AF and Starbuzz cut are similar, so they get packed the same. I started packing Nakhla like Tangiers after watching HookahJohn's youtube vid. I've tried packing both AF and Starbuzz the same as Tangiers, but it didn't work out too well.

[shesha1]

How do you guys pack Starbuzz? in this bowl?
When I Sprinkle it in, I find that it burns up real fast, and that I never "sprinkle" in enough

I have found myself going back to traditional bowls when not using Tangiers.
Any suggestions.

My frind is bringing me 5 kilos from Saudi, and I want to get this reight before I start wasting golden shisha from Saudi on testing.

[alive]

i pack everything in my phunnel tight. Its been working, and ive been getting great clouds. the first hit on a nakhla mix yesterday was fucking better then ive gotten in some tangiers sessions, it was monsterous. I love my phunnel, and i love to pack it tight ;]

[momatik]

I have no idea why anyone thinks you should pack washed and unwashed differently. Really, what's up with that? What's the difference if it has nicotine or not? Or if there's more water in it? While the extra water takes up space that could be better used for something, say "flavor", at least when the water heats up it helps to diffuse what flavor there is.

Honestly, the reason why I said that is just for the sake of saving shisha.

When I've packed Nakhla I noticed a huge difference if I packed it tight rather than loose.

When I pack AF, it smokes fine when I pack it loose. I really don't taste any significant difference when I pack it tight, and I waste a lot more shisha. So I figure it's simply not worth it.

[evilded777]

I have no idea why anyone thinks you should pack washed and unwashed differently. Really, what's up with that? What's the difference if it has nicotine or not? Or if there's more water in it? While the extra water takes up space that could be better used for something, say "flavor", at least when the water heats up it helps to diffuse what flavor there is.

Honestly, the reason why I said that is just for the sake of saving shisha.

When I've packed Nakhla I noticed a huge difference if I packed it tight rather than loose.

When I pack AF, it smokes fine when I pack it loose. I really don't taste any significant difference when I pack it tight, and I waste a lot more shisha. So I figure it's simply not worth it.

I was cranky this morning. That came off a lot nastier than intended (it wasn't supposed to be nasty). I hope you didn't take that as aimed directly at you for any reason. If you did, my humblest and most sincere apologies!

And on the subject of wasting, I have this to say: If you don't plan to smoke a bowl for a few hours, or a few times over the course of a couple of days... just don't pack as much. In general, you should still be able to pack it pretty tight; just pack to a lower level. Some people have also packed the phunnel only on one side (seems to me that the fluids would ooze out and fill the rest, but I haven't tried it). I also highly recommend the MNH mini-glass phunnel. Its a great investment if you are a solo smoker, or want to pack smaller bowls than a Tangiers phunnel will normally allow.

[Arcane]

How do you guys pack Starbuzz? in this bowl?
When I Sprinkle it in, I find that it burns up real fast, and that I never "sprinkle" in enough

that's why i put in enough shisha till its 1/4in over the rim...you can go 1/2in too. then when you foil it down, the tobacco kinda compresses and becomes a bit denser in the bowl. after an hour of smoking, i usually only get a dark disc on the top. 3/4 of the bowl is still good.

[inino]

pack everything tight in the phunnel. it wont negatively impact anything.