Questions For The Syrian Fans

[fcbayern]

OK so I have been considering a new pipe for a while now. I think I have it narrowed down to a brass Syrian, probably a Nour. But honestly I have never smoked one, or owned one before so I have a few questions for you syrian fanboys.

Firstly there is the whole male bowl thing. How can I determine which pipes have or do not have male bowls? Also does the adapter work OK to swap to a regular bowl?

Then I was wondering, if the pipes are brass, how do they get that silver finish on sum of them? Is this plated? Nickel or chrome or something? wont the plating eventually peel? Are the gold colored pipes just polished brass? or are the plated also?

Hose port: I have heard Syrian have small hose ports that will not fit a Km-nammor type hose without modifying it. Is this true?

Jar: I see some screw on jar options for Nour pipes, what are your thoughts on Screw-on Jars?


I think those are most of my concerns for the moment, thank you in advance for your help. Also, any links to nice looking pipes are appreciated. I mainly have been checking out the Nours at thehookah.

Cheers

[ColibriDon]

I still use my old Nour on occasion when I get the chance and it's a great pipe but...to your questions.

Most new Syrian pipes have an Egyptian bowl adaptor, meaning a male adapter that fits most female bowls. I would try to find a pipe with this because it will make using any bowls really easy.

I have been told that the plating on the pipes is Nickel, I haven't heard of it peeling but I don't know. My pipe is solid brass with no plating so I have no experience with this but I don't think it will peel.

The hose port is slightly smaller but it fits any hose I've attached to it. Just use a different grommet, the small Mya grommets are the best for fitting as you can stack multiples on top of each other.

I have heard that the screw on jars have a chance of stripping, if this happens, you're out of luck. I would stick with a drop in jar, easy to fit, easy to clean (Those threads could get gunk in them), and no possibility of breaking.

The Nours at the Thehookah are nice but I believe George at HC is getting some really nice new Nours in in the coming month or so. As of May, George said he was making the arrangements to bring them in so they should be in soon.

[Sonthert]

OK so I have been considering a new pipe for a while now. I think I have it narrowed down to a brass Syrian, probably a Nour. But honestly I have never smoked one, or owned one before so I have a few questions for you syrian fanboys.

Firstly there is the whole male bowl thing. How can I determine which pipes have or do not have male bowls? Also does the adapter work OK to swap to a regular bowl?

Then I was wondering, if the pipes are brass, how do they get that silver finish on sum of them? Is this plated? Nickel or chrome or something? wont the plating eventually peel? Are the gold colored pipes just polished brass? or are the plated also?

Hose port: I have heard Syrian have small hose ports that will not fit a Km-nammor type hose without modifying it. Is this true?

Jar: I see some screw on jar options for Nour pipes, what are your thoughts on Screw-on Jars?


I think those are most of my concerns for the moment, thank you in advance for your help. Also, any links to nice looking pipes are appreciated. I mainly have been checking out the Nours at thehookah.

Cheers

The new Nours seem to be hitting a lot of problems with quality issues. You might want to avoid them. I haven't seen a female hookah new for....years now. They're all male stems. They are electroplated...if they are plated well, the coating will be fine for a long time to come. Speaking of problems with Nours, the new manufacturer of Nour pipes has smaller, slightly flatter angled hose ports. They are more problematic than the old Nours, but almost any hose with a good stem on it will fit fine.

If you really want to know if its a male or female stem, ask the company selling it.

[Scoop]

just get an AF syrian. I have smoked from the large one and it was good. It fit a km hose. I did have problems fitting the km supreme hose tip into it though, had to send it down.

dont get the screw in.

[fcbayern]

I believe George at HC is getting some really nice new Nours in in the coming month or so. As of May, George said he was making the arrangements to bring them in so they should be in soon.

Can anyone confirm this? If its true then I'll wait to see whats coming in..

On a side note: Eric what happened to these? I really liked the second and third ones, the first looks a lot like the AF..

[Spats]

That middle pipe pic has my name on it! Got a definite vendor?

[Sonthert]

The middle one is junk. I never use mine and I have two in the back I don't want to sell, because of quality issues.

Supposedly, that import is coming. When? I don;t know yet...

Boris: I take that the KM had one of those crummy wooden stems on? There are different qualities of those, but they like to send the worst ones to the US, seemingly. They are often too fat...even for an Egyptian. I have to throw half of the ones like that I get away.

[fcbayern]

Thank you for the advice..

Once again my friends here at HF have proven to be a plethora hokah information, I knew I could count you guys.

I may wait around to see if the new import comes in.

Eric, let me know if you change your mind on selling those pipes, I pretty enough just to sit it around as a decoration if the price is right. Even though I know I couldnt have something as sexy as that, just sitting around. Is that quality really that bad?

[Arcane]

i'd like to get my hands on the first one....

wish it had a longer downstem...but, it'll do...

[Bulldog_916]

This is the one I have. Mechant has the same one. I've smoked out of this thing for about 4 months now or so. No issues at all. The stem is nice and heavy. The finish on the brass is Nickel plating, designed to keep the brass from discoloring on the inside. The only complaint I have is that the base has a crack that seems to be spreading. But I can easily get a new base for it. Keep in mind, the hose is a Grand Washable. Note that the Grand's hose end is wider than either the KM end or the Nammor end. The hose port on the Nour is wide enough to accommodate the Grand's hose end most of the time. Sometimes I really have to push it in there, but otherwise it's all good.

AVOID screw on bases. All I have to say about that.

[Sonthert]

One of the Syrian brass pipes they were selling at hookah.com with a screw on base is quite good.

I have like four of that exact pipe that Bulldog has. I have a number of complaints.

1. The hose port is too narrow and its pitch is too flat.
2. The valve cover on two of the pipes won't clear the body correcly and it takes force to screw it on.
3. The stock metal of the main tube is too thin.
4. The tray is crappy and thin.
5. The hoses are bad knock-offs of Mya hoses. Very poorly made.
6. The hose ports are quite wide, but thin and they seem to have a 25% failure rate. The larger Nour pipe doesn't seem to have the same failure rate. Only the smaller one. I would be reticent to take the chance tht we hit a "good streak" with the larger Nours, although they seem to have thicker metal in the main tube.

On the positive side:

1. The jars are good, I like the intertwining infinity design.
2. The body castings are good and thick. The problem is if the thin main tube cracks, its all over.
3. The stem seems well assembled.
4. The bells seem very consistent. Almost MZ consistent. The older manufacturer required more work to fit the shank to jar correctly.
5. The whole thing comes with a good bag. Best around for carrying hookahs.
6. The tongs are good quality.

[Bulldog_916]

One of the Syrian brass pipes they were selling at hookah.com with a screw on base is quite good.

I have like four of that exact pipe that Bulldog has. I have a number of complaints.

1. The hose port is too narrow and its pitch is too flat.
2. The valve cover on two of the pipes won't clear the body correcly and it takes force to screw it on.
3. The stock metal of the main tube is too thin.
4. The tray is crappy and thin.
5. The hoses are bad knock-offs of Mya hoses. Very poorly made.
6. The hose ports are quite wide, but thin and they seem to have a 25% failure rate. The larger Nour pipe doesn't seem to have the same failure rate. Only the smaller one. I would be reticent to take the chance tht we hit a "good streak" with the larger Nours, although they seem to have thicker metal in the main tube.

On the positive side:

1. The jars are good, I like the intertwining infinity design.
2. The body castings are good and thick. The problem is if the thin main tube cracks, its all over.
3. The stem seems well assembled.
4. The bells seem very consistent. Almost MZ consistent. The older manufacturer required more work to fit the shank to jar correctly.
5. The whole thing comes with a good bag. Best around for carrying hookahs.
6. The tongs are good quality.

With the handmade quality of the pipes though, you're going to have inconsistencies and perhaps problems. The look of the pipe might be exactly like what you have, but the ports or some of the inner workings could be different and even significantly so. The only problems I can really list are the ones that I mentioned and the fact that the "heart" where the hose ports and purge valve connect to the base of the stem retains water and you have to shake it out a little bit. The smoking quality of the pipe is great though, and as long as it remains so, I cant say I dont recommend it because I do.

[Sonthert]

One of the Syrian brass pipes they were selling at hookah.com with a screw on base is quite good.

I have like four of that exact pipe that Bulldog has. I have a number of complaints.

1. The hose port is too narrow and its pitch is too flat.
2. The valve cover on two of the pipes won't clear the body correcly and it takes force to screw it on.
3. The stock metal of the main tube is too thin.
4. The tray is crappy and thin.
5. The hoses are bad knock-offs of Mya hoses. Very poorly made.
6. The hose ports are quite wide, but thin and they seem to have a 25% failure rate. The larger Nour pipe doesn't seem to have the same failure rate. Only the smaller one. I would be reticent to take the chance tht we hit a "good streak" with the larger Nours, although they seem to have thicker metal in the main tube.

On the positive side:

1. The jars are good, I like the intertwining infinity design.
2. The body castings are good and thick. The problem is if the thin main tube cracks, its all over.
3. The stem seems well assembled.
4. The bells seem very consistent. Almost MZ consistent. The older manufacturer required more work to fit the shank to jar correctly.
5. The whole thing comes with a good bag. Best around for carrying hookahs.
6. The tongs are good quality.

With the handmade quality of the pipes though, you're going to have inconsistencies and perhaps problems. The look of the pipe might be exactly like what you have, but the ports or some of the inner workings could be different and even significantly so. The only problems I can really list are the ones that I mentioned and the fact that the "heart" where the hose ports and purge valve connect to the base of the stem retains water and you have to shake it out a little bit. The smoking quality of the pipe is great though, and as long as it remains so, I cant say I dont recommend it because I do.

True dog, true.

If they have a 25% failure rate, how do you know you aren't going to have to send it back? The problems I'm describing are design problems/cheapness. Even if it works OK now, its more likely to fail next week or next month. Thin main tubes are problematic...they might be OK, but they aren't going to go the distance in general. I bought like 10 Al Ashry pipes at one point. Solid, fat castings, heavy as all hell. Nice hose ports (one bad one), a little too flat on the pitch, but not too bad. I sold four and kept six. Within four months of regular use, they were all dead and retired. They all had sprung leaks in the main tubes. Sucked.

Lets say I manufacture good quality pipes. I buy 20' sections of the tube that makes up the main pipe section. At the end of the 20' section, there will be a small section that is too short to be used to make another pipe. What these manufacturers do is sell this "scrap" to lower manufacturers. The lower manufacturers take two or three small pieces to make the main tube. Those seams often spring a leak. Sometimes the seam is jagged and there will be a seam that can't be fixed. The result is a pipe just waiting to fall apart. Thamesh pipes I've seen using two and three small sections to make their pipes. These Al Ashrys used one, long tube, but the wall was simply thin. It still died. Too thin a main tube and the pipe is a ticking time bomb. Each time you clean it, each time metal brush end hits tube, it wears a little more of the metal off...until it cracks. Then water and juice will start finding its way in there, corroding the outer solder joints (and being a nasty reservoir of bad flavor). So, if the main tube is too thin, I say pass. That is one of KM's saving graces...they use very thick-walled main tubes. When you combine high hose port failure rates, like these have, you should just pass. They can use thin wall material for hose ports or thick wall material. When you see 25% failure rates, you have assume they're using thin wall tube for the hose ports, too. Even if they touch up the flaws with solder, that won't last long. Sucking and blowing will dislodge the solder eventually. I got four good ones because I went through a pile of them and discarded two or three others that were failures. All due to the hose port.

So, as long as the pipes have thin down-tubes and high hose port failure rates, I say pass. It means they are jacked up. They might smoke like a dream...but if it dies after 3 months of use...how good is it?

[Bulldog_916]

Yea, I suppose you're right. I still think mine is on the 25% that are good, but I'm biased. Is there a Syrian model you recommend though?

I find the design of KMs kind of boring. There's no intricacy in it or art to it's design. It's optimized, which, obviously, has it's market. I like the Pharonie and to a certain extent the Trimetal because there's a little bit of eye candy there. But the rest seem to be pressed out and simplified. Thamesh is a knock-off KM imitator. Yawn.

It seems like there's little choice out there, you get one of three choices, KM or KM imitator, cheap POS Egyptian hookahs, or mass produced Myas. What if I want something well crafted and at the same time nice to look at? Where's the market for that?

[Scoop]

al-nawras ftw

[Bulldog_916]

Link to where I can get one?

[neffertiti]

Yea, I suppose you're right. I still think mine is on the 25% that are good, but I'm biased. Is there a Syrian model you recommend though?

I find the design of KMs kind of boring. There's no intricacy in it or art to it's design. It's optimized, which, obviously, has it's market. I like the Pharonie and to a certain extent the Trimetal because there's a little bit of eye candy there. But the rest seem to be pressed out and simplified. Thamesh is a knock-off KM imitator. Yawn.

It seems like there's little choice out there, you get one of three choices, KM or KM imitator, cheap POS Egyptian hookahs, or mass produced Myas. What if I want something well crafted and at the same time nice to look at? Where's the market for that?

I think this is the website/company that Scoop was reffering to. It all looks amazing, epically number 3. For some reason, though the pictures wouldnt work in firefox, had to switch to IE to view them


http://www.al-nawrasco.com/en/index.php?op...e&Itemid=35

[Sonthert]

75% are fine, 25% are fail. Yours is in the 75%.

Al Fakher Syrians are Al Nawras.