Screen or foil?

[Bondal929]

Hi, Im a long time hookah smoker. I was wondering whether you prefer metal charcoal screens to foil. Personally I like foil, but there is reasearch showing that it can be unhealthy to smoke using foil. Which do you prefer? 

[steve07]

metal screen works good for me

[Cornellius]

Never tried metal screen, foil is selection for now...

[skiracerj1]

I find it easier to control the smoke with foil, it always seems to get really harsh really fast with the screen for me, but thats more of an operator error than anything else

[Shift_Six]

Ive tried a screen once a long time ago, but it wasnt a very good screen so i dont know. I use foil as well and it has worked well, but foil is supposed to be another added health risk to shisha, so im trying to get rid of that. There was a post on the forum about a wind cover with a screen with it. I would really consider getting that, but the shipping for just that would be killer.

[Sonthert]

[quote name='Bondal929']Hi, Im a long time hookah smoker. I was wondering
whether you prefer metal charcoal screens to foil. Personally I like
foil, but there is reasearch showing that it can be unhealthy to smoke
using foil. Which do you prefer? [/quote]

What research, where? Aluminum doesn't vaporize, even at high
temperatures, meaning there is no vapor from it. How is it bad? All the
major health concerns regarding aluminum involve aluminum dust, not the foil.Lots of people say there is research or studies...that doesn't mean its true...even if they aren't making it up in the first place. I have challenged people to give me references for credible evidence that aluminum foil is bad, and nobody has to this point, so I should think that its safe.

[Shift_Six]

Im very glad you pointed that out Tangiers, my friend who is not really a big shisha consumer but smokes a lot of pot pointed out that aluminum leads to some health problems, so i believed him because he is usually very knowledgible about random facts lol. Anyways thats good to know, thanks a lot.

[zzzzzT]

I used to use a metal screen a while ago. I have switched back to foil. I find it manages the heat better for me.

[zzzzzT]

I seriously doubt the foil would harm you like Tangiers said. It should not vaporize.

[fishdog]

I have used a screen a couple times, but that was at a friends, I personally use foil with mine, but hrm...maybe i'll pick up a screen next time i order some stuff...

[DrunkenWizard]

Screens all the way!  Not just metal though, I also use pyrex screens.  I get way more smoke with screens than with foil.

[Sonthert]

Yeah, but the heat conductivity of glass creates a system that is too slow to respond to changes in heat. Aluminum/metal reacts very quickly to changes in temperature.

[mushrat]

Um...not to contradict the learned tangiers...but have some of you guys ever held your foil up to the light ater smoking? especially a long session? Or even, as a different experiment, if you use a butane torch or some such to light your coals. wave it accross your foil and then hold it up to a light.

[mushrat]

There was this a while back..I thought there was a follow up thread, but I can't locate it.
Besides guys and gals...we're SMOKING! Whats a little more nastiness in the body?
That said I use screens when I do the setting up.

[cymptom]

Just to point out a relevant post from another forum...(http://www.cannabisculture.com/forums/showflat.php? Cat=&Number=1190468&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=2&vc =1)[quote][url="http://web.ionsys.com/~remedy/TOXIC%20METAL%20SYNDROME%20-%20How%20Metal%20Poisonings%20Can%20Affect%20Your%20Brain.htm"]Metal Toxicity  Aluminum Toxicity  Five Common Metals to Avoid and where you'll find them  Metal Toxicity [/url]  And here's a wiki snippit.  Aluminum foil releases toxic chemicals while heated, and its use should be avoided as high aluminum levels have been found in the brains of some patients with neurological diseases.  And a hookah coal burns at any place up to 300 degrees celsius or about 500 degrees farenheit. You know that glowing bright red thing...[/quote]

[surfpico]

In memory of the great hookahforum man MUSH...USE THE SEARCH.

[surfpico]

Oh wait. He's still alive.

[JByer323]

Aluminum foil works much better to block out the government's evil mind controlling rays.

[Sonthert]

OK, I have read the various sources listed, here is what I have to respond with:1. Wikipedia is NOT a scholarly source. Anyone can contribute and the articles/information is not checked. 2. Aluminum, will, when heated, as I discussed with a chemist I know, recrystalize into a "matrix", hence the "transparent" effect when held upto sunlight.3. People have expressed that aluminum has a plastic coating on it...this may or may not be true...it is probably Polyethylene and when charcoal is placed on it, it will burn into water and carbon dioxide, perhaps a little carbon monoxide. Just in case, don't suck through the hose for 10-15 seconds after you put charcoal on the bowl.4. The first reference listed has no support references..where is their information from?5. The second reference is obviously trying to sell something and they also have no references.6. The third source is fair, but only cites statistical information, no clinical research.7. The fourth source is fair, and cites a WHO study that doubted the conclusions that:"Although there is no conclusive evidence
for or against aluminum as a primary cause for Alzheimer's disease, most
researchers agree that it is an important factor in the dementia component
and most certainly deserves continuing research efforts."i.e. There is no evidence we're guessing. There is NO evidence that aluminum does anything to us...arsenic, lead and mercury, we know exactly what it does in the body, we know why its effects occur...aluminum is a mystery...because it doesn;t do anything really. 8. aluminum foil is pure aluminum, right?  Where are these toxic chemicals being released (When heated)? Pure aluminum and what else could there be? If I add heat to aluminum, how are there magic toxic chemicals produced? Hmm? Since aluminum foil doesn't vaporize, what is coming off of it? Nothing is the answer. If aluminum in the drinking water and aluminum in your pots is a concern...that doesn't mean that aluminum foil heated on your hookah is a serious issue...it might be the safest contact you have with aluminum. I agree if there is a plastic coating, it might vaporize, but that's also a low order of toxicity, compare to the carbon monoxide from the charcoal and the other crap coming from the tobacco, as Mushy pointed out.9. I want to refer back to what I pointed out in an unrelated topic. We all consume large amounts of aluminum, whether we want to or not...why don't we all have Alzheimer's? Aluminum levels are found to be far higher in people with Alzheimer's, right...so aluminum must be bad is the faulty logic. What if elevated levels of aluminum AND Alzhemier's are BOTH symptoms of a larger, undiscovered cause? Impotence in men and heart attacks could be linked statistically...but an underlying causitive agent is high blood pressure. My reference on aluminum is the Merck Index. If its in the Merck Index, its true as far as modern science is concerned, and it doesn't even list aluminum as a suspect for causing Alzheimer's . It does list aluminum dust as being "suspected" of causing cancer...but not Alzheimer's.10. As a side point, there are numerous examples of fake or financially motivated studies over time. Company A who sells beef pays for a study that shows how bad pork is for you. Etc.11. A quote from the fourth source, listed above:[u]Iron[/u] – An overload of
iron in the body potentially causes enlarged liver, skin discoloration,
diabetes mellitus, heart failure (as a result of internal electrical miscueing)
and brain damage.Why isn't everybody worried about using metal screens...they contain iron...the same logical process that allows aluminum to pose a threat should allow iron to pose a threat...right? Aluminum may only cause Alzheimer's...Iron sounds alot more dangerous to me!In closing, aluminum may indeed do what they say it does...we don't know...there is always going to be some cocksucker scientist who is looking to make some extra money by making a fake study...there is no licensing process for being a scientist...crackpots are admitted in to the club. We shouldn't worry about all these things poisoning us...if its serious, we already know or its pretty obvious. So relax, smoke a hookah, use foil, use a screen...the smoking is the thing thats going to kill you anyways.

[Bondal929]

Bravo!! Thats was quite the performance! Foil all the way!

[thiisisnick]

kudos

[thiisisnick]

anybody listen to Say Anything here?

[djnick]

i use a screen works fine for me. i dont buy into the which is safer argument. i just think a screen makes it easier and faster to setup and ive been getting great smoke with the screen/windcover setup. i do switch to foil occasionally

[Smashraj84]

I'm too lazy to run a search for my thread earlier, but Tang I got my screens today.  They came in a plastic baggy and I was like hmm ok, then I looked closer and it was frlom the USPS.  They said they apologized for mishandling the mail and they are sorry it was an inconvenience and that I have the right to mail in good condition.  Then I realized that the plastic baggy wasn't from you.  Inside the baggy was the envelope you sent them in and it was ripped to shreds (literally it looked like someone tore the envelope in half, then ran half of the envelope through a shredder).  The envelope was also slightly dirty like someone smudged the front with ink in spots.  There were two metal screens in there so I was pretty happy about that.  I soaked them in some hot water with soup and washed them thoroughly so I'm gonna try them tonight.  Has anyone ever had this happen to them?If you wanna see a picture of the baggy it came in....http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e8/Smashraj84/Pictur e24.jpg.

[Sonthert]

Great. USPS is intentionally abusing my parcels. The only reason that makes sense to me, djNick, is that you like it better. Thats the point, I guess, use what you want because you like it, not because you are afraid of the alternatives.