Thoughts On My First Km

[destructo]

on thanksgiving i ordered a green pear from john and got it yesterday. first of all im stunned with the lack of quality. the stem of the purge valve is gold when the rest is silver, up close you can tell that none of the welds were polished off, the pear looked like it got nicked with a dremel at the very top and the vase has a chip in it. fortunately none of that effects the smokeability which is at least twice as good as my qt. thankfully im a function over form. I was just underwhelmed when i got it due to everyone practically jizzing their pants over km hookahs.

on a side note i probably wont be back for a few days since my laptop died and neweggs idea of express processing is wait at least 2 days to ship so im going to be computerless until probably monday.

[NIGHTS OF BAGHDAD]

no 2 kms are alike..some are cleaner some are not..i myself dont put too much value in stuff like that...im not saying to field goal kick my hookah and then ship it to me..lol but i mean long as it smokes fine thats all that matters..

[destructo]

from hose length you cant really tell the welds werent polished and the chip is in a place where you cant see it but it still seals so neither are big deals. i guess i just got one of the worse ones or have a different standard in quality. the first thing i did was clean it and call a friend to smoke it. and it was simply stunning too bad i used the last of my k peach

[delSol_si]

i was the same way with my first KM, destructo. I bought mine a year ago (well, almost) and when i opened the box, the first expression I had was "holy shit this thing is huge" my very next reaction was "wow, quality sucks" because i was used to the "perfectness" of the chinese hookahs. Then, after smoking it a few sessions, I was like "oh, so THATS a KM"

Honestly, when I first got my KM, i was completely disappointed in the quality, but after owning it for awhile and realizing how badass it smoked, I came to appreciate the "lack of quality" so to speak and am heavily considering getting another KM. So far I have smoked from Mya, KM, chinese, and AF and KM has been my favorite despite the aesthetic flaws from being "hand-made." So ya, I know exactly where you are coming from.

[destructo]

dont get me wrong from 5 feet away it looks ballin and smokes better than any hookah ive ever smoked. you guys just got my hopes up. also it was way windy last night and i practically smoked out my basement which i havent gotten remotely close to with a qt.

[NIGHTS OF BAGHDAD]

i think if one is more interested in clean parts and shine mya is the way to go..and thats not to say km doesnt have that..but i myself actually do prefer the welds of a km and the nicks and such because it looks more authentic..like its 50+ years old one of those items you say man if it could talk i bet it would have some stories to tell..its hard for me to explain where im comming from..the best way i could is you take 2 people both filthy rich but the uneducated will go and buy a 2010 Ferrari, where has the carnosaur(sp) would go with a vintage Ferrari..i prefer that old vintage look to my km's that aged look..it makes it look more authentic..and i have nothing against myas but i think they are too much shine and bling for my taste..

[destructo]

ya it looks like my standards were a little too high. apparently its about average weld quality.

looks pretty awesome from a few feet away too

[ryno]

Can you get a close up of the weld mark? Most of the ones I've seen are gold colored. My guess is because thats where they grinded down the weld. All the ones Ive seen have been gold, but they were also smooth. Its what you get in a handmade pipe.

[NIGHTS OF BAGHDAD]

good looking pipe there..dont worry too much about the welds being dirty or scuffed just fire up some coals and

[RingsMaster]

its not perfect which makes it the best, cause no ones KM will ever be just like yours, thats what i love about KM

[vballpro]

I ordered a KM double Tri-metal from john on black friday, and It should be coming soon! I can't wait!

[destructo]

Can you get a close up of the weld mark? Most of the ones I've seen are gold colored. My guess is because thats where they grinded down the weld. All the ones Ive seen have been gold, but they were also smooth. Its what you get in a handmade pipe.

its a bad picture its a dull grey and bumpy. also why do they use gold purge ports i found it really strange.
my biggest problem were this






which i noticed as soon as i opened the box but you cant see when smoking since its on the opposite side of the hose port and this




which doesnt effect the seal and cant be seen when in use.
overall i give the function of it a 10/10 but the quality 5.5/10

[inino]

Nobody should ever send you a chipped vase. Who did you order than from? secondly, your KM is worse looking than normal, I would be mad if that came to my door, but as you said you are fine with the functionality of it. Its normal to have a few dirty welds. The ports are not gold they are brass. Its for durability.

[Stuie]

I think KM only has Brass Purge Stems.

I am not sure any of mine smoke twice as good as my QT.

I have a KM I am thinking of unloading because the defects drive me crazy. (Recovering from OCD)

[rj_skillz]

Its a great looking KM bud..I love the green! I think I made a topic in this thread but dont remember what I called it! But I was too in the same position as you. When I received my KM, I wasnt that happy!..1 or 2 minor chips on the top of the vase..the ash tray was completely covered in dust and dont get me started on the clay bowl. But after upgrading a few items such as the hose and bowl..aaah, you can tell straight away, THATS A KM!

The reason most people gave me was that because they're hand made..each and every single one wont be the same hence, some other hookahs may have problems on one bit and others have a problem somewhere else. I wouldn't take too much notice..as long as it does not effect your sessions. Edited December 3, 2009 by rj_skillz

[ryno]

Those welds are def. not the cleanest I've seen on KMs.

[Arcane]

on thanksgiving i ordered a green pear from john and got it yesterday. first of all im stunned with the lack of quality. the stem of the purge valve is gold when the rest is silver

like many people have said. it's actually brass...it's a good thing.

and, the KM does look a bit worse for wear. i've gotten some hookahs where i thought, eh...i wish it was in better condition. but, then i consider - 1) handmade 2)came from Egypt 3) shipped to CA 4) then shipped to Korea/Hawaii

after those considerations, the few imperfections don't seem that bad. and honestly, if it was perfect, i think it would lose a bit of it's appeal for me. minus being shitty, my AF Large Solid is aesthetically perfect...and lacks a lot of character because of it.

[foibled again]

There isn't a soldered joint in the second picture you posted. Also, not all of the formed stainless steel stems are soldered together. Also, why would they go back to grind/polish solder?

As for the gold purge valve, the worker probably just grabbed from the wrong bin of parts, much like why the purge caps vary so much. I've seen variances among purge valves, caps, and hose ports common in KMs. Edited December 3, 2009 by foibled again

[demonix]

As for the gold purge valve, the worker probably just grabbed from the wrong bin of parts, much like why the purge caps vary so much. I've seen variances among purge valves, caps, and hose ports common in KMs.

to add to what Foibled said, you'll notice different purge valves on different hookahs. I've seen several different styles on KM's.
Like he said, probably grabbed the wrong one, looks like the purge valve cover on Phan's OG TM.
That purge valve styling is commonly known as the "China Hat"

As for the quality of the hookah, that's what you get with handmade hookahs, inconsistencies will always be apparent

[destructo]

the second picture isnt even a joint it looks like someone had a grinder and over shot and hit the pear. as for the joints im pretty sure they are welds since solder offers almost no structural support unless its silver solder which it isnt and still offer litter support. and i got it from john, should i email him about it when i get a working computer?

[Codename067]

Who ever you bought it from decided to send you that specific one.

I am sure they got plenty of other exact stems with better weld marks, bases with no chipped glass, and so on.

Either way, you buy a KM for the sick amounts of smoke! Even though all the ones I own are dop dead sexy

[RingsMaster]

Who ever you bought it from decided to send you that specific one.

I am sure they got plenty of other exact stems with better weld marks, bases with no chipped glass, and so on.

Either way, you buy a KM for the sick amounts of smoke! Even though all the ones I own are dop dead sexy

i dont think john would have purposely sent him something tht he thought was in bad condition. the chip might have happened during shipping or maybe a mistake by john he didnt see.

[Codename067]

Who ever you bought it from decided to send you that specific one.

I am sure they got plenty of other exact stems with better weld marks, bases with no chipped glass, and so on.

Either way, you buy a KM for the sick amounts of smoke! Even though all the ones I own are dop dead sexy

i dont think john would have purposely sent him something tht he thought was in bad condition. the chip might have happened during shipping or maybe a mistake by john he didnt see.

I'ts not about purpose. He has items and he needs to get rid of them! Every vendor has KMs as such. Chip here, chip there. And they need to get rid of them too. That's quite normal.

Though it getting chipped could have been caused during shipping.

I got nothing on John, he's the coolest vendor around hands down.

[NIGHTS OF BAGHDAD]

i wouldnt worry so much about it man..has time goes by you will begin to love every nick and weld spot on that pipe has if it was your own kid..lol the main thing is it smokes like a angry dragon..

[delSol_si]

id be upset about the vase, personally. the weld/solder, not so much. the scratch i would have to see in person to decide my opinion on. also would matter how much you paid. If you paid top dollar, you have every right to be upset, if you got it for cheap, then not so much.