Grandpas Old Hookah

[JOE]

I was at my grandpas today helping him fix his cable. and he showed me one of his old hookahs that he has out on display. he said that it was from Iran and it has the kings of Persia on it. it is a beautiful pipe, I believe the center section is wood, but I didn't handle it at all so i don't know. the detail on the pipe was amazing, I am going back tomorrow to finish helping him out, I am going to bring my camera to get a nice picture of it.

heres a crappy iphone pic for now

[Jacob Shock]

damn. i want an iranian hookah so bad, but i dont smoke tombac that often so it wouldn't be the best investment.

[Codename067]

You need to get us a better pic, that hookah does not deserve that picture!!!

lol jk.

That is one sweet looking OG hookah. It must be really old...no urging valve as far as I can see.

[NIGHTS OF BAGHDAD]

looks great man, try to get better pics..especially the stem

[JOE]

You need to get us a better pic, that hookah does not deserve that picture!!!

lol jk.

That is one sweet looking OG hookah. It must be really old...no urging valve as far as I can see.

haha i know im sorry, i figured a picture was better than no picture! i am going back tomorrow with my SLR and some more time, so i can check it out. He told me its about 90 years old.

[Codename067]

You need to get us a better pic, that hookah does not deserve that picture!!!

lol jk.

That is one sweet looking OG hookah. It must be really old...no urging valve as far as I can see.

haha i know im sorry, i figured a picture was better than no picture! i am going back tomorrow with my SLR and some more time, so i can check it out. He told me its about 90 years old.

I thought at least 60+

SLR would do some serious justice. Enlighten us with the background as well, keep it interesting.

[nars2k]

Thats a really nice hookah, I have an Iranian hookah too. My grandma gave it to me a few years ago and she had it for a while. Ill post some pictures when I can take them.

[NimbleCow]

Smoking pics!

[joytron]

I hope that thing gets some use! Love those vases.

[Sonthert]

Hey, don't smoke modern sheesha out of that pipe. That pipe was made to smoke tombac out of. The wood will swell and split, ruining it if you smoke modern sheesha out of it.

[thecyrax]

Definitely an Iranian hookah, I have one with a very similar wooden stem and you can still get them in Iran.

By the discoloration it looks like it has been through a fair amount of use (not a bad thing at all).

Most likely, it will have a drawing of Naser al-din shah on the vase (and it looks like the bowl).

Jacob, you definitely don't need to smoke Tombac only out of iranian hookahs.... in fact in Iran, most of the people who smoke hookah smoke Moassel.
They smoke Tombac out of larger hookahs, flavored Moassel out of smaller hookahs.

They are rather difficult to find in the states unfortunately, but if you know anyone going to Iran they can be bought there for under a few dollars.

[Sonthert]

I guess that might be an overstatement on my part. Good call Cyrax. It depends on the pipe. Some pipes are metal clad or cased, that is they have a continuous metal tube running through the metal parts. These are fine to smoke modern sheesha out of. Some woods are very dense and won't split either. Some cheaper ones, however are made f lighter wood and lack a metal casing, then you should avoid smoking modern sheesha out of it. Sometimes its tough to determine if the metal casing goes through the wooden piece or not. Thats why I just use the blanket rule. I sold a gorgeous Syrian wood one recently that was brass cased. Beautiful! It was an Al Nahwra, at that. Glycerine doesn't evaporate appreciably. It refluxes on the wood and gets absorbed in the wood, and like water, makes the wood swell. Water evaporates, so the wood returns to normal, glycerine keeps getting thicker and deeper in there, makng the wood swell more and more until it splits. Denser hardwood is much stronger and will require a lot more glycerine to make it split. Wooden headpieces on hoses will do this too. Older hoses will have a simple metal tip driven into a hole in the wood. After a few months, the metal piece falls out when the wood crack...same phenomena.

[Jacob Shock]

ive been contemplating getting one for a long time. but its a bit pricey for me to not use it as much as i would use a KM or MYA.

Cyrax. ive have only found one place in the states were i can get an iranian hookah. it looks damn nice to. but im not spending $130 on a hookah i know nothing about other than its iranian.


http://www.hookahcompany.com/wood_iranian_...ah_672_prd1.htm

edited beacause i posted the wrong link
Edited December 4, 2009 by Jacob Shock

[Chreees]

Nice hookah, Joe.

[Vladimir]

Lucky, if my grandparents saw me smoking hookah I could say bye-bye to being in the will!

[thecyrax]

ive been contemplating getting one for a long time. but its a bit pricey for me to not use it as much as i would use a KM or MYA.

Cyrax. ive have only found one place in the states were i can get an iranian hookah. it looks damn nice to. but im not spending $130 on a hookah i know nothing about other than its iranian.


http://www.hookahcompany.com/wood_iranian_...ah_672_prd1.htm

edited beacause i posted the wrong link

For $130 that makes absolutely no sense. In Iran I can pick that same hookah up for $2-3. Not kidding.


Eric, I've never seen a wooden hookah in Iran that used a metal downstem (not that they don't exist) so I'm assuming this falls under the same category. In general I do believe that wooden hookahs are terrible as long-term pipes, but given that I can get another one for a measly few dollars each summer when I go to Iran, it isn't such a big deal.

IMO smoking out of a wooden hookah is a much more rewarding, flavorful smoke as it takes time to break in the stem itself and remove the wooden flavor from it.

If you'd like to smoke out of that Iranian hookah, OP, I could let you know how they use Moassel in Iran, but from the pictures it looks like more of a decorative pipe with the painted bowl. Not to say that you couldn't smoke out of it.

[GeorgieHC]

It is super nice, I love the models that the heads match the bases. The darker wood stems are in my assumption better quality either because they are denser wood or lacquered. I would keep it as a shoe piece and would hate to see a colored modern tobacco smoked out of it. I would be interested to see what king is on it.

[Sonthert]

ive been contemplating getting one for a long time. but its a bit pricey for me to not use it as much as i would use a KM or MYA.

Cyrax. ive have only found one place in the states were i can get an iranian hookah. it looks damn nice to. but im not spending $130 on a hookah i know nothing about other than its iranian.


http://www.hookahcompany.com/wood_iranian_...ah_672_prd1.htm

edited beacause i posted the wrong link

For $130 that makes absolutely no sense. In Iran I can pick that same hookah up for $2-3. Not kidding.


Eric, I've never seen a wooden hookah in Iran that used a metal downstem (not that they don't exist) so I'm assuming this falls under the same category. In general I do believe that wooden hookahs are terrible as long-term pipes, but given that I can get another one for a measly few dollars each summer when I go to Iran, it isn't such a big deal.

IMO smoking out of a wooden hookah is a much more rewarding, flavorful smoke as it takes time to break in the stem itself and remove the wooden flavor from it.

If you'd like to smoke out of that Iranian hookah, OP, I could let you know how they use Moassel in Iran, but from the pictures it looks like more of a decorative pipe with the painted bowl. Not to say that you couldn't smoke out of it.

If its metal cased or made of hardwood, its usually fine long-term. Also, Jurak and Zaghloul should be fine. Only brands with lots of glycerine pose a problem.

Why do they pose a problem long-term, Cyrax?