Smoke Question?

[jobless]

not considering effects on taste/clouds, im trying to figure out how to make the smoke have as little impurities as possible.. so far i've thought of a couple of areas:

1. type of coal
-does the smoke come only from burning the coal or is it something that comes from the shisha cooking?
-natural vs ql: natural coconuts are better right?

2. type of shisha
if the smoke comes from the shisha cooking then there must be a brand of shisha that is the cleanest? anyone have any idea?

3. base liquid
-will lemon juice or baking soda in the water help "clean out" the smoke? im not concerned about the nicotine, just the other stuff.. altho ive heard that acidic base will remove the nicotine?
-ice water v warm water? which water temperature will dissolve more impurities? warm smoke+ice water = more condensation trapping impure particles?

4. extra accessories
-heba diffuser will increase smoke/water contact and make it better?
-cp44 showed me a link to a carbon filter.. its pretty cool but its not very long lasting
Edit: Banned vendor on blog. Here is a more appropriate link: http://www.hookah-shisha.com/p-1342-shisha-filter.html

long post and thx for reading! hope someone can help me with this Edited August 11, 2010 by INCUBUSRATM
Blogsite with banned vendor all over it.

[Josh Hamilton]

1-natural wins hands down coz it burns longer than qls and doesnt give you the headache...although there are a few ql exceptions like ch w/c I have yet to demo
2-from my understanding is the wetter the tobacco the more smoke you can get hence packing is fluffier (ex starbuzz/af)
3-I use water...I hate cleaning the bases of sticky liquid...and would def hate it on the stem
4-as for extra accessories none...I just make sure my eqpt is clean of ghosting to ensure a good session of flavorful smoke...ive tried diy diffusers but didnt notice a big difference Edited August 11, 2010 by Josh Hamilton

[Matto]

Natural coals burn much much cleaner than QL's.

The brands that use the cleanest tobacco (not grown with pesticides and whatnot) and use no colorings would be the cleanest burning I would think. You'll have to do some research to find out which kind of tobacco is used for which shisha.

I don't know about the base liquid, but I would assume you're right about the cold water because of the temp change, although it probably wouldn't make that much difference since even with room temp water you're still going from about 400 degrees in the bowl, 400 to 70 and 400 to 34 are very similar differences.

Diffusers should allow for more of the smokes surface area to be in contact with the water which would allow for more filtration.

Carbon filters would obviously help filter out impurities.

[rhineholt]

I'm pretty sure the water doesn't filter anything out. I'm not sure about the carbon filter mouthtips, but from what I've read about them, they completely change the taste of the hookah and make the pull extremely difficult.

the smoke comes from the shisha cooking. natural coals are better because they don't have as many chemicals like ql's.

and another thing, the diffusors don't do anything besides quiet the hookah. i own one and i haven't noticed a "cleaner" smoke or a thicker smoke either.

[fineout]

if you're super concerned about impurities then id say dont even bother smoking, you will never make it healthier and no matter what you do it will only be marginally better. if you're worried about becoming addicted, well yea that can happen, but if you stick with washed shishas then the chance is probably a little less. That said i smoke nakhla all the time, and i am not addicted at all, i take weeks off at a time without a problem.

i guess ill answer your questions anyway.

1. type of coal
-does the smoke come only from burning the coal or is it something that comes from the shisha cooking? [b]it comes from the shisha cooking[/b]
-natural vs ql: natural coconuts are better right? [b]natural coals are much better, here is pretty much the only thing that you can change about harmful chemicals, natural coals will not have nearly as much bad stuff as a quicklight, but i still use quicklights if im in a pinch.[/b]

2. type of shisha
if the smoke comes from the shisha cooking then there must be a brand of shisha that is the cleanest? anyone have any idea? [b]honestly im not sure what you mean by cleanest, i guess you could try and trust tangiers as its american made by a trusted member here where as the others are made somewhere in the middle east. Al Fakher and Nakhla are also very renowned brands and are probably fairly free of random additives. I imagine most big name shishas probably are actually. Least nicotine would be AF, Starbuzz, Tangiers Lucid, Social Smoke (i think) among a bunch of others. [/b]

3. base liquid
-will lemon juice or baking soda in the water help "clean out" the smoke? im not concerned about the nicotine, just the other stuff.. altho ive heard that acidic base will remove the nicotine?
-ice water v warm water? which water temperature will dissolve more impurities? warm smoke+ice water = more condensation trapping impure particles? [b]i really dont think that much that you do with the water is going to do much for you, honestly, unless you have chlorine and bleach in there, which would be worse breathing in than whatever is coming through as smoke.[/b]

4. extra accessories
-heba diffuser will increase smoke/water contact and make it better?
-cp44 showed me a link to a carbon filter.. its pretty cool but its not very long lasting
[url="http://www.hookahbowl.com/?cat=8"]http://www.hookahbowl.com/?cat=8[/url]
[b]you can find a review on both of these around, i dont think that either is really going to do much, i wouldnt even bother with the charcoal tip as its super restrictive and probably kills the flavor of the smoke[/b]

[jobless]

ok i just bought some carbon filters online... will have to try it to see any effect on pull/taste.. i read a review about it on hookah-shisha where someone changed the carbon inside to a larger grain and that improved the pull... gonna try that too

im pretty sure the water filters something out.. probably just the water soluable stuff in the smoke, and mayb some flavour... if it doesnt filter anything then the base water can be reused without replacing which isnt true.. just try smoking for a month without changing water and then look @ the color [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/lol.gif[/img]

[fineout]

you are probably right, but the temperature of the water and heba diffuser probably isnt going to do anything to help it, if it does it WILL be negligable

[jobless]

i think the idea behind the different base water is finding some sort of combination that would trap/dissolve the most impurities.. maybe water + alcohol??

im not concerned with nicotine addiction... used to roll cigs from captain black pipe tobacco everyday lol.. im guess im too bored from unemployment zzz.. but it would be cool to find out a way to get pure clean smoke with max flavor..

AF is washed but nakhla isnt.. what happens when they wash the shisha? i know the nicotine concentration goes down but are there less impurities too?

[Chreees]

I know I told you in Chat I was gonna post later on this thread to help you out but Shawn (fineout) took the words right out of my mouth pretty much.

Shawn, can I have my words back?

[Arcane]

well...you can always use this argument...

there's actually no smoke...

[jobless]

my idea of clean is actually quite vague, but to me it doesnt really matter as long as theres some indicator that the smoke is being "cleaned"..
for example: when the water gets mucky = some particles get trapped in the water, or with the carbon filter the air gets cleaner (dont ask me for proof lol, but activated carbon is used for commercial air purification)

hope this helps somehow...

also, what about changing the way the shisha cooks? maybe it could be steamed instead? or we cld add something to the molasses so it wouldnt burn or retain heat better?

[Arcane]

actually the water changes color because the juice from the shisha drips down into the stem and then into the water....coloring the water.

if you use a phunnel bowl and the juice doesn't boil over, the water stays clear....

[Chreees]

Yeah, what Jay (Arcane) said.

Honestly man, you're way overthinking it. Most of us on here don't use carbon tips or any of that stuff. Your "smoke" (vapor) is probably about as clean as it's going to get. Just smoke and enjoy it.

[king_lunchb0x]

[quote name='INCUBUSRATM' date='11 August 2010 - 03:02 PM' timestamp='1281564144' post='478546']
Yeah, what Jay (Arcane) said.

Honestly man, you're way overthinking it. Most of us on here don't use carbon tips or any of that stuff. Your "smoke" (vapor) is probably about as clean as it's going to get. Just smoke and enjoy it.
[/quote]

+1 one this post... basically anything you smoke that fills your lungs is going to have negative attributes to it. Best way is to enjoy it for what it is. or dont smoke at all

[jobless]

ok just tried a session with the heba.. i think it makes the pull easier.. im still waiting for the carbon filter add-on we'll see how that one goes

[IainUM]

let me know how that goes, cause i've had my doubts on those carbon filter tips. i loved the buzz i used to get, but i rarely get them anymore

[jobless]

ok i tried the carbon filters with nak mint+ af mint mix... they def take out some of the flavor and buzz but dont affect cloud size.. i'd say use it with stronger flavors if u wanna...