Best/ Favorite Hookah Bowls? (Clay, Ceramic, Phunnel Ect)

[noodle]

[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1284393882' post='482049']
Lol... thanks for clearing that up. I'll admit my understanding of the methods and materials used in bowl making is limited at best.

Your assumption is correct as my reference to mya bowls, chinese phunnels, etc. as being ceramic is flat out wrong. As I now understand it, ceramics refers to pottery regardless of the material while slipcast is the process of pouring a slip into a mould. I apologize for my mistake. Props to wikipedia for the 411.
[/quote]

Slipcast is just another method of making a ceramic object. It's good for mass-produced things, but is a very poor choice for hookah bowls and pipes. See [url="http://www.tinderbox.co.nz/clay_pipes.html"]http://www.tinderbox...clay_pipes.html[/url] for clay pipes made the Right Wa.

[noodle]

...Right Way.

[Chaz1337]

Dont be to quick to knock the Mya bowls and Bowls with built in windcovers. I have always been able to get the standard mya bowls to perform well and until recently was against the Built on windcover bowls too however after a hookah-naive friend bought one to replace the vortex bowl he broke and I used the little windcover with 2 pea size coconaras it brought the bowl back to life with the amount of heat it focuses. However NEVER use one while you are still getting a decent volume of smoke or it WILL burn your throat and lungs instantly!

[ih303]

[quote name='Chaz1337' timestamp='1284410917' post='482067']
Dont be to quick to knock the Mya bowls and Bowls with built in windcovers. I have always been able to get the standard mya bowls to perform well and until recently was against the Built on windcover bowls too however after a hookah-naive friend bought one to replace the vortex bowl he broke and I used the little windcover with 2 pea size coconaras it brought the bowl back to life with the amount of heat it focuses. However NEVER use one while you are still getting a decent volume of smoke or it WILL burn your throat and lungs instantly!
[/quote]

Of course everyone's entitled to their opinion - this is only what I think based on what I've experienced.

More than anything with the Mya bowls, the size of the holes sucks. Plus, since the inside of the bowl is unglazed, it ends up all stained and lookes like dook.

And while I love windcovers, attached to the bowl itself is the wrong place to put one. Initially I thought it was a good idea, but once I got one and realized I couldn't put full-size coals on it without it burning, nor could I easily use foil instead of the screen, my opinion of it changed. Plus, that slipcast stuff breaks pretty easliy while clay and earthenware stuff is more likely to chip.

Also, and some of you super smarties out there should let me know if I'm right on this one, clay/earthenware seems to be a much better insulator than the slipcast stuff. I'd imagine this is a result of the finer consistency and thinner proportions of the slipcast stuff over the other. In the context of smoking, you want your bowl to retain heat so you're heating the tobacco more consistently and not flying through coals.

Can anyone tell me how far off I am here?

[Venger]

[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1284473390' post='482127']
[quote name='Chaz1337' timestamp='1284410917' post='482067']
Dont be to quick to knock the Mya bowls and Bowls with built in windcovers. I have always been able to get the standard mya bowls to perform well and until recently was against the Built on windcover bowls too however after a hookah-naive friend bought one to replace the vortex bowl he broke and I used the little windcover with 2 pea size coconaras it brought the bowl back to life with the amount of heat it focuses. However NEVER use one while you are still getting a decent volume of smoke or it WILL burn your throat and lungs instantly!
[/quote]

Of course everyone's entitled to their opinion - this is only what I think based on what I've experienced.

More than anything with the Mya bowls, the size of the holes sucks. Plus, since the inside of the bowl is unglazed, it ends up all stained and lookes like dook.

And while I love windcovers, attached to the bowl itself is the wrong place to put one. Initially I thought it was a good idea, but once I got one and realized I couldn't put full-size coals on it without it burning, nor could I easily use foil instead of the screen, my opinion of it changed. Plus, that slipcast stuff breaks pretty easliy while clay and earthenware stuff is more likely to chip.

Also, and some of you super smarties out there should let me know if I'm right on this one, clay/earthenware seems to be a much better insulator than the slipcast stuff. I'd imagine this is a result of the finer consistency and thinner proportions of the slipcast stuff over the other. In the context of smoking, you want your bowl to retain heat so you're heating the tobacco more consistently and not flying through coals.

Can anyone tell me how far off I am here?
[/quote]
dead on.
Ray

[TheyCallMeDave]

Not that it is my favorite, but I find myself smoking Nakhla more and more these days, sometimes not switching brands on the biweekly basis. Especially Earl Grey Tea(OMNOMNOMNOM). I enjoy smoking Nak out of the Egyption bowl much better. Just an opinion. When I get me SS SB shipment in, I'll probably go right back to my Phunnel.

[Epoch]

Vortex always works well for me. Otherwise, I use a phunnel for big group sessions.

[LJ04]

my standby is a small phunnel. for a real quick session, 30min, i got a shallow mod bowl scratch and dent for like $2 from HS. thing smokes really good! just picked up a vortex, had one smoke with it, and it sucked. i take responsibility for that, though. i was disappointed with the phunnel first time i tried it, too. different bowls and tobaccos like different methods. just gotta try some different techniques til you nail it.

[jeremyk]

my go to bowls are tangiers mini phunnel, hj alein mini phunnel, small brown egyptian, and small tangiers phunnel. those four bowls get the job done no matter what im smoking

[RingsMaster]

i must say i have both an alien mini and a tang mini and i love them the same, but i love all bowls i dont think there is just one bowl to have. having many gives you variety and when packed properly any bowl will smoke like a champ.

[king_lunchb0x]

[quote name='Arcane' timestamp='1283379014' post='480953']
[quote name='INCUBUSRATM' timestamp='1283377086' post='480949']
Jay nailed it.
[/quote]
that's what she said...
[/quote]

i lol'ed


but yes i would say phunnel is a great investment. i use it for all shisha's and never had a single problem with it