The Jester Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 ill make this short and sweet how much of an improvement is a vortex over an egyptian? cant get my hands on a phunnel right now so please dont start with it I would mostly smoke nakhla and maybe some soex (dont start with herbal flaming I already know all your opinions) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antouwan Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 [quote name='The Jester' timestamp='1298284497' post='498663'] ill make this short and sweet how much of an improvement is a vortex over an egyptian? cant get my hands on a phunnel right now so please dont start with it [b]I would mostly smoke nakhla[/b] and maybe some soex (dont start with herbal flaming I already know all your opinions) [/quote] egyptian tobacco in an egyptian head...it just seems natural, right? that being said, i don't have a lot of great luck with nak in an egyptian, but the way they do it at a lounge close to me is impressive, and there are some people around here that can give you some egyptian on nak lessons. vortex is uncharted territory, but if they are anything like a phunnel (i've heard they aren't really) then that would be the way to go. maybe you can buy a phunnel on the trade section here and pay for the postage to where you're at? if you think a padded envelope would do the trick - i could see that if it's packed correctly, you wouldn't be down except for about $14 USD, that isn't too bad. it may even be worth a shot. maybe talk to the guys at crown, if you get a micro phunnel, they may even be able to fit it in a small flat rate box - that's about 14 to Croatia, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magick777 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Negative improvement, as far as Nakhla or AF are concerned. Nasty, cheap ceramic - gets hot enough to smoke in a flash, epic clouds... scorches within seconds and reliably wastes the bottom half of a very large load of tobacco. Too deep, not wide enough, too easy to block up the 4 small holes unless you massively underpack. Really not impressed at all. First impressions were good but I quickly concluded I need wider and shallower bowls. My recommendations to you would be two of the Saphire bowls from Germany; the Hot Shot smokes well for 45 mins on 1 teaspoon of Nak and the Power Bowl takes 4 teaspoons to pack it and will smoke for 2h 55min (with Nak). These will be cheaper and easier to import than American bowls, and they're pretty damn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jester Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) 34,95 € shipment for a bowl? too big for my pocket I would rather make 3x14$ imports than one of these... Edited February 21, 2011 by The Jester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Egyptian > Vortex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IainUM Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 i wouldn't get one. i've smoked out of my friend's vortex multiple times and more times than not it just plain sucked. pain in the ass to pack, and uses a shit-ton of tobacco comparatively. i'd stick with the egyptian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magick777 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 [quote name='The Jester' timestamp='1298297681' post='498676'] 34,95 € shipment for a bowl? too big for my pocket I would rather make 3x14$ imports than one of these... [/quote] That does seem a little bit ridiculous... it might be worth talking to retailers / eBay sellers / whatever, that sounds like a flat price for shipping something the size of a hookah. With that said, I think your $14 flat rate shipping from the US may be optimistic, there are size and weight restrictions and you won't get a bowl into a flat-rate box (though, as said above, you might in a padded envelope). It's probably doable for that price if you talk to a human being as opposed to rely on retailers' websites. As a ballpark, I've just spent $65 on an order for 2 Crown bowls, I don't know exactly how much of that is on shipping as I asked for a total price to my door, but, it's around $20 on an order worth ~$45, and this is slated to take about 3 weeks, not exactly priority mail. Most US retailers quote $40 - $50 for international shipping. Do what works, I guess, but also talk to your local retailers - if the guys at Filantrop would pick up 20 of the German bowls, they might well negotiate enough of a discount to cover the shipping costs and stock them at not much over the normal German prices. Plus, if they stock Aladin, they will have stuff coming in from Germany anyway. Just a thought... (It's worth adding that I've been happily smoking what's available locally in cheap Egyptian bowls for several years before playing with spending more than the cost of a pipe on fancy flavour retaining bowls. Some of them are well worth it, but, I cannot claim they are "essential".) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epoch Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Well, if Nak is your go-to tobacco, a nice clay Egyptian bowl will be perfect for you. I usually use my Vortex bowl for really wet tobacco that I wanna smoke for a few hours, like Romman or Tangiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magick777 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 How much would it cost you to buy a Vortex in Croatia? Really, I don't rate them. To the point that you can have mine for nothing, if you want to cover the face value postage cost of shipping it to Croatia. Which looks to be about two quid, or two and a half euros. I'm not kidding, with the bowls I've got it's unlikely to ever get used here again. PM me if interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyCallMeDave Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Having bought a vortex at a point in my life to upgrade from a Egyptian, gotta say... Not worth it at all. HOld your horses, here's why. 1. Shisha usage. The smoking of a vortex bowl does indeed hold more shisha, but seems to last as long as an Egyptian bowl. Heat management on that cavern of a bowl doesn't treat me well. 2. Quality control (This is the biggest one for me) I've owned 3 vortex bowls, and I'd say with the purchasing with pipes, at least three Egyptians. - Egyptians = solid clay bowl with holes. Easy, and effective. - Vortex = Phunnel with holes on centre spire. of the three that I've owned, I've had the holes not only is drastically different places on the spire, but the different holes weren't even level with eachother. One vortex I had, had the holes nearly to the bottom of the bowl, just BARELY on the spire. What's the point in thaT? it's an Egyptian with a big hunk of clay taking up space and little holes. Again, not biased to the phunnel, or hating on the vortex... But it seems like if the Egyptian works so damned well, and the phunnel as well... Why did they try to make a mutant that combined the two? The quality isn't there for me, so I have to say... Stick withyour egyptian. Unless you are smoking a 50 gram of fantasia or AF, juice conservation isn't going to affect you enough to spend money on a bowl that doesn't increase your smoking experience all that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nun Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 i use vortex most of the time. only use egyptian for dry nakla. and lately i smoke only tangiers (vortex) and nakhla (vortex/egyptian). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_lunchb0x Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 i say Egyptian over the vortex. if you don't normally smoke for too long pick up a mini egypt. vortex sessions seem to last just about the same as a standard bowl. well you can always buy them both so you can finally decide which you like and have a bowl for back up just in case the other breaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotsi95 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 [size="6"]death by bees >vortex /thread [/size][img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/774_smiley_getting_kicked_in_the_balls.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TweakX4 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 i have a vortex and i like it. it's one of the 3 main bowls i use (the others being a ss hemi & hj alien) it works well, nothing epic. it's worth having it, if for no other reason than having another bowl, and you may end up loving it. people pack bowls/smoke/pull/manage coals differently, everyone is going to have a different experience with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Overlord Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Wouldn't the main difference be a bowl with holes in the bottom vs big hole in the center. How the air is circulating and where the juices go would be the two main differences I would say. I my opinion (never tried a vortex but I have used phunnels) would be that anything that keeps your juices from running out of the bottom of the bowl would give a longer smoke. I have never found a tobacco that couldn't be smoked out of a specific type of bowl. Its all packing and heat. I know Mushrat Smokes Tangiers out of a Mya Standard Bowl with no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skoozle Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 For nak, use the egyptian bowl. If you pack it right you will a great session. No need to go through the extra effort to get a vortex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glider Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 [quote][color=#1C2837][size=2]Again, not biased to the phunnel, or hating on the vortex... But it seems like if the Egyptian works so damned well, and the phunnel as well... Why did they try to make a mutant that combined the two?.[/size][/color][/quote] ever seen a super cheif? every bowl has its use. egyptian for drier tobaccos, phunnel for wetter etc... to me the vortex appeals to both sides. i can smoke zaglouhl which is super dry or i can smoke tangiers which is super wet in a vortex and get a great session from each. however the airflow of the vortex is pathetic.... its like sucking thorough a straw. the only time i use my vortex is with DM and the tobacco under the name Ar Rass(rare black tobacco blend blah blah). it needs a less than awesome airflow and high heat but no direct contact for it to work. DM smoked way better for me in a vortex than a phunnel or egyptian. havent used my crown for that yet Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dizzbizz Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 The vortex bowl is ok, but I prefer my standard and mini egyptian bowls over it, because they're more efficient and have better airflow. So overall egyptians are a better bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NargilaFilantrop Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 [quote name='magick777' timestamp='1298327582' post='498731'] How much would it cost you to buy a Vortex in Croatia? Really, I don't rate them. To the point that you can have mine for nothing, if you want to cover the face value postage cost of shipping it to Croatia. Which looks to be about two quid, or two and a half euros. I'm not kidding, with the bowls I've got it's unlikely to ever get used here again. PM me if interested. [/quote] Regards!! You can buy vortex in Croatia at Filantrop for 4 eur or 3,50 British Pound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S3cretz Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 (edited) The real original Vortex no! A cheap knockoff yes(they tend to be more shallow). Basically something like a Alien Phunnel. BUt just a alien Vortex I had one made for myself. And I love it Heres what it looks like(left) hes pretty beat up but still works. (normal large vortex right) I use it mainly for nak and Romman. [img]http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/6758/imag0042ls.jpg[/img] Edited September 24, 2011 by S3cretz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegaalpha22 Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 [quote name='glider' timestamp='1299694466' post='500775'] [quote][color=#1C2837][size=2]Again, not biased to the phunnel, or hating on the vortex... But it seems like if the Egyptian works so damned well, and the phunnel as well... Why did they try to make a mutant that combined the two?.[/size][/color][/quote] ever seen a super cheif? [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif[/img] every bowl has its use. egyptian for drier tobaccos, phunnel for wetter etc... to me the vortex appeals to both sides. i can smoke zaglouhl which is super dry or i can smoke tangiers which is super wet in a vortex and get a great session from each. however the airflow of the vortex is pathetic.... its like sucking thorough a straw. the only time i use my vortex is with DM and the tobacco under the name Ar Rass(rare black tobacco blend blah blah). it needs a less than awesome airflow and high heat but no direct contact for it to work. DM smoked way better for me in a vortex than a phunnel or egyptian. havent used my crown for that yet [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif[/img] Alex [/quote] You use a Vortex for DM and Ar Rass (i now want to find you and your Ar Rass and steal it...i just ran out of evening reward)? I find actually the Super Chief to be best for Ar Rass. As for DM, I use a phunnel, but I used a packing method I found on youtube. It's basically overpacking the phunnel about 1cm above the rim, then only poking holes in the spire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now