Some Suggestions?

[germz]

I am looking for some shisha and charcoal suggestions... the only store that i know of in my town that sells hookah supplies only has Soex and instant-light charcoal, which I discovered have fairly negative reviews upon a quick search (which i did after a few sessions with their supplies receiving negative results.) I have heard good things about coconut charcoal, layalina shisha and romman shisha.... some further input on whether or not those are good or not would be awesome, as well as any other suggestions for either shisha or charcoal (or both!)

I also found a website www.hookah-shisha.com that sells shisha, charcoal, hookahs and other hookah supplies from a wide variety of companies...can anyone confirm whether this is a good site to buy from or suggest other good websites.

also pros/cons of herbal vs tobacco (efficiency wise, already know the obvious health differences) and large vs small hookahs.

thanks

[Teganv]

I would suggest these vendors, Hookah-shisha, Nazar hookah, and 5starhookah.

Stay away from quick lights. From what i've heard the best coals are Coco Naras and Razan coals. Not going to comment on suggestions about the tobacco, since I don't know to much but just to put some names out there to look at: Al Fakher, Tangiers, and Social Smoke.

Wait till you get more replies, im still new at this myself so don't take what I say, to heart. Edited December 9, 2011 by Teganv

[MichaelLCP]

Well I can help you out with the first couple questions. As far as Layalina and Romman shisha, they aren't bad. Good starter brands to try. Coconut coals are the best IMO. Hookah-Shisha is a good website to order from. As well as HookahJohn, HookahCompany and Nazarhookah. Tangiers, Naklha and Al Fakher are the brands people primarily smoke around here. Tangiers is pretty much the best, though it can take some work getting to smoke right. I recommend smoking tangiers out of a tangiers punnel bowl, which you can get at HookahJohn or HookahCompany. Here is a video on how to pack it.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtUqz4hqn6Y&list=UUH4k82mtHo9IF-r_Wn46PXA&feature=plcp[/media]

Let us know if you have any questions. Hope that helped. Edited December 9, 2011 by Chreees
Edited out banned vendor.

[Pavo21]

pretty much what mike said is best, tangiers is the best longest lasting smoke you can have smooth, flavorfull, and will keeps its flavor, not many people on this forum say starbuzz or fusion but to be honest they are great tons of a section of flavors, i have A LOT of experience with those more then you can think of.

no coals it just depends really like i love cocos but im cheap and get my coals for free so im not picky, but i smoke hypnosis mainly they last about...30 minutes cocos are like 45 or so. some people swear by other products, nazarhookah is a good site and a good friend of ours, i personally have never orderd from a website, southern california, im within walking distance of about 6 tobacco shops, talking about a 5 minute walk. so really just up to you try things out figure out what you like

[Chreees]

I'll throw in my

Layalina and Romman are pretty decent brands of tobacco. Not the best, but you'll enjoy them.

STAY AWAY FROM SOEX!!! Most herbal brands suck, or else more people would be smoking them, trust me. The only ones worth bothering with according to Stuie, our hookah master reviewer, are Salaam and Hydro Herbal. Stay away from everything else! Trust us.

As already mentioned, the top three tobacco brands (IMO as well) are Tangiers, Nakhla, and Al Fakher. Get any of these three and you'll be smoking like a champion. If you go the route of Tangiers (my personal favorite), make sure to pick up a Tangiers Small Phunnel bowl (a legit one, not a Chinese fake!). These can be found at HookahCompany.com, 5StarHookah.com, or UltimateHookah.com. There's a shortage on them right now, but Eric (the creator of Tangiers, which is all made in San Diego, CA) is working on getting more made. So this is why you'll see them out of stock pretty much everywhere.

Vendors to order from... NazarHookah.com, HookahCompany.com, UltimateHookah.com, 5StarHookah.com, and also CrownHookahs.com for all your glass hookah needs. These are the trusted vendors most of us order from. Check the banned vendors list on here to make sure you avoid them: http://www.hookahforum.com/topic/26167-banned-vendor-list/page__pid__310506#entry310506

Coals... Naturals, all the way. Quicklights may seem convenient, but they're a huge headache. Literally, they'll give you a headache. I feel Cocomazayas, Coconaras, and Razans are the best coconut coals on the market right now. Light them on a coil top stove, or buy an electric single coil burner from Walgreen's for around $10-15.

Large versus small hookahs... It depends on your wants and needs. Both will satisfy you. Small Mya Saray hookahs can put out like the big Khalil Mamoons if you know what you're doing. Therefore, it's not so much what size, but what brand of the hookah it is. Look for Mya Saray, Khalil Mamoon, Farida, Temsah, Nour, Al Nawras... Those will treat you well. Chinese junk ones, not so much.

I think that covers all of your questions. Hope I was somewhat helpful.

[herbalsmoke]

hmm, If you do end up deciding to only smoke herbal
Stay away from soex, zero n zero
salaam, hydro, evolution tea are better brands.
I had my phase with herbal shisha (hence my username)
But i still love to enjoy salaam and hydro once every few weeks.

[A13lackFish]

Nazarhookah, Hookahjohn, Hookah-Shisha, Thehookah for vendors

Nakhla, Al Fakher, Fantasia, Tangiers (if you have the time to acclimate it), or Social Smoke for shisha

Chronic Hookah Coals, Coconaras, or (I hate to say this) 3 kings quicklights if you dont have a burner to light naturals.

Tobacco, as the natural herbal stuff isnt even close to comparable in flavor etc. No matter how herbal it is, it is still smoking, which is still bad for you. Mid as well do it right and enjoy it?

[Stuie]

Romman is good, even Eric of Tangiers says it's the best Jordanian Tobacco on the market.

[A13lackFish]

[quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1323453102' post='532356']
Romman is good, even Eric of Tangiers says it's the best Jordanian Tobacco on the market.
[/quote]

Adding to this, I highly recommend Romman Good Times.

[Hassouni]

Go for Cocomazayas, they're the same price as Coconara, made in the same factory by the same company, but last about 40% longer because of the shape.

Tangiers does not have to be smoked in a funnel bowl...there are several ways around this. You can either pretend you have a funnel and pack tight round the rim and not put anything in the center, or just pack it fluffy all over. The benefit of the funnel is that the liquid won't leak out and it'll last longer, but with a normal bowl you can still get an hour or two out of it.








I am, however, very against the mainstream in most things here, so bear that in mind....

[germz]

thanks so much, all your replies have been really helpful!