Elmas Nargile 618

[Chreees]

This is my review for the Elmas Narglie 618.

I got this pipe from Hassouni here on the forum because he ordered it from NargileStore.com in Turkey and they sent the wrong one by mistake. Instead of them making him ship it back, they let him keep it and arranged a good deal for shipping him the correct one (639 model). He offered this one to me first and I gladly purchased it. The red hose he had ordered for me originally along with his hookah package. Thank you, Elder Chris, for allowing me to purchase this awesome hookah!

Now let's talk about why it's so awesome. It's Turkish brass, cast, and is VERY solid. This is probably hands down the most solid pipe I've ever seen before. When someone says a Khalil Mamoon is solid, I laugh now. Same for Al Nawras, Mya Saray, etc. These brands have parts that screw off or were welded on, etc. Pretty much all of this hookah is one-piece (obviously not everything, but most). Very minimalistic. This means there is less to break or wear/tear in the long run. The shank is very heavy, and I just love it. The etchings on it are very distinct and look excellent. I'll just let the pictures below do the talking on that. Note that because it is cast, there is a smooth edge on both sides of the shank where no etchings exist. This is because of the casting process and in no way harms the look of the hookah (in my opinon).

Now, let's talk about two things that bother people about the Elmas brand. First, the purge valve. There is not one on this model nor any other model that Elmas makes. This puzzles people. But what they don't understand is that the purge valve has not always been around. The purge valve was added pretty recently (sometime in the 1900s, not sure when). It is very possible and pretty much effortless to smoke without one. You just have to know one thing- heat management. This is why I do not recommend this brand of hookah to newbies starting out. They must learn proper heat management techniques first, then I say go for it! Okay, so second thing- Female bowl port. All Elmas hookahs have this. I understand how this can seem like a buzzkill because you can't use your favorite bowls that are female. Well have no fear! NazarHookah brought over to the United States not only the almighty Elmas, but also Elmas-made clay bowl adapters (picture below). Additionally, if you're too cheap to buy one, you can make one easily. I picked up two mod gaskets, used electrical tape to bind them together (did a few wraps), and then added a few layers of electrical tape to one end to make it airtight in the Elmas' bowl port. Tried my Tangiers Mini Phunnel on it and it works perfect. Note that the mod gasket doesn't fit older Tangiers phunnels too well. If you have a newer phunnel, it shouldn't be a problem. Picture of the mod gasket bowl adapter below.

Draw on this pipe is excellent. Mya Saray is too tight. Khalil Mamoon is too open. Al Nawras is just right. The Elmas is even better. Paired with the Elmas hose, the draw is just too perfect. I don't know how they do it, but they do a damn good job.

That brings me to the Elmas hose- RIDICULOUS! This thing is huge! The carpet handle covering is amazing. Handstitched. So much hard work goes into each and every one of these hoses. The hose part is made of goat leather and will stink a bit when you first get it. Should go away after a couple of smokes. The wood tip is made a dogwood with a plastic end piece where your lips touch. The inside of the plastic is lined with dogwood! Ahmet Elmas, the creator of these fine pipes, says he does that for better flavor.

Elmas clay bowl is EPIC for Nakhla. I've heard it's good for other traditional tobaccos as well. Not so good for Tangiers, but you can make it work. But this bowl is just too perfect for Nakhla. I'm going to pick up a few boxes of Nakhla now just so I can use this bowl!

The windcover is the standard windcover that you get with your Elmas. Sturdy, open design, fits over the Elmas clay bowl and my Tangiers Mini and Small Phunnels fine, no problems whatsoever. It is only tall enough for the Elmas bowl, however. The Tangiers phunnels it is not tall enough for. You will need to prop it up with some tongs or something.

Which brings me to the tongs. They're decent. Not the best I've seen, but not as shitty as the "alligator" tongs that you get most of the time with Khalil Mamoons. I still prefer my jumbo tongs, but have found myself picking these up lately quite a bit to use instead. No real issues I can complain about. Once I bent them out a bit, and the ends in towards each other just a tad for better grip on coals, they worked quite well.

Tray! The tray... man. It is a very nice, detailed tray. Very pretty to look at. It's flimsy, but nice. And LARGE. If you drop a coal from the bowl (and I have several times already) the tray is going to catch it most lately. The tray being flat is no issue. All coals and ash have stayed on the tray for me.

I guess that's all I wanted to cover, so on to the pictures!

Elmas Bowl Adapter:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/photo-2.jpg[/IMG]

Mod Gasket Homemade Bowl Adapter:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/elmasadapter.jpg[/IMG]

Whole Setup:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1430.jpg[/IMG]

Tray/Windcover/Tongs:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1432.jpg[/IMG]

Hose tip:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1433.jpg[/IMG]

Hose handle:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1434.jpg[/IMG]

Hoseport view:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1435.jpg[/IMG]

Shank:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1436.jpg[/IMG]

Bowl port:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p40/INCUBUSRATM/Hookah/IMG_1437.jpg[/IMG]

Solid 10/10, hands down.