Official Smoking in a College Dorm thread

[HookahDuck]

Ok, now I know similar threads have circulated around for a long time. I searched and came up with a few, but they are largely scattered and inside of other threads. I wanted to consolidate and create an "official" thread of this sort. As we all know the predominant demographic of hookah smokers are college kids; I figured this would be good information.I am a freshman this year at Arizona State living in a dorm with no room mate in a three story building. It has very thin walls and a vent on the door approx 10" x 20" which is slated so that one cant see through it, but it still allows circulation. There is a sprinkler (which I assume is a heat detecting unit) and a circular cieling mounted detector (which I assume is a chemical operated unit). I have a very large window opposite the door, but it only opens by swinging inward horizontaly by about 5 inches. I dont have a fan in my room, but I am going to get one.I havent smoked in my dorm room yet at all.To succesfully pull this off, this is my plan:Obviously I need to cover the door vent with a wet towel first and foremost.Secondly, I will cover the cieling mounted smoke detector with a plastic shopping bag wrapped in duct tape on the sides. Third, just a precaution, I will cover the sprinkler as well in the same fashion.I once burned incense for about 30 minutes, and an RA knocked on my door to ask what I was doing- therefore insence isnt a good odor eliminator. I have a plug in air freshener, but it doesnt do much. Spray type air fresheners? Someone at the end of the hall burned an apple candle for a while and the entire hall smells nice from it. Perhaps I should use this?Im looking for suggestions/methods/comments from people who have succesfully smoke in their dorm room. I know many of us would be interested in the information.Thanks!

[Blue Lantern]

Geez... planning on hotboxing with a few buddies? jk Don't you have a window? if you do, just blow the smoke out the window. if you have a bathroom... you could smoke in the bathroom and then leave the door closed and shower running.

[yashman19]

In my on campus apartment, we had a main living room/kitchen, then three seperate bedrooms. In the door of each room, there was a similar slated vent thing. What I did to prevent smoke from exiting my room and contaminating the other rooms (my roomies didn't like the smell......) was completely cover the vent with paper, then super ductape the paper over the vent, completely sealing it off. This kept air from moving through the vent pretty well.But then I had to use a towel for the bottom crack of the door. Normally stoners will use a wet towel as it helps seal better and block smoke from passing through, but I didn't feel like ruining one of my only towels just so a bit of damn smoke seeped out. So I just used a dry one and it did ok. There was a slight smell in the main room, but it was neglidgable.As for smoke detectors, you just have to figure out what types you have, which sounds like you have done. You have the basic 'smoke' detectors which just detect smoke, and most of the time won't even pick up on hookah smoke, and then you have those bastard mercury heat detectors, which you have to be careful about. I'd say just keep your hookah away from anywhere directly below them, and you should be fine. And the bag over the detectors seemed to work well for me when I lived in the dorms.After that, just keep a fan in the window, and try to minimize the In-n-out privilages between your friends. Thats what tipped my RAs off. People kept coming and leaving my room so damn often that the towel in the door did squat...Luckily my RAs were cool.

[dirtysamurai]

I smoke in my dorm room all the time. I've just set up a box fan on my window (or I just open the window with the ceiling fan on) and go at it. The smoke will exit through the window almost immediately, so there is no chance for it to reach the fire detector (I'm assuming it's a heat detecting device and not a chemical detector).It works for me, but YMMV.

[yashman19]

[quote name='Blue Lantern']Geez... planning on hotboxing with a few buddies? jk Don't you have a window? if you do, just blow the smoke out the window. if you have a bathroom... you could smoke in the bathroom and then leave the door closed and shower running.[/quote] Read his post, yes he has a window, and he plans on getting a fan.And your ideas seem fine and dandy, if you're planning on smoking pot. Who wants to have a hookah session crouching around the window, carefully blowing the smoke outside?Hookah is all about relaxing, talking with friends, watching tv/movies, listening to music. If I was forced to blow out a window while smoking every time, I wouldn't smoke hookah.Smoking in the college dorms can be done. My school was super strict, and if caught, your ass is out. But by being smart and being friends with the RAs, it can be done with minimal problems.

[frontmanpb101]

you say it has very thin walls, so i'd think a diffuser would be a good idea.

[pauldavis]

well i never smoked hookah in my dorm last year, just pot (and never out of a hookah before anyone asks), which is a hell of a lot smellier...we also had smoke detecters...all we did was just have a small fan pointing out the window and we blew the smoke into the fan....and fabreezed..and we never got caughtas for the bathroom show, that does nothing to eliminate odor, it just makes steam that blends in with the smoke visually, but the smell is there

[Hookah_bob2]

What I do when smoking in my room (which I am right now with that tangiers method he made a thread about), I take my blanket and stuff it into the crevices of my door, then I take a CD case cover (the big round ones that go over 50+ packs of CDs) and put it over the smoke detector, then open a window and boom

[Blue Lantern]

yashmanHe mentioned he didn't have a fan. I was just offering other tips on trying to get the smoke outside. Those tips weren't originally meant for hookah-ing as the smoke is obviously thicker. Up at LA the weather is pleasant at night and a couple of my friends sit outside in the patio area to enjoy a session.

[yashman19]

[quote name='Blue Lantern']yashman  He mentioned he didn't have a fan. I was just offering other tips on trying to get the smoke outside. Those tips weren't originally meant for hookah-ing as the smoke is obviously thicker. Up at LA the weather is pleasant at night and a couple of my friends sit outside in the patio area to enjoy a session.[/quote] Gotcha. I was just pointing out that you asked if he had a window, which he stated in his OP that he did.

[03SilverTL]

No smoke detectors in my room this year so its a hookah party every night. As for last year, smoking pot was done easily with all the above mentioned techniques(bag over detector, fan, febreeze, and spoof). With pot being so much more pungent, if your able to get away with it using those techniques then hookah should be a walk in the park. Just be reasonable, experiment first before waking everyone up at 2am with the fire alarm because you and your friends were craving some delicious tangiers. haha

[Joseph]

Just smoke outside, thats what I do and I prefer it. Even if you prefer inside, isn't outside where you can relax better then being nervous inside?

[Johnny_D]

Damn, now i feel old :(JD

[cymptom]

First of all, it's usually not a good idea to cover your smoke detectors. Many of them actually detect when they've been blocked, and next thing you know you've got campus safety at your door. As long as you have decent ventilation you shouldn't have to worry about it.Also, I would advise against covering any airways in or around the door. If you've got a box fan blowing out your window, you don't need to worry about air pushing out of your room and into the hall. As long as the window with the fan in it is the only open airway, when you turn on the fan you should be able to feel air rushing into your room through the space between the door and the doorframe / floor. Without this source of air flowing into your room it's much more difficult to ventilate the smoke. You need air moving into your room to move air out of your room.On a side note, I was holding a quicklight out the window while it sparked yesterday and dropped it on the dorm roof. I had to climb out there and get it before I burned the whole place down

[nuschultz]

I've been smoking my QT in my dorm since the semester began, and here are my tips.1. I usually have a fan next to my desk, which if u blow in to will completely destroy the "clouds" of smoke, which will prevent u from setting off even a super sensitive alarm.2. Since u dont have a fan, i suggest exhaling out a window.3. As a firefighter and former RA, I do not suggest covering the smoke head. On a system like a college is required to have, the heads can tell when they are blocked, and youll get screwed. Just be careful where u blow your smoke and ull be fine.4. Be careful using febreezes, aerosols, etc as THOSE can set the smoke alarm off.5. Find out your schools policy on hookahs. Many schools wont bother to prosecute a case on a hookah in the judicial system, becasue it can lead to bad ppublicity for them. If you are on a non smoking floor, or the roomies dont want u to, go outside. Be respectful.I hope this helps!

[HookahDuck]

Just to clarify a few things: Every dorm at ASU is non-smoking only. 90% of the people on my floor are smokers, and many of them own their own hookahs (therefore will be interested in this thread as well). I would much prefer to smoke outside, but the only area we are allowed to smoke is in the parking lot, a quarter mile from the dorm (litterally). Besides the actual walk, the atmosphere is depressing and isnt exactly a relaxing place. As a few people stated earlier, smoking for me is only really enjoyed when I can relax with a good movie or music (I also like to smoke while reading/doing homework- especially philosophy).Interesting note about the smoke detectors- I had no idea. The suggestion about leaving the ventilation for the door to evacuate the present air is also very insightful; im not sure why that idea didnt occur to me.I will avoid arosols as noted. I think I'll just invest in the most hardcore plugin style airfreshener that money can buy.Any and all other suggestions are widely appreciated!(btw, I referred several of my buddies on my floor to the forum. They should be lurking around)Thanks!

[KiKaL]

I did it all the time last year. I lived in the worst situation possible for it too. I lived next to the RA and my room was about 8ft long by 7ft wide....aka really small. What I did was opened my window with a box fan blowing out, then across the room had a fan blowing towards myself into the other box fan aka wind tunnel style. I put a bag over the smoke alarm sometimes but didnt really need to. I never got caught.I also did it in my buddys room which was about twice as big all we did there was open the window and have a fan blowing out.

[lwieise]

I agree with nuschultz on the smoke alarms. Those things are SMART.My suite mate had one of those air cannons (the thing where you pull back on it and release and it shoots out a big puff of air) that he shot at the smoke alarm (particle detecting) and [i]that[/i] set it off. I guess it was the dust around the alarm, so, BE CAREFUL.If its really a problem just smoke outside or go to a nearby park or something like that. My dorm had a policy that you had to be a certain number of feet away from the dorm building but nobody obeyed it. There were never really problems of people smoking in them though.

[Sonthert]

Better idea!Go to the campus administration with the huge proportion of hookah people there and insist that they set up smoking areas, if not just for hookahs, for everybody. Setup protests, storm the administration building if they won't listen!Edit: If you make the national news, I'll send you some free tobacco and phunnel heads!

[dikydave]

hehe very nice tangiers, thats the college spirit! but really though, if u spent as much time doing things like that as u would with all of this, im sure you could accomplish something for everyone.

[minidoxigirli]

The official smoking lounges at my school are full of cigarette smoke, which I hate, and people that keep wanting to know how good the pot you have in your hookah is. Then they don't understand why you would use a *shudder*[i]bong[/i] to smoke something other than pot. Basically, this is what I did:First, talk to your SA. Say, "I don't smoke in my room, but what do you think might happen to someone who did?" If they seem cool (mine was!) invite them! Especially if they don't know what a hookah is. Second, get a 20" box fan. They're like $10 at Walmart. Turn it around so it is blowing out your window. In my room, we have the beds under the windows, and we hang out on the beds while we smoke, so the smoke blows right out. Third is most important- keep your hookah (and room) drug-free. If drugs are found, your hookah is paraphinelia (oh God, I butchered that spelling!) and is gone. A final note is that if you use an obvious air freshener, your SA is going to think you're doing something more than hookah. I think that will increase your chances of getting caught.Wow, can you tell the culture of my school from my post, or what?

[Sonthert]

Paraphernalia. True, if the HA/RA/SA doesn't know its just a hookah, they will assume the worst.

[HookahDuck]

I decided to pack my QT all the way to the fountains by the student union about a half mile away and sat down to smoke some Tangiers cooling strawberry while reading my philosophy book. I was forced to read in 3 sentance increments while responding to "Wheres the pot?" "Do you ever smoke weed out of that" "Dude thats like a big ass bong" "have you ever tried (insert crazy flavor) from (didnt know the brand)" and so on.It was funny at first, but grew very tiresome. Im thinking about asking the CC to give us a picknic table or something with an ashtray next to it in the courtyard under a large tree. It is more than 50 feet from the nearest building entrance, and would be a nice place to relax.In the mean time, im going to try it soon =)

[GQ_Playboy]

man i love Canada.... everyone at my school knows what it is.... I think i was harassed once by my econometrics prof last year, and when he realized what it was he tried a bit.... My school rocks hahaCheers

[Blue Lantern]

[quote name='HookahDuck']It was funny at first, but grew very tiresome. Im thinking about asking the CC to give us a picknic table or something with an ashtray next to it in the courtyard under a large tree. It is more than 50 feet from the nearest building entrance, and would be a nice place to relax.  In the mean time, im going to try it soon =)[/quote] That's sort of how it is at our school. We have this big courtyard with nice breeze with circular picnic/stone tables. Its perfect for smoking hookah and is kinda hidden so no one really bothers you except for other hookah smokers. But def push for some picnic tables. I find it really relaxing to smoke outside on a clear breezy night.