Impulse Bought Starter Hookah, How Did I Do?

[JohnnyPoppins]

Hey guys I am new on purchasing hookah but i have smoked out of my friends hookahs for a while now. The thing is I didn't know anything about different brands or which one is better then another. So for a week now I have been going all over the internet looking at reviews and prices. I didn't want to get anything big like a big old party hookah or something just something small for me and my wife but would still smoke very well for cheap. This is what i came up with, let me know what i did wrong or right,or what i should have done differently.

 

Mya QT- Just a one hose and not that economic one! I've herd very good things about this hookah and for $50 it sounded like a good bargain. Of course i will be getting a different bowl and hose but aside from that, it seemed pretty promising. It was between this one and a Vento, Mono, Bambino or Diva. Herd they were all about the same and the QT was just the cheapest.

 

Nammor Hose- I didnt know that much about hoses but i need something to replace that Mya hose. Needed to be washable and look nice! Nammor hoses seemed to fit that. Let me know what would have been a better hose or which ones you guys prefer.

 

Alien Mini Phunnel Bowl- Okay this one was hard. I NEEDED to replace that Mya bowl for sure. So the two that kept poping up were Vortex and Phunnel bowls. I herd good to mixed reviews on the Vortex but the Phunnel seemed as the choice bowl for the most of the smokers I have seen.

 

Kaloud Lotus- I really didnt see a purpose for this at all when i first saw it. The thing that bought me over is i didnt really want to deal with aluminum foil lol Then i saw that it actually extends your smoke session and is a great product. I was looking at the appleontop bowl at first but i just couldnt find enough reviews on it. I might get it in the future. It would have been a cheaper option then getting a Phunnel and Kaloud Lotus.

 

Coco Nara Coals- Herd these are the best natuarl coals and i see alot of people using them.

 

Shisha- I got free Romman and Al Tawareg both 50g , I bought 50g of Starbuzz and Al Fakher to try out. Then I impulse bought about 300g of Beamer Icedrops. Okay I got this because i smoked cigarettes for 5 years then quit not to long ago but my wife has never smoked so i just looked at some non-nicotine alternatives. The herbal and stones look pretty dumb but then this gel icedrops sounded pretty cool. Look at a couple reviews and everyone of the reviews seemed like it was as good or better then regular shisha. So i had to try it.

 

So let me know if i got a good starter hookah set-up. It was all around $240 from Hookah-Shisha.com. Shipping was like $50 just because i live in Alaska right now. Also im in the Army  and they dont let soldiers go to smoke shops that sell salvia, which is every smoke shop. So i am strictly only a online hookah buyer. Let me know if there are cheaper vendors and if there is anything that is a must that i should get. This is just a week of looking through reviews and deciding what to get so let me know how good i did.

[redwingsoverbaron]

for your phunnel, just spend the extra bucks and get a microphunnel from crownhookahs.com or a small tangiers phunnel. microphunnel will save you tremendously on tobacco costs. nammors are good, but ive had shit luck with them recently, try a social smoke pro lounge/asli/fancy hose. as for tobacco, sounds good, you may like starbuzz since youre a newcomer. AF is good, al tawareg and romman, theyre kinda hit and miss, but for a first set up, not bad, better than my first lol

[JohnnyPoppins]

Thank you for the advice. I'm already looking for replacement bowls just in case mine broke and the small Tangiers phunnel is one I was definitely looking at. The hookahjohn Harmony bowl and the Appleontop bowls sounded all like winners. As for hose if i have a bad time with the Nammor I will probably get the social smoke pro lounge. That would of probably been a better and cheaper purchase then the Nammor. It looks really nice!

[ilikemyusername]

Looks good to me, I used to own a QT, VERY solid little pipes, you won't be disappointed. If you put too much water in it though, you'll suck it up into the hose which won't be a big deal because you got the washable hose. As for purging it though, it's a mya so try not to burn your shisha.

[redwingsoverbaron]

Looks good to me, I used to own a QT, VERY solid little pipes, you won't be disappointed. If you put too much water in it though, you'll suck it up into the hose which won't be a big deal because you got the washable hose. As for purging it though, it's a mya so try not to burn your shisha.

dude, my friend (who's never smoked before) figured out he could purge it and managed to blow out my bowl on my 32" ceramica last night. ughhhh. so pissed. I didn't even know that was possible

[mustang67n]

JohnnyPoppins

 

They Mya QT is a great pipe, excellent for starters! As they've mentioned because they have such a small base it can be easy to pull water into the hose, or blow water up into the bowl if your purge gets stuck, so be careful about that. Water in the hose is an easy fix of just blowing the water out of the hose (disconnect it from the pipe first though haha) but if you blow water into the bowl, the bowl will pretty much be shit from then on and you'd have wasted the tobacco and coals and will have to pack a new bowl.

 

Get a coil burner from walgreens or something http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/elite-single-electric-bufet-burner/ID=prod6039619-product
that one is what you're looking for. the ones with a hotplate take ages to light coals (if at all) the coil burners heat them in about 10 minutes (flipping once) Make sure the coals are red/orange all the way through with no black left on them before putting them on the bowl.

 

Nammors are great hoses, the only issue i've had with them is the gasket for the mouthtips (the tips are removable) come unglued, it's an easy fix to reglue them, but just kinda frustrating.

 

The Alien bowls are good from what I hear, I've only used them when friends have packed bowls but they work fine. I'm a tangiers phunnel whore so that's all I use lol but the aliens are good bowls too

 

I've tried the lotus at a friends house and it seems to work well, it takes a bit longer to heat the bowl since the heat has to transfer through a rather thick piece of metal, but this does help with making the bowls last longer and makes heat management pretty much nonexistent because you just put 3 coals in it and it just works lol

 

the apple on top is very new so it doesn't have many reviews yet.

 

coco-naras are great coals! again though, the coil burner will make lighting them very easy

 

Starbuzz is a very popular tobacco but it gets a bad wrap around the forums because of both legal reasons involving the company, it's overpriced, and that the flavors can taste "chemically" but in the end, if you like it, thats what matters.
I'd suggest trying more Al Fakher, its a great tobacco brand with tons of flavors to choose from. Also look into nakhla if you want something with a bit more of a nicotine punch, they're a more traditional brand but the mizo line will be sweeter and more like al fakher, etc.
If you stick with hookah I'll also suggest thinking about tangiers tobacco. It's arguably the best tobacco on the market as far as consistancy with flavor, buzz, duration, and clouds. Al fakher, nakhla, and tangiers all offer a wide range of flavors to keep your taste buds excited!

 

Definitely a great purchase though. All very solid products.

Welcome to the forum, and have a look around there are many tutorials on how to pack and heat management to help you get rolling on the right foot. A lot of it is a learning process and there will be some bad bowls, but eventually every bowl will be great, full of flavor, and long lasting!

[JohnnyPoppins]

Well the only thing I should watch out for is don't put to much water in the base. I've always herd about one inch of the stem should be in water. I was also wondering about the Coco Naras if its okay to use an old pan on an flat top stove to heat them up for right now? If I don't have to buy single coil heater then I wont but if that is not effective then ill end up buying one for sure. Once again a Tangiers phunnel bowl is mentioned lol Seems like that will be my replacement! Thank you so much for all for your guys advice. Ill let you all know how the set-up is once it gets here. Just counting down the days!!!

[joytron]

I would suggest getting a discount Egyptian bowl, they are often around a buck. 

[KnightHawk63]

I would just slap the coals on the flat top with no pan. I would recommend a Crown bowl, and an egy bowl!

[Pavo21]

honestly, this has no issues with the set up, i mean minus the alien bowl, ur perfectly set up.  i love my mya qt, love my nammor hoses, ur tobacco choice ISN't my first, but ur new its ok enjoy it find what u like, also maybe venture to naklah which is fantastic. also yah do as mustang said find a coal burner. also yah try and find a egyptian bowl, it smokes better then the mya bowl that it comes with. they smoke fine just not as good. and enjoy man.

[JohnnyPoppins]

Hell yeah, nothing but pretty much positive stuff about my first set-up. It comes in tomorrow! Stoked!!! Ill let you guys know about it!

[A Sharrp SYBIAN]

That's not a bad set up for a 1st set up. Pretty good start actually. I started with a Mya Mini If your interested in a big boy set up check out the for-sale for trade section. I;m selling a big 33" work of art Syrian Nickel Plated Brass Hookah for 150 with a ton of extras (tobacco included) someone else is Selling a KM and i think there are other pipes.  Remember the best Hookah pipes are Syrian, Turkish and Egyptian (not necessarily in that order) but brass / nickel plated brass is the way to go when it comes to hookah pipes.

 

Brass = longer longevity, more weight / durability, and a eternity of smoking sessions if properly ,maintained. Mya pipes are the best Chinese pipes around don't get me wrong. But A high quality Chinese pipe is no match for a high quality hand-made heavy Brass Hookah. Enjoy the Mya QT it is one of the best small/ mini pipes on the market but once you get into the Big Brass High quality pipes you will see there is nothing better! Remember once you get into Hand-made pipes there is no going back! If you wanna see more Syrian Pipes, Turk pipes, and Egyptians, look into the "Show Your Stuff" thread and check out the pipe reviews on the forum you'll see pics of the pipes and reviews. The only problem with the high quality brass pipes is well they are addicting and if you start with 1 your gonna want another! I ended up with 3 of them other members have more lol 

 

In any case Welcome to HF and enjoy the QT Also be sure to try Nahkla and Tangiers as those are 2 of the best shisha's around! 

[KnightHawk63]

It is a great start IMO, you will love that QT, I miss mine :(

[JohnnyPoppins]

Well my order from Hookah-Shisha.com came in, by the way these guys gave me some free stuff which was pretty cool. They gave me cleaning rods, hookah foils (even though I have a Lotus lol) and I got some suckers. Just a cool touch. Anyways I got it all set up any it looked great! Got all deep blue Mya, bowl, and hose so I thought it would be appropriate for me to load up some Starbuzz Blue Mist. Taking the first hit was great huge clouds, a session that lasted allot longer then any other hookah. Only problem is that I had to use quicklights right now. I KNOW there the worst and you guys would be right they almost ruined my hookah but with me not having a way to light up CocoNaras i had no choice. I did find out my stove doesn't heat up enough for the Coconaras to light up but if I put a quicklight on top of a coconara while its red hot it does the trick lol My coil burner is in the mail right now.

 

Mya QT seems its going to last a long long time very heavy feels well built. Nommar hose I have nothing bad to say about it. It looks great! The biggest shock is the Lotus and Alien bowl working together. The Lotus fits on the alien perfectly. The alien uses a minimal amount of shisha its wild about much it doesn't use. Then the lotus makes me the session twice as long it feels like! The starbuzz was good not amazing probably because i used quicklights on it :\ Then I just had to try the Icedrops or that Jello shisha lol That stuff was amazing!!! Huge clouds, GREAT taste and it didn't burn out till a long time. Seems like its got a pretty bad rap on this forum which is a shame because I had a great experience with it. I will be smoking Al Fakher tomorrow fur sure! 

 

For whats next well im already looking at what im getting next. A Sharrp SYBIAN, I will definitely be looking at a KM/Brass Hookah for my next one. I'm still very interested in the appleontop bowl. Hopefully more reviews come out on it. Seems like I am missing out unless I'm smoking Nahkla haha so I will be picking up some of that. Thank you guys for all your comments! You all have been really helpful! You will be hearing alot more from me! 

 

[JohnnyPoppins]

Another pic!

[Epoch]

You did good, man.  I'm proud of you!

[A Sharrp SYBIAN]

Well my order from Hookah-Shisha.com came in, by the way these guys gave me some free stuff which was pretty cool. They gave me cleaning rods, hookah foils (even though I have a Lotus lol) and I got some suckers. Just a cool touch. Anyways I got it all set up any it looked great! Got all deep blue Mya, bowl, and hose so I thought it would be appropriate for me to load up some Starbuzz Blue Mist. Taking the first hit was great huge clouds, a session that lasted allot longer then any other hookah. Only problem is that I had to use quicklights right now. I KNOW there the worst and you guys would be right they almost ruined my hookah but with me not having a way to light up CocoNaras i had no choice. I did find out my stove doesn't heat up enough for the Coconaras to light up but if I put a quicklight on top of a coconara while its red hot it does the trick lol My coil burner is in the mail right now.

 

Mya QT seems its going to last a long long time very heavy feels well built. Nommar hose I have nothing bad to say about it. It looks great! The biggest shock is the Lotus and Alien bowl working together. The Lotus fits on the alien perfectly. The alien uses a minimal amount of shisha its wild about much it doesn't use. Then the lotus makes me the session twice as long it feels like! The starbuzz was good not amazing probably because i used quicklights on it :\ Then I just had to try the Icedrops or that Jello shisha lol That stuff was amazing!!! Huge clouds, GREAT taste and it didn't burn out till a long time. Seems like its got a pretty bad rap on this forum which is a shame because I had a great experience with it. I will be smoking Al Fakher tomorrow fur sure! 

 

For whats next well im already looking at what im getting next. A Sharrp SYBIAN, I will definitely be looking at a KM/Brass Hookah for my next one. I'm still very interested in the appleontop bowl. Hopefully more reviews come out on it. Seems like I am missing out unless I'm smoking Nahkla haha so I will be picking up some of that. Thank you guys for all your comments! You all have been really helpful! You will be hearing alot more from me! 

 

 

 

 

           Well KM is just a brand A lot of their hookahs aren't of good quality as of late they used to be amazing. But if you can get Syrian or Turkish Brass go for that 1st Im selling 1 of my unused ones because i have 3 of them lol now let me save you from a horrible purchase. The apple on top bowl is a waste. A lotus on top of any phunnel is a much better combo. If you have a lotus the apple on top bowl will be a useless/ redundant purchase. Also if you like the pipe im selling i can throw in an electric charcoal, 2 ash trays( one of them is a gold flower design base tray which can also fit in the place of an ash tray. some shisha and a phunnel bowl for free. It's good that you know to stay away from quick lights! The set up you have should give you great sessions well its not the setup its having a lotus that guarantee's that!  

 

Also about the ice drops getting a bad rep on the forum: The reason for that is they are pure chemicals and some of the ingredients in them are far more hazardous than tobacco. That makes it a poor substitute for tobacco. You are better off actually smoking tobacco, steam stones, or the herbal shishas (which taste nasty)  So far you made some good purchases. If your not interested in the hookah i put up in the trade section check out 5starhookah.com and also check out ebay as a lot of Brass Syrians and Turk Pipes tend to pop up on there.  If your dead set on getting something made by KM make sure its brass but beware KM pipes may have sand in them as the newer KM models have no quality control. If your deadset on getting a KM get 1 that was produced before 2011!   There are a couple funny videos on youtube where people take a km apart do determine what makes the awkward shaking noises and pour tons of sand out of them... The old KM's however are great hookahs and are the reason the KM name became popular. Also stay away from any hookahs named "Ed Hardy" Those are cheap chinese pipes with the ed hardy name stamped on them they will rust and fall apart and cost 200$ on average. 

 

Edited June 2, 2013 by A Sharrp SYBIAN

[KnightHawk63]

Just gotta get some Nakhla ;) Haha, but that is a beautiful setup! I approve! :D