Thinking about order to H-S...

[tw!sted]

Ok, having looked on various websites I have decided to order Stateside, adjudging that it's better to pay more on postage to get a bigger range of products available and pay less for them but I have a few questions first:

I've heard conflicting stories about Hookah-Shishas hookahs, some say they are cheap, knock-off versions of Myas and Staargates, however some say that they are genuine merchandise just renamed: Staargates become 'Stratus', and QT becomes 'Ebony'. Which is it?

Also, I've put together what I want into the cart, hoping to calculate shipping with the 'estimate-r' but it isn't working does anyone know who they ship with? So i can maybe use their website to give me a shipping cost based on weight (17lb 7oz)

They say they mark their packages as GIFT on international orders, is this adequete to get around paying a) VAT @ 17.5% and, import tax and 6%? As I don't want to be stung with that when it lands.

The package I've put together includes:

A Black 1 Hose Abyss
250g of Romman Sweet Melon
" " Mango
AW Super Pack (x3 250g): Vanilla, Pineapple & Bounty
10 Rolls of 3 Kings Coals
A Dark Turquoise Conservation Bowl
Gunmetal Black Taj Windcover

Included with the Hookah itself are:

The Romman Shisha
Tongs
Bowl Screen
Washable Hose
Filters
Carry Case
Base Protecter
20 Coals
Cleaning Rod

All for $161 ~ £85 excluding S&H and taxes (if it comes to that) which is an awesome price if indeed it is a Mya hookah.

Any help is appriciated,

tw!sted / Mike

[pauldavis]

if you are unsure as to which of H-S's hookahs are MYAs then just call them and ask...thats what I did and they were very helpful

[SanguineSolitude]

yeah thats not a mya. it actually looks like a pretty bad hookah.

to be honest i dont really see any hookahs i would especially like on that site.

[HAHkoo]

don't mind me asking, but why do you want a "conservation bowl"?

[gumonshoe]

I have the Abyss... it is definitely not a MYA. Build quality is so-so. Its an ok hookah, and for the love of god please buy a better bowl than the one it comes with. 2 things that i like about the abyss is that the metal parts are gunmetal and that it disassembles into 6 pieces fro easy travel. If you are thinking of getting the black base, it is completely black and therefor you cannot see the water or smoke through it. The only way to tell what teh water level is, is to hold it up to a bright light. I would recommend going for a red base. Also, the base is painted on teh outside, so worse come to wose, you can scrub the paint off with some paint thinnner and an abraisive sponge. If i had to do it all over, i would have bought a MYA instead, especially since you can get a nice MYA for the same prie (plus forum discount).

EDIT: Contact MNhookah, his new site isnt up yet, but he carries a lot of MYAs and will ship internationally as a gift --> I am in Canada and will be receiving my order form him in the next few days, he even went through the trouble of gift wrapping and including a birthday card to make it look authentic!

[Donkeema]

I have also got the Abyss hookah and right now it sits in the corner of my room looking stunning, but it doesent work at all, i have to say the build is pretty poor considering i paid abit for it, the hoses were terrible but i thought the bowl was alright. the actual stem that disassembles is not totally kaput, it used to thread into the top part of the stem but the threads wore of/broke and now its just FUBAR...if i could turn the clocks back i would of definetly ordered a Genuine Mya Hookah...fo sure...

[tw!sted]

Oh, that's a disappointment to say the least, I love the looks of both the Abyss and Ebony Tower Hookahs on there, but I don't really want to compromise on quality just for how it looks.

I've checked out a couple of other US sites but no hookahs on there really took my eye and, overall, H-S was the most visually and functionally impressive website.

Back to the drawing board... thanks for your help.

RE the conservation bowl, the idea of a 30 Minute bowl just appealled to me, I plan on smoking mainly when watching films at home, having a 30 Minute bowl means I would be able to have 2/3 different flavours within my 'time window'

[SanguineSolitude]

but the "30 minute" bowl essentially is just a really shallow bowl. shallow enough that not burning the tobacco is very very hard. in addition, if you just buy a standard clay bowl you can load it half full and smoke away. though to be honest i usually load a full bowl even if im gonna throw half of it out. with a clay bowl thats like 10grams of shisha tops if i leave 5g unsmoked and the shisha is like havana 12 bucks for 250g. thats like 24 cents wasted. big freakin deal right? dont worry about the conservation bowl its stupid

[Donkeema]

H-S shipping is great though, well mine was a little slow to be shipped off but thats because i ordered on a weekend and they shipped off on a tuesday, but they packaged everything with tons of foam and everything was tightly packed and secure.

the case that comes with the Abyss is the worst though, lol its seriously poor quality shit!!

Edit: heres a few pics of the shipping...

[url="http://imageshack.us"][img]http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/9034/dsc00271fd5.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://imageshack.us"][img]http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/286/dsc00275fj9.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://imageshack.us"][img]http://img286.imageshack.us/img286/1754/dsc00285km3.jpg[/img][/url]

[djnick]

you should have used the discount "Hookah Forum" for 15% off. They have a nice selection but prices are a bit high compared to local shops are other retailers.