Shisha burning experiment

[sidhucer]

I while ago me and my buddy were curious and we wanted to know where all the smoke came from was it the tobacco or water vapour or a mix cause the smoke dispaears like water vapour.. so i wrapped some shisha in file put it over a flame with tongs and nothign was happening just a few strings of smoke every so ofte so i was beginning to think it was water vapour.. but then i took a straw and blew air into the hot shisha and huge clouds of smoke and they smelled awesome!! So i guess the principle of the hookah is actually not water in the base but how to pass as much air past the heated tobacco...
if u guys already knew that sorry but i found it amazing because i thought the hookah revolved around the water in the base..

[Shavo989]

Hookah smoke is the evaporated glycerine that the tobacco 'cooks' in.

[mgcsinc]

Yeah, it's the glycerine. That said, a while ago I too had thought it might have something to do with the water vapor from the base, but then I thought through it and it wouldn't make any sense - you only get smoke if you have non-dead tobacco in the bowl; just smoking hot air through water doesn't give you any smoke.

[PhatBeezie]

haha funny you said that about not needing water , becuase when I got my first hookah I had trouble with the water level and a couple times the tube wasnt even in it lol and it smoked but it had a weird tast.

PS- I didnt have full length sessions without water becuase I woulda got sick real fast.

[Macho555]

I'm fairly certain the water is only a filter...the glycerine is what makes the smoke.

I always wondered what would happen if I didn't use water...I never got the balls to try it. I thought it would burn the hell out of my lungs.

[HookahDuck]

Smoking without water is actually.. well, nearly exactly the same. The smoke has so little contact with the surface area of the smoke that it really doesnt filter much. Using a diffuser helps this

[pimpnmagnum]

Yeah, there is a big misconception that the water filters the smoke, so its healthier. This is completely untrue. When the smoke comes up in bubbles only the outside of the bubble has contact with the water while the smoke inside the bubble remains untouched. The water only cools down the smoke and makes it easier to inhale.

[sidhucer]

Yeah, there is a big misconception that the water filters the smoke, so its healthier. This is completely untrue. When the smoke comes up in bubbles only the outside of the bubble has contact with the water while the smoke inside the bubble remains untouched. The water only cools down the smoke and makes it easier to inhale.

Yep the water has a minimal effect on the shisha.. mabe cooling it a bit as for smoke densness and whatever trust me the way this stuff was smoking i doubt the water makes it more dense and thicker..

[EvansLight]

If your smoking right your not burning the tobacco at all, more along the lines of boiling