Syrian Vs Egyptian Hookah?

[irocneekes]

hi, i'm new to this forum and i just bought a hookah from hookah-shisha.com...but now im wondering if there's a difference between an egyptian hookah and syrian? what exactly is the difference? thanks!

[Lakemonster]

OK. there is a difference.

As it stands right now, the terms Syrian and Egyptian are kind of "generic terms.

A "Syrian" Hookah stem is made form a brass casting that is sleeved with an inner stem for easy cleaning (generally)

They are usually a little heavier and sometimes come with a feature called auto-seal.

An "Egyptian" hookah is made of of spun metal parts that are crimped together or soldered. It also has an inner sleeve.


Now... this isnt to say that there arent spun metal hookahs made in Syria, I have two.

[camelflage]

an easy way to spot the difference on a general level is an egyptian heart is usually triangular and the stems come out above the heart, whereas syrian hearts are round and the stems come directly out of it.

[irocneekes]

i actually just ordered a syrian chiller from hookah-shisha.com, i'm new to this whole buying a hookah thing but i've smoked at hookah bars so all this talk about the heart and stems are really confusing me lol. but is there a difference when smoking from an egyptian hookah and a syrian hookah?

[Lakemonster]

Not so easy of a question to answer... theres many variables.

lets say you took a 26" Syrian and the same height Egyptian and smoke them both.... you most likely will have noticeable differences in performance. Why?

1. The diameter of the inner sleeves may be different
2. The downstems (part that goes in the water) may be different lengths, making your set depth either deeper, shallower, or increases or decreases airspace in the jar if both are set at the same distance below the waterline.
3 Variances in the bases make for different sized airspaces.

With that said..... hookahs coming out of the same factory may smoke slightly different from each other as well... the guy cutting the downstems might not "pulling a tape" each time he solders one into the stem.

[Sonthert]

Syrians tend to have shorter downstems than Egyptians, making lighter bubbling action.

[mushrat]

All this technical crap aside. Syrainas have the bowls that fit INTO the stem. This means all your juices runn down the insde of the stem, leaving no mess outside. The egyptian bowls fit OVER the top of the stem and all the juices runn down the OUTSIDE of your hookah and make a mess. Hows that for the simple man's diffrerences, Also eayptian style bowls are easier to find on line. Though mya makes both and Tangiers makes an adapter avaulible through www.hookahcompany.com

[JesusDoesVegas]

All this technical crap aside. Syrainas have the bowls that fit INTO the stem. This means all your juices runn down the insde of the stem, leaving no mess outside. The egyptian bowls fit OVER the top of the stem and all the juices runn down the OUTSIDE of your hookah and make a mess. Hows that for the simple man's diffrerences, Also eayptian style bowls are easier to find on line. Though mya makes both and Tangiers makes an adapter avaulible through www.hookahcompany.com

I think thats another area where today's practiced terminology is blurred... I have a "Syrian" that has the Egyptian bowl. That is probably because it is more the standard. I would assume this is the case for alot of "Syrians" made.