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Best/ Favorite Hookah Bowls? (Clay, Ceramic, Phunnel Ect)


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there are differing opinions because some enjoy their smoking experience differently, but the general consensus is that tangiers phunnel bowls are the best... the alien mini lasts about 3hrs, the small about 5-6, the medium 8+, and I have no idea for the large because I never finished a bowl of the large.
clay bowls last around an hour to hour and a half...if you burn the crap out of it you can get 2+hrs...they also generally use more shisha...

the phunnel bowl adds time to the life of the tobacco and uses less shisha


hope this helped you
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what clay bowls use more tobacco than a phunnel bowl? that's got to be a ginourmous bowl...

also, i get different results from rivethead...in my experiences, i get less time from a bowl with the more heat i apply. i'm not sure how to get a longer session using more heat.

here's my opinions:

The longest lasting bowls are going to be your phunnels and phunnel knockoffs. however, this only works with juicier tobaccos and they tend to need to be tightly packed to benefit for that design. if you try using a drier tobacco like nakhla, you won't notice much in the way of longevity.

Your typical egyptian bowls and their variants do well with nearly all tobaccos, however they don't have to possibility of extended the session since the juice, which keeps the leaves hydrated, will run down the stem...allowing the leaves to dry out faster.

As for as perfomance, if packed right...I think the phunnels smoke better when using Nakhla and Tangiers. The egyptians smoke better using anything else.
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you mean party bowl?
I got a HUGE inhale bowl ...I NEVER use it...but I bet it can smoke for12hrs...
a Tangiers Large/Med/Small Phunnel would be a better option since its a quality product (retain heat better / Made in USA / authentic phunnel =proper design)
I have a small and it can last 4 hours with good flavor...iirc it can hold 20-30grams of shish
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It depends, If i'm smoking on my own, or just me and my girlfriend, than i use 1 hose with normal ceramic bowl.

Anything more than that then i tend to whack out another hose and a sizeable funnel bowl.
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What you're asking is a lot of information. Let me see if I can sum it up for ye.

Bowls are generally made from:

[list][*]Clay (Good)[*]Earthenware (Great)[*]Ceramic (Bad)[*]Metal (Bad)[*]Glass (Great)[/list]
The three major differences in functionality come from the shape:

[list][*]Traditional bowls have several holes (or one single hole) in the base of the head[*]Phunnel bowls have a single, large hole raised from the center of the base of the head[*]Crown bowls have holes around the top of the inside rim of the head[/list]
Generally speaking, there are many factors that contribute to the longevity of a session. However, after type of tobacco, the bowl is the most important factor. Crown and Phunnel type bowls excel in this arena because their holes are not located at the bottom of the head. Therefore, as the honey/molasses in the tobacco liquifies, it does not drain out the bottom into the base like with more traditional style bowls. This results in better flavor retention and longer sessions.

There are several recommendations I can make for you that I think you'll find pretty common across this forum.

Great bowls you will not regret buying:

[list][*]Tangiers Phunnel Bowl (the original - made from earthenware and comes in S, M, & L sizes. Get the small unless you plan on smoking for more than five hours at a time.)[*]Alien Phunnel Bowl (like the Tangiers bowl but much smaller - great for one to two hour sessions.)[*]Crown Classic Bowl (if you can get your hands on one of these, consider yourself lucky!)[/list]
Bowls you want to stay away from:

[list][*]Anything made by Mya[*]Anything ceramic or metal[*]Anything with a built-on wind cover[*]Anything with more than one head[*]Chinese phunnel bowls (they look similar to the Tangiers version but are much lighter and are hollow)[/list]
I hope this helps.
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[quote name='dizzbizz' timestamp='1283393996' post='480980']
I'm going to invest in Crown Hookah's glass bowls. I heard they're the best, I just need 60 bucks.
[/quote]

Their micro phunnel should be a lot less than 60 ... I think it was like 20 + shipping.
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There are a ton of different bowls out there. A lot of the ones beyond the standard Egyptian style clay bowls you will see are made for a specific type of tobacco, or style of smoking. But I doubt you need to know about a bowl for smoking tombak style tobacco.

Most common bowls share the same design. Eric struck gold with the phunnel bowl, but it does work best with his tobacco, as it was designed for his specifically. But it does work well with most tobacco your going to get out there for hookah. And it can give you the longest sessions, BUT, and thats a big but, session length is more then just a product of bowl size, shape, and design. How you pack the bowl, the coals you use, how hard and fast you smoke, and even the humidity in the air can affect the length of the session.

My longest session with a medium phunnel, was a little over 12 hours. Now it was just me smoking, and it was with Al Waha cola. I have also had 10 hour sessions off a standard clay bowl. It just goes to show its more technique and tobacco then bowl.
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[quote name='SoWz' timestamp='1283521977' post='481125']
[quote name='dizzbizz' timestamp='1283393996' post='480980']
I'm going to invest in Crown Hookah's glass bowls. I heard they're the best, I just need 60 bucks.
[/quote]

Their micro phunnel should be a lot less than 60 ... I think it was like 20 + shipping.
[/quote]

Yeah, I also want to get the crown classic though.
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I love my Ceramic Egyptian Bowl, ive had the best smokes out of it, havnet gotten used to the Phunnel yet and i dont smoke Tangiers much, id go with Egyptian bowl
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I just picked up 2 micro funnels from crown hookah. One is a little mis-shaped, but I've emailed them to see if they'll correct it. The one that is perfect works great! I've been puffing on a single bowl of SB Chocolate Strawberry for 1.5 hours. It seems great for solo or duo sessions. Still need perfect on my foil setup though, sometimes the foil ends up blocking the center hole.
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[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1283443010' post='481029']
What you're asking is a lot of information. Let me see if I can sum it up for ye.

Bowls you want to stay away from:
[list][*]Anything made by Mya[*]Anything ceramic or metal[*]Anything with a built-on wind cover[*]Anything with more than one head[*]Chinese phunnel bowls (they look similar to the Tangiers version but are much lighter and are hollow[/list][/quote]

Mya, the built-on wind cover, multi-heads, and the chinese phunnels are all slip-cast bowls. All fired clays are ceramics, but not all ceramics are made from clay. Is "slip-cast" what you're thinking of when you say "ceramic"?
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[quote name='noodle' timestamp='1283998868' post='481670']
[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1283443010' post='481029']
What you're asking is a lot of information. Let me see if I can sum it up for ye.

Bowls you want to stay away from:
[list][*]Anything made by Mya[*]Anything ceramic or metal[*]Anything with a built-on wind cover[*]Anything with more than one head[*]Chinese phunnel bowls (they look similar to the Tangiers version but are much lighter and are hollow[/list][/quote]

Mya, the built-on wind cover, multi-heads, and the chinese phunnels are all slip-cast bowls. All fired clays are ceramics, but not all ceramics are made from clay. Is "slip-cast" what you're thinking of when you say "ceramic"?
[/quote]

yes they are referring to slip-cast vs hand thrown earthenware.
Ray
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I have a medium sized knock-off phunnel from Hookah-Shisha.com that seems to work wayyyy better than the normal bowl but I ordered a real Tangiers small sized one so I can use less coal/shisha.

Well, I've read people say they have a hard time with the foil coming down and covering the hole with their phunnels. I noticed on my knock-off phunnel that the center hole doesn't come up as high as the edge of the bowl so I've never had this problem with the knock-off. I pull the foil really really tight, too. But on the real tangiers bowls, is the center part with the hole still lower than the edge? I'm just hoping when I get the real tangiers bowl that I don't start running into problems with the foil coming down and blocking the bowl.
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[quote name='Yasseah' timestamp='1284056802' post='481734']
I have a medium sized knock-off phunnel from Hookah-Shisha.com that seems to work wayyyy better than the normal bowl but I ordered a real Tangiers small sized one so I can use less coal/shisha.

Well, I've read people say they have a hard time with the foil coming down and covering the hole with their phunnels. I noticed on my knock-off phunnel that the center hole doesn't come up as high as the edge of the bowl so I've never had this problem with the knock-off. I pull the foil really really tight, too. But on the real tangiers bowls, is the center part with the hole still lower than the edge? I'm just hoping when I get the real tangiers bowl that I don't start running into problems with the foil coming down and blocking the bowl.
[/quote]

When I look at pictures online, some make it appear that the center part is indeed sufficiently lower than the edge, and on other pictures it seems like the center part is about level.
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Small Phunnel has never let me down (make sure you get tangiers and a legit one) , ive also heard the vortex is good.

Alien is a bit overrated but a good cheap alternative to those who have had a mini phunnel (near impossible to get)

And number one mod ever though its nothing to really do is a Tealight mod on a phunnel bowl so look to do that if you get one!
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[quote name='Venger' timestamp='1284037454' post='481704']
[quote name='noodle' timestamp='1283998868' post='481670']
[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1283443010' post='481029']
What you're asking is a lot of information. Let me see if I can sum it up for ye.

Bowls you want to stay away from:
[list][*]Anything made by Mya[*]Anything ceramic or metal[*]Anything with a built-on wind cover[*]Anything with more than one head[*]Chinese phunnel bowls (they look similar to the Tangiers version but are much lighter and are hollow[/list][/quote]

Mya, the built-on wind cover, multi-heads, and the chinese phunnels are all slip-cast bowls. All fired clays are ceramics, but not all ceramics are made from clay. Is "slip-cast" what you're thinking of when you say "ceramic"?
[/quote]

yes they are referring to slip-cast vs hand thrown earthenware.
Ray
[/quote]


Lol... thanks for clearing that up. I'll admit my understanding of the methods and materials used in bowl making is limited at best.

Your assumption is correct as my reference to mya bowls, chinese phunnels, etc. as being ceramic is flat out wrong. As I now understand it, ceramics refers to pottery regardless of the material while slipcast is the process of pouring a slip into a mould. I apologize for my mistake. Props to wikipedia for the 411. :)
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