As far as more classic styles, most often the skinny middle section of the hookah is comprised of some type of metal. Actually, this is even true of more modern hookah designs, as this section of the hookah must be durable.

The bottom section of the hookah is where the most variety tends to appear. This bottom section may be comprised of glass, or of wood. It may be clear or solid. In any case, this section of the hookah is usually stylized. If an artist made the hookah in question, this is where the telltale signs would be found.

Hookahs are referred to by many names: the hubble bubble pipe, shisha or narghile being quite common. The pipes come in many different shapes and sizes, some with ornate decorations that make them attractive as ornamental, as well as practical, pieces.

Using a Hookah Pipe

At the base of the pipe is a glass vase that is filled with water, and a down stem is submerged. At the top of the pipe, tobacco is heated then smoke is produced and is sucked through a hose down the stem into the water in the vase at the bottom. The smoke then rises above the water and into the opening of the hose port, then reaching the mouth of the smoker.

Smokers who use hookah pipes do not need to use glass ashtrays or other similar products like spinning ashtrays, though many will have a range of paraphernalia depending on which legal high they are using. A hookah is not easily portable, so other accessories such as Roor Pipes or a Rizla rolling machine are more likely to provide easier access to the required substance if on the move.

Those seeking legal highs are predominantly law-abiding citizens who wish to take advantage of the mild hallucinogenic effects of certain legal and naturally occurring herbs in the safest way possible to gain some respite from the pressures of daily life. This is no more harmful than having a few pints, and can actually be beneficial to the health in terms of opening up airways and achieving a calming effect.

Various types of equipment are used, usually to inhale smoke and vapour from plant substances such as legal herbal mixtures. Bongs are very popular, and like hookah pipes they use water as a coolant and filter method to get rid of harmful chemicals in the smoke. If you want a fast high then a bong is probably not the best idea because the water is also efficient at filtering out much of the mildly hallucinogenic element you’ll be after. Hookahs and bongs are for social gatherings where you have time to sit around conversing as you smoke, and indeed there are multi-pipe bongs to facilitate this social element to these activities.

Vaporizers are much better at delivering the pure content at the heart of an herbal mixture, and they do so faster than most other methods. This is because the material is not heated to the combustion point and therefore no smoke is produced.

Both bongs and hookah pipes use water as a part of their operation, to act as a coolant and filter for the smoke produced by burning various herbal products. The water purifies the smoke, removing harmful products like the larger molecules that are responsible for cancers in cigarette smoke. Bongs and hookah pipes have a cultural function in their countries of origin, where smokers chat and take their ease whilst puffing at the pipes, and there are even multi-pipe bongs that can be placed at the centre of a group to facilitate use and social interaction.

Vaporizers such as the sophisticated Volcano Vaporizer, or cheap vaporizers such as handheld vaporizers, work in a different way, heating the products of plants and various essential oils up to but short of the combustion point to produce a vapour that contains only the essential ingredients. As the heat is relatively less and there is no smoke produced, vaporizers are considered safer than other inhalation methods in common use.

There are many legal substances that can be used in bongs, hookah pipes and vaporizers to produce a desired high without getting into legal trouble and at less risk to the health than stronger and illegal stimulants.

Working our way from the top to the bottom, the first component of a hookah is the bowl, a container that may be made from marble or clay, and holds the tobacco and the charcoal during the smoking session. The bowl is filled with tobacco, covered with aluminium foil and then lit charcoal is laid on top, allowing the tobacco to heat to the required temperature.

Smoke travels down the stem to the base, a water jar through which the smoke bubbles. Smoke travels into the water cup from the direction of the tobacco bowl and through the downstem, a thin tube that is submerged in the water of the water bowl. While in the base of the hookah, the smoke makes a bubbling noise, hence the alternative name for the hookah of the hubble bubble pipe.  Attached to the water bowl is the main body of the pipe. The smoke leaving the water base collects there ready for inhalation.

To technically be called a hookah, the pipe should have a hose. This should be a long hose that cools the smoke before inhalation. The end has a mouthpiece made of plastic, metal or wood and is seen with a number of shapes and sizes. It’s the process of trying to inhale through the hose that causes the smoke to travel through the pipe as it does. It’s as if it is sucked through the hookah.

Bongs share much in common with hookah pipes using, as they do, water as a filter system for the smoke from tobacco and various plant products, as well as cooling it for a more comfortable smoking experience.

Bongs originated in Thailand and Laos, in the Far East, where the name covers most forms of tubular bamboo structures which were originally cut from bamboo shoots. These days in the West, bongs are widely available in many different materials from specialist suppliers. Glass bongs are preferred because of the purity of the smoke produced, without any derivatives from the construction material, but you can also get them made from wood, and acrylic bongs are very popular because it is more difficult to break them than is the case with glass bongs. Roor bongs, made from hand-blown glass, are a top of the range make, and are often collected because of their elegance as well as functionality.

Vaporizers are widely considered the safest way of inhaling herbal compounds and mixtures, as the material is vaporized short of ignition, avoiding the production of smoke and its dangerous toxins.

The hookah originated in India and is part of the culture throughout the Middle East but recently it has gained popularity in Europe, Australia, North America and Brazil. One of the more popular hookahs types is known as the Malabar hookah and comes from the city of Koyilandy.

The hookah has a number of alternative names: in Arabic the pipe is referred to as a shisha and this is the most common name used in the Persian Gulf states. Meanwhile, Islamic countries close to the eastern Mediterranean such as Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan and Syria enjoy a narghile. In Croatia and Albania the hookah is a Lula, while in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina the pipe is called a nargile.

Hookah pipes are most common in the Arab world, where the smoking of flavoured tobacco has entered their tradition and culture. It is estimated that Arabs are the biggest users of shisha pipes worldwide. Nearly all cafés offer shisha smoking and the cafés are the centre of Arab social life, being likened to the bars and pubs in the Western world.
 
Because of the increase in smoking bans across Europe and North America, many hookah cafés have begun to offer a smoking experience by using non-tobacco mu’assel, a mixture of molasses and honey.

Determine the way you are going to use the hookah pipe.  Will you be using it to smoke cannabis, herbals and plant materials (legal highs), or regular loose tobacco?

Size really does matter.  If you are only going to use it by yourself, than a smaller one will be sufficient.  Otherwise, purchase a multi-user style to accommodate a group of smokers.  Additionally, where the size factor is concerned, you want to make sure that you have sufficient storage space so that you can keep it out of the reach of children and pets.

Glass is the preferred material for the bowl base.  However, acrylic models are now emerging throughout the market and are increasing in popularity because of their price and the fact that they do not break or crack as easily as the glass-based ones do.

For the beginner, there are a lot of first time buyer deals available online, making it more affordable than ever to get started with this type of smoking venue.  There are numerous value packages available so that your purchase includes the hookah pipe, the accessories, and even the tobacco in some instances.

The hookah utilises water to filter smoke from herbal mixtures with indirect heat, thus creating a unique and enjoyable legal smoking experience.

The hookah has a range of titles depending on where in the world it is being used. For example in Turkey and most of the Middle East it is called a nargeela. Alternatively, in Egypt it is called a shisha and the content is referred to as moassel.

Throughout the Arab world the hookah is smoked as part of the region’s culture and tradition. Hookah smoking in social settings is very common in these areas and is often done with single or double hoses. Hookah smoking in Arab social settings carries with it certain social niceties that are observed, such as placing the hose on the table after smoking to signal to the other smokers that the pipe is available. Alternatively, if the pipe is simply being passed from one smoker to the next, it is handed with the mouthpiece folded back, and not pointing in the direction of the recipient. The recipient takes the hookah and gently slaps the person he received it from as a sign of respect and thanks.

Hookahs are often called shishas, from the Persia word for glass or bottle. Hookah pipes come in various styles, known as Syrian and Egyptian hookahs, and one can easily find travelling hookahs and custom-designed hookahs. A conventional hookah is made of blown glass and is usually decorated elaborately with bits of enamel or gold paint, porcelain, silver, carved stones, or pieces of leather.

Legal herb smoking, through hookahs, pipes, and bongs, is big business these days. A whole line of accessories exists for the hookah, including metal tongs and special charcoal that can burn for a half hour or more. Legal herbs are smoked most often in social groups. When this is the case, the hookah is not passed around; instead, it is simply set down between uses to allow other smokers to take a turn.