If you haven’t seen or read about me smoking from my Lust Halo XL at this point the you’re not paying close enough attention and need to check out our Youtube channel. Go now. I’ll wait.
I do love this hookah but I have my complaints and one of the biggest is the bowl. I’ve been messing around with this one for a long time and I think I finally have a handle on this little brat. It’s not the easiest bowl to deal with but here are my three suggestions that will help you skip that learning phase.
Firstly, this is an extremely unstable bowl thanks to the small, ground-glass joint that almost refuses to stand on its own. I see smashed glass in my future if I try to pack this one as it is. It’s too unstable to pack without some support and I suggest grabbing a mason jar, coffee mug or glass with a mouth smaller than the lip of this bowl. Placing the stem of the bowl inside of this vessel will take care of this problem. Stable and far less prone to disaster.
You should notice the thickness of the glass and the surprisingly wide lip around the outside edge when handling this piece of glass work. Combine those with the shallow nature of the trough as well as the fairly tall spire and you have a few problems for trying to manage heat and airflow.
By sheer instinct I wanted to pack this low to keep the heat at bay but that was my first mistake. I ended up with think, weak smoke that refused to pick up before it burnt. You want to pack this bowl right to the brim. Leave the smallest gap possible to keep the tobacco off the screen or foil but pack it as high as possible and you’ll have better success than I originally did. The next two photos exemplify this.
Speaking of foil and screens, I don’t use foil with this bowl. The spire it too tall and one hard drag is all it takes to pull it down and block your airflow. You can see how tall the spire is in relation to the walls in the previous photo. I’ve had more success by using a high quality steel screen with a wide diameter and small holes. This bowl is so wide thanks to the super thick lip that the screen tends to sit a little awkwardly and precariously. It’s not an ideal setup but it offers good smoke and I’m always looking for something better to offer you folks.
I have yet to try it, but a Lust Hookah heat management system exists and I really hope that it remedies a few of these issues. I’m also interested in trying out the Kaloud Lotus but I can’t guarantee that it will fit properly and do the job. If you folks have tried either with this bowl I would really love to hear your opinions. Either way, pack it high for the best results.