subject: Portable hookah system and hookah containment device [print this page] Portable hookah system and hookah containment device
Disclosed is a hookah containment device that allows a user to smoke a prepared hookah while engaging in foot traffic. A portable hookah system includes a hookah and the hookah containment device tailored to mate with the hookah in a fashion to vertically stabilize the hookah during turbulent locomotion. The hookah containment device includes a sidewall adapted to form an interference fit with a hookah base, or includes within a receiving chamber means for releasably attaching the hookah within the interior of the hookah containment device.
Of the many proud traditions of Ottoman culture, few have achieved the world-wide fame of hookah smoking. Once confined to the Middle East and Near East regions, the hookahs notoriety was invigorated by Napoleons invasion of Egypt and thestream of curious Westerners which followed thereafter. Painters, such as Eugene Delacroix and Jean-Leon Gerome, when depicting Oriental styles typically included a hookah as a symbol of the depicted culture. The hookah was elevated from a regionalcuriosity to a universal symbol of sophistication.
The hookah, which has maintained a constant popularity in the Middle East, presently enjoys in American culture a unique, niched function. Hookah smoking combines community and relaxation into a single event. Rarely does one witness a groupsmokers crowded about a single cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Though hookahs are often designed with a single smoke outlet; the presence of multiple hoses, each capable of simultaneous use, emanating from a single smoking instrument is unique to the hookah. Multiple hose hookahs form the centerpieces of hookah clubs in which hookah smokers gather to unwind and converse with other community members. A hookah combines fashion, art, and function into a single device.
A basic hookah includes a base, a stem, at least one hose with a mouthpiece, and a bowl. The hookah bowl holds the hookah tobacco, frequently "massell." Massell is a mixture of tobacco, molasses, and often a flavor or fruit extract. Themolasses and fruit extract add a substantial amount of moisture to the massell that is missing in conventional tobacco. This added moisture makes massell more sensitive to the elements relative to conventional tobacco; prolonged exposure to airevaporates much of the moisture of massell and reduces its flavor. When properly protected, massell allows a smoker a more recreational, flavored smoke than the tobacco of cigars, cigarettes, pipes, and the like. An experienced hookah smoker will knowto loosely distribute massell into a pile within the hookah bowl to allow heat to evenly circulate through the pile.
The heat that ignites the massell derives from coals positioned above the hookah bowl. The coals and massell preferably never contact one to the other. A common method of placing coals proximate to the massell involves spreading a foil upon thetop of a hookah bowl, punching holes in the foil, and then placing the coals onto the foil. The heat from the lighted coals travels through the holes in the foil to ignite portions of the massell. Particulates from the massell travel in the smokecreated by the ignition down through the hookah bowl into the hookah pipe.
The hookah stem is the body of a hookah and is usually fabricated from brass, tin, or stainless steel. The stem transports the massell smoke from the bowl to the hookah base, which is a cavern containing water. The base of the hookah istypically fabricated of glass or plastic and tends to be the most expressive portion of the hookah, ranging from translucent to wildly-colored. Within the cavern of the hookah base, the massell smoke is cooled by the water within. The cooled massellsmoke then returns to the stem, though not through the same entrance by which the massell smoke enters the base. From the stem, the massell smoke travels through the hose and out of the mouthpiece.
There are presently two prominent versions of hookah structures: the Lebanese style and the Egyptian style. Although the aficionado will explain that there are many differences between the two styles, the practical layman would quickly note theobvious difference: the connection point between the stem and the hookah bowl. The Egyptian style hookah pipe tapers upward into what is generally referred to as a male connection. The Egyptian style hookah bowl includes a female connection whichreceives the pipes male connection. In the Lebanese style hookah the bowl has the tapered male connection and the pipe has the female connection to accept the Lebanese style hookah bowl. In both styles, to allow a more airtight connection a collar isgenerally added to fit around the male connection.
As hookah use increases in prominence, the need to make hookah smoking more amenable to a larger market increases in importance. One of the primary differences between hookahs and other conventional forms of tobacco products involvesportability. The user of a cigar, cigarette, or pipe can travel relatively unhindered while using his choice of tobacco product. A hookah, however, is not generally considered to be a portable instrument. It weighs considerably more than conventionaltobacco products and instruments, has a high profile that contributes to an awkward mechanical balance, is often fabricated of delicate materials, and is often loosely assembled by fit. Therefore there is a need for innovation that allows a hookah to betransported in useable position that adequately protects the hookah while simultaneously providing to a user to the ability to smoke massell from the hookah.
The system of the present invention includes a hookah that is designed to mate with the hookah receiving chamber; i.e. each component is structured to be used with the other. The chamber is adapted to stabilize the hookah of the system throughmating attachments or size. In embodiments of the system where size is utilized to stabilize the hookah, the hookah base includes a size that is approximately equal to the size of the hookah receiving chamber. In embodiments of the system where matingattachments are utilized to stabilize the hookah within the receiving chamber, both the base and the receiving chamber include one or more attachments such as snaps, protrusions, hook-and-loop fasteners, and the like. The system of the present inventionallows a user to prepare a hookah for smoking, and yet be mobile.
