Hookah Foil or HMD? Here's a comparison for the 2 most common ways to protect the shisha and to manage the heat from the coals.
Pros and Cons for using the aluminum hookah foil versus the HMD (Heat Management Devices).
Aluminum Hookah Foil is designed to enhance your hookah smoking experience. They are offered in different pre-cut aluminum foil shapes, circular or rectangular. Some are no perforations, and the most common ones are pre-perforated for easy application. They are available in individual sheets or in rolls of aluminum foil. Those are very handy at hookah lounges.
- Price: Hookah Foil is inexpensive relatively. If you're on a budget and trying to save on the more expensive HMD options, you can get a pack of Hookah Foil containing 50 sheets for around $5.00 and it would last you for 50 sessions.
- Managing Heat: The Hookah Foil gives you easy access to the charcoal, but it won't let you regulate the heat. In order to keep your bowl from overheating you have to constantly keep moving the coals to different sides of the hookah bowl. If you are smoking outdoors, then maintaining your coals becomes a task and your session will be shorter because they will burn quicker.
- Ash and other particles: The hookah Foil does not prevent ash and other particles (small pieces of aluminum from perforating the foil) to fall through the stem and making it to the water in the hookah base. This could become a health hazard.
- Hookah preparation ritual: Some avid smokers enjoy and take pride in fixing their hookah setup down to the small details. Placing the foil on the bowl and perforating in different patterns using a poker or a puncher.
Heat Management Devices help regulate the transfer of heat from the charcoal to the shisha bowl. The HMDs will elevate your smoking experience. Here are some pros and cons for using an HMD.
- Heating without harmful gas and sulfur.
- Separating shisha from direct contact with charcoals for a clean shisha flavor.
- Eliminating usage of aluminum foil.
- Blocking fine particles and ash from getting inside to the shisha.
- Using fewer coals by keeping the coals protected
- It's a harder to clean the HMD then to discard of the foil. You need to wait till it's not hot anymore. The burnt tobacco might get stuck to the bottom of the HMD.