Authored by Jared Lender on 28 March 2012 7,962 views No Comment

Full Disclosure:

I contacted the maker of the Hookah Home, Jesse DePinto, telling him that I would like to review his product. He suggested that if I wrote an article about his product, and gave him my feedback, all I had to do was pay for shipping and the piece would be free.

Here is a sneak peek at the soon to be, newest legitimate addition to the world of hookah accessories. Designed by a 22 year old student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hookah Homes are a simple, adjustable, and decorative way to keep nearly any sized hookah pipe from taking a nose dive. Eight pieces of mahogany stained Acai wood all fit together with no glue or hardware. Just some simple physics and basic principles make this design possible.

Within five minutes, you can protect your hookah from a yank of the hose or a solid bump from the guy no one likes. The Hookah Home comes with one page(6 steps) of very simple instructions and after the first couple of times setting it up, all of it becomes a breeze. When constructing the dwelling for the first time, you will notice that there are pieces marked with white dots. These dots are guides for orientation and the rest is self explanatory.

How It Works

The base holds the three vertical slats in place while the top tier holds the slats in a position forcing them to flex, creating outward pressure. This outward force coupled with small notches in the slats makes for a way to secure the top tier that will end up holding the hookah stable. The collar is a circular piece of wood shaped like a doughnut. This doughnut is placed on the top tier and turned to fit the hookah for stabilization. This all works because the hole in the collar and top tier align off center of the unit. So, when the collar is turned, the collar and the top tier’s holes create an ellipse that synchs down on the hookah. Once the ellipse is synched around the hookah, two pins hold the collar in place and prevent it from moving.

What Does It Do

As it stands now, the Hookah Home will not hold your hookah so still that the coals will not fall off. The device can only lock on to a base of a hookah (when using a 10 inch or 12 inch base). Since it only holds the base in place, the stem is susceptible to wobble at the junction of stem and base. Even with the glass base of your hookah locked into place a decent bump to the stem or tray will cause the stem to shift and possibly dump your coals.

What it will do is keep your hookah from all out falling over. When locked in to the Hookah Home, a pipe can be pulled and released from about a 30 degree angle and still be able to recover on its own. A quick yank of the hose, that may have once tipped the coals off the bowl, could be absorbed by the Hookah Home. Smoking outside will be a lot easier because the Hookah Home creates stability on grass, gravel, and uneven decking.

Bonus Points

The top tier of the piece is a perfectly convenient place to rest or hang coal tongs. When your session is over, you can wrap the hose around the stem of the hookah and rest the handle on the elevated platform. No more does your tip need to drag through dust bunnies after being insufficiently wrapped around the stem and handle left to hang.

In Conclusion

Despite the possible need for minor technical changes, the design is classy and functional. It will secure your hookah in a stained acai enclosure and prevent your setup from totally tipping over. Coal burns are in no way a thing of the past. This device is simply a preventative measure and not guaranteed protection. The Hookah Home is an accessory that will make smoking on gravel, grass, boulders, logs, cars, river banks, and beaches very possible in your near future.

When and Where:

The only place that I know of that will be selling Hookah Homes is HookahJohn.com. Jesse says that they will be arriving to HJ’s doorstep in May. Jesse would like the suggested retail price to be about $40. Time will tell what it actually ends up being.