Okay guys....I know, sorry this is probably posted a lot but I don't have any experience with downstems (skipped that phase and went right to stemless). However, my new travel rig has a downstem and I can't make up my mind. It's a small Syn straight tube, but I was wondering if anyone could chime in on the difference you get between the alex k showerhead and the leisure 6arm in a straight tube. I'm going to make an educated guess that the 6arm will have more drag than the showerhead which would theoretically make it better for a straight tube? Anyone think they can take some time out to help me out?
Ive had showerheads but I dont get the craze over them. I now prefer 12 holes, but if I had $50-$60 id get a Sov gridded over a 6 arm Leisure. I just dont like tree perks very much personally. Look up OregonGlassBlower though! Makes some very clean and good priced diffys.
sheldon black diffusers are nice, alex k's showerheads, alex inwood shower head, hisi honeycomb, sov gridded, all would be a good choice.
How about some videos to help you decide? First two are my Alex K: (^don't soak in Simple Green, duh) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nY3vvoDzcQ]Alex K Milkshot - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z6pWFzadao]Alex K Bubbles - YouTube[/ame] And the Leisure 6-arm: (edit: this one is a pain to clean. You have to have pipe cleaners soaked in iso to get the arms spotless) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK-2ERQspMI]Leisure 6-Arm - YouTube[/ame] I like the less amount of drag with the Alex K over the Leisure. The 6-arm will stack more for sure, but you can definitely feel the drag when you're clearing the tube. The best of of both worlds is the Sheldon Black downstem that came with my ash catcher. It has awesome stackage, plus the open hole at the bottom provides an awesomely fast clear. It fits perfect in my tube: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmBwNTGuoaw]SB diffuser in Everest Tube - YouTube[/ame] I actually bought the Alex K off a friend that upgraded to the SG 180* gridded downstem, and that one is my favorite by a long shot. Hope this helps, and go ahead and ask if you have any specific questions!
It depends on how you like to hit your bong the Alex K hits better verticle if you like to lean your bong back. And the 6 arm hits better if you like to hit your bong strait up
Pretty sure you have this backwards. Only 3-4 of the slits will fire on the 6-arm if the tube is vertical. (or at least worded kind of confusingly... ) Alex K will still function with the tube vertical, but as you can see from my videos, I always tilt my tube back to make sure that the downstem is perfectly vertical to allow the most even use of each hole in the diffuser.
I think I'm going with the alex k. I wasn't even thinking about cleaning issues, but you brought up a good point about the 6arm. I'd ideally like the sovereignty, but they are next to impossible to find, especially in the size that I need and I don't feel like waiting. It's just for my travel rig anyway.
SG down stems are hard to find? I would be surprised if my local Headshop had less then 20 maybe i just got lucky they had my exact size and got it for a hookup