Ice bazooka: how it works and how long to freeze it

You recognize an ice bazooka right away: a colored plastic tube at the end of the hookah hose. Anyone buying one for the first time mainly wants to know three things. How long does it go in the freezer, how long does it stay cold, and does it fit my hose?

Below you read how it works, how it differs from an ICE mouthpiece, and how to keep it clean and intact. All models we sell are in the ice hoses and ice bazookas. The hoses they fit into are in the washable silicone hoses.

What is an ice bazooka?

An ice bazooka is a mouthpiece with a cooling core inside. The tube is made of two plastic halves that you screw together. Between them sits a separate core with cooling gel. You put that core in the freezer beforehand. One end goes into the hookah hose, and you smoke from the other end.

The bazookas we sell are about 34 centimeters long. The DUM Ice Bazooka comes in eight colors, from white and black to yellow and purple. The single versions in red, green and blue work the same way.

Why the cooling core has ridges

Unscrew the tube and you see that the cooling core is not smooth. It has ridges along its length, and between them there is room for the smoke. Without those ridges the core would sit in the tube like a plug and you would not be able to draw through it.

Ice hose, cooling mouthpiece or ice tip

In shops and on forums the same thing is also called an ice hose, ice mouthpiece, cooling mouthpiece or ice tip. We use those words interchangeably too: our collection is called Ice Hoses, but what is in it are mouthpieces with a cooling core. So you do not need to look for a complete hose with built-in cooling.

Ice bazooka or ICE mouthpiece: two forms of cool smoke

There are two ways to cool the smoke in the hose. They do the same thing, but they feel different in your hand.

• Ice bazooka: a plastic tube with a separate gel pack. Light, cheap and available in many colors. You hold the tube itself, so you feel the cold in your hand.
• ICE mouthpiece: a metal mouthpiece with a cooling section and a foam rubber grip. The Smokah Ice mouthpiece Alaska is about 35 centimeters long. The grip keeps your hand from getting cold.

When to choose an ice bazooka

Do you want to try cool smoke without spending much? Or do you smoke with a group and want everyone to have their own? Then a bazooka is the obvious choice. It costs 7.99 euros with us, so for the price of one ICE mouthpiece you almost get two.

When an ICE mouthpiece is the better fit

If you hold the hose all evening, a foam rubber grip is more pleasant than cold plastic. A metal mouthpiece also feels sturdier and looks more like a regular hookah mouthpiece. The Smokah Ice mouthpiece in purple and the red version cost 14.95 euros.

How long does an ice bazooka need to be in the freezer?

At least an hour. Amy Deluxe, which makes ice bazookas itself, writes that the cooling core is cold after about an hour in the freezer. See that as the minimum.

Longer is fine, and it helps. A core that is frozen all the way through stays cold longer than a core that is just cold enough. If you smoke in the evening, put the cooling core in the freezer in the morning. Put it in a clean bag, so it stays hygienic and does not freeze onto other things.

A second cooling core for a long evening

If you smoke for more than an hour, one core is not enough. The easiest solution is a second bazooka in the freezer. When the first one runs out, you swap the whole bazooka in a few seconds, without unscrewing anything.

How long does an ice bazooka stay cold?

Count on about an hour. How long exactly depends on two things: how cold the core was when you started, and how warm it is around you. On a summer evening outside it runs out sooner than on a cool evening indoors. Drawing often also makes a difference, because every draw sends warm smoke past the core.

When the smoke starts to feel warm again, the core has thawed. Take it out and put a cold core back in, or grab the second bazooka.

Why there are drops in the tube

After a session there is often moisture inside the bazooka. That is condensation: warm, humid air settles on the cold surface, just like on a glass with ice on a warm day. It is normal and it does not mean anything is leaking. Rinse the tube after use and let it dry, and it stays fresh.

Does an ice bazooka fit my hose?

On a silicone hose almost always. They are made for the common silicone hookah hoses. You take the handle off the hose and press one end of the bazooka firmly into the opening. If you already smoke with a washable silicone hose, you can start right away. A loose silicone hose without a handle works too.

Nothing changes on the hookah side. There the hose sits on the hose port as always, often with an aluminum end piece in the end. All connectors and grommets are in the hose parts.

A classic hose with a fixed handle

An ice bazooka does not simply fit a classic hose with a fixed wooden or metal handle. You cannot take that handle off, so there is no open end to push the bazooka into. If you want cool smoke, you need a silicone hose. The difference between the types is in our guide to hookah hoses.

Is it loose or do you hear hissing?

If the bazooka sits loose in the hose, your hookah draws in air and the draw goes weak. Push it deeper into the hose, or use another hose if the opening has stretched. If the hissing comes from somewhere other than the bazooka, the leak is elsewhere. How to track it down step by step is in this guide to a hookah that leaks.

Cleaning and storing an ice bazooka

It is clean in a few minutes. Let the cooling core thaw first, unscrew the tube and rinse both halves and the core with lukewarm water. That washes away saliva and residue. Then let everything dry completely before you screw it back together.

Do not use dish soap. You taste soap residue in the tube during the next session, just like with the rest of your hookah. How to maintain the whole hookah is in cleaning a hookah.

Storing between two sessions

Store the core dry and in a bag in the freezer, so it is ready for next time. The tube itself does not need to go in the freezer. Never screw the thread shut with force: plastic thread wears when you force it, and then the bazooka no longer closes properly.

What cool smoke does and does not do

An ice bazooka makes the smoke colder, and cold smoke feels milder in your throat. That is what it does. Nothing is filtered out of the smoke.

The Trimbos Institute points out that the water in a hookah does not make smoking healthier, even though users sometimes think so. The same goes for cool smoke: it feels different, but the same substances pass through.

Is the smoke too hot? Start at the bowl

If the smoke is not just warm but really hot or harsh, that usually comes from too much heat on the bowl. A cold bazooka masks that, but does not solve it. With an HMD you control the heat on the bowl itself. How that works is in HMD or foil.

Sharing with friends

The bazooka is your mouthpiece. Whoever shares it also shares the mouthpiece, and according to the Trimbos Institute bacteria and viruses can be passed on that way. If you smoke with more people, give everyone their own bazooka or use hygienic mouth tips.

Ice hoses and ice bazookas at ShishaSmaak

At ShishaSmaak you find everything for cool smoke from your hookah: ice bazookas and ice hoses in many colors, ICE mouthpieces with a foam rubber grip, washable silicone hoses they fit into, hose parts and connectors and hygienic mouth tips for when you smoke with more people.

Ordered before 18:00, delivered the next working day (NL), and from 89.99 euros we ship for free (NL).