um salvia, i would suggest only to those who are in for a logical enlightenment...
personally, i absolutely love salvia, and no one else i have ever talked to or read about has liked it as much as i did.
Don't smoke salvia if you got issues with yourself, your trip WILL be bad, i would suggest being in a meditative state and hashing all the stressful things in your life, like any stupid drama with gf's, family, friends....realizing that none of it is really as important as it seems..BEFORE you smoke it.
definitely get 40X. Its the only thing thats worth your money and your time, and if you don't want the rest of it(usually you can buy it in 10 doses) you can easily sell it(plus its starting to get illegalized in some states, so it will be in more demand). It will last about sharply 15 minutes, but i don't suggest doing anything right after that, i drove right after and i was goin over 100 w/out realizing it....
AND go pee beforehand, its very common for people to piss themselves causeyou lose a lot of muscle control(it was hard for me to stand up)
Hookah on the other hand, yes, i would suggest gettin the cheapo boxes from smoke shops until you realize what kind of flavors you like or don't like, n then start investing in the fresh tobacco from hookah shops(they usually sell their fresh shit at the front counter) it will be more expensive, but, more $=better quality.
yeah, you should use the tongs to put the tobacco in, don't pack it, actually fluff the bowl of tobacco before you put your foil over it... i would put 5inX5in. piece of foil over the bowl, tighten round the edges and use a toothpick to quickly poke about 15-30 holes, depending on how big each hole is when you make it.
light the coal(use the easy spark kind) it will spark and crackle after holding the flame for about 10-20 seconds, and you can just let it light from then on by itself.
then once it stops crackling, usually takes 45 seconds to a min. and then put it on the foil, and then milk the smoke.
don't forget to blow the hose out every other time, gunk get built up and it fucks up how much smoke you get..
to do that, just unhook the hose and blow it really hard.
i always liked guava, strawberry, and vanilla