The Right Way to Pack a Dugout
There are many ways to pack a dugout up but some of them are absolutely better than others. Once you have a basic understanding of how a dugout pipe works, you’ll be well on your way to smoking a dugout with the best of them.
- Understanding how dugouts work
Dugouts are a portable storage box that have a one hitter pipe and storage space for herb. You need to fill the storage area up with herb before traveling with it, as the point of a dugout is to make smoking on the go easy, convenient, and discreet. The one hitter is there so that you have something to smoke out of while on the go. A one hitter pipe is typically a metal pipe that looks like a cigarette and is shaped like one too. They typically need to be de clogged after each bowl, but we’ll get to that shortly.
- Have your herb ground up beforehand
Before you go out and about, make sure your dugout box is prepped and ready. Ideally you have a multiple piece grinder to break down your herb into an even consistency, but a grinder card definitely gets the job done too. Either is able to grind your herb down much more effectively than by hand, but if you don’t have either accessible get to breaking it down by hand. You do this with a pinch and twist motion into as small pieces as possible. Having a fine consistency gives the best possible smoking experience, so make sure it’s not too chunky.
- Properly load the dugout pipe
Now that you have ground up herb, it’s time to actually prep your dugout. Traditional dugouts have a twist top that reveals the one hitter and storage area. The chamber that holds your herb is often pretty narrow so its best to funnel your herb over a rolling tray or flat surface. This is so any spillage can easily be gathered and put into the dugout pipe. You can gently use the one hitter pipe to poke the herb down into the storage area, but make sure it is not too densely packed in. As you load the one hitter over and over, the herb will condense itself down even further. This is why loading the pipe correctly is essential, as once the herb gets too densely packed its difficult to continue smoking from.
- Pack your one hitter correctly
With your dugout packed and loaded, you’re ready to hit the road. Using your one hitter as efficiently as possible is going to make or break your smoking experience. Ideally you have a poker to clean it out after each smoke, but if not you can still make do. Remove the one hitter from the dugout box, and gently press down into the herb storage side. You want to twist as you do this, as that will help pack the bowl. Mashing it in will result in getting the herb stuck at the bottom, so only do that as a last resort. Having a poker here will also assist in getting herb unstuck from the bottom, so you really want to try and have one with you.
- Keeping the one hitter pipe clean
After you’ve packed and smoked your one hitter pipe, there’s a good chance there’ll be some ash left behind. This is totally normal, but should be cleaned out before packing the metal pipe up again. If there isn’t too much ash, you can typically just blow it out from the same end you inhaled from. Most of the time this is effective, but if not you need to get a poking tool of some sort. There are pokers that come in dugouts designed for this, but a toothpick or paperclip can also suffice here. They also help keep any residue that builds up at bay.
- Our dugout recommendation
Check out a product called the Smokit at www.smokits.com. They have a built in grinder card that allows you to grind your herb directly into storage instead of having to grind it up separately, and then funnel it in. There’s a poker that fits all the way through the one-hitter to easy unclog it , and the pipe is actually a multi-hitter with serrated edges so it packs up even easier. The poker also has a scooper end, and there’s a silicone container as well for additional storage. There are two sizes depending on how compact you need it to be, and it’s made of a durable polycarbonate with a soft touch finish. Use the code ‘20off’ for a 20% discount!