*OFFICIAL* Dugout Tutorial - [long, lots of pics]

[JonBongJovi]

I know, I know, another *OFFICIAL* thead, but I've seen lots of posts from people who don't know much about dugouts and how they work. I love my dugout so I decided to make this thread taking you through the parts of a dugout, preparation, and use.

Getting to know the dugout

Dugouts generally have two sections in them. There's a large section to hold weed(or "tobacco") and a smaller cylindrical section that holds the bat(aka one-hitter or pipe). Both sections are protected by a cover that slides or twists open. A spring makes the bat pop up when the cover is opened. The bat is loaded by burrowing it into the weed in the second compartment. It only takes a few seconds to load and it's ready to smoke.

Here are a few shots of my dugout, first closed and then opened.




Here's a shot of the dugout with everything taken out. On the right you can see the plain brass bat the came with my dugout, the cleaning rod(to get the resin out of the long narrow bat), and the spring that makes the bat pop up when you open the top. On the left you can see two bats I bought, a clear(but dirty) glass one and a stealth cigarette style bat.


A closer look at the bats

The bat is what you smoke from/through. It's a simple pipe that is often called a one-hitter because you only get a few hits from it's small bowl. However, it's surprisingly potent. Just a few hits may be more powerful than you expect. And, of course, it's easy to blow out the ash and load up again.

Here's a shot of my three bats which are typical of the kinds of options you'll find in most head shops.


I usually use the brass or cigarette bat because they load easier. The sharp edge on the rim of the bowl facilitates packing. The glass bat looks cool and tastes better than metal but is very difficult to load because of the rounded rim. I have a lot of trouble getting weed to stay inside and loading it with your fingers really defeats the purpose.

Preparation

The dugout has the advantage of being extremely portable and very quick to use. I often pull out my dugout for a quick puff during a party or right before I walk inside a movie theatre. You can pull out the dugout, pack the bat, have a couple quick hits, and have everything put away in less than a minute. If you want to smoke more you just blow out the ash and pack another bowl.

The dugout does need a little preparation to make it ready to use. The upside is that a dugout full of weed will last a light smoker several weeks and a heavy smoker at least several days.

There's already a fair bit of herb in my dugout right now so we're just going to put in a small nug. Here's what you need to get started...


Once the weed is ground up...


...you need to get it inside the dugout. You can use your fingers and shove it in or make a funnel out of paper or a business card. You have to be careful because the hole is relatively small and you'll probably be dropping some bits of weed which are perfectly good to smoke. Do it over a desk or something.


Loading the bat

You load the bat by digging and twisting down into the weed in the large compartment. The sharp edge of the metal bats makes this easier than the round edge of the glass ones. The glass bats require more of a scooping motion that I find difficult to do.

The shot is of me loading the bat on the table. I usually do it with two hands(dugout in one hand the bat in the other) but, well, I needed a hand to take the picture with. :-)


Here are two shots of a loaded bowl.



At this point you're ready to smoke it. The bat requires a deliberate and steady pull. If you do it too quickly you could get ash in your mouth but if you go to too slow you'll be burning weed and not inhaling much. It doesn't take much to figure out the feel of it.

Closing thoughts

I love my dugout.

It's small and discreet. I can take it out of my pocket while looking for change in front of a cashier and they don't think anything of it. It only takes a few seconds to have a quick smoke and it's easy to smoke more if you need. You can even get a bat that looks like a cigarette that would fool anyone as long as you're in a crowd and moving. Finally, it is extremely efficient and cost effective. Weed seems to last forever with this thing because there's almost no peripheral burning. All the smoke goes in your lungs.

Dugouts are fantastic tools for the confirmed pot user. They may not be the primary piece for everyone but they're so useful that I don't think any stoner should be without one. It is without a doubt the best $25 I have ever spent on paraphernalia.

I hope you enjoyed. Let me know if there's anything you don't understand or want to see and I'll try and add it.

[DeaconBlues]

I got my Dugout around christmas last year and it was a damn good investment, i can usually make a ten sack (1.5 g's or so) last a week or smoking everyday.

[cannabiscool]

thats so awesome! thank you, i always wondered how they worked. +rep

[Superdude2006]

Great post, thanks for the info.

[Mr.bubbles]

dug outs are awesome man

[sherlockhead]

cool post man, i may have to pick one up

+rep

[Johnny]

+rep, I kinda knew how they worked before, but now I feel like a dugout master! thx man!

[Evilpig]

Nice post, +rep...

You are like advertising and now I want one!

[blindmist]

they cant really be that hard to make can they?

take a 2x4 about 8 inches tall, get a drill and drill out the two holes.

take another 2x4 about 2 - 3 inches tall for the top

buy a spring. use a router to make it nice and round on the edges and you are done. stain it if you would like too.

my friend made a pretty nice one.



where did you get your grinder?

[Evilpig]

I'm so making one of these in shop class when school starts.

[dieselsmokeer]

those metal ciggerettes are the biggest peice of shits ever, they get sooo hot. Thats some decent looking bud, i bet you would enjoy it so much more out of a glass spoon or something, but that glass dug out looks pretty smokable.

[phiegnux]

yea, i was gonna make one in woods also but then i bought one from a friend. its real nice, its kinda old but it makes it look retro and i love it. the weed compartment can supposedly hold up to a quarter. but i havnt even used it yet, i have a probi meeting on the 5th and i never know if ill get UAd or not so im just playin it safe.

[wizinabus]

very nice tutorial.

only thing I wonder about dugouts is why people think they are so stealth. you can only be so stealth with weed until you smoke it. people are obviously going to know its weed you're smoking and not tobacco if close enough, and most weed you can smell from pretty far away

[hydroponic311]

nice tutorial, and i love dugouts...they can really come in handy.

[JonBongJovi]

Originally Posted by blindmist

where did you get your grinder?

I got it at my local head shop for $25.

Originally Posted by dieselsmokeer

those metal ciggerettes are the biggest peice of shits ever, they get sooo hot.

I started smoking in the winter and I didn't realize they got hot until the cold air wasn't there to cool it down. They do get hot but if you don't keep the flame on too long it isn't too bad that you can't hold it.

Originally Posted by wizinabus

only thing I wonder about dugouts is why people think they are so stealth. you can only be so stealth with weed until you smoke it. people are obviously going to know its weed you're smoking and not tobacco if close enough, and most weed you can smell from pretty far away

It's true that people can smell it but a dugout is a lot more stealth than a joint. It's small and discreet and you can put it away really quickly. Besides, if you're walking down a crowded street with a cigarette bat, no one is going to care.

Thanks for all the rep, guys! It's nice to be apprectiated after taking the time to take pictures, upload them, write the thread, etc. :-)