What Is A Weed Dugout?

It’s not always easy to fire up some weed at a moment’s notice.

If you prefer to smoke joints, it can be a pain to carry around papers and your weed, and time-consuming to have to roll a doob when you’re in the mood.

Your favorite piece might fit into your pocket, but you can wind up with crumbs, ash, and even resin in the pocket after you’ve put it away.

And you’re probably not going to drag a bong or a dab rig along with you while you go about your day.

A one-hitter is the perfect answer — but not just any one-hitter.

We’re talking about a weed dugout.

What is A One Hitter

The name says it all. A one-hitter (often called a chillum) is a small pipe designed to hold just enough flower for a single toke, usually about 25 milligrams. Some people manage to get a couple of hits before they have to repack, but stuffing too much weed into a chillum can result in poor airflow and a disappointing hit.

That may sound inconvenient at first, but there are definite advantages to one-hitters.

Most importantly, these pipes are discreet. One-hitters are so small they fit easily into a pocket or purse, it’s not obvious that you’re smoking unless someone is quite close to you, and they produce very little odor since one toke uses up all of the weed; there’s no extra smoke to be released into the air.

Chillums are a good choice if you’re trying to make sure your stash lasts for a while. Even if you decide mid-hit that another one would feel great, you’d have to repack the one-hitter first. That gives you time to consider whether you want to burn more weed.

A one-hitter is the perfect choice to take when you’re on the road. You can pull it out and fire it up whenever and wherever you get a chance — and tuck it away in just seconds.

One-hitters are traditionally crafted from metal or glass, but you can find them made from almost any material you can imagine. The two most popular designs are thin and conical, or shaped to look like a tobacco cigarette (so you can go into extra-stealth mode). But if you stop at your local smoke shop or go shopping online, you can find chillums in a wide variety of designs.

What you’ll also find is a one-hitter that makes it even easier to smoke up on the go.

It’s called a weed dugout.

What is A Weed Dugout

You might think of a dugout as a “weed kit.”

It’s essentially a small case with two compartments, one for the chillum and one for ground weed. Fancier ones will also include a cleaning tool and perhaps a built-in grinder as well. The one-hitters that come in dugouts are often the faux cigarette type, but you’ll also see slim chillums in a variety of shapes.

Dugouts aren’t quite as small as standalone one-hitters, of course, but they’re not that much bigger. Most will still fit just fine into a purse or a decent-sized pocket. Older models were usually made from wood, but you can now find them in acrylic, plastic, metal, leather, rubber, and even bamboo.

Fancy or cool designs have proliferated in recent years, but above all, dugouts were created to be functional.

Here’s how they work. Since one chamber of the dugout already contains weed, all you have to do is take the one-hitter and push its bowl end into the compartment, twist it a few times, and the chillum is loaded.

If you’re using a one-hitter without a dugout, it’s not that simple. You have to empty your flower onto a flat surface (or find a container to put it into), mound it up, pack the bowl, and then clean up the leftover weed. That’s what makes a dugout so much more convenient; it takes just five seconds to pack the small pipe.

Weed dugouts might seem like the ultimate smoking equipment, but they do have one drawback: they’re not ideal in social situations. Dugouts are designed to be used with a chillum, but the pipe only holds enough flowers for one person to take one hit. If you want to share, you’ll have to keep repacking the bowl.

The only comfortable way around that dilemma is if each person has their one-hitter. That way, you can be the hero who passes around your dugout to let everyone load up. It’s not quite the same as passing a joint, but it will still be appreciated.

3 Effective Tips for Using a Weed Dugout

1. Grind Your Weed Properly

Since a dugout is designed to hold a stash of weed, you’ll need to grind your herb in advance. You might be tempted to just pack it with some of the flowers you use at home, but that could cause problems if you normally prefer a fine grind or throw a couple of nugs into a bowl.

The pro move is to grind weed specifically for the dugout; it should be evenly ground and not too fine.

Here’s why the grind of your weed matters so much when using a dugout:

• If the flower is ground too finely, it will burn up in a flash and won’t produce much smoke.
• If it’s not evenly ground or the grind is too coarse the airflow will be impeded; smoke won’t be able to flow properly through the pipe.
• Even a small bud is unlikely to fit easily into the small bowl of a chillum. If you can manage to squeeze one in, there won’t be enough airflow to let it burn properly and the smoke will be rough and uneven.

2. Don’t Get Too Greedy

Here’s another temptation: you think that if you pack the weed into the one-hitter as tightly as possible, you may be able to get two or even three hits from it.

If you do it that way, there’s a good chance you won’t even get a single good hit, since air won’t be able to pass freely through the pipe.

On the other hand, don’t pack the bowl too loosely. Remember, when you load the pipe it’s pointing down, but you have to raise it to a horizontal position to hit it. A loose flower will simply fall out if it’s not packed tightly enough.

We know. First, we said “not too tightly” and then we said, “not too loose.” A few tries, and you’ll find “just right” for your one-hitter.

3. Always Clean After use

A chillum’s small size means that resin and ash will build up quickly, causing blockages that will make your next hit unsatisfying. Even if the airflow isn’t completely blocked, the small bowl is likely to retain the burnt taste.

Bottom line: clean out your one-hitter after each hit. If the dugout came with a poker tool, that’s perfect. Otherwise, use a pipe cleaner or similar tool. As a stopgap measure, you can simply tap the bowl (gently!) against a hard surface, and blow through the mouthpiece — then do a more complete cleanout when you have time.

What Is a Weed Dugout: FAQ

Q: What material is best for a weed dugout?
A: It doesn’t matter, since the dugout itself is simply a storage case. If you’re all thumbs, you might want to opt for a material that isn’t breakable; otherwise, just go for whatever appeals to your sense of style.

Q: You’ve said dugouts are small, but can they fit into a pocket?
A: Most can. Manufacturers can keep the size so small because they use short and slim one-hitters, and because dugouts are only designed to hold a small amount of flower. You’ll find that most are less than four inches tall and a few inches wide; think Zippo lighter, and that will give you a good idea of the size.