Blog by Steve Laug

Al Jones’ recent posts on his restorations of two Orlik pipes – one a Sterling and one a Dugout – for John Guss prompted me to take this old Orlik Dugout out of my pipe cabinet and take a few photos. I restored it many years ago now and have smoked it many times since that restoration. The pipe originally came to me via an eBay auction. When it arrived I cleaned up the bowl and the stem. I remember that the bowl was caked and in need of a reaming and cleaning. The shank was dirty and the stem was oxidized. I cleaned both up and waxed and polished the pipe. It came in a worn black leather covered case with a red velvet lining. The pipe fit the case perfectly. There was an indentation for a second stem or a cigarette holder that no longer was present. Some of these older cased pipes came with a vulcanite and an amber stem – this may have been the case here. The blast was originally deep but had been worn over the years. The stamping on the pipe is very clear. It reads ORLIK over DUGOUT with TRADE to the left of the stamping and MARK to the right. The finish appears to almost be a rustication with a sandblast afterwards. It has both a black understain and a brown overstain. The combination of the rustication and blast is what I think gives it the name dugout. The stem is similar to the one that Al cleaned up for John on his Dugout. It has the same shape and look to the button. It has an orific airway in the end of the rounded button on the stem.

While the walls are thin on the bowl the pipe smokes cool nonetheless. It is one of my favourite old collectible pipes.