Breaking Gear

[KingOfSushi]

I have a friend (seriously not me) who from memory lost 300ml of test because he used the plastic media bottle after I specifically told him to use glass and not to do that.

He's still a personal use guy - just lost his big batch that he'd planned to last him a long time. I'd pay money for tales of pain from major brewers. Would read like a horror novel for many of us.

I’m in a homebrewing discord. The amount of guys ruining kgs of raws is nuts.

 

[Mufasa123]

I’m in a homebrewing discord. The amount of guys ruining kgs of raws is nuts.

Wow. Must be a painful read. Honestly I think a lot of people for personal use should just stick to ugl/pharma as opposed to homebrew. Not just for peds either. Peds these days aren't a very expensive component. Hell, food dwarfs it.

A friend showed me a glp1 discord or something she's on because she was having trouble figuring out dosages and concentrations in product she was mixing (ie looking at ml and ius only as opposed to active ingredient being put in solution of said volume). I saw like 80 posts from people legitimately trying to help but utterly clueless. All they were doing is confusing each other including my friend who told me my explanation couldn't be right and showed me this as proof to refute the simple math I showed her. I read in disbelief. So fucking dumb - just Google it. Anyway I told her the whole group was close to 100% fools and all they were doing was confusing each other. Shit is simple and exactly as I said.

Everyone makes mistakes and learns but I see why we have doctors, prescribed medicine, and controlled substances. So many dumbasses would Darwin out.

 

[Bleed]

2015...I had the same thing happen.

It was pregynl, a big bottle, I had it in the door at the bottom of my fridge IN the box.

Things moved it and it fell barely a few inches.

Glass completely broken. To this day, that is one that kills me when I think of it. I swear that glass is designed to break.

I'm devastated! LAST bottle of pharma HCG and I fumbled the vial and it hit my tile floor and it broke!!! Timing really couldn't be worse! Nothing I could do but sweep it up, suck it up and move forward. Ugggghhhh!!!!

 

[Siggy]

Gear is legitimately, ludicrously cheap especially if you know where to look. I couldnt imagine futzing around with bags of powder and beakers everywhere.....

I understand there is the reassuring component to it that you made it yourself and there is no bacteria in there, but I have tried probably 8 different labs for all kinds of oils over the course of nearly a decade and have never gotten bad gear, but I have certainly had bad injections that were 100% my own fault.

 

[pistonpump]

Some guy paid 10,000 bitcoin for a couple papa John’s pizzas

What? Is this supposed to be a joke

 

[Alan1]

What? Is this supposed to be a joke

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-pizza-day-laszlo-hanyecz-spent-3-8-billion-on-pizzas-in-the-summer-of-2010-using-the-novel-crypto-11621714395

 

[Mufasa123]

Gear is legitimately, ludicrously cheap especially if you know where to look. I couldnt imagine futzing around with bags of powder and beakers everywhere.....

I understand there is the reassuring component to it that you made it yourself and there is no bacteria in there, but I have tried probably 8 different labs for all kinds of oils over the course of nearly a decade and have never gotten bad gear, but I have certainly had bad injections that were 100% my own fault.

Most don't do personal home brew for money savings (unless you are dirt poor which I wonder more about food budget) or even sterility. For me it's kind of fun, you know exactly what you have and it's always the same. I'm ocd so even my labels are cool (yeah it's all personal but I'm a geek in stuff).

I don't brew all my stuff (just mainstays) but consider test e. A single homogenous batch has lasted me 5+ years. Hell, mine is probably less accurate than most labs mg/ml but I know EXACTLY where 1cc (or whatever) puts my bloods. And yeah I have a precise scale and good stuff but a pro brewer is a pro for a reason. So if something is off on bloods or otherwise, I know damn well it's not my test e and it helps me isolate things for other compounds or general health.

Plus when covid lock down started I wasn't even concerned about a multi-year block on access should such happen.

 

[Siggy]

Most don't do personal home brew for money savings (unless you are dirt poor which I wonder more about food budget) or even sterility. For me it's kind of fun, you know exactly what you have and it's always the same. I'm ocd so even my labels are cool (yeah it's all personal but I'm a geek in stuff).

I don't brew all my stuff (just mainstays) but consider test e. A single homogenous batch has lasted me 5+ years. Hell, mine is probably less accurate than most labs mg/ml but I know EXACTLY where 1cc (or whatever) puts my bloods. And yeah I have a precise scale and good stuff but a pro brewer is a pro for a reason. So if something is off on bloods or otherwise, I know damn well it's not my test e and it helps me isolate things for other compounds or general health.

Plus when covid lock down started I wasn't even concerned about a multi-year block on access should such happen.

Well when you put it that way, it does sound like it could be a bit of fun and a nice project for someone who has the motivation and energy.

 

[KingOfSushi]

Most don't do personal home brew for money savings

I think most definitely are absolutely homebrewing because it’s cheaper. That’s good you think it’s fun and I’m sure a small camp of other people enjoy it, but most people that are homebrewing their own gear are absolutely doing it to save money bro lol.

 

[Mufasa123]

I think most definitely are absolutely homebrewing because it’s cheaper. That’s good you think it’s fun and I’m sure a small camp of other people enjoy it, but most people that are homebrewing their own gear are absolutely doing it to save money bro lol.

Maybe so. I only have myself as I don't know others.

I started in the 90s. A bottle of test/deca (admittedly pharma) ran 80ish and that was a good price. These days cost of drugs is so damn cheap. Real cost is food. Sure, saving a dollar anywhere helps and I guess brewing will save a few as cost of food most people have no control over. Still brewing setup costs aren't zero either (hot plate w/ magnetic stirrer, glass rods/beakers/ scales/ media bottles/ buy sterilized sealed bottles or autoclave-ghettoclave and crimp - I think a crimper is $100 alone / filters and vacuum pump). It's a chunk of cash even cutting every corner - and some of those corner cuts are such a pita you do it once and never ever do it again. Sure it's a mostly a one time cost but first brew sets you back some especially if cost of a blast in drugs is meaningful. They probably do it not just personal but group of friends to mitigate all this. When I say personal, I mean one man alone.

I also say this being decently comfortable in life with a decent income. I'm older and bigger so I have enough money regardless but food dwarfs gear for me. Yeah brewing makes it crazy cheap but even full retail wouldn't change anything.

 

[Mufasa123]

Well when you put it that way, it does sound like it could be a bit of fun and a nice project for someone who has the motivation and energy.

For fun/geek I use a specific sterile vile shape that's more like 14ml than 10ml so my count is always conservative when assuming 10ml. Plus shape and quality of bottle and stopper are perfect. Every substance has a different colored vial top (green for test, blue deca, black mast etc).

Black gloss labels with bronze/gold graphics and lettering. I use brew date as expiration date is bullshit and just some made up convention (I don't ever sell anything so I do what's useful not marketable). Each substance has its own graphic from Norse mythology. Test is Odin - tried for Yggdrasil/World Tree but couldn't find the right graphic. Deca is old school Thor's hammer.

Obviously name and mg/ml concentration of solution is there. Everything is the same carrier and % of bb/ba so if I ever want to blend into a single vial no issues and all remain constant.

Took me a while to arrive at this but solves all problems and between what I have brewed and on hand from purchases, I always have everything I need for whatever I'm doing a long ways out. I probably only brew stuff every 2-3 years. Last test batch was late 2018. A decent amount left still but early 2026 I'll need to redo (and yeah everything is already on hand for that event too ;-)).

 

[gib68sg]

For fun/geek I use a specific sterile vile shape that's more like 14ml than 10ml so my count is always conservative when assuming 10ml. Plus shape and quality of bottle and stopper are perfect. Every substance has a different colored vial top (green for test, blue deca, black mast etc).

Black gloss labels with bronze/gold graphics and lettering. I use brew date as expiration date is bullshit and just some made up convention (I don't ever sell anything so I do what's useful not marketable). Each substance has its own graphic from Norse mythology. Test is Odin - tried for Yggdrasil/World Tree but couldn't find the right graphic. Deca is old school Thor's hammer.

Obviously name and mg/ml concentration of solution is there. Everything is the same carrier and % of bb/ba so if I ever want to blend into a single vial no issues and all remain constant.

Took me a while to arrive at this but solves all problems and between what I have brewed and on hand from purchases, I always have everything I need for whatever I'm doing a long ways out. I probably only brew stuff every 2-3 years. Last test batch was late 2018. A decent amount left still but early 2026 I'll need to redo (and yeah everything is already on hand for that event too ;-)).

I was on the fence about stocking up this way should things continue to go sideways. Now I’m sold lol.

 

[Mufasa123]

I was on the fence about stocking up this way should things continue to go sideways. Now I’m sold lol.

A few things for you:
Case for 10ml bottles. Lots of different ones but keeps them upright: https://a.co/d/0VqCeae

500ml media bottles that you'll use for filtering as they collect finished product make nice storage for what's not in bottles. Use glass... Plastic breaks with vaccum pressure and solvents.

Brother PT-D600 is a PC driven labeler. Some leading curve but I get the black tape with gold text/graphics 24mm.

Get a hot plate with magnetic stirrer and glass thermometer (setup should hold it)

I don't make orals but fairly easy with cap m quick or similar.

This is just to make nice looking stuff and store. Not sure if any brew instructions can be posted here but figure these are all around too. Just get good filters like millipore 500ml pvdf I think is what I used.

 

[gib68sg]

A few things for you:
Case for 10ml bottles. Lots of different ones but keeps them upright: https://a.co/d/0VqCeae

500ml media bottles that you'll use for filtering as they collect finished product make nice storage for what's not in bottles. Use glass... Plastic breaks with vaccum pressure and solvents.

Brother PT-D600 is a PC driven labeler. Some leading curve but I get the black tape with gold text/graphics 24mm.

Get a hot plate with magnetic stirrer and glass thermometer (setup should hold it)

I don't make orals but fairly easy with cap m quick or similar.

This is just to make nice looking stuff and store. Not sure if any brew instructions can be posted here but figure these are all around too. Just get good filters like millipore 500ml pvdf I think is what I used.

I have that exact case haha. I appreciate you brother.

 

[Siggy]

I started in the 90s. A bottle of test/deca (admittedly pharma) ran 80ish and that was a good price.

Christ, that is wild. $80 in 1995 would be $170 today. We got it really damn good right now.

What was the going rate of UGL test in 1995?

 

[Mufasa123]

Christ, that is wild. $80 in 1995 would be $170 today. We got it really damn good right now.

What was the going rate of UGL test in 1995?

Today is comparatively insane. It's wide open. Honestly, where is the harm too? You used to take what you could get and it was great to have friends in different networks as they could potentially get different stuff (like Euro guys vs US etc).

There was a transition period where docs were able to prescribe and steroids weren't on the scheduled drug list so imports were easy. I want to say this was 1990 when it went away. So what was easy before then got tight.

We didn't have internet and no UGLs. So in the beginning it was pharma or vet. Mexico was more lax so people would bring it in. I think Dan Duchaine had a newsletter and price list. Was just crazy. Some dudes from Europe would smuggle or ship in from their pharmacies.

Buddy of mine mid-90s had a pharmacy connection at a local independent and monthly he'd just walk in the clean the place out. No idea how it worked but I could get a ton of test (so I really valued the more tailored anabolics). Everyone could get Russian Dbol so we all ran a shit load of it. I guess early UGL were the counterfeits - some was real, some undersized, some said anavar and was winny or Dbol. Finaplix (tren pellets) and kits to make Injects coming on the scene was huge as you could buy it, know it was legit, and it was fucking power.

Toward the late 90s internet was more common and Mexico was a big source for new brands that were I guess UGLs or made for vet use but really meant for people in US. Ttokyo was one. Later China with IP and it went from there.

Obviously price came down some with availability (especially in real inflation adjusted terms as you noted).

Today is amazing. I can get WHATEVER I want. It's reliable (legit testing is common now) and can be raw or UGL. Can even get it domestic and not sweat customs. Hell even HGH is good and affordable.

Of course we are all scared with a scarcity mentality from the old days. We joke about this but it's real. Not a drop gets wasted. A vial or Amp breaks and it's fucking traumatic because that was a HUGE deal back in the day and we were poor too! We might have a bad experience with a compound and a logical person would junk it (we all make enough money it doesn't matter). Fuck no. We will find a way to use it. Might take 2 years but we will fit it into a cycle for sure.

 

[KyleSmith1985]

Gear is legitimately, ludicrously cheap especially if you know where to look. I couldnt imagine futzing around with bags of powder and beakers everywhere.....

I understand there is the reassuring component to it that you made it yourself and there is no bacteria in there, but I have tried probably 8 different labs for all kinds of oils over the course of nearly a decade and have never gotten bad gear, but I have certainly had bad injections that were 100% my own fault.

I used to homebrew. I even thought it was kinda fun. But that over a decade ago and it’s now seem antiquated With how cheap gear has gotten. I tossed all my homebrewing stuff.

While not likely anything would ever happen I always had a monkey on my back with having guns, marijuana, shrooms, raw powders and home brewing equipment in my house. Even though it’s all for personal use it always gave me an uneasy feeling.