First ex

[kzsa]

Ok getting ready to do my first extract, I’ve been reading a lot of different teks and threads and I’m somewhat confident enough do join the club. Just had a couple questions and maybe a second opinion from y’all to give it the go

1. Where I live it is super hard to get a hold of naphtha. Specifically “ klean stripe” brand that most ppl use. Is there another brand that is good to use and/or substitute I.e “Colman camping fuel” or “(black) zippo lighter fluid”???

2. I’m going with the lazy S/B tek. For my first run.
100g MHRB
50g lye in 700ml water
Stir 2mins 6+ times
Adding in 200ml NPS
Stir 2mins every 10mins 6+ times
Once fully settled pull NPS into freezer dish with lid and let freeze for 24h..

Is there anything I’m forgetting? Or any flaws in this tek?
Also I know it varies but anyone got a projected yield with this amount and Tek?

 

[Icon]

1. Those alternatives sound promising, you could look up the MSDS to get more detailed info about what it is. Naphtha is a vague term for light hydrocarbons, generally alkanes with less than 8 carbon in the chain. 7 carbon = Heptane, 6 carbon = Hexane, 5 = Pentane, etc. Naphtha is an indiscriminate mixture of those, with a lower boiling point than "heavy naphtha". It's recommended to do an evaporation test, pour some solvent onto a plate and let it evaporate, check for residue. If it evaporates clean you're good, if there's a film it's questionable. Colman is 100% heptane IIRC, but there have been concerns they put a rust inhibitor in it. It could be speculation or changed over time tho, cause it's supposed to leave a green residue but I've never witnessed that. Bestine is another brand of pure heptane.

2. I despise STB teks but yea that looks like a recipe that would yield something.

 

[kzsa]

1. Those alternatives sound promising, you could look up the MSDS to get more detailed info about what it is. Naphtha is a vague term for light hydrocarbons, generally alkanes with less than 8 carbon in the chain. 7 carbon = Heptane, 6 carbon = Hexane, 5 = Pentane, etc. Naphtha is an indiscriminate mixture of those, with a lower boiling point than "heavy naphtha". It's recommended to do an evaporation test, pour some solvent onto a plate and let it evaporate, check for residue. If it evaporates clean you're good, if there's a film it's questionable. Colman is 100% heptane IIRC, but there have been concerns they put a rust inhibitor in it. It could be speculation or changed over time tho, cause it's supposed to leave a green residue but I've never witnessed that. Bestine is another brand of pure heptane.

2. I despise STB teks but yea that looks like a recipe that would yield something.

Thx for the input. If you don’t mind me asking, why you despise STB ? I chose to do it this way for my first Because it is the simplest, that takes little supplies and the quickest yield (gotta get my feet wet before diving in the deep end).

What is your preferred method and why?

 

[blig-blug]

@kzsa , I do think STB is a good choice for a first extraction, due to the reasons you mentioned. And there's nothing wrong with it. Everyone has their preferences, once you have successfully completed a STB you can try other options and see what you prefer as well.

 

[Icon]

Thx for the input. If you don’t mind me asking, why you despise STB ? I chose to do it this way for my first Because it is the simplest, that takes little supplies and the quickest yield (gotta get my feet wet before diving in the deep end).

What is your preferred method and why?

Yea I meant to come back and edit my opinion out since you didn't ask for that. But since you're asking now, I think it's overrated. It's subjectively not the simplest, easiest, or quickest.

I prefer the q21q21 A/B dry tek.

Simplicity:
STB might be simpler, but there's a dozen versions of it with different rituals for how long you stir, some people shake, some people don't, some people get emulsions, some people add salt.
vs
There's only one dry tek, so it's a lot easier to follow the one set of directions.

Little supplies:
You need a separatory funnel, turkey baster or pipette to suck up the naphtha.
vs
The dry tek doesn't have a liquid alkaline phase, so after you mix the naphtha through the bark mud, you just pour the naphtha back off.
Zero chance of sucking up water, and the tek uses food safe calcium hydroxide instead of lye.

Quickness:
STB relies on lye breaking down the bark. Some people wait hours or days to let that happen. You could mix everything and get a first pull quickly, but in the end it's usually multiple days to get it all.
vs
A/B encourages the DMT to come out during the acid phase, so when I mix in the calcium hydroxide it's immediately ready for a pull. I mix for one song then pour it off, pop it in the freezer. It still takes a few days to get all the pulls since I re-use the same naphtha, but that first pull gets done with less than ten minutes of hands-on time.

All in all it's not a huge difference. From a learning perspective I don't think there's any reason to do an STB before trying an A/B, you probably learn more from the A/B. They're both very simple and easy.