Hello, friends! The nexus kept popping up in my reading and conversations, so I suppose I answered the call.

On the spectrum of things, I am fairly new to the world of psychonautism. I didn’t begin to dabble until my mid thirties, and I was led to them through a journey of desperation after my mental health became pretty dire. Psilocybin was profound and life changing for me; it gave me self acceptance, empathy, and a vacation from my anxiety. I was instantly enthralled.

From there, my interest only seems to be peaking and getting more robust. My library of psychedelic literature keeps growing (I just finished reading PiHKAL), I devour lectures on the topic daily (I’m very interested in Roland Griffiths work at John Hopkins), I cultivate my own mushrooms, and have been slowly experimenting with other compounds. I am very encouraged by the future of these substances and their potential for healing - I am also fascinated by what the mind is able to produce and I love the challenge of trying to write trip reports about them.

Admittedly I have no experience with DMT, which is why I am here. It’s a mystery that I’ve been both interested in and intimidated by since I first heard Terrence McKenna wax on about self transforming machine elves. At some point this year I would love to extract my own and take off.

Thanks for having me, cheers!

Welcome to you, Doc.

Based on your intro, you're building / have already built yourself quite the solid foundation for more exploration.

So I'd encourage you in your efforts to extract DMT, I'm sure you'll be quite successful. There are so many resources here on the nexus, and you seem to like researching, so you'll do fine.

Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks! Yes, I actually have an extraction method I’d like to try, but unfortunately the living situation I’m in doesn’t have proper ventilation.

By chance do you have a TEK recommendation for a beginner that lives in a small apartment?

Greetings Doc,
Welcome. Glad to see your intro. I just wanted to say that I used David Barlow's guide for my second extraction. It worked well and is a great starting point to anyone's journey in my opinion. I wont get into my first try at extracting (Gordo tek (if you can call it tek blah)).
That tek is achievable with a kitchen vent fan or even a bathroom fan and window or a window and a fan. just no open flames or obvious ignition sources. you can skip the magnetic stirrer and also the heated pulls. in which case its just a standard no heat tek.
At any rate David Barlows video gets taken down or at least it appeared to be to me. I was surprised and happy to see it. Onthat note I used a site to make a copy called Y2mate . I have made several digital copies of you tube vids with it that were since removed from the site. Not shilling just some friendly advice.
David is a class act. I believe he has passed on a few years ago. I felt an immediate closeness with the dude as soon as I watched his video (or maybe the 20th time I studied it lol).
Once again welcome....

Yeah, I also looked into the Gordo tek, but it didn't seem as legit to me. David's guide is so comprehensive, so far it's been the method I have the most confidence in. I'm glad to hear it works! Thanks for the advice. I actually saved this video a year ago for the same reason - haha! Cheers!

Hey Dr George; welcome to the nexus.

I'm assuming you are looking specifically to have an extract suitable for vaporizing.... I suggest you find a trusted friend who has suitable privacy and ventilation. Most of the extraction can be done in your non-optimal space and you can just do non-polar solvent step(s) in the suitable space.

Have you read through the extraction process; are you fairly familiar with what it will entail? It is not very difficult or conspicuous. The amount of non polar solvent you will be using should be pretty darn small (you're only extracting about enough for yourself right? and since it's your first extraction there's all the more reason to go small). It is actually more efficient to use less non polar solvent in that you aren't paying as much money and that there is less environmental impact. You can actually get away with using no more than, say, 100ml of solvent, or even less. You re-use the same solvent to do all of the pulls and then pull it all out at the end with a tiny bit more "fresh" clean solvent.

Yes, I've got copious notes and a pretty clear understanding of what's involved. I actually feel pretty confident moving forward with the chemistry component. Regarding the venting, I think I would be fine setting up some fans to tunnel the air out of a window.

I suppose the issue I'm a little more concerned with is the storage of the naptha and heptane - before and after extraction. Should I be concerned with off-gassing from containers when they're just in storage? I live in a small place, so I try to keep the amount of chemicals in here to a minimum.

Ive been storing my naptha and heptane in the original containers and then swapping out to mason jars with fully functioning lids while doing my pulls. I label all my containers also. I recently switched most of my glass mason heptane/naptha storage to stainless drink bottles with stainless lids, and I am upgrading the gaskets on those to viton or similar gaskets. mason jars are ok though for small amounts. I was more concerned with breakage. If you smell anything it means you've got a leak basically. Heptane will leak off gas easy it is very light. Naptha is sometimes heavier than air also so be mindful of your storage places. I am pretty sure heptane is lighter than air but again watch where you store it. I've been a heating service guy and have seen some insane stuff stored in mechanical areas around furnaces and water heaters. scary.
happy trails Doc.

Thanks for the info! I think I may have found a few different sources for smaller volumes of heptane. Does this mean you keep recycling your solvents for each pull and extraction?

I was curious about how to 'clean up' everything after the whole extraction is complete. I have no idea how to dispose of these chemicals safely.