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Cocaine Needle gauge revisited

Favorite Gauge Needle for IV use?

  • Total voters
    35
xxl

xxl

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
1,419
Location
Europe
I would like to have some opinions as to whether something like 26G would not, after all, be conducive to better IV sustainability than ultra-thin 30G.

30G has two major drawbacks: 1) many false negative hits because the blood has difficulty making its way up the tiny lumen 2) the bevel is difficult to discern because it is so tiny and one ends up puncturing the vein with the bevel facing the wrong way.

A 3rd possible drawback may be than a 30G, because of its thinness, gets dammaged (blunted) the moment it hits the surface of the skin, while a bigger, and more robust 26G stays intact throughout the shot.

The question is whether it is not preferable to take a larger gauge like 26G within one's stride, in spite of the inevitable bigger entry hole.
 
0.3mm needles (30G is ~0.31mm) aren't really meant for i.v. injection. They're used for subcutaneous injections as they're not only thin but also short (another drawback especially if you shoot up daily and veins "hide" deeper).

The best gauge for i.v. injection is 0.4mm to 0.5mm (27-25G) if it's a fine solution. Your tag is cocaine but to cover the whole thing... For taking blood bigger ones can be used (up to 0.8mm) and if done correctly any mark should disappear within a day. For i.m. injections 0.6-0.8mm (23-21G)needles are used, it depends on solution consistency, if it's an oily solution or a suspension, bigger gauge is used.

Needles vary not only in their gauge but also in their length. That's also important. 0.3mm needles never come as long needles in pharmacies so that may be the cause why you inject outside the vein though you hit the vein, it may simply get out of vein during pulling the plunger.
 
Unless I'm hitting my hands or upper thighs I prefer 28g. I've never seen a 26g. I used a 31g today and it blew my vein but that's probably my fault. It left barely any visible mark but it bent and got rough quickly. And it got clogged and resistant right away. A 22g 3ml hurt like a bitch and left a bruise and a bump. And it's like a complete guess to register. Try different gauges and lengths for your best fit.
 
22G is comparable to 0.7mm. I had my blood taken with a 0.8mm needle and a 20ml syringe. It didn't hurt and all I got from it was a regular mark you'd expect. It's all about experience. By no means I advise to use such gauges. 0.45mm or 0.5mm are needles I always used for i.v. shots. Smaller ones come packed with insulin syringes so those I used when I switched to heroin for a few months. And 0.3mm or 0.4mm is to be honest too little for quite a thick solution of brown sugar cooked with citric acid. 0.45mm and 0.5mm were just fine for any i.v. injections and I used 0.6mm ones for i.m. injections (actually 0.7mm or 0.8mm hurt much more in the muscle than in the vein, it's really all about experience and knowledge).

0.45mm should be the best one for you. As I know people prefer those needles to others unless they're heroinists and they shoot up brown sugar, then they use insulin syringes so they use needles packed with them and they're mostly 0.4mm here or 0.35mm, depends on the brand).
 
27G here too.

They're perfect! Plenty of flow and never leaves a mark.
 
Last edited:
in my opinion 29 or 28s are the best, but i pretty much only use them one time before i take them back to the exchange
 
I think the progression of the last two posts above me is funny.

Sorry I'm not really adding anything, just wanted to reinforce what C.H said.
 
27g's...never given me any problem with clogging or getting dull real fast. have used a single syringe over 60 times once in my 'bad days'. Also the only size the needle exchange in my area hands out usually.
 
My exchange only have 27g's so it's al i use. Some times i wished i had smaller once for the vein in my hands as they can be hard to hit.
 
I like 29 guage 1cc syringes..BD is my favorite, then Ethex and Tumro....monoject brand sucks.
 
I've Performed trial and error with almost every gauge/length combination made today(I'm not bragging by ANY means if it seems that way) and personally I prefer 100 unit/30/31g short needle. Has been my #1 pick for ten years now, and I've never had any issues with them. I also never puncture the skin with the same rig more than three times before tossing it. I try to take care of my veins at least a little bit. I have noticed that the thinner the needle, the faster it gets dull, the less it should be re-used. I also utilize the key ring trick, if anyone else knows what I'm talking about. I've actually never seen or heard any other person doing it. Its a wonderful tool though!
 
29 or 30 gauge. i voted for 30. Small and painless, slips in and out of a vein nicely, big enough to aspirate the barrel once under skin, so that the blood just pops in once you hit a vein.

For me, it is small and delicate enough that I can "feel" the strata of tissue, the vein wall, on entry, etc....
 
'I would like to have some opinions as to whether something like 26G would not, after all, be conducive to better IV sustainability than ultra-thin 30G.'

My experience states that although a 26 is is nice ( at first at least) because of the speed you can slam. It will definitely mess up your veins faster. Usually need to use no less than 27 now. If I'm a good boy for a while I can sometimes get a few with a 28 or 29 but not for long.
 
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