Do vial cap removers actually work?

[attcbf]

The other day I used one of these tools to pop the top off a vial so I could get at the last bit of pep, and I made a total mess of it.

What can I do to keep these things from happening?

1) When the tool pulled the crimp, it also broke off part of the glass rim of the vial. I've practiced on empty vials since then, and more often than not the same thing happens.

2) With the top removed and an 8mm syringe, there wasn't enough suction to draw out any liquid, and if you tilt the vial too far vertically, whatever remains just spills out. TIA

 

[sheilarae74]

Ugh, I ended up grabbing one of those too when I placed my BAC water order. The lengths I go to just to get free shipping.

 

[Labcat]

I sterilize small pliers in my Instant Pot, then pry away the crimp. After that, I insert a 0.3ml insulin syringe into the vial to extract whatever remains.

 

[woundcarping]

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

 

[Grogu]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

Same here—that's my routine as well! You need some patience and a bit of practice, but whatever tiny amount stays behind in the vial really doesn't matter.

Using a vial cap remover to crack the vial open would be my very last resort. Sure, plenty of folks go that route, but I'd worry about glass fragments and about exposing the vial to open air.

 

[AlexSilver]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

Exactly! For the final draw from the vial, I rely on a 29g 4mm needle that's short, which means the needle's depth isn't something I need to stress over.

 

[woundcarping]

That thing on the wall — how many units does it hold? Each unit ran $.03.

 

[AlexSilver]

woundcarping said:

That thing on the wall — how many units does it hold? Each unit ran $.03.

View attachment 11276

In the past I've drawn everything up because that worried me. Even if a sizable-looking droplet is clinging to the vial's curved wall up near the top, it's still 1 unit or less. Not worth bothering with now.

 

[AlexSilver]

These days, if I'm reconstituting with, say, 1ml of bac water, I'll only use .5ml and load that into a pen cartridge. After that, I add a new .5 ml of bac water into the now-empty vial to rinse it, then transfer that into my cartridge too, and voilà! My cartridge ends up with 1ml, and I can be fairly confident the vial holds nothing else worth chasing.

​#-

 

[BNLFL]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

That's exactly it.

 

[Lovedog100]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

I do the same thing. For whatever reason, that final shot from the vial ends up slightly above or slightly below my weekly dose. More often it's above. I'd rather use it than throw it away. I've gotten fairly skilled at easing the needle out slowly while drawing up that last bit. Looking at it now, it does feel like a strange little routine to perform when a vial is finished. I think I'm more inclined to do this with the Tesamorelin, since the dose is so tiny that the last drop feels like it matters more.

 

[CNCCurrency]

attcbf said:

The other day I used one of these tools to pop the top off a vial so I could get at the last bit of pep, and I made a total mess of it.

What can I do to keep these things from happening?

1) When the tool pulled the crimp, it also broke off part of the glass rim of the vial. I've practiced on empty vials since then, and more often than not the same thing happens.

2) With the top removed and an 8mm syringe, there wasn't enough suction to draw out any liquid, and if you tilt the vial too far vertically, whatever remains just spills out. TIA





View attachment 11275

I simply use a knife or scissors to break apart the inexpensive metal ring around the vial, then pull it away.

 

[SeaGypsy]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

Click to expand...

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

Same here—that's my routine as well! You need some patience and a bit of practice, but whatever tiny amount stays behind in the vial really doesn't matter.

Using a vial cap remover to crack the vial open would be my very last resort. Sure, plenty of folks go that route, but I'd worry about glass fragments and about exposing the vial to open air.

 

[desinr-gal]

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

When the MG count is higher and the reconstitution volume is on the smaller side — which happens frequently because the vials are 10mg — whatever remains in the container carries more weight. In that situation, drawing everything out with 1 long needle justifies the hassle. If you turn it upside down, a fair amount of fluid ends up trapped around that big plug.

 

[Chili777]

I own one of those small bottle openers, and it does the job without issue. Across vials from multiple vendors, I haven't run into any trouble yet. My only use for it is draining a vial when making nasal sprays. For drawing out all the liquid from a reconstituted vial before filtering, I reach for a 1.5" 27g noodle.

 

[woundcarping]

desinr-gal said:

woundcarping said:

I simply invert the vial, draw while withdrawing the needle gradually.

Those final traces of a drop don't concern me, the syringe probably cost about the same as what's left in the vial.

When the MG count is higher and the reconstitution volume is on the smaller side — which happens frequently because the vials are 10mg — whatever remains in the container carries more weight. In that situation, drawing everything out with 1 long needle justifies the hassle. If you turn it upside down, a fair amount of fluid ends up trapped around that big plug.

woundcarping said:

That thing on the wall — how many units does it hold? Each unit ran $.03.

View attachment 11276

A big stopper — how many units end up clinging to the glass? I wouldn't describe that as "a lot."

On top of that, when I'm reconstituting a 120-140mg vial, chances are I'll move it into a 5ml vial so the concentration/injection volume stays sensible. When I do that, I can rinse the original vial using the BAC that's headed for the 5ml vial... I still don't see the problem. If 5 units remain in the vial and I skip the rinse, that works out to roughly $.53 of Reta at 140mg/3ml.

 

[deluge]

CNCCurrency said:

attcbf said:

The other day I used one of these tools to pop the top off a vial so I could get at the last bit of pep, and I made a total mess of it.

What can I do to keep these things from happening?

1) When the tool pulled the crimp, it also broke off part of the glass rim of the vial. I've practiced on empty vials since then, and more often than not the same thing happens.

2) With the top removed and an 8mm syringe, there wasn't enough suction to draw out any liquid, and if you tilt the vial too far vertically, whatever remains just spills out. TIA





View attachment 11275

I simply use a knife or scissors to break apart the inexpensive metal ring around the vial, then pull it away.

Same situation for me. Back when I was on diabetic syringes, I'd take a decent pair of Fiskars scissors, cut through the aluminum ring, force a 0.5ml needle in, and extract whatever remained.

These days I use a peppen, so that step isn't needed anymore; I mix it, pull it up, run it through a filter, and load it into a carpuject.

 

[BNLFL]

Chili777 said:

I own one of those small bottle openers, and it does the job without issue. Across vials from multiple vendors, I haven't run into any trouble yet. My only use for it is draining a vial when making nasal sprays. For drawing out all the liquid from a reconstituted vial before filtering, I reach for a 1.5" 27g noodle.

A 1.5" needle is what that job wants.

 

[Labcat]

Even when you flip a vial upside down, how much liquid stays behind in that little drop clinging to the bottom edge?

I recently cracked open my EL vial (15mg/0.5ml) and discovered 4u (1.2mg) pooled at the base of the 2ml container. These newer vials look oddly like the ones from China—no longer the broader, larger vials we had last year. My guess is that those bigger ones leave even more residue stuck to their greater surface area.

To get the final doses out of an opened vial, I use 1 or 2 insulin syringes. I simply freeze the spare syringe (making sure to keep an air gap near the needle), with caps on both ends.

 

[CariocaLeftSeoul]

I've always managed fine with the tool you're using. Still, flipping vials over got old, so I picked up a 22G 1.5" needle and draw the contents out that way during reconstitution before loading my pens.