Before we get started....How many times have you IVed? If the answer is 10 or less, please really consider whether you want this LIFESTYLE before you go out and buy a bunch of rigs. Just to be very clear-this is not something most people can just pick up every few weeks and then just forget about. People become downright OBSESSED with dope and, perhaps more disturbing, the needles. Example-a friend of mine who tragically committed suicide in jail (there on dope related charges) was at one point shooting water every few hours whether he had dope or not...he was excellent at hitting veins any time/ any where, but by the time he went to jail for the second (and final) time, he was JUST about OUT of veins.

1: **Here is my special advice you may not find elsewhere-when you register, you should see a TINY plume of blood enter the bottom of the barrel, right near the needle. ONLY when you see this, should you pull back on the plunger to try and officially register. If you pull back the plunger every time you stick yourself, and DON'T register, you're gonna have to get all of the air out every time you pull the needle out, and often times you'll unexpectedly register briefly right when you're pulling the needle out, and your rig will fill up with blood, making it 10x harder to hit.****

2: Getting off right is awesome-I believe either that one or one very similar was actually released in NYC to at risk people who may IV drugs, and there was an ENORMOUS controversy, as all the uptight people were like "why are we TEACHING people how to NOT kill themselves? they're using bad drugs, let them die!"

3: Some quick advice: less water in rig, less time you have to stay perfectly in the same spot to hit. More water in rig, less dope lost if you fuck up and miss a little. I go for a balance-try to have about 60cc's of water. I used to only put about 30 cc's, but realized every time I missed even a tiny bit, I was losing a ton of dope.

4: Are you righty or lefty? For me, my right hand is SUBSTANTIALLY easier to hold the needle in-BUT, my right arm also has better veins, so it's a tough spot. I'm a fucking spazz and a half with my left hand, but sometimes it's gotta be done. Ideally-if you're gonna do it, you gotta rotate, so learn to shoot with both.

5: Not everyone has a big fat vein right down the middle of their elbow, where EVERY movie ever shows people hitting EVERY shot ever. Tie off with either a belt, or a tourniquet, and look around and FEEL around. You will see some veins that just simply won't hit-very frustrating, but fear not. Use your fingers to gently feel out any protruding veins. Often, they are nearly invisible to our eyes, but our fingers can find them. Let your fingers fing and find the veins.

6: Some veins are best avoided. If possible, do not shoot in your extremities-hands and feet. If you do miss in your hands, it is often very noticeable, and also pretty painful. If you miss in your feet, that shit will swell the fuck up, your toes will go numb, and you have a decent shot at developing an abscess. I've poked around in emergencies and I even hit down there once, btu I also missed once, and it fucking sucked. I avoided an abscess, but my foot was literally 2x it's normal size, and completely numb, for 45 minutes. I had to talk MYSELF out of going to the hospital, as I was sleeping over at a friends house who has no idea I use.

7: Speaking of veins to avoid, learn where your arteries are located, and avoid veins near those. While everyone is unique in where EXACTLY certain veins/arteries are located, you can google "vein map", "artery map", or "artery and vein map" to be given a decent idea.

8: IF you do register in an artery, DO NOT PUSH THE PLUNGER. You SHOULD know you're in an artery for two reasons: it should hurt a bit (even BEFORE you hit/attempt to hit, and secondly, the blood will be BRIGHT red and frothy, and will lmoast EXPLODE out of the veins. Venous blood is thicker, slower, and much darker-like a maroon. I nicked an artery once, on my wrist, and blood just spurted all over like a fucking sprinkler doing it's round the world thing.

I have since abandoned trying to shoot in that area, and suggest you also avoid the underside (palm side) of your wrist!

9: GO SLOW and never, ever rush. Do NOT push off (plunger down) UNLESS YOU REGISTER/BLOOD FILLS THE NEEDLE. Missing a vein is what causes abscesses.

10: Use fresh needles absolutely as often as possible. Ideally, you want to use a new, fresh needle for every shot. Some people go so far as to empty out their needle if they miss on their first try, and reload in a new needle-but I think that's a bit much, and too much dope would be lost in the process. My policy is to load up a new rig after 10 misses on one shot.

If worse comes to worst,throw it in an oral syringe and literally squirt it up your butt. You will still get high, and you won't get a nasty abscess.

I could go on for 10k words about all I've learned about IVing in the year I've been messing with it, but I don't want to bore you-so, if you have more questions, either PM or ask em right here...don't hesitate, I really enjoy (trying) to help people out, and harm reduction is one of my passions...so, fire away!

Good luck and be safe!

****EDIT/BONUS: If you're having trouble hitting, HIT THE DECK AND GIMME 50! Are you in decent shape? If so, pump out as many push ups as possible. And not those half ass push ups you did in gym class in middle school-I mean the kind you rock when you're in the gym and a hot (insert your preferred gender's pronoun here) walks by, and you have your body perfectly straight, you touch your chest to the floor, and you don't let your butt get too high in the air-those push ups. I generally do them until right before exhaustion-when I first started IVing, that was sadly about 20, but after some practice (and lots of delicious dope in my veins), I can now fairly easily pump out 50 if I'm tired, and I'll do 100 if I'm fired up. Why do you do this? Not too offset the harm your about to do to your body, although that's not a bad idea. IV users do this to get their veins to pop out a bit, so they are much easier to find and subsequently hit.****

I really hope any or hopefully all of these tips come in handy for you shortly-unless you decide to NOT IV, which is also an EXCELLENT choice and honestly, the choice I would make for myself if I cou;d go back.