ICU medical vial spike? B9909

[mikeh1998]

I was looking for vial spikes in Canada and long story short what I can find domestically are >$200 per 25 pcs Braun brand, and these stores charge $30 for shipping too.

I found this one on Amazon Canada: "ICU Medical, Inc (B9909) Bravo 24 Multi Dose Vial Access 50/Ca" for $106.45 CAD at time of writing, including import fees deposit. https://www.amazon.ca/Icu-Medical-B9909-Bravo-Access/dp/B00LES2DLQ

Never heard this brand mentioned here before. It seems very affordable and made in Mexico and marketed by a US company, so I hope that it's good.

I will try it out and report back, but I have never used a vial spike before so I won't be able to give a comparative review. If anyone used these before please share your experience.

Here's some pics I found on another website, Vial Access Spike Bravo 24 - McKesson. The pics from Amazon are not accurate at all.

Also attached a manual I was able to find after digging...

 

[mikeh1998]

Attaching screenshot of the McKesson site in case the link goes down...

 

[TedStriker]

I use those. They are great, no issues yet.

 

[mikeh1998]

I use those. They are great, no issues yet.

Glad to hear, they are way more affordable than the other ones on the market. I am going to try mine out soon.

I took the filter pill and got some KsTek sterile 30 mL vials I am going to be filtering all my UGL gear into and this will let me do that without worrying about the stopper getting busted (30 mL injected twice a week is 60 pokes so it's a risk).

So buying these is a good way to save money so you don't have to purchase as many sterile vials.

 

[Dxt25]

Glad to hear, they are way more affordable than the other ones on the market. I am going to try mine out soon.

I took the filter pill and got some KsTek sterile 30 mL vials I am going to be filtering all my UGL gear into and this will let me do that without worrying about the stopper getting busted (30 mL injected twice a week is 60 pokes so it's a risk).

So buying these is a good way to save money so you don't have to purchase as many sterile vials.

I always refilter for peace of mind even if it looks clean. I swear that it looks more crystal clear once its refiltered.

 

[mikeh1998]

I filtered for the first time by using these to draw up the oil from UGL vials using a comically big 60 mL syringe.

Then used a regular cheap caulk gun to push through a 0.22 um PTFE syringe filter out of a 25G needle.

I think it was a mistake to:

1. Use a 25G needle
2. Use a cheap caulk gun

Even with trying really hard I could barely push out more than 1 mL per minute (no joke). Next time I will for sure use a 21G needle and a high thrust ratio caulking gun (mine was 9:1).

I did not really notice any difference in clarity in the liquid. The new plastic wrapped 30 mL sterile glass vials looked a little shinier and clearer only because they didn't have fingerprints and dust on them.

That being said the vial spikes work great and are way more affordable than anything else I could find. I am glad I didn't bother wasting time importing from Germany and going through customs etc.

 

[Fizzik]

I’m in Canada a well. I actually just bought some of these. Have yet to use them but I have a stupid question. I know they seal after disconnecting leur. Is that safe to leave exposed and then every time before you draw just alcohol swab the top of the port?

 

[Ghoul]

I’m in Canada a well. I actually just bought some of these. Have yet to use them but I have a stupid question. I know they seal after disconnecting leur. Is that safe to leave exposed and then every time before you draw just alcohol swab the top of the port?

Correct. Those are called "swabbable" spikes.

 

[Fizzik]

I was looking for vial spikes in Canada and long story short what I can find domestically are >$200 per 25 pcs Braun brand, and these stores charge $30 for shipping too.

I found this one on Amazon Canada: "ICU Medical, Inc (B9909) Bravo 24 Multi Dose Vial Access 50/Ca" for $106.45 CAD at time of writing, including import fees deposit. Amazon.ca

Never heard this brand mentioned here before. It seems very affordable and made in Mexico and marketed by a US company, so I hope that it's good.

I will try it out and report back, but I have never used a vial spike before so I won't be able to give a comparative review. If anyone used these before please share your experience.

Here's some pics I found on another website, Vial Access Spike Bravo 24 - McKesson. The pics from Amazon are not accurate at all.

Also attached a manual I was able to find after digging...

View attachment 311799 View attachment 311801

Have you find any other decent sources for sterile vials in Canada? We seem to be missing them, we can order from the states medical-lab-supplies but with exchange $60 USD shipping and about $60 USD import fees it doesn't make it worth it.

 

[Ghoul]

Have you find any other decent sources for sterile vials in Canada? We seem to be missing them, we can order from the states medical-lab-supplies but with exchange $60 USD shipping and about $60 USD import fees it doesn't make it worth it.

$800 order of Canadian stuff sold to US:

Free trade, Tax free, woohoo!

$100 worth of American stuff sold to Canada:

That'll be $60 in import duties to make your stuff uncompetitively priced so no one will buy it.

Geeze.

 

[Fizzik]

$800 order of Canadian stuff sold to US:

Free trade, Tax free, woohoo!

$100 worth of American stuff sold to Canada:

That'll be $60 in import duties to make your stuff uncompetitively priced so no one will buy it.

Geeze.

Perhaps the vials are imported from China? Typically things made in either country ‘were’ free trade but I could be wrong.

 

[mikeh1998]

Have you find any other decent sources for sterile vials in Canada? We seem to be missing them, we can order from the states medical-lab-supplies but with exchange $60 USD shipping and about $60 USD import fees it doesn't make it worth it.

If you're buying multiple hundred vials, check Fisher Sci. There's one SKU that you can buy for like $700 if you need a full create of them. Don't have time to look it up right now.

Otherwise, AliExpress KSTek Store worked for me.

 

[Fizzik]

If you're buying multiple hundred vials, check Fisher Sci. There's one SKU that you can buy for like $700 if you need a full create of them. Don't have time to look it up right now.

Otherwise, AliExpress KSTek Store worked for me.

That would be overkill, I'm just a user that's looking to filter UGL gear, or possibly home-brew in the future for harm reduction.

 

[mikeh1998]

I filtered for the first time by using these to draw up the oil from UGL vials using a comically big 60 mL syringe.

Then used a regular cheap caulk gun to push through a 0.22 um PTFE syringe filter out of a 25G needle.

I think it was a mistake to:

1. Use a 25G needle
2. Use a cheap caulk gun

Even with trying really hard I could barely push out more than 1 mL per minute (no joke). Next time I will for sure use a 21G needle and a high thrust ratio caulking gun (mine was 9:1).

I did not really notice any difference in clarity in the liquid. The new plastic wrapped 30 mL sterile glass vials looked a little shinier and clearer only because they didn't have fingerprints and dust on them.

That being said the vial spikes work great and are way more affordable than anything else I could find. I am glad I didn't bother wasting time importing from Germany and going through customs etc.

Just did some more filtering. Used these vial spikes to draw out all the liquid from the remaining UGL gear I had.



I recommend not drawing up more than 30 mL into a 60 mL syringe because the pressure gets very high... last time I tried to draw up like 45 mL into the 60 mL syringe and the plunger fucking exploded making me lose the oil and the syringe too.

A stronger caulking gun absolutely works. Holy hell I cannot believe I used a cheap $5 Home Depot one. I went from taking a full minute to push 1 mL through a filter and straining hard to being able to filter a full 30 mL in like one minute. The 25G needle is a bottleneck and so is an 21G needle... 18G needle would be best.



When filling a vial (got this 30 mL one from KSTek on AliExpress), poke an empty needle through the rubber stopper so that you can fill the vial way more easily.

 

[Dxt25]

Just did some more filtering. Used these vial spikes to draw out all the liquid from the remaining UGL gear I had.

View attachment 317955

I recommend not drawing up more than 30 mL into a 60 mL syringe because the pressure gets very high... last time I tried to draw up like 45 mL into the 60 mL syringe and the plunger fucking exploded making me lose the oil and the syringe too.

A stronger caulking gun absolutely works. Holy hell I cannot believe I used a cheap $5 Home Depot one. I went from taking a full minute to push 1 mL through a filter and straining hard to being able to filter a full 30 mL in like one minute. The 25G needle is a bottleneck and so is an 21G needle... 18G needle would be best.

View attachment 317956

When filling a vial (got this 30 mL one from KSTek on AliExpress), poke an empty needle through the rubber stopper so that you can fill the vial way more easily.

View attachment 317954

I just got that same exact caulk gun yesterday! Shit is a beast! Im afraid to pop the filter, I ended up going back to my cheap one lol, but its a monster of caulk gun!

 

[mikeh1998]

Quick warning about these vial spikes, they are fragile​

If you just use these normally to draw liquid they won't break. However I put one of the vials in my pocket with this vial spike attached (silly move in hindsight) and the vial spike basically snapped in half. No liquid leaked out but I didn't want to risk injecting unsterile gear so I sadly just tossed it.

From what I have heard all vial spikes are pretty susceptible to snapping including the expensive B. Braun ones. So be careful.

In hindsight I should have gone with the KSTek 15 mL or 10 mL vials to put my filtered gear into since that way there's less risk in case I drop a vial or snap the spike.

 

[Dxt25]

Quick warning about these vial spikes, they are fragile​

If you just use these normally to draw liquid they won't break. However I put one of the vials in my pocket with this vial spike attached (silly move in hindsight) and the vial spike basically snapped in half. No liquid leaked out but I didn't want to risk injecting unsterile gear so I sadly just tossed it.

From what I have heard all vial spikes are pretty susceptible to snapping including the expensive B. Braun ones. So be careful.

In hindsight I should have gone with the KSTek 15 mL or 10 mL vials to put my filtered gear into since that way there's less risk in case I drop a vial or snap the spike.

Kstek makes 2 version of 20ml bottles. One is much better glass. Feels much thicker and better.

 

[Dxt25]

These bro

Amazon.com

 

[mikeh1998]

I just got that same exact caulk gun yesterday! Shit is a beast! Im afraid to pop the filter, I ended up going back to my cheap one lol, but its a monster of caulk gun!

Yeah it's a monster! I don't even really squeeze the caulk gun by applying continuous pressure like the cheap ones (hence no straining).

I just squeeze once and the oil shoots through the filter really fast for about 10 seconds. Then I give it another squeeze and repeat. I bet if I kept squeezing I would have burst the filter or the syringe or something.

 

[Dxt25]

Yeah it's a monster! I don't even really squeeze the caulk gun by applying continuous pressure like the cheap ones (hence no straining).

I just squeeze once and the oil shoots through the filter really fast for about 10 seconds. Then I give it another squeeze and repeat. I bet if I kept squeezing I would have burst the filter or the syringe or something.

Ok so one full squeeze? Do you have it rigged on something or just hold the vial in one hand and the caulk gun in another? Thats how I do it lol