does it make more financial sense to buy a stronger extract?

[CMILD561]

first post yall and a happy new user to the salvia experience....

i have some 5x standardized extract.  One good size bowl smoked out of a water pipe is enough to give me a very enjoyable level 3 experience.  I dont have a scale but i am guessing this is maybe .20 grams, a good size pinch.
the place where i bought the salvia also sells 5X-40X.  and they are having a sale on 15X.

one would believe that if 10x is really twice as strong as 5X then it should cost twice as much and 20 X would cost four times as much as 5X so on as the strength goes up.  the price does go up obviously but not on a direct correlation with the strength.

i know that we are talking about something abstract here that cant be measured but IN GENERAL, should a 1/3 the size of 15X give me about the same level 3 experience as the regular dose of 5x that i am doing?  if so, then it seems like it would make more financial sense for me to by the 15X and just take a smaller dose.  it also seems more beneficial healthwise since i will have to inhale less smoke to get the desired experience.

any advice on this matter is appreciated.  I am quite happy with the experience I have had so far, maybe i would like to see level 4 but I am not interested in much above that.  If the scale is indeed fairly linear,  it seems like if i bought 40X and tried to take a smaller dose there is a lot of room for error because it would be hard to gauge an amount that small.

also, what is the difference between standardized and non standardized?

[Amomynous]

It's a little hard to answer your question, because in general...

i have some 5x standardized extract.

...you don't. "Standardized extract" may mean something scientifically, but in fact no vendors sell standardized extracts as far as I can tell (with the possible exception of Seibert). This is just a marketing term.

"5X" and "standardized" are actually a contradiction. "Standardized" means that the material contains a precisely measured and known quantity of an active component. "5X" means "five times as strong as unenhanced leaf." As unenhanced leaf has an unknown, unmeasured quantity of active chemicals, these two things can't both be true.

In fiscal terms, it is always cheapest to by unenhanced leaf and prepare your own materials.

Yes, "in general" a 15x from a vendor will be thrice the strength of their 5x -- in theory. As I said, I know of no vendor who's materials are prepared with sufficient care and standardization to guarantee this.

[senorsalvia]

---  I agree that the term "standardized" is a bit off..  Heck' one persons leaf may contain 1.89% by weight Sal A, whereas another person may have some nice strong leaf that comes in at 3-4% Sal A content...  Most of us common folk won't have the equipment to correctly measure Seibert type dosage units of 96 pluc % of Sal A...  My advice is to find plain leaf that you enjoy and then make your own extracts...  At least, that way, you would be starting from a known power plant and obviously it is also a cheaper way to go than buying retail......

[Syd]

I  come a lot closer to Sally's soul when I practice with plain leaf. My suggestion is to start there but yes, I have also used extracts, home made and store bought. I prefer my own but if I were going to purchase some more, I'd go with 10x. The economy is surely in the gutter but even if you're pinching pennies I'd suggest going this route. Your miles may vary.

[Amomynous]

I  come a lot closer to Sally's soul when I practice with plain leaf.

Me too -- I prefer chewing fresh, regular leaf. But if you want to smoke, I think senorsal is right -- get some plain leaf and make your own. It's insanely cheap that way, and you learn stuff.

[laughingwillow]

I'll never understand why anyone would need anything but plain leaf for smoking. (Except for maybe hard heads.)

These days, it only takes me three hits of quality leaf to cross that bridge.

lw

[Amomynous]

I can't see where it would be needed either.

Having said that, if I were to smoke again, I have found that using an extract does have advantages. The smoke from plain leaf is harsh and it can be difficult handling successive inhalations.  With an extract, one need only to take a single, little puff, close one's eyes, and lay back...

[Syd]

Oh I totally agree Amomynous. When I smoked Salvia it was almost always 10x, of course once I worked up to that level. I've had higher but there is no need for it mentally.

[laughingwillow]

I understand the part about not liking the smoke.

However, I'm also exaggerating the amount of dried leaf I need to go down that rabbit hole. Awhile back I took a small hit of plain leaf and blew the smoke toward a friend who just wanted to smell it. I took the hit while sitting on a bar stool in our kitchen and ended up having to lay my head on the counter top for a few seconds because I was on the verge of going out.... Needless to say, I wasn't expecting that reaction.

On the other hand, I've tried to turn on a couple of fellows to sally that could smoke plain leaf as fast as I could pack alternating bongs and never feel a thing.

lw

[Syd]

She is very different for many people, but I'll agree with the first post, very linear. Which does make me keep coming back. I like to continue where I left off.