Hey all! Since our little endeavor with @mrln has been growing and diversifying, Iām making a proper thread to announce all the exciting stuff that will be coming soon!
In case you missed it, the Abyss Walker - Biohacking shop was born from a collab between @Merlin and myself to bring titanium finger magnets back to the market (see this).
By now, we have made a few sizes and shapes available: the lodestone 4825, 5830 and the 6826! The shop has now also become home for the Lodestones, past and fututre.
We now wish to expand our catalog, with a biohacky-grindery āuse at your own riskā mindset.
Weād like to make available things that are too experimental, hard to source, or not widespread enough to be sold by bigger entities.
This includes close collabs with community members to fund small projects and facilitate their distribution.
Theyāre more in the body modification category than biohacking, assuming thereās a clear boundary between the twoā¦
They can be placed under the skin to make a small bumps like silicon implants but more durable. It can be for esthetics or pleasure or both. Pearling is something that comes to mind.
Since they come in packs of 5, you could imagine making lines or shapes with them.
But what we hope is people will find new creative uses now that theyāre easily accessible. Weāre putting the tools out there so that theyāre there when you need them
Gauss ratings have been added to the 5830, the 4825 and the 3834 with this last one being proportionally stronger for its size at 2660 Gauss.
This is not necessarilly a good indicator of sensing senitivity as the shape and dead mass also play a significant role. And lifting can be influenced by the way the magnet settles which also depends on shape. But since we did the measurements we thought it would be relevant to share them.
Note that this was done on a limited number of magnets but as we get more in our hands (including the 6826 which is backordered for the moment) we will refine the numbers
Installation would likely consist of cutting a design into the skin similar to scarification, cleaning up the wound a bit (getting excess blood off), and carefully letting the powder flow into the open wounds before covering things up, correct?
Also Iām aware that inhaling crystalline silica dust regularly can cause lung issues like bronchitis due to irritation of the lungs. Presumably the coating is not crystalline and wonāt irritate the [skin] like crystalline silica does the lungs?
Final question: Any clue when the strontium aluminate will start to loose its āpotencyā (for lack of proper vocabulary)? In other words, how many years will it take for it to be noticeably duller after being charged? When might it only be 10% as bright as the usual 2-month healing date?
Deeper and wider cuts (without breaking through the dermis fully, which we discussed) is optimal for brightness and glow time.
Let the wound have a little blood fill it, the start sprinkling powder in until itās full, rub it in a bit trying to force the powder in as deep as possible, it should basically be a bloody glow powder paste that fills the wound fully.
Add a bit more powder to the top so that the adhesive on the bandage doesnāt stick to the stuff in the wound.
Put a tagederm or second skin over it, and then wrap firmly with a compression bandage of some sort.
After ~24hrs gently remove the tagederm and spray the area liberally with wound wash (I like the stuff with micro particles of silver to help the wound from getting any infection) until the blood etc around the wound is all gone. Itās fine if you loose some powder.
Sprinkle powder into the wound again replacing what was lost, try to get keep it in the wound channel, not spread too far out around the wound.
From a distance add more wound wash gently, trying not to disturb the powder but getting it damp so it doesnāt soak up the moisture from the wound and accelerate the scabbing.
Put a hydro bandage over the area, try to have a decent amount of space around the sides. Potentially put a tagederm over this to help prevent the edges peeling up. Then wrap again firmly in a compression bandage.
Leave that as long as possible, a week of possible.
Peel it off gently, using wound wash etc to help the hydro bandage release without tugging. Wash it again but more gently. Try to dislodge as little powder as possible just make sure the skin is clean around the wound.
Try to top the wound up if needed so itās basically full and flush with the skin, dampen slightly. Add a tagederm again, and compression bandage, leave it on till healed. Like 2 weeks or so.
Then you should be done.
Essentially your trying to keep it in a moist and open state as long as possible while avoiding tugging any powder or scabbing out. The stuff the wound wash removes is fine because itās not adhered to the body at all. The longer you can keep it healing and healthy without a scab forming the better, because the flesh underneath is slowly pulling together and trapping the powder.
Amal posted the instructions above this post that @NiamhAstra posted on the discord
Itās coated in āamorphous silica,ā not crystalline afaik.
From our observations, it does not irritate the skin but there isnāt a whole lot of data or even studies about it.
I would not voluntarily breathe it in
But my Skin healed off normally and didnāt look irritated at all.
That depends on the amount of UV radiation and some other factors.
What I found in several resources is that it will start to get slightly dimmer after like 5 to 20 years.
@Spyfoxls had one for over 10 years and it has not really gotten any dimmer yet.
The skin does a good job with UV protection, so it should last really long.
Almost my whole left arm was 10 years ago and so far itās still as bright as it was back in the day. It charges from ambient light and i can see it glow in a dark room
Still one of my favorite body mods :3
Okay this stuff sounds lovely and Iād love to install some. Could pretty easily pull this off with a surgical pen, a couple scalpels, the usual sanitary equipment, and my SO. Would just need their help for the powder filling and wrapping-up sections.
My issue comes from location. It is not uncommon for me to be out and about at night, and at times I donāt always want to be seen⦠Some sketchy people are in my area. Iād have to have it in such a way as to be easily concealable.
Consider wearing some clothing when you go out late at night you weirdo
More seriously I have that same issue for some more risky urbex. Iām still going to go with finger/hand/arms I think and wear gloves if needed.
I like the idea of seeing it and using it easily so the other body parts arenāt that great.
Yeah Iām thinking forearm. A jacket can probably cover it. Was thinking of doing lightning down my forearm, but I may have to tone it back slightly. The āwhatā is my other debate.