It's the possible 12 hour or longer trips and the possible descent into madness that have kept me from fucking with it. I would love to try it but I'm not sure if the risk/reward ratio is in line. Any opinions?

But all I hear around here is that nobody has it. X, speed and weed are everywhere, but no pure chemical.

The other thing that they don't really mention is that doses can be tuned to the individual users metabolism and desires. 1/2 or even 1/4 doses can alter your perceptions without sending you down the rabbit hole. 12 hours is typical for a "complete" dose, but the "trip" may be as short as 4-6 hours with lingering effects going on for hours.

As for bad trip / good trip, I think that the trip you have is indicative of your internal mental state, perhaps not even realized. If you are on the way down, you will go lower. If you are on the way up, you will go higher. Be willing to put forth the effort to prepare your environment and your internal mental state and have a sober partner. Just don't use 'cid to escape from your internal demons or they will find you.

Well, it helped me make some serious decisions in my life.  It cleans the crap out of your mind.  There is some real crappy acid out there that is not worth your time.  You might just feel really stoned.  The real deal truly truly expands your consciousness, intelligence perhaps.  I don' know to say it any better,  You see things from a different point of view and see what a silly animal you may be.

Do it out in the country where you feel safe and comfortable with a good friend. It is a trip that you must just ride once you take it. 

Fear it?  Just respect it.  I do not have time to explain this vast topic.

Goober wrote:

As for bad trip / good trip, I think that the trip you have is indicative of your internal mental state, perhaps not even realized. If you are on the way down, you will go lower. If you are on the way up, you will go higher. Be willing to put forth the effort to prepare your environment and your internal mental state and have a sober partner. Just don't use 'cid to escape from your internal demons or they will find you.

Well said Goober.  I agree completely.

I have taken doses small enough to see patterns on the walls and intensify music and I have gone "down the rabbit hole" for 12 hours.  I only did the latter once.  I am a bit of a control freak and I didn't enjoy the perception of simply being along for the ride.  For me one of the best parts of the trip is coming down.  That seems to be the time when you can actually organize and comprehend the flood of creative thoughts that have been flowing through your head.  Having said all this, I must say that I have not tried any acid since back when you could get the pure stuff.  I did most of my tripping on authentic Owsley acid.  You would want assurances from a trusted friend that you were getting a good product before you partake.

Dmtdust wrote:

There is a lot to be said for high doses, but as I get older, what Phwedd said works quite well.  If you already know techniques on meditation etc., you can go great distances.  You must of been cutting tabs Phwedd if you were going low dose with Mr. Owsley's Product.  I thank my lucky stars for his work, and for the initial Sandoz that I started with.

I had friends who were taking Sandoz drops on sugar cubes and attending concerts in SF back when the stuff was legal.  I didn't try it until Owsley went underground and was cooking up the medicine in Berkeley.  He made nice little blue barrels that we would normally cut in halves or quarters.

Dmtdust wrote:

We took those whole, were you supposed to cut them?  Just Askin'

So long as you don't believe you're an orange, you were taking the correct dose.

Perhaps you should try mushrooms aka LSD lite.  If you like shrooms, then look for a good source of LSD.

I'd have to agree with Goober except for maybe the sober partner part.  I've never bothered with it.  A nice quiet safe place such as out in the woods or country is best, especially where you don't have to deal with too many straight people or the authorities.  I know some people who can handle that, though.  I like being out in the country because when I get loaded I like to roam.

I would imagine that the good trip/bad trip thing is all related to what's going on inside you at the time.  I'm not into the whole sitting cross-legged on a pillow with my legs crossed with someone holding my hand and baby-talking to me thing.  I'm in it for the ride and for the fun.

When people talk about visuals and all that I think they're really kind of misrepresenting it.  They're there but you know at the time it's really just a side effect.  The real action is going on inside your head.  The altered and heightened perceptions are interesting, but the cascade of emotions and thoughts and mental connections you make are more so.  I'd say it's great stuff and I wish it were legal, but I wouldn't pretend it's any gateway to enlightenment.  At least not for many people.  I'd have to agree with phreddy that coming down, which actually lasts quite a while, is the time for introspection, etc.  And probably for finding that bit of personal peace that many people carry away from it.

In my later years I maybe find mushrooms mellower and perhaps more "natural."  But with supply of anything being so few and far between, I'll take what I can get.  Luckily for me I stumbled across a young goof couch-surfing through town last Spring who was selling tabs.  He was growing his toenails extra long, as in Hindu-guy-guiness-book-of-world-records-repulsive long, so that he could smuggle tabs into jail in case he got locked up.  It was the real thing even if over-priced and under-powered.  A nice walk on the golf course at night with a fat yellow moon rising and a million stars all around and all was right in the world.  Walking the last two hundred yards through town to my place seemed to take a lifetime, though.  It's incredible how long it can take five minutes to pass.  And with so many distractions!

My experiences were of a pleasant high (oddly, I described the sensation to myself as "sour", perhaps a form of synaesthesia), but mostly lacking hallucinations, and quite devoid of psychic and/or spiritual revelations and manifestations.

Whew, that was fun.  Glad I saved two for tonight.  Time to watch the sunrise!