More vendors and less quantity

[Hulu2021]

So… i offer my opinion and believe it is just great for you to disagree- this is not fact, but opinion.

I have definitely come to the conclusion that “rotation” is completely necessary, to maintain effects.

Have you ever noticed that the first time you try a good strain that you felt it the most, and as time goes by it doesn’t seem as strong?
I guess your body gets used to those strains fast doesn’t it?

Well i believe that if you rotate your kratom batches that you will enjoy it more.
One way to do this is to have multiple strains from multiple vendors.
personally I try to go a week without using the same leaf.
I buy less quantity from More vendors.
If you have a kilo, that’s gonna take a while to use.
For me i’d rather have a smaller bag; and more bags that are from other places than a Big bag from less places.

Another reason to buy smaller portions is why do we need kilos and kilo after kilo in our possession. I mean it’s ridiculous how much i have. We talk about wanting fresh, but then we stock up on what we find that’s fresh and then by the time we use it up its old.

It would be more beneficial to fulfill our desire for fresh to buy smaller quantities more often than large quantities less.

If you are like me and love to use more vendors than trust me you don’t wanna be buying large amounts. lol, you’ll run out of money fast.
I say let us befriend many good vendors and see them not as enemies or competitors but suppliers of that which is good.
They’re all different; they place priorities on different things that are important to them.
One of things that I have been trying to do on Reddit is to help people find fresh quality kratom. I don’t ever want people, especially newbies to start out buying kilos of Golden Monk not knowing that there is better out there- small batch specifically. I know that it happened to me; you start kratom for first time- end up going to the AKA website and see the listing for Golden Monk or other places- you think- well this must be the best then.
As i have learned- all of you I met here and love are better than those places; you also have a burden to get fresher product to people.

[Rhino236]

I mean to each there own. Even as a vendor,I stash 250-500g of standout batches. Also on a reason why everyone stocks up. You just never know when our access to leaf will end. Our beautiful government could literally strip it away over night by restricting import of it. I personally rely on this beautiful botanical way too much to not have a lifetime stash. Probably have 100kg or more stashed for personal at this point. One more thing,kratom doesn’t go “bad” in any way shape or form. I have stuff from 6-7 years ago that’s just fine.

[RumRunner]

Prices are higher now, so smaller bags make better sense. Sosa in 2019 sold a 4 way split kilo for $70. Everyone stocked up. Vendors even ran kilo deals. Buy one kilo, second half off. The system almost encouraged over buying. But times have changed.

[Rhino236]

Prices are higher now, so smaller bags make better sense. Sosa in 2019 sold a 4 way split kilo for $70. Everyone stocked up. Vendors even ran kilo deals. Buy one kilo, second half off. The system almost encouraged over buying. But times have changed.

Yeah prices definitely went up,we’re paying close to 10$ per kilo more than I was 3 years ago when importing. Now with Hong Kong banned expect prices to go up another $5-$6 per kilo minimum. Which In turn will probably add another $10 to retail kilos.

[instantKARMA]

You just never know when our access to leaf will end. Our beautiful government could literally strip it away over night by restricting import of it. I personally rely on this beautiful botanical way too much to not have a lifetime stash. Probably have 100kg or more stashed for personal at this point.

Same here. I really ramped up my buying when they started their rhetoric about making it illegal. The only drawback about having a huge lifetime stash
is I can't get away with making a lot of buys anymore. I really miss the anticipation of getting a new order in the mail and sampling the goods.

[Markra]

How much would you say is a lifetime stash? So I can tell me wife lol!

[Rhino236]

How much would you say is a lifetime stash? So I can tell me wife lol!

I’m close to 100kg. I’d like double

[Loveandpeace]

You just never know when our access to leaf will end. Our beautiful government could literally strip it away over night by restricting import of it. I personally rely on this beautiful botanical way too much to not have a lifetime stash. Probably have 100kg or more stashed for personal at this point.

Same here. I really ramped up my buying when they started their rhetoric about making it illegal. The only drawback about having a huge lifetime stash
is I can't get away with making a lot of buys anymore. I really miss the anticipation of getting a new order in the mail and sampling the goods.

You said it!! I am nowhere near some of the astronomic numbers mentioned here. At this point, I only buy from the trading post. When you are a small doser (1.2g) like I am, it just doesn't make sense for me.

I miss the shopping experience and anticipation for sure.

[Hulu2021]

yeah i meant

[Hulu2021]

that makes sense to stock up; i just meant that by buying smaller portions it enables me to have from more places

[wavering_radiant]

I mean to each there own. Even as a vendor,I stash 250-500g of standout batches. Also on a reason why everyone stocks up. You just never know when our access to leaf will end. Our beautiful government could literally strip it away over night by restricting import of it. I personally rely on this beautiful botanical way too much to not have a lifetime stash. Probably have 100kg or more stashed for personal at this point. One more thing,kratom doesn’t go “bad” in any way shape or form. I have stuff from 6-7 years ago that’s just fine.

I have to disagree about Kratom not going bad ime. I have some stuff that’s only a few years old that I admittedly didn’t seal up too well and it’s straight trash now because it has become so stale and a lot of it makes me feel not too good when I take it. Definitely gets a different smell and some color change too. Could be partly from living in Houston where it’s humid af though lol. I would highly recommend everyone get a vacuum sealer for anything you plan to keep more than 2 years. I also keep all my open bags in a big plastic airtight gasket box too which seems to be serving me quite well. And of course squeeze all the air out of your bags before you seal them.

[Loveandpeace]

I mean to each there own. Even as a vendor,I stash 250-500g of standout batches. Also on a reason why everyone stocks up. You just never know when our access to leaf will end. Our beautiful government could literally strip it away over night by restricting import of it. I personally rely on this beautiful botanical way too much to not have a lifetime stash. Probably have 100kg or more stashed for personal at this point. One more thing,kratom doesn’t go “bad” in any way shape or form. I have stuff from 6-7 years ago that’s just fine.

I have to disagree about Kratom not going bad ime. I have some stuff that’s only a few years old that I admittedly didn’t seal up too well and it’s straight trash now because it has become so stale and a lot of it makes me feel not too good when I take it. Definitely gets a different smell and some color change too. Could be partly from living in Houston where it’s humid af though lol. I would highly recommend everyone get a vacuum sealer for anything you plan to keep more than 2 years. I also keep all my open bags in a big plastic airtight gasket box too which seems to be serving me quite well. And of course squeeze all the air out of your bags before you seal them.

Hmmmm... that humidity must make a difference. I am in very dry Los Angeles with hot wind up your ass daily. However, isn't Indo humid af? Does it matter that the leaf has been ground regarding humidity?

Maybe you just need to take more...it has become a 'fermented' strain. haha.

[acct55]

I have to believe humidity matters and can impact your stash long term.

I am in Utah and have noticed that when I open a fresh bag of kratom the powder will have a very slight moisture to it--barely noticeable.

But after 1-2 days it stops clumping--and that's because it's dried out a bit.

Any ill effects felt would be due to mold IMO.

Regarding potency--I can't imagine that alkaloids would degrade long-term UNLESS the powder is exposed to sunlight, heat (or regular temperature changes in general), and/or moisture.

TLDR: it should be good long term if kept properly.

[KCobbBMore]

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen a definition of what is considered "large" or "small" quantities. It tends to be most cost effective to purchase a . I usually split those 4 ways. I will purchase more than 250g of a strain if I really like it or it is on sale.

250g allows me to make 200 capsules (appox. 1g each), leave some as powder, and make up some samples to give to friends.

[Lokey]

I agree, smaller bags, more variety, it's the only thing I did in the beginning because it was hard to know what would work. The only thing I didn't like was having to buy more often and pay more shipping. Lately I bought a lot of bigger bags, some because I knew I trusted the vendor but found out new batches are not always as good. Most were from new vendors that I wanted to try due to rave reviews and they don't sell samples. I now have tons of big bags, some are good, some don't seem very potent to me if at all, and some the cleanliness is questionable because it gave me the runs. So I wouldn't trade it even though I could, may try boiling it. I have so much now I can't justify ordering more and trying new vendors which I'd like to do but I'll go back to smaller bags if I do and can.

[BallzDeep9]

I now have Tons of big bags, some are good, some don't seem very potent to me if at all, and some the cleanliness is questionable because it gave me the runs. So I wouldn't trade it even though I could, may try boiling it. I have so much now I can't justify ordering more ....

Hallie that's same here... The average stuff, or even the questionable stuff... CAN be used to make Aeropress Tea - which is really, a kitchen table Extract! So I'm doing same as the big boys, Florida drug labs using cheap Bulk leaf to make all these "shots" products - I make Extract & it completely sanitizes, and pulls out "most" of the alkaloids.. ? I then keep this Tea Concentrate in fridge and use it to "spike" my regular serving.

Interesting topic. Lot here we don't really know, how much "variety" from different vendors ? How much Mitragyna % I'm getting from the Aeropress concentrate?

[fusedflora]

We've done testing and over time, exposure to light and humidity does degrade some of the main alkaloids in powder. There's a lot of variables that contribute but it is the fact of it. The more you open the bag, over time, the more the batch will degrade.

Each time you open a kilo bag, you're exposing the batch to humidity, air (oxidation), and light (further oxidation). For someone using 3g a serving, not rotating, would take over 3 months to use the full kilo. That's over 300 times of exposure opening and closing. This is the sole reason we went with 100g bags. Buy 10x100g bags, open one bag 30 times in 2 weeks and it's done and your other bags haven't been exposed at all to humidity or light. With a kilo bag, one can almost see the difference without testing.

Though buying bigger saves you money, and we certainly still sell no shortage of kilo bags, the facts remain that if continued potency is a concern, smaller, airtight bags that protect the powder from light are best, even if the same kilo all divided up into smaller.

Granted, I still use and have personal stuff from 2016 that is fine and dandy to use, I'm certain it has degraded, even if only a little. But I admit we have moved all the clear ziplocks to other bags and tend to divide up our vintage gems to make sure it keeps as long as we can make it. I'd recommend anyone do the same.

[tasha99]

We've done testing and over time, exposure to light and humidity does degrade some of the main alkaloids in powder. There's a lot of variables that contribute but it is the fact of it. The more you open the bag, over time, the more the batch will degrade.

Each time you open a kilo bag, you're exposing the batch to humidity, air (oxidation), and light (further oxidation).

--snip

Interesting. I suspected something like that. I've been using the bags I get from vendors as serving sized bags, and putting the kratom I use daily into opaque 25g sample sized bags. After opening the vendor bag, I throw in a couple silica gel packs and try to close it up tight (even taping if necessary). I might rethink my storage location, which is a walk in closet off my bathroom--arguably a room that has varying humidity. But everything is closed up well. I rotate kratom from a shoebox full of the little sample sized bags. Hopefully I'm on the right track for storage because at current use levels, I have a lifetime supply, purchased mostly for just in case.

[K-fox]

I find it somewhat hard to get good strains that work for well me lately. My issue is not potency but weird undesired effects like pressure headaches at the temples or nausea, no matter how low the dose. Lately I’ve been having a 50/50 hit or miss with the latest batches, and reviews are lacking so I just wing it. I try to rotate as much as possible, but since finding good strains is a chore for me, I end using the same strains for weeks at a time and stocking up on the good stuff. I seldom have issues with tolerance, though.

[Ch98579]

Thanks for the post. I’ve been taking kratom for about 4 yrs and sadly always bought from big vendors such as GM. Sometimes it’s an acceptable product but it’s a crap shoot and I have a collection of sub par kg’s that need to just be tossed. I was really excited to find this community yesterday and placed my 1st order with a small vender. Thank you all for the wisdom and direction!

[Badgame85]

I don’t ever want people, especially newbies to start out buying kilos of Golden Monk not knowing that there is better out there- small batch specifically. I know that it happened to me; you start kratom for first time- end up going to the AKA website and see the listing for Golden Monk or other places- you think- well this must be the best then.
As i have learned- all of you I met here and love are better than those places; you also have a burden to get fresher product to people.

- Totally fell for the Golden Monk hype. If I remember correctly they were crazy expensive too.
Not even a newbie but on a warpath to find superior leaf a few years back, I found a recommendation for Golden Monk. Golly if only I knew the vendors then, that I know now.
I mean who didn't start with Happy Hippo as one of their first few vendors

I guess its just part of the growing process, learn learn learn. Eventually you perfect your search... and end up here with some crazy good vendors!

[BallzDeep9]

I mean who didn't start with Happy Hippo as one of their first few vendors

uhh many of us started out buying head-shop $20 per 1 ounce . sad but true. Overall it's been a "business opportunity" for grifters, scammers, ex-Dope dealers out of prison, even a Chomo out of prison COB... Kratom the #1 SCAM on the Internet!

The more Kratom is booming - The more BS, dis-info & fancy websites w/ cute animals, and SEO Marketing tactics so anyone who "googles" for Kratom gets like a Top-10 worst ripoffs... While a Big Kratom vendor waves his tRump flag on Facebook, and The AKA becomes like an organized cartel of sketchy millionaires, pushing fake "Regulation" bills to control the market... Did everyone catch the AKA Webinar last month ? (Start @ 57:06) where Mac admitted the Indo's now, have such a poor regard for USA vendors, to the point... they're about ready to go On Strike ? OR - just continue dumping tons & tons of bunk. The Indo's have been screwed so bad, on prices the past 3 years - Indo has responded by EVEN lower quality... Any pile of leaves is good enough @ when it's $6 per Kilo price they're getting!!

AKA really does HOPE the FDA never, ever, makes Kratom a legal "Dietary Supplement" because, next day ALL 200 of these grey-market folks are gone... Legit herbal supplement companies take over. And we'd prob see: Rainbow Light, New Chapter, etc kratom sold in Walmart. Kratom is a cash cow for the current Big K hooligans, with their networks: 100's of gas stations all across the USA.

[LuckyHerbals]

Don't get me started on Golden Monk Dung...they have a fake review of our company on their website that links to all their bulk trash. Talk about some of the scummiest marketing I've ever seen! Wonder what ole Mac will think about this. Needless to say, I'm not impressed.

[Jking]

Yeah I can’t help but cringe at what I used to buy. Since coming here I realized theirs a big difference in quality with vendors. I used to waste way to much on very underwhelming product. Now I get much fresher product at usually better prices that’s it hard to believe there was that big a difference the whole time. Most the Vendors I will, or would buy from now are ones I’ve never heard of before coming to this forum. I find this great for me but also find it horrible that these sites don’t have near as much exposure compared to some of these sites that are just selling poor quality leaf at higher prices. If you look up the best places to buy kratom the first sites it shows you are the exact ones you should stay away from usually. I can’t believe how some of these sites promote their products with happy hippo being the one hate the most simply because they charge drug prices.