[Erowid Warning: The “water extraction” method is ineffective in separating diethyl ether from the volatile hydrocarbon liquids/gases in “starter fluid”. Our understanding of the literature is that there is no such thing as safe use of volatile hydrocarbon gases: their psychoactive effects are inseparable from nerve and organ damage.]
My brother and I decided to try Ether for ourselves. Actually, I was more interested in the sedative effects of the ether than trying to get a high from it. So I went to a local hardware store and bought a can of automobile starter fluid. We sprayed the entire contents into a large freezer bag and added about 8 ounces of water. Almost immediately the layers seperated, and I turned the bag up on one corner and clipped the bottom corner so that the water/heptaine mixture would drain off, leaving us with I guess 12 ounces of ether. My brother poured about an ounce onto a rag and huffed lightly. Soon, he got a huge head rush, became disoriented and lay on the sofa until the effects wore off. I took the rag and poured on half an ounce of ether. Huffing that, I noticed a loud musical droning like a string on a bass guitar. My hearing got choppy and vision blurred. Intent on going completely out on this, I poured on probably another full ounce and huffed until my vision of the room went completely out. But I could see what appeared to be a glowing diamond out in space. I was hanging in outer space staring at the flashing and glowing diamond. My only thought was that I was being led by the diamond into other dimensions of space and time. I even doubted that the dimension we call 'reality' was actually the correct plane of existance I was from.
I felt as though I would die, or wake up in another dimension that I was unfamiliar with. It was a scary thought. When I came back to ground zero, my brother was asking me if the effects were wearing off. He told me that while I was out, he had been asking me questions and all I would do was laugh a slow sneaky laugh! When I sat up I still felt tipsy and light-headed as if on cold medicine or something. I was slightly nauseated for another half-hour. I may or may not try ether again. but this was one trip out of this world I can never forget.
