Isolation Tank / Sensory Deprivation Tanks

Do any of you have experience with using an isolation tank previously known as a sensory deprivation tank with the use of psychedelics?

I recall a movie called Altered States that was made back in the good ole 80's that ventured with the use of them. It sounds like a fun idea to try and some point.
While researching DMT I read that being in darkness isn't the ideal setting to reach the full potentional of experience (that being only with DMT). I'd imagine Shrooms/LSD would be fine in an isolation tank.

 

i haven't seen that movie, but in the book "surely you're joking, mr. feynman!" there is a chapter called Altered States where richard feynman goes into one of those...

are they connected? i'm confused.

 

Supposedly you don't need drugs in a sensory deprivation tank to make your mind start tripping out, that was part of their whole point. Why go in one if you are already tripping?

 

it'd be like a double whammy i guess. in the book, feynman smokes pot before he goes in. he wasn't a smoker, so to him it probably was pretty psychedelic.

i really want to go in one. you can't feel any part of your body, and have no sense of space. i've always wanted to be "tortured" that way, driven crazy, knowing i can't get out but not knowing how much time is passing...

 

I believe the point would be to remove even further all senses other than what the mind treks.

 

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ah okay i see the connection, i remember in the book it talked about dolphins. that guy went to one of feynman's lectures, and they became friends. he introduced feynman to ram dass .

 

i wouldnt do that... as uve seen in the movie it cuzes devolution, and ull become a primate LMAO. i suppose if u wanted to try that, just trip in a bathtub w/ the lights off

 

"this guy is the source of the isolation tank and tripping, that movie "altered states" was (very roughly) based on him. he used to get government lsd back in the day, and tripped with dolphins. also, after lsd became illegal to work with years later he started work with ketamine."

To expand upon what was already said he developed morse code communication with dolphins.. I'm sure he tripped with them before too but that has nothing to do with his true contribution to science which was shattering all the preconcieved notions about communication between dolphins and other dolphins and humans and dolphins. He also invented the Sensory Deprivation Tank which was used in the movie Altered States and was used by the government in Project MK-ULTRA and later used as a tool to study brain functions especially in relation to the senses. On top of all that he experimented with LSD-25 and is credited as the god father of Ketamine because of his countless papers written on the chemical and his countless trips with Vitamin K. Very cool guy indeed.

 

The point of the deprivation tank is to experience natural hallucinations without having to ingest any psychoactive substances. By suppressing your senses you do not need a chemical like DMT, Psilocybin, Ketamine, LSD, Mescaline, etc. to make you hallucinate or have "psychadelic" thoughts your brain does it all on its own because it gets confused when it begins to recieve no sensory messages. I'm actually building one right now.

 

check this link out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEjTXX2rHgA

 

in chicago theres a place called spacetime tanks. they sell hour slots at around 30-40 dollars. anyway ive done it, several times, i used to do it when i was in highschool. let me tell you, much like how every drug is unique, sensory deprivation is also unique, the ONLY thing in common with the effects of psychedelics really is that it can produce changes in consciousness. to be honest its not neccessarily easy for everyone either. . its a bit more like meditation in this respect, except that the tank makes it extra easy since you can ignore your body pretty much completely. more than anything though, the owner of the place told me that it takes regular use to achieve the really deep states of conciousness possible with sensory deprivation. its usually not a good idea to mix drugs because they can overstimulate the mind and not let you relax, but perhaps if your experienced though it might facilitate things that involve leaving your body

the euphoria you feel when you come out is incredible, perhaps the most memorable feeling

 

dont forget the deafeningly loud white noise played to you constantly.

i would like to go in one too come to think of it...i dont particularly mind white noise. In fact, i sometimes listen to it for aaaages with headphones on. It just blocks out everything else. Its great for having to conventrate and do skool work..expecially if your like me and get distracted at anything

 

In early 1990th I took a couple of times some hour in an isolation tank of a brain studio for mind expansion. It felt like becoming one with the cosm, and I liked it, although it didn't fully satisfy me, since I felt a little lost in the tank. Unfortunately the studio closed its doors already a year later, and there is no other location with isolation tanks nearby.

Although I own some vintage opto-acoustical mind machines, this is not the same, and in my small flat I have no space for a tank.

A year ago on an esoterics convention I found a friend who had a trance suit. The suit covered the whole body and was of very soft bluish latex. The brand name was something with "Orgon" in its name, but I don't remember well the rest. The head was covered by a hood of the same material; it had no eye holes and was inflatable like the rest of the suit. I had 2 times the occasion to try it out for a few hours in his single room flat, and I found this even much more satisfying than the tank. The sensation in this inflated suit on his bed was so wonderful gentle and mellow, where the tank gave only sheer void and emptiness. IMO this experience is far superior to isolation tanks. Another benefit of such a suit versus tank is that it fits in its small plastic container even into the smallest flat. The hood also contained 2 yellow LEDs in front of the eyes, those light shone though its beige inner latex skin; this way the hood could be connected to the cable of a mind machine, but the battery was dead, so I didn't use it. The friend explained that these suits needs to be washed and cared after use and then had to dry for some hours on the bed before putting it back into its box. But it is clearly worth the effort.

The suit was stored rolled up in a bluish plastic container, which was a kind of oval with round ends (between a big pill and a rugby ball) and had the golden brand logo on it. (It may have been something like "Orgon-!Ra", but the 2nd part may also have been foreign characters.) However my friend was a little strange; he seemed to be some kind of cultist, and after he moved to another city, I never heard of him again. Now I want to buy my own trance suit, but which one is best? I already googled for info, but all I found on the web was this FAQ about trance suit use in autism therapy.

Which company makes nowadays the best trance suits?

I could not find a suit company named with "Orgon" - have they gone out of business? The closest looking suit to what my friend had is a model by Reactor Rubberwear with integrated mittens, which is ugly black with no feet and has the absurd name "Inflatable Slave bodysuit". But how durable are they? The FAQ does not recommend the company. Is their molded latex material really so much worse than Cocoon? The thing is pretty expensive, and before I pay too much, I look for more opinions. Is there perhaps a cheaper company that makes the same type of trance suits?



Years ago someone emailed me photos of a light pink trance suit variant (for more see my gallery page) that matches it even closer than the mentioned Reactor suit. But does anybody know who made it? Or was this specimen completely custom-made?

*Oo. Ganymed .oO*

 

i have used an iso tank a few times usually just while stoned, you dont need need drugs at all. i started to trip when i got a little funny about my feet it felt like i was being spun in a circle and my feet where spinning in an anticlockwise direction. slowly as i started to let go mentally i eventually became nothing more then a spinning ball of mass/energy and color. the trips are not visual so much as they are mentally visual its just like another deep state of mind you can put yourself in, very hard to explain without someone going inside one. they are also very refreshing you come out usually in a really good mood if the effects of the tank worked on you.

i also know many people who enjoy psychedelic drugs who do not enjoy the iso-tanks at all though.

 

I am not into drugs. I want something that I can turn on and off and that does not corrode away my brain cells. In my youth I tasted a piece of pot cake 2 times, but what I want is to keep control over my brain. I don't want to (metaphorically) tie a brick onto my car's accelerator pedal, sit in its back with no driver and be surprised to what a great new place this car will now drive me by its own. No - it would just crash somewhere else instead of finding its way to a better place.

By their concept, mind machines were a great progress in comparison to drugs, although not all work well. Especially I like the old analog ones, where you could tweak the knobs while the program is running. The difference between them an the later preprogrammed models is like between having an e-guitar and only a CD full of e-guitar music. The thing of the "Orgon-!Ra"(?) suit also had a kind of live controller. It resembled a big, semi-spherical failsafe button (or the old C64 computer's "Quickshot Joyball" controller) and it could be moved like an analog joystick (also through the inflated mittens of the suit). I think you could also push it down and turn it somehow to control your trip. Unfortunately the rechargable battery was bad and turned the unit off after a minute, so I couldn't really try it out.

 

"I want something that I can turn on and off and that does not corrode away my brain cells."


exactly what drugs do you think corrode away at your brain cells?

 

I consider drugs a rape of my brain. Naturally the brain stops releasing certain neurotransmitters to protect itself as soon it is too exhausted (i.e. cells badly need their remaining energy to repair themselves). But with drugs you can just throw in more and even more of that stuff, no matter how badly your brain can actually use them, and this is what ruins the brain and leads to addiction. With meditation the brain normally knows well when enough is enough and has the chance to refuse to continue.

Certainly pot is not as bad as coke, crack, heroin and such agressive making stuff, but I don't want to take it anymore, and smoking is bad for lungs anyway; a good breathe of pranayama (yoga breathing) is much more refreshing than joint tar. With hallucinogenics the nasty thing is that nobody can estimate when or whether at all the trip will be completely over. And you never know which additional ingredients will be in drugs bought from a dealer.

A good combination of light, sound and vibration can take you into alterated states without all such trouble. :bigear:

 

Ever been in a dark room for a few days? I started wigging out pretty bad after 36 hours in a dark closet with nothing but instrumental music looping over and over. Had to get out after something like 38. I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me.

 

"A good combination of light, sound and vibration can take you into alterated states without all such trouble."

i agree with this

but i do not agree with you about drugs, drugs can be used recreationally and not lead to a habit or loss of any decent amount of brain cells(if that even happens). Also if you trust your source theres no need to worry about "additional ingredients" and the one of the most importent things to remember on any kind of hallucinogen is that there IS a time when your supposed to come down, any kind of worry in that aspect is what leads people to have bad trips. with all that said drugs should only be used if you enjoy them and the experience anyway and judging by your post it doesnt sound like you do, its unfortunate because used in the right way some drugs can take you to places that years of meditation practice couldnt even deliver. too each there own though, if you can get to that kinda place without drugs your quite a lucky person.

and mebesideme why the hell would you put yourself in a dark closet with looped music on for 36 hours?? lol