Found this outside on a sidewalk in Southern California.
It’s made of thin glass with a viscous purple liquid inside. It’s smooth all around, about 1 inch long (pencil for scale in photo). Both end are rounded. No markings or labels.
Found this outside on a sidewalk in Southern California.
It’s made of thin glass with a viscous purple liquid inside. It’s smooth all around, about 1 inch long (pencil for scale in photo). Both end are rounded. No markings or labels.
This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.
Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.
It looks like the vial that’s inside anti-theft tags. The kind that explode and stain everything if you try to force if off.
I thought the same but I did some digging and it’s not that
How did you end up excluding it being an anti-theft tag?
and hear I was immediately thinking it's a very poorly designed part of a level (construction)
This was genuinely my first thought on my first initial glance 😁
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They're incredibly easy to defeat. I'd say I'm surprised they still implement these, but there is no shortage of confident(false) dummies willing to try.
You act like it’s common knowledge. But I don’t know how go defeat the tags, and im sure im not alone
Yep definitely don't know how to do it but I do know YouTube can probably teach me how.
How is it done? I am genuinely curious is all.
Amazon sells tag removers.
Two towels and moderate strength.
This is 100%. I took one apart when I was younger and working in retail
Is it the glue they use in those large bolts? Like you drill the hole, drop the glass blue thing down and then put the bolt in. It breaks the glass and releases the glue allowing the bolt to adhere to the concrete. Just guessing.
That’s a good guess, they broke it open and said it was thick and sticky, and I bet that glue is too.
If they're talking about chemical anchor, I've only seen that as amber color, and this vial way too small for that.
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It also kinda looks like one of those from the instant drug test kits cops use.
No, those vials of “glue” are almost always clear, much larger in size than this, and also frankly would not be described as “sticky” but as completely glueing OPs fingers together immediately upon contact 😅
Oh, they would notice the heat and corrosion long before anything stuck. The smell, too.
I just looked up to see if I could find any that may like that and they all seemed to either be brown glass capsules or clear glass filled with brown adhesive. Not saying it’s impossible this is it but I couldn’t find one.
Never knew that a thing. Neat
Chemical anchors, nah don't come this small
Glass activation link for fire sprinkler system. Blue indicates higher temperature breaking point.
This was my first thought as well but none of the ones I could find on google are shaped like that. They all have a slightly bulbous rounded end and the other side comes to a point
And the liquid in those isn't thick and sticky. At all. It's a glycerin/alcohol mix that's actually quite thin
the are waaaay smaller and one of the ends is pointy
Im guessing its the epoxy vials that goes into masonry anchors before you put the bolt in.
than it should have a smaller vial with hardener inside.
Looks like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/531795077/6pcs-tube-coloured-glaze-diffuser
And judging by that first photo with a syringe being used to fill it... It's full of whatever people wanted to put in there. Like all those "flower vases" that used to be sold on eBay that are really just bongs.
You just unknowingly solved a problem I have had for a while now. I needed something very small, sealable, more durable than plastic, and see through to house the cremated remains of my rats (pet rats, not the accidental infestation type) in. I was picturing something quite specific but I couldn't articulate exactly what I was imagining. These are it!!! Thank you for the incidental help!!!
And you just piqued my interest enough to order a sample batch from them! thanks :)
How would you get cremains into something that takes a needle to fill?
I was just at Dollar Tree and they had a package of small bottles with cork stoppers in the craft section that would probably work better for you. Looks like they have screw on lids as well.
https://www.dollartree.com/arts-crafts-supplies/craft-containers
A syringe is just a very small funnel if the powder is ground fine enough.
I take it back. This is even more likely but doesn't identify the liquid
https://www.james-alexander.com/glass-ampoule/
And mini fake roses at the gas station for crack pipes!
Today I Learned... 😧
Looks like a medical grade superglue vile
https://preview.redd.it/ws7brou67h7g1.jpeg?width=1054&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=598f457aa22441ee345b6b03df38321b755eef40
Interesting. If you crush these by hand, the glue within will seal the resulting lacerations.
Yeah I'll not be racing to test that guarantee.
They said in another comment reply it was sticky and thick so hopefully this is the correct answer
Nah, you break the ampoule in these and it flows through a cotton applicator that applies a thin layer of the liquid, it is a very thin and runny liquid If you have ever used liquid skin it is a similar consistency, but a much stronger bond. It's purple so you can see where you apply it and then it cures clear.
it's not. dermabond has a built in applicator that can't be separated from the vile. the glass is also clear and the liquid is purple.
source: use it all the time
Vial. Vile is something really bad or wicked. Isn’t English wonderful? Lol
It is dermabond
You said you touched it... is it still stuck to you?
It's definitely not Dermabond. Dermabond is purple and the item depicted is the wrong hue, it looks blue. Additionally, Dermabond is in a plastic container (think glowstick), not glass.
This is it. Solved. Thanks.
Yep, just your everyday 'Dermabond on the sidewalk' encounter. If I had a nickel for every time that's happened to me...
I think you’ve got it.
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https://preview.redd.it/va9vdm4b8i7g1.jpeg?width=821&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a88bfee3ebe8564643bf9e95c05783a8f020ca92
I know its already solved, but didn't see a Dermabond image that explained it as well as this one. Inner ampoule part of high viscosity Dermabond.
It's a single-use crushable glass ampoule. There is a special tool for crushing them open.
This company makes them.
As far as what the substance is, you're on your own.
Isn't it a chemical plug fixing for concrete?
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Could it be something like this mini level keychain?
That looks like a glass bulb from a high temperature sprinkler head. I have a bunch of them in several different colors. Each color is the temperature that will break the bulb and set off the sprinkler. That dark blue I think is 286°.
Seems a bit too long and/or wide to be a standard response sprinkler bulb. 286 is definitely blue, but the glass is clear and only the juice is colored in sprinklers. I’d also say the odds of the bulb surviving being removed from the head is unlikely. That part I’m unsure about though. I look at them for a living but seldom have to change them.
Yeah, I was looking at some in my office. I should have taken pictures, but I think this may be 500°. It's not hard to get the bulbs out if you cut one side of the frame. I have a bunch of different temperature bulbs for no reason whatsoever in addition to random old sprinkler heads. The 500° bulbs are way wider than standard response bulbs.
500s are black. And pretty rare since they’re for industrial applications. I seldom see them in ceilings, it’d be wild to see a loose bulb on the sidewalk. The bulbs do come in a variety of widths though, depending on age and model. Usually the wider they are, the shorter they are however. I will say though, that single solid little bubble does make it look a lot like a sprinkler bulb. I imagine it will definitely pop if you put heat to it. I’d be curious what the temperature rating is lol.
I'll get some pictures tomorrow. I have a few 500° spec apps that were left over from a job, so new old stock? You're right though, it was the bubble that made me think it is a glass bulb from a sprinkler head.
There’s also purple (360 degree). Those are even more rare. I’ve never even seen one In person, and I’ve looked at many thousands of sprinklers now. I’ve got buddies and coworkers that do install and repair that have pretty impressive collections, and I still can’t recall ever seeing a purple one.
Could it be part of a level?
Nah, OP said they cracked it open and the liquid was thick and sticky. That wouldn’t work well as a level.
I think this looks familiar to something I had hanging around in my medicine cabinet as part of a diy waxing kit, as in for eyebrows and lip.
Azulene oil was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture, but those vials have a cap
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'Dermabond' branded skin adhesive vial, outside of packaging/lid off? Its a glass ampoule you have to break before use.
https://preview.redd.it/22y5r6e0lh7g1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f1fca275a7d7a7311903bade91670e7486ad89b7
They said the liquid inside was thick and sticky, the liquid dermabond is quite thin, thin enough to wick through the cotton applicator on the front.
Maybe it polymerized by the time they got it out the vial? Takes 60-90s according to packaging. I say this knowing the first time I used this stuff by the time I figured out how to use it after breaking the ampoule, it was useless as liquid glue and I cracked open another vial. The purple jumped out since changing to this brand for work, I'm lost otherwise
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It's a terps pillar
Used in glass rigs for dabs, terps slurpers to be more precise.
That was my first thought lol
I could be wrong but that's what I see, plus location to wich it was found as well.
Does the liquid glow under black light? It could be the capsule from a glow stick
I think it's an adhesive capsule used in construction. You'd drill a hole in a concrete floor, for instance, clean out the hole, drop in the capsule, push in a threaded rod and smack that rod down to break the capsule thus gluing the rod into the hole to anchor down a wall or an apparatus. HILTI is a manufacturer of this type of fastener system. https://www.hilti.com/c/CLS_FASTENER_7135/CLS_CHEMICAL_ANCHORS_7135/r21666391?activeTab=preconfigured-kits-tabs
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Honestly looks like the inside of an IR chem light
Does it dry like super glue? It could be the vial inside of a Dermabond-like skin glue applicator. It’s purple, somewhat viscous, and dries like slightly more flexible CA glue when applied to skin. The off-brand stuff I have also smells pretty good.
Fountain pen ink cartridge?
Could it be the thing inside a glow stick?
Might be too short, but it could be the glass vial of liquid that goes inside a glow stick
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Looks like a small level.
i thought it looked like the glass vials that are in some levels as well.
Is it an ink cartridge for a fountain pen?
It certainly looks similar to ink, but fountain pen cartridges aren't glass.
Good point! I was so focused on the size and the color of the liquid I forgot to take the glass structure into account. Oh well. 😜
Smelling salts without the cover?
It might be an old smelling salts ampule. Is the liquid purple, or is it the glass?
Looks like drug paraphernalia
It’s glacier ice to give to Bobby Boucher so the Mud Dogs to win the Bourbon Bowl.
Its probably the epoxy viel that goes into masonry anchors. You drop it in a hole you drilled in the cement then in goes the anchor and you break the glass by putting the anchor in and it fills the void and holds the bolt in place.
The bubble to a level maybe?
https://preview.redd.it/qz1vo83a4h7g1.jpeg?width=397&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=463e9ccd85b592a636ab22c2572ceec5540c5689
It seems to be the inner vial of a glow stick. Mix it with hydrogen peroxide (OUTDOORS) and see if it glows.
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