just thought i'd share my experience with everyone. i'm from chicago and just moved to SD a few months ago. i grew back home for years and always used IRblock film over the ceiling of my room. i tested it with a thermal imager which can be configured to scan via UV much like the equipment the helicopters use in late night raids, police chases, and to seek our your lights. it was a pretty expensive portable fluke device my buddy used at his shop. he's a mechanic and can look inside engines and transmissions without taking them apart with it. probably the most valuable diagnostic tool he owns, super easy to spot a blown head gasket, bad water pump bearing or slipping band in a transmission.
anyway, the film works flawlessly. you can't see shit through it. remove the film and a 1000-watt hps bulb is so bright you can't even see anything but a white splash on the screen.
a homebrew way to test the ir film is simply with an infrared remote control. put it in front of your TV and see if you can change the channel. ir is amazingly hard to block. strong ir signals (fresh remote control batteries) can shoot through rockwall and sheet metal with ease.
when i moved to san diego i setup a similar configuration (now legal thank god, although legislation recently passed in illinois and they will be starting medical permit trials next year)
this time I used a newer version of the ir blocking film which isn't really a film anymore. before it was basically a mylar tarp like you buy at hydroponic stores, except instead of white on one side and black on the other, it was silver on one side and black on the other, with only 70% reflectivity instead of 91%.
the new stuff is kind of like bubble-wrap, but still silver like the old stuff was. its substantially thicker, and therefore easier to work with, but also more expensive per meter.
so i have a sheet of that up over my light. however, back in chicago, you never hear any helicopters overhead, although i had heard about somebody being heli-busted years back.
here, in SD, i hear helicopters daily. every day around 8:00 theres one that does circles over my house. it scares the shit out of me. last week one of the helicopters was telling everybody they were looking for a white male with a white shirt and a brown dufflebag. infact it was the 3rd of july I think. they circled for about 20 minutes and left. i've lived in a lot of places and still have never seen so much helicopter activity. its pretty nuts.
at least its comfortable knowing if i am 'caught' that i have a legal permit to do this, but i really don't like the fuzz up in my space. its probably safe to say we're all a little paranoid with good reason. and its ridiculous we have to still live like this in the 21st century.
ohh yea, bigbugballs, i fuckin' love bubbles man! if you ever wanna toke to some TPB hit me up lol. i haven't seen that shit in ages...at least since it ended a few years ago
