Firefly Tattoos

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  • Mine is bright enough now after a month that I use it as a light to see objects up to 6" away in an otherwise dark room. Like a little dim flashlight in my arm.
  • I have a non-implant safe tritium vial and it does make a lot of light in a dark room.  It's good to hear that they are still bright enough to see and even use once everything heals up.  Maybe not enough light to read by but even enough to find a keyhole or a light switch would be nice.
  • from someone who has one how much do they move around?
  • @Xaion27, I've had my implant since the middle of May and my piercer put it between the bones of my index and middle finger. The needle hole is probably 3mm away from the final resting place because that's where my body wanted it. It wasn't painful as my body slowly worked it into the final resting position. Now that it's there, it does seem like it's going anywhere.
    In day to day movement, I can push it 5mm in any direction before it goes back to its usual location.
  • edited October 2016
    Xaion27 Yes, you're right about a radiation source within the body being more dangerous than one outside because they are not blocked by the skin.
    I consider the amount of radiation from the Fireflies to be so small as to not worry about, even taking into account that it's implanted, but you should do your own research. See the first few posts in this thread for some details about how low the Fireflies radiation output is compared to even background radiation.


    How much it moves after implanting really depends on the placement. It normally doesn't move much, but a few people have had it move up to 2cm from the initial site. This is why the plan for v2 will be to add a parylene coating to the ends, so that it bonds to tissue and doesn't move.


    trybalwolf that's pretty cool. I found I could use mine in a similar way to light up a key hole when I went to unlock the door in the dark.

  • My firefly implant is still my favorite thing. I'd also love it to be much brighter, though I can easily see it in a dark room once my eyes have adjusted. Despite very pale skin, my skin thickness where I implanted it is an issue. It still migrates all over the place, but that's partially my fault as I play with it all the time. After it first healed, I manipulated it to be closer to the surface to be brighter, so that makes it more likely to move around on me.

    I absolutely love this thing. My friends think it's cool, even if they aren't into getting one. My husband thinks it's the best thing ever. There's also something fun about having a tiny little radioactive secret, though it's going to require explaining the next time I get post-PT x-rays.

    I am so looking forward to the V2!

    Is the inability to inject just due to the lack of available needles in that size? I'm unfamiliar with needle sizes, but I assume the shape and size also makes for issues going into tissue.
  • @katzevonstich how did you manipulate further to the surface? Did it stay at that depth?

    So I got my friend to implant one after I got mine but due to a couple factors it seems like it's going to reject. How would we go about getting it out undamaged and prepared to be reinserted? I figure it'll need sterilized again along with the needle (if he still has it)
  • @SurvivorSVN For manipulation, I waited until it healed because I didn't want to risk messing up the wound. The downside is manipulation was a bit unpleasant at first, with a definite burning feeling as I basically bruised the hell out of myself. Mostly what I did was press hard with my forefinger and thumb on either side of the implant, well away from the edges, then try to "pick it up." I pushed my thumb and finger underneath it as much as I could and pulled it upwards. Then I used my other hand to massage the skin on top to move as much of the fatty layer out of the way so I could further manipulate the implant up. It's in my shoulder, below my collarbone, so there's a lot of flesh to deal with. Took about a month overall.

    At one point, I stuck the end of the shop vac hose there to see if that would do anything, but I couldn't tell.

    It does still move. About once a week, I massage it back up. This probably makes the migration happen more than normal, but it really wants to go back down deeper no matter what. Also, it migrates closer to my collarbone all the time, just from natural use of my shoulder. My rfid hand implant did the same thing and now it lives nestled in my hand bones.
  • Requesting an update. :D any new information yet, @Alexsmith? Has the lead started floating in?



  • Do you think you will be offering Firefly v2 in the bodyhackingcon in Austin next year? If yes, should I make a reservation? Maybe a pre-order?
  • Silly questions I'm sure, but I assume these are safe in xrays and mris etc?

    Also how far away is V2? thanks.
  • image
    Here's a picture of mine getting x-rayed. It's in my right hand.
  • @McSTUFF, just curious, but how did you get an x-ray of your hands? I just got some more hardware under my skin and I think an x-ray would look pretty cool. Do you just have a buddy that is a radiologist?
  • I was at a chiropractor's office getting some x-rays for my posture (borked) and asked if I could get another x-ray of my hands. I explained why and for an additional fee (20 USD) I got my hands x-rayed and emailed to me.
  • Oh cool, I wouldn't have thought about a chiropractor. Thanks
  • Xrays always look so cool! :D That came out great!

    I'd also be interested in hearing an update! Still haven't decided where I want to install it, but I'll get to that once it's at a place I can exchange monetary units for :)
  • Eagerly anticipating updates.
  • By the way -- Anyone tried implanting their Firefly Tattoo in an ear? I was thinking under the skin, on top of the cartilage in the depression beneath the helix.
  • @AlexSmith just curious: how many people already have this implant? Tens, Hundreds, Thousands?
    I'm really interested in getting one, but I'm probably going to wait to get a magnet first.
  • edited December 2016
    @AlexSmith @FireBreathingReptile Having one of the V1 tritium implants myself, I am actually really curious as to the answer to this question as well. I assumed maybe 200 or so, but how many have actually been distributed?

    Edit: I absolutely love my firefly implant. Now four months since I implanted it into my forearm it has healed beautifully. The skin in my chosen location is very thin and allows the implants light to be used as a small source of light in pitch dark illuminating objects up to 6" away. How bright have your guys's implants gotten after healing? I have wondered how other locations were working for people.

  • @trybalwolf I envy your paper skin in this instance I am taking out my yellow because it migrated too deep in my hand to be seen, unless it is totally dark

    My green is very shallow but I could only "light a keyhole " from maybe three inches
  • @actii Unfortunately I do not have a camera that is able to see the implant (yes the few old cameras I have are shit), but I am really happy with it. I actually wake myself and others up on occasion by accidentally putting my arm near their face in my sleep. Always an odd way to wake up. 

    My location worked really well, at least for me. As it lays directly on top of and between the flexor carpi ulnaris and radialis it doesn't really have the option of sinking deeper, instead sitting nicely and creating a very apparent raise bump on the arm. I would estimate the skin thickness there to be right around a millimeter.
  • Got impatient and ordered two green V1's. I'll be putting one in my forearm and I'll attempt to put one in my ear on top of the cartilage. If it's a success I'll post a pic since as far as I know no images of that exist.
  • edited February 2017
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  • Ordered a green V1 the 12th of January, however I have not gotten it yet nor have I heard from them. Furthermore I sent their customer service a message on the 23th of January and have not heard from them yet. 

    Anyone know what Is going on?
  • @vorfotun, I ordered mine January 1st and received and implanted it last night (Feb 1). The box was addressed by hand, so I wouldn't be surprised if only a few people are in charge of shipping orders.
  • As far as I know Alex is the only guy who "works" there and it he is in Australia. So shipping is slow on just man power and slow because it is the other side of the planet.
  • Alright! Thanks for the info! Much appreciated. 

  • edited February 2017
    I'm really sorry I haven't been on the forum lately, A lot of stuff happened, I had to move to a different city, there was chistmas, and then the bodyhacking con. I haven't been here in months and yes, some orders got delayed, but everything has shipped as of Jan 30th, if you still haven't got your stuff, PM me so I can check tracking to make sure it's not got lost.

    As for the questions, V2 is in production, but is still probably a few months away.

    currently about 70 v1 implants have been sent out into the world, I assume most are implanted. On that note, I only have about 20 left, and once those are gone, we will have to wait for v2 to be ready, as I don't think I will make more v1's.

    A note on injecting, I thought v2 would be too big to inject, but I talked to a piercer at bodyhacking con, and he said that v2's are small enough that they could be injected. It's gonna be a huge needle, 7 gauge, but if he thinks injecting it is doable, it would make implanting so much easier.
  • ;_; gah. Get a first generation firefly or not...

    Getting a V2 either way... Patently waiting.



    Welcome back Alex! :D
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