More thoughts on identifying mystery rods

Ah - those mystery rods of glass. You were sure you would remember - so of course, there is no label!

For the transparent rods, clear and very pale colours, sight down the length of the rod at a bright light - lightbulb, fluorescent fixture - whatever ya gots - and check the colour you see at the end of the rod. It can tell you a lot.

First up here - from the Double Helix corner, is  handful of Aion2. Looking through the rods at the light, it looks pretty clear, so that's no particular help.

These rods also appear clear - there is no trace of unexpected colour in the light showing at the end. This is Zephyr - the clear of choice for many.

Here, however, are clear rods with a decided aqua colour when viewed end on. This is Aether - another clear from Double Helix, but it responds differently to the silver glasses. The difference between the Zephyr and the Aether is quite striking. Knowing this - you need never get these two mixed up again!

 

Remember this trick when you have very light transparent rods that you want to positively ID. It is particularly useful for very pale batches of unstruck rods of striking colours like the Effetre Electric Yellow, Orange, and Striking Red. Just sight down the barrel of the rod ...