Our usual technique for injectables in my office is about as John describes, given that we've got rigid containers for all the stuff we use (anesthetics, etc.). However, from the soft picnic bottles, a coordinated and lucky person can, with practice, draw up in one go, squeezing the container just enough to minimize the vacuum from becoming much of a factor; after all, it's going to break when you separate the syringe from the bottle. Doing this, you can draw avoid getting air into the syringe as you're drawing up and having to let it settle out.

Alternative: Keep amounts of resin and hardener in glass jars such as the peanut-butter variety; use the catheter-tipped syringes to draw up while you easily see that the tip is just barely in the liquid, minimizing mess much more manageably!

Just a thought--

Craig

: Here's how to do it when using a non-vented container (must've done this a
: million times with injectable drugs in the hospital...)

: 1)Disconnect the syringe from the container
: 2) Pull back the plunger until it is at the mark you want (say 10 ml)
: 3) Connect the syringe and container, then invert (container above the
: syringe)
: 4) Inject a small amount of air from the syringe - say 2 ml - then pull back
: the plunger and withdraw 2ml of epoxy
: 5) Push another 2 ml of air into the inverted container and withdraw 2 ml of
: epoxy....now your syringe has 4 ml of epoxy and 6 ml of air
: 6) keep repeating until the syringe has the 10 ml of epoxy and no air

: This process keeps the container from being "overpressurized" or in
: a vacuum and you never disconnect the syringe from the container during
: the transfer...do it slowly, as the epoxy is much more viscous than
: injectable drugs, and the seal between the syringe and container isn't
: very secure....might practice with water over a sink first!

: John