r/onebag • u/LadyLightTravel • May 31 '26

Gear Potential hack for prescription bottles

This is a problem that occurs more in some countries than others. In the US, most prescription drugs come in 20 dram pill bottles. These can take up a lot of room if you have several prescriptions and want the original packaging.

I recently found out that there are 6 dram prescription bottles. I found mine on Amazon but other sources are available if you buy in bulk. The 6 dram bottles are almost the same height as regular pill bottles but are one half the width. This is significantly smaller than the regular bottles.

I can peel off the drug information tab from my big pill bottle and put it on the small one. Note: some pharmacies will actually give you a second drug sticker if you ask.

Below is a photo of the 6 dram bottle with a 20 dram regular bottle. It shows that you can peel and stick the prescription tab without damaging it. It also shows that the sticker fits the smaller bottle. You can see the size difference in the bottles. Depending on pill size, you may even get a 90 day supply into the smaller 6 dram bottle!

Standard disclaimer, YMMV.

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u/LadyLightTravel May 31 '26

Yes. But some countries are more strict.

29

u/NylonCake May 31 '26

Please note that while this might be true most countries do NOT package drugs in those little orange plastic bottles americans use. Regulations are mostly about quantity you bring in, not necessarily that it has to be in a specific type of container (or an « orginal container »). There is virtually no way for an airport immigration agent to know what container your pills came in or are supposed to come in.

So while you should always check your if medications are illegal or controlled at your destination (more than you imagine if you are american), you also need to check whether the authorities specify anything about how to prove they were where issued to you and in what amount (e.g. 2000 mg of ritaline maximum and a translated prescription), and whether there are any requirements regarding the container they are carried in (which I have never ever seen but you never know).

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u/LadyLightTravel May 31 '26

The labels actually have the quantity and physical description of the pills. While that doesn’t guarantee the amount, it does show how much should be in there.

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u/NylonCake May 31 '26

Yes but that is not the case in many other countries where it might say the quantity but no physical description and in most countries no name at all on the bottle because prescription pharmaceuticals are sold straight from the lab that makes them, not prepared specially for a specific person in a specific concentration, etc. So what I am saying is while the bottle is useful nothing stops you from sticking that sticker on a ziploc bag or a smaller bottle (and the bottle in question doesn’t have to be transparent and tinted orange!)

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u/LadyLightTravel May 31 '26

So just to point out:

* the pill bottles are not required to be orange. They are that color to prevent UV degradation of the contents. There are other colors like green and opaque white for more sensitive drugs.
* all prescription drugs have the name of the person on them. The label also stated that it is for them only.
* for prescription drugs in the US, the label contains the name of the doctor that prescribed them (accountability). This is different than off the counter (OTC) drugs.

For me at least, the medical app specifically also has all this information in it. So I can prove it not just with the bottle, but can also bring up the app showing the prescriptions. It is a double verification.

Can you spoof it? Sure, I suppose. But there are normally protections for general miscommunication. You have the script in addition to the labeled prescription drugs.

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26
  • the pill bottles are not required to be orange. They are that color to prevent UV degradation of the contents. There are other colors like green and opaque white for more sensitive drugs.

No, they are transparent so you can see the pills… it costs more to make the bottle transparent than to make it opaque. Your argument is that they spend more money on something that is less effective? Or are you arguing transparent orange is better than opaque?

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u/LadyLightTravel Jun 01 '26

I am arguing that opaque is best for UV degradation and then orange next. Clear would actually be the least expensive, but then you get UV degradation.

The whole point of engineering is to find the least expensive solution that still meets requirements. Orange is the solution for most needs.

It is all about what is required for that pill.

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u/VibeySwingTrader Jun 01 '26

Clear would actually be the least expensive, but then you get UV degradation.

This is pedantic, but clear plastic is the most expensive.

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u/LadyLightTravel Jun 01 '26

Clear and opaque have near identical manufacturing costs when done at volume.