What do you do when you need good solder, but you can’t get EU/US/Japanese stuff where you live? No, you don’t buy Chinese. You buy ПОС-61, together with 500g of pure rosin, made in Smolensk, Russia.

The recipe and the supply chain didn’t change since the Soviet Union. They arrived today with the order number of, I kid you not, 666, and the set costed me $9 for 100g of solder and 500g of rosin. That rosin combined with ethanol gets you ФСКп flux that will last a lifetime. It does the job and doesn’t require cleaning.

Yes, some Chinese solder and flux are better, but I didn’t find a single AliExpress shop without at least one review telling that the thing they’re selling was fake. And you can be damn sure that if a Chinese listing says that there is 100g of solder, it will be 98 grams together with the spool and paper.

Soviet stuff is predictable. It says 100g, but weights 119g with the spool. If it says Sn61Pb39 that melts at 190℃, it will be exactly that, every time. And if it was good enough for Soviet tech, it’s good enough for my DIY endeavors.

And yes, it flows like syrup, and after it cools down, it shines like jewelry.

(can't upload pics bc pics are dead again!)