sand versus shot in speaker stands

One thing I neglected to mention, we don't physically handle the lead shot. It is taken from the bag it comes in and deposited in an awaiting supply tray, then fed into the MEC presses.
The way it is stored in it's original 25 pound sack has never caused us problems.

That being said, I sure wouldn't ingest it, nor would I handle it for any length of time without hand protection, and I sure wouldn't let the kids play with it.

The cost of lead shot has sky rocketed over the last 50 years, but the alternative in steel shot is even more expensive in 25 pound bags.

I agree with Jaybo in much of what he says. I'm not a big fan of sand for moisture purposes, but if you need shot for this purpose alone of weighting down your stands, use steel shot.

When I was a kid back in the dark ages, we all played freely with lead in all forms. I can remember having a kit of molds into which we poured melted lead to make toy soldiers, then painted them, probably with lead-based paint. Did we wash our hands after doing this? No. Would I recommend doing it today? No. Do I think there's any real danger using lead shot to fill speaker stands? No again.

Micro-fil steel bearings are smaller than human hair(I use them in my GPA rack). Lead is dangerous, but is nothing compared to Hydrazine.

Thanks for the oven idea. I left a few bags of sand out in the sun to dry out and it appears they're now infested with large spiders.

Spiders are not as good as sand, and certainly not as good as lead, when placed in stands or racks. However, spiders may offer some damping benefit when placed directly under equipment feet or under cones. The large spiders work best under amps or other heavy equipment. You can also use them as a "spider clamp" with top-loading CD players.