i do think there is some truth to what your buddy has told you. peptides are so easy to fake. much easier than gear. if you have your diet on point and start shooting bunk test, within a few wks, you'll quickly know that what you have is garbage...no increase in sex drive, no increase in strength. no additional water gain. its easier to draw conclusions. with peptides, it becomes more of a gray area, as the effect is much less dramatic. i've heard stories of one now defunct research lab selling rat igf. some of these bunk peptides may actually hinder your body's natural production of hormones, so you want to be very careful and the best deal isn't always the best option. i've had decent experiences with some less expensive igf and i've used others that seemed to be worthless. cheap is really hit or miss. back in the day, when igf first came onto the market, i was paying $250 for 1mg of generic. it seemed to have a good effect, though i did not get my levels tested. there are a couple of labs that i beleive are producing the real deal. Naps carries Hyge brand igf, directly from the lab itself. the price tag is as not cheap as the research labs, but if you want real igf, that is certainly going to be a top option.