I'm relatively new to DMT, in that I have only experienced it once (Last week), but I have been aware of it for quite some time, and had finally taken the initiative to attempt to extract some of it.
The first yield was extremely low, and was due to some errors on my part (Remedied now), but it is what I ended up smoking. I tried to do the layered herb setup in order to get to liftoff, but it did not go as well, and it only ended up putting me into a trancelike state with very mild hallucinations, and a very introspective state of mind.
The second time, I made a vaporizer using two glass tubes and a borosilicate vial, and loaded the rest of my yields into it.
I took two pulls, and they both tasted quite distinctly of burnt plastic, though with an aftertaste of the smell of unvaporized DMT, which I have come to enjoy.
I didn't break through, but I did send myself into a very deep trance, and I simply had no wish to move. Every sense gained a feeling of clarity that I had never experienced in my life. I started getting mild OEVs (Everything seemed to vibrate, and all colors seemed much more intense and beautiful), and I was getting this feeling like I was being pulled into another place.
My immediate reaction to that was a feeling of calm optimism, ready to embrace what I thought was the feeling of breaking through, but to my mild disappointment, I did not. Deciding to make the best out of it, I closed my eyes and let myself fall into a trance, peppered with everchanging and shifting fractalline CEVs of varying intensity. I saw these with great awe and amazement, and had even forgotten that I was sitting on a chair with my eyes closed a couple of times.

In short, while my attempt to break through was unsuccessful, I made the best of it, and had a very enjoyable experience that managed to reinforce my perception of the world, in which I view everything as beautiful and amazing. I am totally aware that this experience doesn't even hold a candle to what people normally experience on DMT, but I felt it would be a proper introduction to say that I am quite pleased with the results, despite only dipping my toes into the endless expanse of experiences that DMT has to offer.

If you're looking to break through, you'll have a much better chance at succeeding if you have your eyes closed from the get-go. Keeping your eyes open will probably prevent you from breaking through.

Didn't know this. Thanks.

Sounds like you did alright. And don't get hung up on the 'breaking through' thing. It's just a term for an intense experience. Just do it like you are and get used to the feeling. You overdue it and you usually can't remember the experience anyhow. Good luck, and keep us posted.

I don't find that to be the case?

Eyes closed definitely does make a difference.

Doing it the right way seems very tricky.

I find that anything that can ground you to reality (including visually perceiving the external world) can hinder one from breaking through. This isn't by any means an absolute, and I have no doubts that for some breaking through with eyes open would be more likely than for others. So when you have an open eyed breakthrough Sky Motion, what about the experience marks it as a breakthrough for you, and how often have you had such an experience (if you can remember or answer as vaguely as you like)? I'm just trying to get a sense for what the breakthrough means for you. I've had some incredibly intense open eyed experiences, but the more immersive, detailed, out of body experiences typically only make themselves available to me in their closed eye form. Now for example, the other day with my eyes open, I had two giant exquisitely detailed rotating Egyptian statue holograms about 6 feet tall standing right in front of my face (along with god knows what in the periphery). I would not consider this a breakthrough.

Yeah it probably could ground you to reality if you wanted it to, but I've had breakthrough transitions where my eyes were open from the end of the machine hit to the time I'm not in my body. Where my eyes are wide open but the visuals are completely YOU and the eyes have no meaning. I do agree that it is SMOOTHER and a bit EASIER to reach such state with the eyes closed because it's an indication that you are letting go. But if I take a breakthrough dose and the mind is ready for it I can keep my eyes open and still reach said state.

A breakthrough for me (so far) is no connection to body/your "being" resides on the other side and not at all in this plane.

Especially for beginners, keeping their eyes open can keep them firmly distracted.