The experimental techniques for obtaining reliable enthalpies of formation and migration of vacancies in pure metals and the importance of achieving high accuracy are critically discussed, with emphasis on studies based on the quenching-in of 'thermal' vacancies. From measurements of the residual electrical resistance introduced into high-purity Al foils (thickness 0.1 mm) by ultrafast quenches (initial quenching rate ≈ 2 × 10 6 K s −1 ) from temperatures T between 800 K and 530 K and the literature data on high-temperature differential dilatometry, the enthalpy,