Noodler's ink review

April 8, 2008

Since returning to writing with fountain pens 2 years ago, I’ve been using Waterman Florida Blue, which is a very nice and well behaved ink, in a Waterman Hemisphere pen with a fine nib. Before buying a Carene recently, I did some research and came across this forum, where I also found out just how many inks there are available. I found the bullet proof Noodler’s inks particularly interesting as I do sign my share of contracts and other official documents at work. So I ordered the following inks:

-Dostoevsky;

-Legal Lapis;

-Iraqi Indigo;

-Upper Ganges Blue;

-Bulletproof Black;

-Golden Brown (not fully bulletproof but what a great looking ink); and

-Navajo Turquoise (not bulletproof at all, but also a great looking ink).

I’ve now had a chance to try out all of these inks in either my Carene (fine nib) or Hemisphere (fine nib) or both, and have put together a bit of a summary review. Here are some photos to give you an indication of how I have assessed the amount of nib creep. Feel free to disagree with my assessment.

Negligible Nib Creep: No or very little ink showing. The sample photo is of Golden Brown in Hemisphere.

Minor Nib Creep: A little bit of ink on the tines, but no more than 1mm or so on either side of the split. The sample photos are of Dostoevsky in Carene and Navajo Turquoise in Hemisphere.

Moderate Nib Creep: Ink spreading onto the tines, but no more than 2mm or so on either side of the split. The sample photos are of Legal Lapis in Carene and Upper Ganges Blue in Hemisphere.

Heavy Nib Creep: Ink covering a significant proportion of the tines. The sample photo (Iraqi Indigo in Carene) is on the lower end of the scale.

Catastrophic Nib Creep: Ink leaking beyond nib onto section and/or into cap. Thankfully, none of the inks tested behaved like this so I have no photo.

Scans & photos: I have scanned writing samples and taken photographs (see below). Unfortunately, my PC and scanner are 1999 vintage and my digital camera is not much younger, so I did not get images that accurately reflect the colour of the ink. I have therefore attached jpegs of the scans and photos. The scans are a bit lighter than the real colour, whereas the photos are darker. The real colour is somewhere between. Please note that my scanner died while scanning the Navajo Turquoise writing sample so there is only the photo for this ink.

April 8, 2008

NOODLER’S DOSTOEVSKY

General comments:

This is a very nice looking ink, but not for those who like their inks to pop off the page. This is an ink more suited to writing romantic letters rather than signing official documents. I have used this ink only in my Carene.

Colour:

Low saturation, pale blue with a green tinge. This is a colour that must be mixed well before use as it was very pale blue the first time I used it. The green hue came out more strongly after the re-fill, before which I made sure I shook the bottle well.

Ink flow:

Reliable. It lays down a slightly thicker line than some of the other inks reviewed here. There is a little bit more resistance between the nib and the paper than with the other inks reviewed here. This, however was minor, the pen did not feel scratchy at all. I’d be interested to hear from those who’ve used this ink with a dry writer.

Dry time:

VERY quick. This ink might suit left-handers.

Nib creep:

Minor.

Start up:

Good. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days, although there may be a skip or two in the first line or two. One time I hadn’t used the pen for four days after which the ink showed some interesting colour variations, ranging from very pale blue to very like Legal Lapis. Once it settles down, it writes as described above.

NOODLER’S BULLETPROOF BLACK

General comments:

Although black ink has never been my favourite, I like using this ink because it really pops off the page. I don’t know if the ink contains lubricants, but the nib absolutely glides across the paper the way an Olympic iceskater glides across the ice. I have used this ink only in my Hemisphere.

Colour:

Good saturation, there is nothing gray about this black ink.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Fast drying ink, but full stops and other punctuation marks may take a few seconds more to dry.

Nib creep:

Negligible.

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days and lays down a solid line immediately.

NOODLER’S IRAQI INDIGO

General comments:

Great ink. Not eye popping, but a nice, subdued purple. This ink is really well suited to signing official documents. Don’t ask me to explain this, I just look at papers or contracts I’ve signed with this ink, and they look right. I have used this ink in both Carene and Hemisphere and haven’t noticed any significant differences.

Colour:

Medium saturation, doesn’t pop off the page, but it has a certain authority about it. This is the ink that says “the boss has signed here”.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a reasonably tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Fast drying ink.

Nib creep:

Moderate-heavy. Iraqi Indigo ink never crept onto the section nor did it leak into the cap, even when travelling.

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days and lays down a solid line immediately.

NOODLER’S UPPER GANGES BLUE

General comments:

I bought this ink because it looked like a vibrant blue on the Pendemonium website. It is in fact a subdued, dark blue. Although this was disappointing, I can’t fault any of this ink’s properties. I have tested this ink only in my Hemisphere.

Colour:

Medium saturation, doesn’t pop off the page. Darker than I anticipated, but if you like dark blues, this ink is definitely worth considering.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Fast drying ink.

Nib creep:

Moderate.

Start up:

Very good. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days. At first it feels a bit dry but I did not experience any skips.

NOODLER’S LEGAL LAPIS

General comments:

Great ink. Not eye popping, but a nice, subdued green. Just like the Iraqi Indigo, this ink is really well suited to signing official documents. I have used this ink in both Carene and Hemisphere and haven’t noticed any significant differences.

Colour:

Medium saturation, doesn’t pop off the page, but it has a certain authority about it. This is the ink that says “whoever signed this knew what they were doing”.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a reasonably tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Fast drying ink.

Nib creep:

Medium.

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days and lays down a solid line immediately.

NOODLER’S GOLDEN BROWN

General comments:

My favourite ink. It pops off the page and behaves amazingly well. What a colour – especially the different shades depending on how much ink is laid down. This ink, like the Bulletproof Black, really makes the nib skate across the paper almost without any friction at all. I have used this ink in both Carene and Hemisphere and have not noticed any significant differences.

Colour:

High saturation, really pops off the page. Creates interesting colour variation: caramel-like where the line was laid down fast, brown chocolate-like where the line is a bit heavier. This effect would be really noticeable with a broader nib. After writing with this ink I crave caramel-filled chocolates or chocolate mudcake covered in hot, creamy caramel sauce. This is the ink that Homer Simpson would love.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Not the fastest drying ink, full stops and other punctuation marks may take 15-20 seconds to dry.

Nib creep:

Negligible.

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days and lays down a solid line immediately.

NOODLER’S NAVAJO TURQUOISE

General comments:

Great ink. Really pops off the page and has great properties. If this ink came in a bulletproof version, it'd be my favourite. I have used this ink only in my Hemisphere.

Colour:

High saturation, pops off the page. Nicest turquoise ink I’ve seen.

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a reasonably tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

Dry time:

Fast drying ink, but full stops and other punctuation marks may take a few seconds more to dry.

Nib creep:

Minor.

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for some time and lays down a solid line immediately.

April 8, 2008

Excellent and comprehensive reviews! I especially liked the nib creep ratings, even if this is not something that usually bothers me.

FWIW, your scan of Dostoevsky looks very like what mine does in real life, just a bit brighter (I mean, yours is brighter). Interesting comment - I too noticed that it would sometimes start up as pale blue, then change as I wrote. I wondered if I had some old turquoise ink washing out of the feed, but your observations make me think that's a characteristic of the ink. Anyone else notice this?

My Legal lapis, on the other hand, is quite a bit darker and bluer than your scan - but I've only had it in fairly wet writers. I'll have to try it in a more moderate writer to see what it does.

Thanks for all the great samples!

Edited April 8, 2008 by limesally