The darkest black ink?

[fariq]

Dear Friends,

 

I just join the forum and I find that it's very interesting. I have just bought Montblanc Chopin and Sailor 1911.

Both pens are good.

With regard to Ink quality, I have tried Private Reserve Ink-Ultra Black and Aurora black. Is there any other brands that may produce more darker in terms of black ink?

Pls advice.

[JJBlanche]

Dear Friends,

 

I just join the forum and I find that it's very interesting. I have just bought Montblanc Chopin and Sailor 1911.

Both pens are good.

With regard to Ink quality, I have tried Private Reserve Ink-Ultra Black and Aurora black. Is there any other brands that may produce more darker in terms of black ink?

Pls advice.

 

I think Stephen Hawking is about to put out "Essence of Black Hole."

 

In all seriousness, Pelikan Black, Aurora Black, and Noodler's Bulletproof Black constatnly get recommended for this purpose. I've used Pelikan Black and Noodler's Black, and much prefer the Pelikan because it dries faster. On the other side of the coin, Noodler's Bulletproof Black is, well, bulletproof. Nothing will remove it -- not chemicals, and certainly not water. Aurora is notably more expensive than either of these two, and I question how much darker it could really be.

Edited October 18, 2008 by JJBlanche

[stevlight]

I love Aurora black and Namiki black--both I think are very black.

[Calbei]

Speaking of black holes, I'm surprised Noodler's hasn't released something based around black holes yet. Noodler's Black Hole, or Noodler's Essence of Black Hole, etc. Just a random thought when I read the thread title.

 

But anyway, Noodler's Black is the deepest black I've ever used. Great stuff, even if it disagreed with my Carene and thought best to move into the cap and onto the section.

[xmattxyzx]

Noodler's Old Manhattan Black.

[Rapt]

If you do search you'll find this gets asked a lot... and the common responses include Noodler's Old Manhattan Black and Noodler's Heart of Darkness. There's tons of info to be found in looking around.

[bluestocking]

Sailor Kiwagura with the nano-carbon power is way blacker than any of my other blacks, inc. Aurora Black. It is a completely opaque *black* black.

 

[BillTheEditor]

Noodler's Heart of Darkness and Noodler's Borealis are the darkest black inks I have. Both are very very black, and both are darker than Noodler's Bulletproof Black (which is in itself black enough for any normal person).

[JulioPB]

It could be Noodler's Borealis Black. But depends on the pen. Pelikan Brilliant Black is a nice very dark ink in some wet medium nibbed pens,

 

Hope helps,

 

Julio

 

[JonW]

I've got a bottle of J Herbin Perle Noire and I quite like it. It seems so black that it sucks light out of the room.

 

I like some of their inks but don't see them mentioned too much around here.

[solitaire]

I'm told that black is the most tricky colour that chemists create, and analine dyes don't seem to work well for it.

 

I am very cautious about putting black inks into pens which have Fine or XF nibs and/or the special narrow feeds that we find on some of the Japanese pens.

 

I have used many of the blacks - Noodlers etc - on older pens with larger or stub nibs but nowadays use only Pelikan Brilliant Black on my better pens. It varies a little in blackness from bottle to bottle but I prefer to use ink I am confident about.

 

I'm not saying that Pelikan Brilliant Black is the only black that won't clog pens; I'm merely saying that it has caused me no trouble so far.

 

I'd like to hear from members about happy longterm use of any of the blacks esp in pens with Fine nibs

 

Solitaire

[J English Smith]

I have tended not to buy Noodler's, though I do love one of the FPN inks that is made by then (Tuplie Noir).

 

In many of my pens, the Aurora Black is a noticeable amount darker than Pelikan Brilliant Black. The blackness comes at a price - here in Des Moines, about $3 more per bottle ($10.50 vs. $7.50). Aurora also seems to flow very very well, even in some "problem" pens. So it tends to get my vote, though I have not done a direct comparison with Heart of Darkness.

[offbase]

Aurora is by far the deepest, densest black out of any of the "standard" blacks I use -- I now use it exclusively for black, even though it's twice what Pelikan costs. Pelikan is quite a deep black, but it's not very dense (almost watery to me), and often dries looking washed out when used with an xf nib. I don't have that problem with Aurora, which lives up to its rep of increasing flow and nib lubrication. To the OP, can I ask what it is you don't like about Aurora (other than the silly-high price) that is sending you out looking?

[lapis]

My Herbin's Perle Noir and Pelikan's black are both okay, but....

my Pelikan's black is slightly more brown and very slightly more grey.

Neither of these is IMO a really, truly "perfect" black!

(But both dry very quickly.)

 

'kay?

[xmattxyzx]

I'm telling you--Old Manhattan is the blackest black.

[Annie]

I'm telling you--Old Manhattan is the blackest black.

I agree.

Here are other opinions: Splicer's post

[thibaulthalpern]

Sailor Kiwagura with the nano-carbon power is way blacker than any of my other blacks, inc. Aurora Black. It is a completely opaque *black* black.

 

I would love to get my hands on this black! I wish they sold it in the U.S. I know they have it in some of the Japanese stationery stores in the U.S. like Mai-do but none are near where I live!

[Neill78]

Other people will tell you what black inks they like to use, but I agree with Bluestocking. You simply won't find any ink blacker than Sailor Kiwaguro. Pilot also makes a carbon ink that should be equivalent, but considering pen maintenance issues I think the Sailor is probably the best.

 

Other black inks are mixtures of dark colors. Sailor Kiwaguro is nothing but black. It is the same as Japanese/Chinese brush drawing ink, or India ink, for blackness. There are a couple of reviews on this ink (one by me), and the water tests & scans can do the rest of the talking.

 

Only problems are: it's expensive and it's not easy to find in North America.

 

Neill

[lovemy51]

i find Swisher Midnight Black the blackest (made by noodlers). also, has great flow and dries superfast.

 

http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFro...wisher&All=

[bluestocking]

Sailor Kiwagurs

 

I would love to get my hands on this black! I wish they sold it in the U.S. I know they have it in some of the Japanese stationery stores in the U.S. like Mai-do but none are near where I live!

 

I ordered mine from ujuku via their ebay shop. The shipping was expensive, so it turned out to be a 30 dollar bottle of ink, but in GBP it still wasn't that bad. I use it in my physics lab notebooks in a Lamy Al-Star (don't take good pens to lab!), where it works brilliantly: indelible and incredibly saturated and crisp on the page.