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So, after much discussion, I thought it was time to actually test my working hypothesis. Now, in fairness, some inks seem to disintegrate even when they are kept in dark boxes, and this little test did not account for those inks. Many FPNers insist that ink bottles be kept in the boxes and away from light. I've argued that ink should be kept away from direct light, but indirect light was not harmful. Most FPNers state that ink will break down when exposed to heat. My experience was somewhat different, I had ink in a caboose without air conditioning or heat for more than a decade and didn't find any problems. So, here was the test, I took several liquid ink samples, I put them in my office window for more than 7 months (March-October) in the direct sun during the Las Vegas summer. The hottest day on record was this summer at a whopping 117. I chose some inks known to be fade resistant and others known to be faders. In prior tests, I found that inks that were diluted or washed were prone to fading or fading faster, so I also included some diluted inks. I also used plastic and glass containers. What this experiment will NOT reveal is the effect of cold on ink. As you may know, in the three decades that I've had ink in the caboose or the months these inks have been in my window, we have had no snow in my area of town. (Other parts of town had a few inches a few years ago.)

We’ve been waiting for a while for this next round to start, but hopefully I can make up for it by saying that there are twice as many inks in this round? If not, then I don’t know what I can do for you. Without further preamble, let’s meet our latest batch of inks! In case you are viewing this on a small screen, here is a typed list of those inks: Left page Lamy CoralNoodler’s BSiAR (version #3)Sailor Jentle EpinardPrivate Reserve Gray FlannelJ. Herbin Ambre de BimanieDe Atramentis Black Ed.-BlueNoodler’s Air Corps Blue-BlackSailor Sei BokuMont Blanc Permanent GrayPilot Juice Black, Blue-Black, Blue, Grape, Light Blue, Green, Apple Green, Apricot Orange, Orange, Red, Coral Pink, and Baby PinkPlatinum Carbon BlackPilot FrixionDiamine Ancient CopperNoodler’s Kiowa PecanRohrer and Klingner SepiaSailor Kiwa GuroJ. Herbin Rouge Hematite, Bleu Ocean, and Stormy GreyRight page Noodler’s Heart of DarknessPrivate Reserve AvacadoMaruzen Athena SepiaIroshizuku Tsuki-yoKaweco Summer PurpleNoodler’s Apache SunsetKaweco Royal BlueRohrer and Klingner HelianthusIroshizuku Shin-RyokuNoodler’s BSiAR (version #1)J. Herbin Poussiere de LunePelikan VioletPilot BluePilot G2 BluePilot G2 GreenPilot G2 OrangePilot G2 PinkIroshizuku Murasaki-ShikibuPilot Blue-BlackI am excited about all of these inks. There’s a fair number of “conventional” inks, there’s some that claim to be all but invincible to the elements and time, and there’s some non-fountain pen inks that are quite popular in other circles as well. As usual, I will be doing three tests, plus the control: one sheet is hanging on my fridge, where it gets plenty of diffuse natural and artificial light during the day. One sheet is hanging in the window, though this is no longer a south facing window so it will not be getting as much direct sunlight as the pages did in my last apartment. And one sheet got a thorough soak, so let’s take a look at that: Left page: More than half the inks on this page haven’t been reviewed yet, so there was a good element of surprise here. The inks that claim to be waterproof (Pilot Juice, the pigmented ones, MB Permanent Gray) all performed very well and you would never know that they got wet in the first place. I was surprised by how waterproof the Pilot Frixion is, as I had no idea how it would behave (I also have no idea why I though it was 2012 when I wrote that line…). The Noodler’s inks are all partially water resistant and it shows, but they are all still readable to some degree. The Lamy Coral, PR Gray Flannel, JH Ambre, Rouge Hematite, and Bleu Ocean, and Diamine Copper all washed away nearly completely. R&K Sepia and J. Herbin Stormy Grey were surprisingly water resistant, which is nice. Right page: Most of these inks have been reviewed before, so not many surprises here. A lot of these inks are not touted to be water resistant and yet put up a good fight, like the three Iroshizuku inks that are still decipherable and the two standard Pilot inks that are pretty much unmoved. I’m still disappointed to see the G2 completely wash away, but at least now I know that the Juice is a suitable replacement with a bit more longevity. That’s what I have for now. I’ll check back in a month on the fade testing, and I’m quite interested to see how those bright Pilot Juice colors hold up to UV exposure… These inks were either purchased with my own money or provided for the purpose of review and I am not being compensated for this in any way. All opinions above are my own and you are free to disagree if you like.

Howdy! I have been posting the results of my second round of ink testing as an ongoing project, but I just hit the six month mark on my first round and I figured that I would post the results as kind of an overview without the along-the-way commentary. Because, science. :-P Here is the setup for the first test (same as for the second one), followed by the control sheet and the water test: After one month: Two months: (control on left, ambient indoor on right) (Control on left, sunlight on right) Three months: (Control on left, ambient indoor on right. At this point I decided that there wasn't much happening here so I retired the ambient indoor light test.) (Control on left, sunlight on right) Four and a half months: (Control on left, sunlight on right) Six months: (Control on left, sunlight on right) At this point I am planning to do another check towards the end of December since I will be moving and so the test might end around the 8 month mark. I am also filling a sheet or two for my third round to start in January and I would love suggestions on inks that I haven't tried yet. I'm open to non-FPs as well, so if you have other types of pens you want to see tested, let me know! :-)

The 2013 Fade Olympics are mostly underway. The complete list of inks have not been typed, nor has a color list. Nevertheless, I thought I'd suggest that we start hypothesizing about what inks we think will do the best and perhaps the worst. To make it interesting, I'll give special gifts to the best guessers. The rules: While an ink can be classified in more than one color category, it cannot win in more than one color category. For example, Dragon's Napalm might be considered Orange, Orange Red, Pink, Brown. DN is a known fader so it can't win in resistance, but if it could, it could only win in one category. You can only use an ink that is posted in the 2013 Olympics. The only additional inks you can use are the Organics Studio inks that are being added. The OS inks have not yet been added to the posted "Test Subjects". The color categories are modified from what I included in post 6 which used this color wheel: http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/color_wheel.jpg Instead we will use the following categories Black Gray (or Grey) Tinted Black (This is any color which has "Black" like "blue-black" or "red-black"). Browns and Sepias Dark Blues (including excluding those named "blue-black). Light Blues (Any color you could use in a highlighter). Blues (All the medium and bright blues, including BSB and Midway) Turquoise (Any ink named Turquoise or Blue-Green) Purples and Violets (This would include Blue-Violet, Violet and Red Violet from the color wheel). Red (Not Burgundy or Pink) (Red and Orange Red on the above color wheel). Burgundy or Dark Reds Pink Orange (includes Orange and Orange Yellow from the color wheel). Green (includes Green and Yellow-Green from the color wheel, or any color GeoDuc describes as muddy green). Yellow Other Strange and Cool Stuff (Invisible ink, highlighters or color not included above).I will be the final decision maker, but may choose an Olympic Committee to help choose. OC members will not be eligible to "win" but will receive other accolades.