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(This is a review of 6 fountain pens with two different filling mechanisms inked with R&K iron gall inks and their fitness for travel) I am on a personal quest to find the best travel pen for the R&K Salix and Scabiosa iron gall inks. First of all -- what is a travel pen? For me, a travel pen is a fountain pen that I am comfortable to take with me on an airplane or to put in my backpack and go on a bumpy mountain bike ride without fear of it burping or leaking ink. So far I have found two types of fountain pens that meet my travel pen requirements -- Japanese eye-droppers like Opus 88 and vacuum fillers like TWSBI vac700R, Pilot Custom 823, Asvine V126 or PenBBS 456. Both these types of pen come with a shut-off valve that, when engaged, seals off the section from the barrel minimizing the chances of ink burping or leaking, an important trait for a travel pen. For this review I chose 6 pens -- two Opus 88 (Clear Jazz with Flex EF nib and Clear Demonstrator with a regular EF nib), three TWSBI vac700R variants (regular, Iris and Kyanite, all with EF nibs) and one Asvine V126 also with an EF nib. Before going any further, a few words about the R&K iron gall inks that I used. Both Salix and Scabiosa are dry inks and all 6 pens were suffering from a dry and inconsistent ink flow out of the box (skipping, rail-roading, faint lines). I resolved this ink flow problem with the help of the White Lighting additive from vaness1938. After some trial & error experimentation I settled on adding 1 drop of White Lightning to 5ml of Salix or Scabiosa ink. This procedure resulted in a wet and consistent flow in Opus 88 and TWSBI vac700R pens. Asvine V126 flow improved too but was still not as good as the others. Instead on White Lightening one can use dish washing liquid soap (no idea about the right concentration). I have been running my experiment for about a month and am ready to present my preliminary score card. No pen has come out a perfect travel pen for the Salix or Scabiosa iron gall ink. There are pros and cons for each one of the pens. That said, here is the current leader board. The winner -- Opus 88 Jazz with Flex EF nib. Pros: Construction Quality. The pen is made like a tank with a strong and durable resin. No chance of cracking or breaking under normal use. The stainless-steel nib is the only metal part in the pen reducing chances of corrosion by acidic nature of iron gall inks. The plunger rod is made of firm plastic. No nib corrosion has been observed so far in my experiment. Shut-off valve to seal-off the ink barrel preventing ink from burping or leaking. Huge ink capacity (2.4ml for Jazz and 3.4ml for Clear Demonstrator) Ease of disassembly and cleaning. Eye droppers are designed for ease of unscrewing the section. After all this is how you refill the pen. This is particularly important when using iron gall inks that generally require more frequent cleaning/flushing than the die-based inks. Cons: the cons are more subjective and the readers may disagree: The Opus 88 are bulky. I would prefer a bit thinner body. The Opus 88 EF nibs write well but I slightly prefer the nibs in TWSBI vac700R. It is a little surprising that they write differently because both Opus 88 and vac700R use JoWo #6 (aka #12) nibs. Go figure 🙂 Close Runner Up -- TWSBI vac700R Pros: Great Writing. I like vac700R EF nib better than the similar Opus 88 EF nib. Pen Ergonomics is to my liking (thinner body than Opus 88). Large Ink Capacity of almost 2ml when filled to the brim using Pineider ink well. Shut-off valve to seal-off the ink in the barrel from the section similar to the Opus 88. Good cap design with a o-ring on the base of the section to prevent ink from drying out when the cap is closed. Cons: Construction is good but not as solid as of Opus 88. There are reports over Internet about TWSBI pens cracking problem. I have had three vac700R pens for about a year and none of them cracked yet. The blind cap's threads are plastic in direct contact with the metal threads of the vacuum mechanism. Over time metal threads will damage the plastic ones. Very quickly, after two or three refills with iron gall ink the plunger has become very stiff making vacuum filling mechanism hard to operate. It happened with all three vac700R pens I have been using. Applying silicon oil that comes with TWSBI pens is of little help. After couple of refills the plunger is stiff again. It seems that iron gall ink deposits ferrous oxide on the plunger's rubber gasket, or silicon oil is somehow negatively affected by the acid in the ink. I never had such problems with die or pigment based inks. Following Ron Z's recommendation I applied Molykote 111 silicon grease -- a thick hydrophobic substance that is supposed to be chemically inert. So far it is working better than the TWSBI silicon oil but I need more time to evaluate Molykote 111 effectiveness. This serious issue alone put TWSBI vac700R in the second place. If not for this problem vac700R would be a clear winner. The last place -- Asvine V126. Pros: The price -- at $26 on Amazon it is by far the cheapest Aesthetics of Pilot Custom 823 that Asvine V126 copied. Cons: Stiff EF nib. I do not like how it writes. Poor construction quality. The Shut-off valve does not seal properly. The pen leaked ink into the cap while on the airplane. I will be continuing my experiments and hope to provide an update in a month.

Gutenberg Urkundentinte G10 schwarz (iron gall) This ink is made by Gutenberg GmbH (Läufer & Gutenberg). They make four other aniline inks. According to google translate, Urkunden means certificate, and tinte, ink, so Gutenberg is a certificate ink. It is waterproof. It reminds me of home-made iron gall inks. It is watery, lacks lubrication and will not work in all pens. My EF experience was unreadable. However, I can always blame it on the pen. It’s a brown black. It’s not an easy ink to buy for people outside Europe. But not impossible. I recommend it only to iron gall aficionados, dry ink lovers, or those who like inks that reminds them of leathers, cigar and might as a well a drop of whisky (whiskey or bourbon) · Pens used: Unic wet Noodle vintage flex, Conway Stewart 330, Oblique, Pilot Metro Fine, Sheaffer Calligraphy medium wide, Generic Chinese EF and stub. · Shading: Yes · Ghosting: None · Bleed through: None. · Flow Rate: alright · Lubrication: Absent · Nib Dry-out: Nope. · Start-up: No problem. · Saturation: Unsaturated · Shading Potential: Yes. · Sheen: Unless you poor a drop. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: None · Staining (pen): Nope. Easy to clean… · Clogging: Nope · Water resistance: Waterproof · Availability: Only in bottle 30 ml and I believe 1100 ml. Only place worldwide soldan.de. However, buying is not straight forward. You buy one. They send you an invoice for bank transfer. You tell them it costs a lot. They send you to a different department. They give you a PayPal address. You send them money. And then they send. And you need a German translator. For Europeans it’s easiest. The US also have more options. However, their service is topnotch. My first bottle was corrupted. They replaced it immediately. Bottle: Written sample on TR 68 gr This is an earlier writing sample: Note EF is not legible. The stub, might been affected by salix. While I rinsed and clean the pen the trace inks seem to have affected the ink. Written samples on cheap Hilroy notebook Back: no ghosting on this paper Chroma (disclaimer) my first bottle had gone slightly off. This is the chroma of the first bottle... I didn't bother with the new bottle. High resolution scan of a drop on Hammermill paper I don't have anything in that range: Sketch done with a fine pilot metro: And a whimsical one...

Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten #10 lapis https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/220349-akkerman-ijzer-galnoten-blzw/ Chesterfield [no longer available] Archival Vault fibredrunk https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/178914-chesterfield-archival-vault-ink-review/ Diamine Registrars politovski 2 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/260738-diamine-registrars-ink/DanielCoffey 2 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/250802-diamine-registrars-ink-high-flow/politovski https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/241410-diamine-registrars-blue-black/Mafia Geek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/232072-diamine-registrars-blue-black-written-review/DanielCoffey https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/219909-diamine-registrars-ink/dizzypen https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/203891-diamine-registrars-blue/Old Codger https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/109472-diamine-registrars-ink/dcwaites https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/138102-diamine-registrars-ink/dandelion https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/142915-diamines-registrars-ink/carpedavid https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/166955-diamine-registrars-ink/visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/293820-diamine-registars-ink/mhphoto https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/288715-diamine-registrars-ink-blueblacka-handwritten-review/bokaba https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/351635-diamine-registrars/ ESSRI SketchHood https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/247269-essri-brief-written-review/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/205705-ecclesiastical-stationery-supplies-registrars-ink/visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/312769-ecclesiastical-stationery-supplies-registrars-ink/ Gutenberg Gutenberg Urkundentinte G10 schwarz (As of 18 May 2020 not yet reviewed here) Hero 232 kl122022 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/317200-hero-232-ink-review-with-hero-303-fp/visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321099-hero-232-blue-black-ink/ KWZ Blue #1 Tas https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313856-ink-rambling-kwz-ig-blue-1/Blue #2 dave321 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/331713-kwz-ig-blue-2/Blue #4 namrehsnoom https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329478-kwzi-ig-blue-4/Blue #5 xty https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/303185-kwz-iron-gall-blue-5/Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/307987-kwzi-iron-gall-blue-5/Blue #6 KyleKatarn https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/303976-kwzi-ig-blue-6/Green #1 crahptacular https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327319-kwz-ink-ig-green-1/Green #2 lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327463-kwz-ink-iron-gall-green-2/Green #3 Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313424-kwz-ink-iron-gall-green-3/Green #5 Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313795-kwz-ink-green-5/Gold Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/301919-kwz-ink-iron-gall-ig-gold/Light Aztec Gold Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/316124-kwz-ink-iron-gall-light-aztec-gold/Red #3 Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313797-kwz-ink-iron-gall-red-3/Violet #2 Alexandra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313882-kwz-iron-gall-violet-2/Violet #3 visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/296244-iron-gall-violet-3-kwzi/ Lamy [old formula: no longer available] Blue Black madeyourink https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/248032-lamy-blue-black/Mafia Geek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/228042-lamy-blue-black/Ad_Astra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/225644-lamy-blue-black/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/202183-lamy-blue-black/Owner of a Lonely Heart https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/196836-lamy-blue-black/orange lamy https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/175258-lamy-blue-black-iron-gall/The Noble Savage https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/1544-lamy-document-blue/Goodwhiskers https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/7636-lamy-blue-black/Rasendyll https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/44423-lamy-blue-black-quick-review/kadymae https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/47299-lamy-blue-black-iron-gall/Breck https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/90362-handwritten-review-of-lamy-blue-black/visamitrahttps://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/293585-blue-black-lamy/ Montblanc [old formula: no longer available] Blue-Black (in the 50-ml shoe, was available up to ca. January 2010) Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/208379-montblanc-blue-black/woodworker https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/112449-review-montblanc-blue-black-ink/HenryLouis https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/135371-montblanc-blueblack-ink-review/ Midnight Blue (Blue-black iron gall, 60-ml shoe, January 2010 - September 2013). Note that after that, their Midnight Blue was again reissued in a 60-ml shoe but as a non-iron gall ink. lapis https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/146793-mbs-new-midnight-blue/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/147140-montblanc-midnight-blue/tenurepro https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/231194-montblanc-midnight-blue/Mafia Geek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/232078-mont-blanc-midnight-blue-written-review/ianmedium https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/161512-montblanc-midnight-blue/Owner of a Lonely Heart https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/194847-mont-blanc-midnight-blue/Sandy1 (cartridges) https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/199390-montblanc-midnight-blue-cartridges/ Organics Studio Aristotle visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/283740-aristotle-organics-studio/amberleadavis https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/253087-organics-studios-aristotle-iron-gall-informal-review/ Pelikan 4001 Blue Black bokaba https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/352106-pelikan-4001-blue-black/Hutecker https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/248690-pelikan-blue-black/saskia_madding https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/246533-pelikan-blue-black-discontinued-in-usa/mucephei https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/218728-pelikan-blue-black/Owner of a Lonely Heart https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/194828-pelikan-blue-black/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/192761-pelikan-4001-blue-black/SteadyHand https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/47375-pelikan-blue-black/?pid=481253chuancao https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/63970-pelikan-blueblack/bphollin https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/86277-pelikan-4001-blue-black/chkuo https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/100441-pelikan-blue-black/Ondina https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/137998-pelikan-blue-black/carpedavid https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/168825-pelikan-blue-black/visamitra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/305297-blue-black-pelikan-4001/ Pharmacist [no longer available] Blue Black LostinBrittany https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/217526-pharmacists-iron-gall-ink/gmrza https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/217209-pharmacists-iron-gall-ink/spot https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/216064-pharmacist-iron-gall-ink/Darkening Absynthe MarneM https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/263880-pharmacist-inks/Essensia https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/225773-pharmacists-darkening-absinthe-iron-gall/Jimmy James https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/221735-pharmacists-iron-gall-inks/Oriens Occidens LostInBrittany https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/220579-pharmacists-oriens-occidens-iron-gall-ink/Purpura Imperialis Essenssia https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/225771-pharmacists-purpura-imperialis-iron-gall/Terra Incinerata MarneM https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/263880-pharmacist-inks/youblue9 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/225183-pharmacists-terra-incinerata/Jimmy James https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/221957-pharmacists-iron-gall-inks/Turkish Night MarneM https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/263880-pharmacist-inks/Essenssia https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/225772-pharmacists-turkish-night-iron-gall/Urkundentinte Document Ink jcb0531 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/232174-pharmacists-urkundentinte/sirach https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/230309-pharmacists-urkundentinte/fibredrunk https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/221316-pharmacists-urkundentinte-document-ink-review/ Platinum Blue Black Ad_Astra https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/226398-platinum-blue-black/kadymae https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/202543-platinum-blue-black/girllieg33k https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/41268-platinum-blue-black/bokaba https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/351543-platinum-blue-black-ink/Cassis Black caleb https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/319275-platinum-classic-ink-cassis-black-iron-gall/Citrus julia239 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321486-platinum-classic-ink-citrus-black-iron-gall/Forest Black caleb https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322297-platinum-forest-black-classic-ink-11/Lavender Black julia329 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/320878-platinum-classic-ink-lavender-black-iron-gall/Sepia Black julia329 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321116-platinum-classic-ink-sepia-black-iron-gall/ Rohrer & Klingner Salix politovski https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/260806-rohrer-and-klinger-salix/requiescat https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/251478-rohrer-klingner-salix-handwritten-review/jgrasty https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/233843-rohrer-klingner-salix/mhphoto https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/231152-rohrer-klingner-salix/MafiaGeek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/232086-rohrer-klingner-salix-ink-review/stefanv https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/229498-rohrer-klingner-salix/carpedavid https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/218869-rohrer-and-klingner-salix/Schuttwegraumer https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/5957-rk-salix/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/160998-rohrer-klingner-salix/dandelion https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/162431-rohrer-klingner-salix/CaptainAnnoyed https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/307474-review-rohrer-and-klingner-salix/LizEF https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/353653-efnir-rohrer-klingner-salix/ Scabiosa FP_Ink_Geek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/289324-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa-review/politovski https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/260808-rohrer-and-klinger-scabiosa/amberleadavis https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/252557-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa-informal-review/attika89 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/246625-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa-handwritten-corrected-scans/pictogramax https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/234538-scabiosa/Mafia Geek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/232087-rohrer-klingner-scarbiosa-ink-review/stefanv https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/230273-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/lwtwayne https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/227326-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/josiah https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/225560-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/carpedavid https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/217965-rohrer-and-klingner-scabiosa/dizzypen https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/177072-rohrer-and-klingner-scaboisa/tburke0 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/10314-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/dandelion https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/119488-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/Sandy1 https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/161028-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/chingdamosaic https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/302872-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa-iron-gall-ink/CaptainAnoyed https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/307432-review-rohrer-and-klingner-scabiosa/Lgsoltek https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/287775-rohrer-klingner-scabiosa/ TWSBIBlue Black -- For reference, there is a comprehensive maintained list of Iron Gall inks by Thiago Medeiros.

Hero's Iron Gall ink has quite a reputation here so I thought I would give it a shot. It turns out that it is no longer on Amazon or ebay, but I did manage to find it on a site called ebuy7. I was a little reluctant to place an order, but the checkout was (seemingly) legitimately handed off to Paypal so I didn't have to risk my credit card details and if the ink never arrives I am confident I will be able to claw back the miniscule investment it cost for two bottles. I'll update the thread if and when the bottles arrive. If anyone has a more reliable, potentially reputable, source, please do share... # edit. I found them on aliexpress eventually, but they are a lot more expensive, don't deliver to my part of the world, and that website is such a royal pain in the asset, I refuse to patronise it.

So I went through some old boxes on the weekend and discovered a bottle of Montblanc ink in with papers. No box, just the bottle marked with the little blue dot. I know it was purchased in the early-mid 1990s as the papers it was stored with date it to that period. Expecting it to be royal blue, I inked it up. Goes down blue black. Odd, I thought. Perhaps it is just the effect of the passing years. I certainly don't remember buying a blue black, but perhaps that is why I put it away and forgot about it. Intrigued, I dropped some water on it. Nothing! Rubbing the page dry after 3 minutes and there was some barely perceptible shift around the 'k' in Miwok, otherwise completely colour fast. So this means I have a 3/4 full bottle of the original MB Iron Gall ink?

First of all, let me thank you to Cyber6 for some KWZI samples!!! I saw a few threads about these ink before, but never had the chance to try them until now. I was struggling which one should I try first, so I closed my eyes and picked one. The only other IG ink I've used is the R&K Scabiosa. That ink is pretty dry, but I love it overall. Being dry is not at all true to this #25 Iron Gall Green! http://kepfeltoltes.hu/141119/P1230462_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg http://kepfeltoltes.hu/141119/IMG_0002_hjhg_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg http://kepfeltoltes.hu/141119/IMG_0001___8211__helyre_ll_tva_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg http://kepfeltoltes.hu/141119/626026324IMG_001_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg http://kepfeltoltes.hu/141119/P1230458_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg This is on Canson satin tracing paper. I hope you find this quick informal review useful. Keep an eye on these inks!