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Somehow I did it again and managed to buy too many Royal Blue inks. It's far from my favourite blue hue but nevertheless useful in broad nibs. In any case, it gave me the opportunity to compare them. The first picture is of what I wrote on a scrap of Lalo 100g paper. It's not a great picture but you can probably see that there's not much difference between Montblanc, Pelikan 4001 and Faber-Castell Königsblau. Pilot Blue, which was added for comparison, is similar but yet slightly more blue (apologies for the tautology but I can't put it otherwise). Also note that the unlabelled cotton swab at the bottom is Pilot Blue. Then I folded the paper, so that only the right part remained visible and left it exposed to the spring sun for a month. The second photograph shows the deterioration of all inks but especially of Montblanc Royal Blue and, surprisingly, Pilot Blue. Pelikan and its presumed sibling Faber-Castell fared slightly better. Finally, I put a wet finger across the paper and then blotted it with a tissue. All inks but Pilot Blue were affected. Bottom line: everything as expected, although I thought that Pilot Blue was more UV resistant.

HELLO FPN MEMBERS I am a Delhi based research student who has just entered in the world of fountain pens. I purchased two fountain pens Pilot Metropolitan and Jinhao X750 from Ravi’s Pens point very recently after my disappointment with Camlin Trinity (its ink flow turned out to be terrible). I have decided I won’t upgrade to Lamy or TWSBI now. I know you guys might get be getting this a lot to the extent it might sound little banal but I am looking for budget fountain pens under 1000 INR (15 dollars). I am thinking to buy a platinum preppy soon but I really want to try some Indian fountain pens and will be glad to get some recommendations especially that are decent writers for long writing sessions. I prefer my Jinhao over my Metropolitan so I think I have a preference for a medium nib. Also I have realized, a paper has a considerable impact on the performance of a fountain pen. After the recommendation by Ravi, I tried locating JK cedar 100gsm in North Delhi only to end my search in dismay (couldn’t find it anywhere in stationaries but I have not tried Nayi Sadak). The price offered by Amazon for Cedar is more than 400 INR (including delivery charges). I am looking for budget decent performing notebooks or sheets for note-making and daily writing that are good alternatives to Cedar. Other issue I am facing is drying of ink in my Metropolitan. I used Ravi’s (pen point South ex) Ink with my Metropolitan but I have realized I have to shake it repeatedly otherwise it stops writing and it also dries quickly. I can’t write and read simultaneously with metropolitan’s cap dismounted. Although I didn’t face the same problem when I used Pelikan 4001 with Jinhao and the uncapped Jinhao performs decently even after I don’t put back the pen cap quickly. I think it is the drying problem of the ink and not the pen. I have used Camlin royal blue ink and found it a decent performing ink. What are other decent budget inks that don’t get dry quickly? Any insights on the above issues would be appreciated.

so I just bought a new metro my first pen above 10$ and I wanted a Ink that is somewhat water resistant since noodler's cost about twice the pen here where I live I used cheap Indian fountain pens couple of wality 69T and camlin 47 series the nib on pilot was perfect it was sharp and hint of feedback like pencil but here's what my bad luck did for me pen doesn't hold much Ink maybe I don't know how to fill it but it only writes about 3 pages ( A4 size simple copy paper ) and I put the pen away for 3 days after I start to write it has such a saturated line almost seems black on paper but after half a page it gets significantly lighter in color more of pastle blue with a hint of black TL,DR - help me with Ink saturation problem , I want consistent Ink saturation , and refilling pilot cartridges with Ink via syringe is a good idea or not ? wouldn't barrle get loose where it attaches with cartridge get loose after long usage ?

Pendemonium announced in last night's Midnight Madness newsletter that they have 57 bottles of the discontinued Pelikan 4001 Blue Black ink for sale. $15./bottle for first bottle, $13./bottle for 2 or more bottles. If you recall, this iron gall ink was suddenly taken off the market in the States when US banned iron gall ink production for "health" reasons. It's an excellent blue black ink and rarely comes on the market. I hope all members who want some will be able to get a bottle. Available from Sam and Frank at Pendemonium.com Mary

I think I've been using Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue for 99% of the time I write with fountain pens. It's cheap here, easily available for a long time and I like it. But I'm in the mood recently for some black ink as well. I've seen that Noodler's Heart of Darksness and Bulletproof are highly praised here as being the blackest of them all, but I can't find it locally and ordering it would cost me five times more than my regular Pelikan ink. I don't think it's simply worth it, with that money I can buy a new pen (or save for a really nice one). However, at a shop near me, I've found Pelikan 4001 black and Parker Quink black. How are these two compare to each other, in term of darkest black, watery feeling and so on? I could buy them both, but I'm afraid that that I would have too much black ink lying around(1), since I use it quite rarely anyway. So what are your thoughts regarding these two models? Parker is a bit more expensive, but not much. They also have Lamy and Faber-Castell cartridges with black ink, if they are worth it, I can buy a bunch and use them (after extracting the ink with a syringe, if it's worth the trouble, meaning if they are blacker). (1) Also, since I'm a n00b, how long can you keep a bottle of ink before it spoils? It's probably years, but I remember seeing some thick deposits on some no-name ink that I've forgot about in a closet for like 10 years or so. Was it because it was a cheap one, or it's normal for old inks to develop deposits on the bottom of the bottle?

I've had a few pens which were too wet. And I also recently received a new pen which cost many hundreds of dollars but was about to be sent back for writing both too wet and uneven wetness. In the past year I've tried several so called drier inks with little or no change. But recently three knowlegeable FPN'ers recommended Pelikan 4001. I filled a too wet pen with it and was very pleased. The pen wrote "just right". Then I filled another with the same benefit. Lastly, I filled the pen that was about to be returned. It too is now "just right" and it writes a bit finer, which I like. It's also nice that this ink is widely viewed as safe, and is easy to find and inexpensive. And, being on the dry side, it doesn't bleed as much on cheap paper as most inks. There is a lot to like here. Alan

Pelikan 4001 Brillant Grün /Brilliant Green Dear FPN friends. Since I have various Pelikan 4001 inks who I like I will do reviews on them. The pelikan inks are classics and classy. Classy in quality but not in price. only €3,19 approx.$ 4.- for a quality ink this is a bargain. The Inks are dry which makes htem suitable for gusher pens. They are also very safe for old Fountain Pens. No wonder it was developed in the golden age of Fountain Pens. The ink matures very well as I have proofed in topic Battle of the Blue Kings in which I compared a nineteen year old bottle with a brand new one. (You can find this topic under both Ink Comparisons and Ink reviews.) Warning though it is dry,it takes some time to dry with an 1,5 italic nib. That's no wonder because the Lamy Joy is known for having severe Vomitus, the Llatin word doctors use for the forceful expulsion ofthe contents of ones stomach Saturation and darkness depends on the type of Nib you use. But the broader the nib, the higher the saturation I love this like I do my Pelikan M800. I will getting some more Pelikans and become an ornithologist I love birds my favourite one is the Pelikan (oh yeah and ducks too fried in the pan with cranberries) Down here are some of the technical specs (as suggested by Ann Finley 2007) points 1-5 1 = 5= Fountain Pens:Online best writer 0.8 italic: Lamy Joy 1,5 Italic Paper: Leonardo Ringbuch,average quality school note book made in Austria Drying time: Approx. 5 seconds with 0.8 nib or 20 seconds with 1,5 italic nib points 5/3 Flow: points: 5 Lubrication:dry but good points: 4 Bleeding: quite some on the average quality paper I used points: 3 Shading: superb in 1.5 italic points: 5 Waterproof: Still very legible after using a swab points: 4 Package: In nice classic bottles and cartridges points: 3-4 Availabilty: It is also available on Mars, just ask your Martian stationary store Quality: Well it's from germany so what do you guess points: 5 It really is a brilliant refreshng green. Excellent for junping out words in a normal text. One must love it especially for this kind of money Kindest Regards Peter Vlutters

I mixed Pelikan BB and Pelikan Brilliant red to get a dark red color ink. But the nib is stained with a somewhat shiny green. It looks nice when seen from far but here is a close up picture. Any thoughts on this? The ink is very wet to write with (compared to the bb) but does not bleed through the cheap paper I'm using. cheers

Pelikan 4001 Violett / Violet Dear FPN friends. Well and again another Pelikan 4001 revie . It is the first full review that I have posted using my new method in order to present the true colours and all the brilliance of the ink. If you are curious to this method check the link to the article on how to depict the colours realistically. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266271-presenting-your-ink-with-realistic-colours-counter-the-differences-between-paper-and-monitor/ Message for Mr Tas from London... I used the techniques and took the photo in indirect daylight. I live in a village so I do not own the greycard yet. And I thought photographing the hair of an elderly person is not so efffective (more like 80% grey ) This time the Violet And this too is classy in quality but not in price. only €3,19 approx.$ 4.- for a quality ink this is a bargain. The 4001 Inks are dry which makes them suitable for gusher pens. They are also very safe for old Fountain Pens. No wonder it was developed in the golden age of Fountain Pens. The ink matures very well as I have proofed in topic Battle of the Blue Kings in which I compared a nineteen year old bottle with a brand new one. If you want to have a look at Blues click the link. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/264220-pelikanss-royal-battle-battle-of-the-blue-kings/ Well... if you are more into green inks.. down here is the link to the Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Green review https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266092-pelikan-4001-brilliant-green/ Warning though it is dry,it takes some time to dry with an 1,5 italic nib. That's no wonder because the Lamy Joy is known for having severe Vomitus, the Llatin word doctors use for the forceful expulsion ofthe contents of ones stomach The saduration is good... And for the fans of shading.... It SHAAAADES Just have a look at the detail pictures down here I love this like I do my Pelikan M800 and Brilliant Green too I will getting some more Pelikans and become an ornithologist I am doing a study in Pelikan bird wachin now Down here are some of the technical specs (as suggested by Ann Finley 2007) They are actually quite the same as in the Brilliant Green ink points 1-5 1 = 5= Fountain Pens:Online best writer 0.8 italic: Lamy Joy 1,5 Italic Paper: Leonardo Ringbuch,average quality school note book made in Austria Drying time: Approx. 5 seconds with 0.8 nib or 20 seconds with 1,5 italic nib points 5/3 Flow: points: 5 Lubrication:dry but good points: 4 Bleeding: quite some on the average quality paper I used points: 3 Shading: superb in 1.5 italic points: 5 Waterproof: Still very legible after using a swab points: 4 Package: In nice classic bottles and cartridges points: 3-4 Availabilty: It is also available on Mars, just ask your Martian stationary store. I have checked also on Pluto though Martians are hard to find there Quality: Well it's from germany so what do you guess points: 5 It is a very nice Violet. I first thought it was too feminin. But hello when the Byzantine empires wrote with purple inks,,,, Why can't I, the Emperor of Bollogs and King of Rubbish, write with it Hope this was joyful Kindest Regards Peter Vlutters p.s. I have added some high res photo from Photbucket. I am using this since yesterday and don't exactly how it works.... Hope they are at the bottom of this review <iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/Morbus_Curiositas/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

I have often commented about black inks in general but though it was time for a little comparison of the ones I actually own. Also, I've started using the Pelikan 4001 again and still quite enjoy it, I'm ashamed to say. However, the recent post on here about Aurora v Pelikan made me try the Aurora one out and I'm impressed. Along with the Aurora Blue, their Black is great in my Moleskines - I use F or EF/XF nibs generally - and they both make a nice change from my customary use of 'The Master' - Pelikan 4001 Blue Black. So here are my inks. All written on my usual Rhodia 80gsm pad using Lamy Safari pens, dipped, amd M nibs. The following soak tests are on the usual pads of (probably) 80 or 90gsm paper but the quality isn't very good. The 'wet' ones were soaked for 30 minutes or so and then given a final rinse before drying. I'm impressed with the Aurora and always knew that the Pelikan was going to be OK. Skrip has a good outcome too and the Namiki is pretty well-known for this quality. Lastly no real surprises from the Waterman and Parker. I shall await any comments with interest!