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This is my first post. I have been dormant for the last 11 years since signing up to fountainpennetwork in 2010. I bought my Sailor Pro Gear Slim 14k MF yesterday which made me write this post. As soon as I got home I wrote a couple of hand written letters to my cousins in Canada, which if I mail them now will reach them in the next 40 days !! I bought this from Sailor retailer in Hong Kong for a bargain price of US $98. I went to the shop to buy Pelikan M200 which retailed around $140 but couldn't resist the deal of owning a sailor for less than $100. Most pens were at a discounted price compared to other shops I visited here. I also bought sailor Souten ink which I love. Had been contemplating between Iroshizuku Asa Gao and Kon Peki and the Souten sits just in the middle without being too rich or too light. Here are few pictures for fellow pen lovers.

So I was quite content with my six blues: Ama Iro, Kon Peki, Tsuyu Kusa, Asa Gao, Myosotis, Ajisai. I mean how could one fit more and tell them apart? Already Ama iro and Kon Peki could look too close for comfort in certain pens... But oh I had to keep reading FPN, didn't I? So while I was looking for other stuff online I sort of accidentally got Callifolio's Equinoxe 6 and Sailor's Souten, half expecting them to be close to what I already had. It's at night and I can only take a photo using my phone under a yellowish led lamp... But I think I may have scored, i.e gotten two good looking and different blues... Equinoxe 6 was a particularly crazy purchase, since it looks different on various online reviews. Also, notice how different Ama iro looks when coming out of a Muji F, after it's been there for a few days, and a freshly inked Waterman Lauréat... That's part of a salvage operation for another Laureat, so I'm not sure if this pen is going to explode, but as much as I like Ama Iro on a Muji, I'm not getting its true colour as on the right in this shot.

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ0110.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ0109.jpg Written review on Rhodia dotpad #16 http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ0103-Edit.jpg Desiderata Mercury Flex Pen, Zebra G nib, OCM Pure Cotton Paper http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ0111.jpg Sakura Koi Water Brush, Strathmore Watercolor Paper http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ0113.jpg Souten is my newest ink purchase. I bought it because I lack a blue light enough to use in pointed pen calligraphy that still reads blue when a lot of ink is laid down. This one does, and it works really well for this purpose. As an ink for everyday writing, I'm not quite so impressed. Like most Sailor inks I've tried, Souten is on the wet side. It's not extremely lubricating, though, and I find my pens write with a bit more feedback than I'd prefer. One area where Souten really shines is dry time. I did the test three times just to make sure. This ink dries on non-absorbent papers like Rhodia in under 5 seconds! For comparison (sorry, I don't have access to any comparable blue hues at the moment), Herbin's Bleu Nuit dried in 12 seconds (very respectable) and Shin-kai dried in 16 seconds (average). Reasonable care was taken to ensure color accuracy, etc.

I've been meaning to do this for a while, I've been trying to find a home for Sailor's Souten, it flows nicely on particularly wet Platinum Cool with a medium nib, but it looks really dark and I've been thinking I was missing some of this ink's nuance; the same had happened before with Asa Gao. I transferred it to a Faber Castell Ambition in extra fine, it seems to be looking more like its true self. Here's a comparison with similar inks, Tsuyu Kusa and Kon Peki. Équinoxe 6 would have been nice too but it's currently orphaned. This is the opposite of what happened to Tusyu Kusa, which came into its own with a wetter nib. I pressed slightly on its Pro Gear's tines to make it wetter, as well as on the Ambition, which is writing less fine than when I got it, which is better for my hand writing. All this will be blindingly obvious to those more experienced, I am still amazed and sometimes taken aback by these dramatic changes. I'll have to think which other ink would benefit from the Platinum's properties, maybe one of the lighter inks?

Here's a quick comparison of five blues: Sailor Souten, Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa, Kon Peki, Ama Iro, Callifolio Equinoxe 6. Tsuyu Kusa is my one true blue. Kon Peki at first disappointed me, but I now really like it, it looks spectacular coming out of a pearwood Ambition. Ama Iro and Kon Peki are spectacular but look very different according to the pen, nib, how many days ago it was inked... I'm not sure if I want to try on another pen, maybe one that evaporates less like an m400, for Ama Iro. Equinoxe 6 and Souten were spur of the moment things, after having seen them for a while online, and so a risky purchase, as they could look too close to the others. To my eye they are easy to distinguish, in terms of more green going from Tusyu Kusa to Souten to Kon peki to Equinoxe 6 to Ama Iro.

In the prior iteration in 2014 I think, Sailor replaced the then current eight ink of the Four Seasons line with a new set of eight inks. Souten is one of those inks, along with Tokiwa-matsu, Miruai, Oky-yama, Doyou, Nioi-sumire, Shigure, Yama-dori. In October 2016 Sailor is adding eight more inks to this line. So far as we know, Souten is not a limited edition ink and will continue to be available. I originally avoided buying this ink as I thought it would be too light, or too bright, or too turquoise. But that is not the case, it's a reasonable blue, not dark, but not light either. About the same value as KWZ Azure #4, though not the same color. Typically wet like nearly all Sailor inks. The images here The usual papers: Mohawk via Linen=MvL, Tomoe River=TR, Hammermill 28 lb inkjet=Hij. I had a somewhat difficult time adjusting the color as brightening the images tended to lighten the ink too much. So I think it appears lighter in this images than in reality on the page. Actually a bit more water resistant than I would have thought. One dye used in its making.

I happened to have these three similar coloured inks so I did a quick comparison showing you some writing samples, sheen shots, and colour density. I hope it is helpful. My conclusion: 1. Sky High and Souten are very similar in regular writing, but I can see more reddish dye in Sky High which shows up as more sheen. 2. Sky High and Souten flows from the nib just about the same. 3. Kon-Peki is slightly greener than the other two, leaning more cerulean in colour. Difference is noticeable in regular writing. 4. Kon-Peki feels more fluid/watery coming out of the nib. As it is an Iroshizuku ink, known for their extraordinary flow characteristics, I consider it in line with other Iro inks in the great flow. This doesn't mean the two sailor inks (Sky High and Souten) are less flowy, they are well lubricated and has good flow but it's just that Kon-peki has more watery flow. Now on to the photos: Writing sample shows Kon-peki is lighter and slightly greener in colour. Writing sample from a different angle. Painted with watercolour brush, thin lines, thick lines, and words with flexy nib. 2 drops of ink from syringe spread out with blunt needle to roughly 2.5cm (1 inch) diameter. Words are in Noodler's Bulletproof Black. Photo is taken straight on. Same as above, but photo is taken from shallower angle to enhance the appearance of sheen.

Hi All, It's been a long time since I have done an ink review. You can see an image of my ink test below, although I just noticed I forgot to wet the water test >.< Anyway, fantastic little ink, my first Sailor Ink! If you want to read my complete review, you can here: http://goo.gl/0EJjTa

Here is a quick review of Sailor Souten. I mainly wanted to show off its lovely sheen that I have been greatly enjoying on Tomoe River paper. So far I have had great behavior with this ink in each pen, nib, and paper combo I have tired. However, to get the fantastic sheen you really need Tomoe River to do it full justice!