Pilot Varsity Inks

[flatline]

Are the inks in the Pilot Varsity "disposable" fountain pens the same inks that I see for sale in bottles in jetpens?

 

If so, does anyone know which inks are used in the black, blue, and purple Varsity pens?

 

Thanks!

 

--flatline

[doggonecarl]

The only color ink I have used in my Varsities has been the black, and as far as I can tell, it's the same as the bottled Pilot black.

[Elizabeth in NJ]

I don't know anything for sure, but blue Varsity ink seems a lot bolder/darker than Pilot Blue cartridge ink.

 

(I assume cartridge is the same as bottled)

[swanjun]

I have wondered about this, too. Especially 'cos the ink in the pink and turquoise Varsities is pretty fun.

[inkstainedruth]

I think I remember reading someplace on here that they're not the same. Which is too bad -- I really liked the color of the ink in the Blue Varsity I had.

The pen itself OTOH -- weellll, not so much Worked great as a pen for my journal for three days, then apparently just up and died; at some point I will watch the video on turning Varsities into refillable eyedropper pens, then take the thing apart and see if it really did just run out of ink after just nine pages of A5 paper over the course of three days. I think the purple one lasted a bit longer but I babied it a bit more (and of course I don't know how long the blue one had been sitting around in the store not in a blister pack...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[fncll]

OT: my Pilot Varsity EDs never dry out and seemingly will never run dry. I kind of wish they would run out of ink sometimes, but they live in my desk and backpack for months at a time...

[dcwaites]

I think the ink is the same as Pilot uses in their Rollerballs and Felt Tip pens. It seems to be gloopier* than normal ink. It seems to take much longer (up to a decade) to dry out in a pen, compared to months with normal ink.

 

 

 

*Technical term.

[flatline]

I'm trying to get my bearings with regards to inks. The black and blue Pilot varsity inks seem very nice on the paper that I've using and so I was hoping to use them as a reference point with other inks. Unfortunately, if I can't get them in a bottle, then I can't really use them in other pens, which makes it difficult to do apples to apples ink comparisons.

 

--flatline

[amberleadavis]

Well, I just pulled out two of my varsity pens. The Namiki Blue is actually pilot. Look at my website for larger images.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/2013-07-07_Davis_600-005.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/2013-07-07_Davis_600-001.jpg

[flatline]

Wow! Lots of good stuff on your site.

 

My first real pens should arrive today. I'm going to need to figure out how to document pen+ink combinations before too long...

 

--flatline

[amberleadavis]

Wow! Lots of good stuff on your site.

 

My first real pens should arrive today. I'm going to need to figure out how to document pen+ink combinations before too long...

 

--flatline

 

 

Glad you found it useful!

 

Look at some of the threads for ink journals, you'll find some great ideas.