Sky High Vs. Souten Vs. Kon-Peki

[SujiCorp12345]

Those are all lovely colours. I have Kon-peki and Sky High. When I heard that Sailor was discontinuing Sky High, I panicked and bought 4 or 5 bottles. That should certainly last me a while...

[inkstainedruth]

Agree - Sailor really are exceptional inks. I love Sky High; Souten doesn't have quite the same pizzaz, although it is still a great ink. My very favourite Sailor-made inks are BungBox Sweet Potato Purple and Writing Lab Vintage Denim.

OOH.... What does the Writing Lab Vintage Denim look like? It sound really interesting (I'm imagining a faded soft blue with shading, or maybe an indigo that really IS indigo...).

As for the Sky High vs. Souten debate, thanks to SNAK for the scans. Appears that Souten is close but not *quite* the same as Sky High.... I have a sample of Souten but haven't had a chance to try it yet. And it ALSO appears that I'm going to have to ration my bottle of Sky High....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[SNAK]

I was curious and wanted to do the chroma comparison so I did some reading and came across this article by Richard Binder:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/misc/chroma.htm

 

The way he tells you to do the chromatography test is as follows (from the link above):

 

To perform your own paper chromatography, lay a fresh paper towel on a nonabsorbent surface. (A sheet of clean glass is ideal, but a truly clean cookie sheet will also work well.) Put a drop of ink on the paper towel and add five drops of plain water, dropping each one as near to the center of the blot as you can manage. The liquid will spread out as it bleeds through the paper, and the various dyes that were used to make up the color will spread at different rates. Let the blot dry, and see what you get. To get the most uniform blots, use cheap single-layer paper towels; quilted double-layer towels will produce blots that look more like plots of the Mandelbrot set in mathematics, with irregular shapes and uneven color spread.

 

I felt like I could do that, so I did. Here are the results, just to add to the data point and to satisfy my curiosity. Again I find the result of Sky High and Souten nearly identical.

 

Top to bottom: Sky High, Souten, Kon-peki

Some other blue inks I had handy. Top to bottom: Noodler's Blue Eel, Pilot(Namiki) Blue, Diamine Asa Blue

All six together. Left side: Sky High, Souten, Kon-peki. Right side: Noodler's Blue Eel, Pilot(Namiki) Blue, Diamine Asa Blue

I like how Pilot Blue looks! That is really cool.

Edited April 17, 2015 by SNAK

[tinkerteacher]

Thanks for your exhaustive comparison review SNAK. Fascinating.

 

If I could ask for just one more test ...

 

What difference is there between them in how hard they are to clean out of a pen, and to clean up in general?

 

As that's something I'd noticed with other Sailor inks. The greater the sheen, the bigger the cleanup. Mayhaps the reason Sailor reduced the sheen.

Edited April 18, 2015 by tinkerteacher

[SNAK]

Teacher, thanks for your kind comment. As for the test for ease of cleaning out of pens, I wonder what would be the best method to test that, to eliminate as much human error and variance in order to get reliable result.

 

Just anecdotally, I feel that Kon-peki is easier to wash out of the pen than Sky High/Souten but I use different pens and filling systems for different inks so I can't compare them directly. For example I have a dedicated vintage MB144 for Sky High, which is a piston filler that I can't open up, which I don't really flush out completely because I will be refilling with the same ink anyway. But for Kon-peki and Souten I tend to put them in Pelikan or TWSBI or any of my vintage lever filler pens. So to test the cleaning of the pen, I need to have exact same pen x3 and use the exact same amount of water for the exact same length of time with exact same ... everything. You get the picture.

 

If you have a method I could use to test, I would like to hear about it, so I could give it a try (if it is within my capacity to do it).

[tinkerteacher]

Yes, it would be hard to make a totally non-subjective unbaised test for wouldn't it? You'd have to do as you said, or increase the sample set of unbaised testers.

 

Unless ... one had an inordinately large pen and ink collection, access to lab equipment, and far too much time on their hands.

 

I was thinking of something a whole lot less scientific, more seat of the pants. But, with two inks so similar, the results would be similarly similar.

[lapis]

Thanks for the nice comparison! One more reason to own all three....

 

Mike

[amberleadavis]

Terrific and informative! Thanks!

[jasonchickerson]

This is really fantastic. Thanks!

[SNAK]

I am glad the comparison of the three inks are useful for you.

 

I have been looking through my junk box and have noticed that there are a handful of Jinhao X750 pens and Noodler's Ahab pens lying around, so I could use them to compare how the inks clean out of the pen. But I still haven't come up with a good idea as to the method of doing a very accurate comparison of the clean-up-ability of these inks.

 

I can leave the inks in the pens for 10 days for example, let it dry out by leaving the cap off or something, then do a given number of converter fills or in Ahab's case, internal piston fills of water, to determine how easily each ink will flush out of each pen? I can do that easily but I am not sure if it is scientific enough an experiment to worth doing.

 

I have the pens for testing and inks as well, but I don't have a good scientific method to test/compare how easy (or not) the three inks are to clean out of pens. If anyone has a great test method for this, I would love to hear about it! Also are there any other aspect of the three inks anyone wants me to compare? If I am able to do it, I will be happy to try it.

Edited April 22, 2015 by SNAK

[amberleadavis]

The whole method you are describing is cool.

[Tessy Moon]

I have Souten and enjoy it. That Sky High sheen! Oh my! That is glorious!!!!!

[Diderot]

Thank you for the review.

I particularly like the angled photos as they add a slightly different perspective.

Have Kon Peki, but now might also get Souten.

 

[ludicrouslyidiotic]

I think reproducing Sky High might be possible if you allowed Souten to evaporate a little in order to increase saturation.

[Tessy Moon]

I think reproducing Sky High might be possible if you allowed Souten to evaporate a little in order to increase saturation.

 

Interesting idea! I might try that with a small vial amount.....

[Algester]

OOH.... What does the Writing Lab Vintage Denim look like? It sound really interesting (I'm imagining a faded soft blue with shading, or maybe an indigo that really IS indigo...).

As for the Sky High vs. Souten debate, thanks to SNAK for the scans. Appears that Souten is close but not *quite* the same as Sky High.... I have a sample of Souten but haven't had a chance to try it yet. And it ALSO appears that I'm going to have to ration my bottle of Sky High....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I thought you have visited the Sailor ink super thread...

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/272272-sailors-full-ink-lines-including-shop-exclusives-compiled-in-a-post/?p=3088230

vintage denim is bit down below

[arcadeflow]

Are these colors similar to Diamine's Asa Blue? I kind of hated Asa Blue, but I want a readable light blue shade. I have Diamine Mediterranean Blue which I like, but I was looking for something more readable and with better behavior.

[mhosea]

Are these colors similar to Diamine's Asa Blue? I kind of hated Asa Blue, but I want a readable light blue shade. I have Diamine Mediterranean Blue which I like, but I was looking for something more readable and with better behavior.

You may find this helpful. Souten and Sky High aren't here, but other reviews can connect those to Kon-Peki.

 

https://dizzypen.wordpress.com/2010/08/25/iroshizuku-kon-peki-v-diamine-mediterranean-blue-v-diamine-asa-blue/

[SNAK]

Asa Blue is nice, but I kind of feel like it could use a bit more blue in the component that makes it up, for me anyway.

 

So when you compare it to Souten/Sky High and Konpeki, I think it is less complex, more one-dementional. Flow is also something you can't see in the writing samples very easily, and with Souten/Sky High Konpeki, their generous flow characteristics is something that adds to the overall writing experience.

[Venator]

Wait, first you convince me that my bottles of kon-peki and asa-gao don't actually fulfil all of my inky blue needs and then you tell me that I can't actually get Sky High anymore? For shame sir!

 

Seriously though, great work. Looks like I'll have to settle for Souten. Can you recommend a good vendor for Australia?