Please Tell Me About Dragon's Napalm

[mike.jane]

Hello there,

 

I would like to ask for you to kindly inform me if you love Noodler's Dragon's Napalm, if it has been like a fluke for you, or if your mind has stayed blown by it for a longer time.

 

It's like this: In my Everyday-carry pen - A Kaweco Colleg 550A, piston-filler, vintage semi-flex, fine - I currently use Rohrer&Klingener Scabiosa and it's a great ink. Really well behaved, feels a bit dryer and that works well with that jumpy flex nib.

Now, initially I liked that it is purple, yet not very flashy. But then after a while, when looking through my notes in notebooks, i thought, 'Actually, I would be perfectly okay with there being a bit more flash. In fact, I'd go for a big bang right about now really.

 

 

And then, you know how it is, you see reviews of inks like Dragon's Napalm and the reviewer is in awe of how special and krazy (and also well behaved) and unique and cool a certain ink is. So I'm really intrigued by it right now.

 

Now you might say, 'Well duh! Easy, just get a sample first and try it.'

Yes, but living overseas where Noodlers inks aren't available locally, makes that hardly economical. For the cost of one 2ml vial + shipping, i'd have already paid 40% of a 3o.z. bottle+ shipping.

 

 

So, what do you think about DN? Is it really that 'great'? Have you used it but then you have gotten over it again? Is it a one-trick-pony or actually a precious dragon?

Would i grow tired of it long, long, long, before finishing a massive 4.5 o.z. bottle?

 

(I'd really like to get that not-actually-free pen as well, as long as it's the preppy and not the other one.

 

Please share with me your thoughts. Thank you.

 

I was also considering Diamine Sunset for the same niche, but I have read some reviews that sounded more 'okay, than 'great' and mentioned some faults like forming crystals on a nib.

Do you have any thoughts on that ink as well?

Edited June 8, 2015 by mike.jane

[fireant]

I have a large bottle. I would happily send you a small sample if you pm me your address.

[jmccarty3]

I have used DN. It's an acceptable orangey red. People have likened it to mercurochrome, which we used to apply to cuts and scratches, and the color is pretty close. I don't find anything terribly exciting about it, but then I was using it in an extra-fine nib, and it may be more interesting in a broader one.

[Hallel]

It is a kind of neon coral orange pink. Very vibrant. I bought a whole bottle sight unseen based on enthusiastic reviews on the Internet and have come to regret it. I don't have much use for it in daily writing, though I suppose that if I were a teacher it might be the perfect ink to mark essays with.

 

I personally find that it hurts my eyes to write a whole page with it. I end up squinting, you know? Some people might find a more creative use for it, but as a writing fluid I wouldn't recommend it.

[Octo]

I like this ink quite a lot. Its color changes depending on the paper used, the amount of ink laid down by the pen, the wavelength of light shining on it, etc. It flows well and feels smooth on the page. It really does look like mercurochrome . Writing with it makes me feel happy. I love to use it.

 

However, I do find the uses limited. I wouldn't send a letter written entirely with it, for example. It's fine in my journal where I use a different ink daily. I keep a pen inked with Dragon's Napalm, but I don't use it all that frequently. It's very bright and intense. 4.5 oz. might be too much.

[Frank C]

I bought a bottle, used it once, and there it sits. I don't have much use for it.

[chewytulip]

I love it, but it is very bright, and not for the faint of heart (or eye).

I keep it loaded in a preppy marker (because everything needs a streak of this color added to it),

and I also use it (diluted) to match the color of my neon coral Lamy Safari.

[mike.jane]

Thank you everyone for your opinions. Indeed I am still quite tempted by the ink. Looking at different reviews (e.g. this one: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/291291-noodlers-ink-dragons-napalm/ );

There seem to be different accounts of the properties sometimes. For example the aforementioned FPN review points out that feathering is really bad, but I have not really found that mentioned like this in other reviews (I guess it can be blamed on the paper used.

 

Would any of you also be able to make a subjective comparison between Dragon's N. and Diamine Sunset?

[Martini1R]

I got a bottle recently. No complaint on the ink flow and the clean up seems very easy.

 

As I use it more I want to say the color may be a little too red for my taste. I want to use this ink as normal journal writing and too much red is not exactly what I want. The drying time is quite long, may smear easily if you do not wait for your entire page to dry. I still write with because it is just so damn smooth off my monteverde. However, on my next filling I may just fill this up in a preppy ed instead.

 

May be some of you can help me here... I want to find a very dark orange ink that seems to be dark brown at first glance and it shades to dark orange. I know Apache Sunset can be a candidate but I am looking for something even darker. Any suggestions?

[WaskiSquirrel]

I have heard Diamine Autumn Oak is pretty nice, but I'll confess that I know nothing first hand about that ink.

 

By the way: I love Dragon's Napalm. I use it as one of my inks for correcting papers and it makes a nice eye-searing letter-writing ink.

[ac12]

IMHO, Dragon's Napalm is too BRIGHT for everyday use. too much use of a bright ink like that hurts my eyes to read it.

I will write maybe a paragraph with it, and that's it.

[Martini1R]

I have heard Diamine Autumn Oak is pretty nice, but I'll confess that I know nothing first hand about that ink.

 

By the way: I love Dragon's Napalm. I use it as one of my inks for correcting papers and it makes a nice eye-searing letter-writing ink.

Looks good. I may get some sample. thx