Inky T O D - How Important Is Water Resistance?

[J85909266]

I really like it, but it isn't a requirement.

 

The biggest thing, for me, is smudging. I'm mostly Italian, and I have very oily skin, including my hands. If my hand brushes across my written word and it smudges, that bothers me greatly. Before I found fountain pens, I would only use gel pens with anti-smear ink because of it.

 

That said, less saturated inks from the traditional ink brands like J. Herbin, Lamy, Pilot, Waterman and so on do not give me issues.

 

I have to avoid very saturated inks with no water moisture resistance like many Diamine, Private Reserve, some Sailor inks, and some Noodler's inks. Otherwise, I have smudges all over my hands and papers just from handling my work.

 

So yeah, if an ink is going to be saturated, it needs some water resistance.

[mirosc]

I have no idea which of my inks are waterproof and which not. For me it's the most overrated feature in an ink: for the past 40 years I can't think of one occasion where I had needed a waterproof ink.

[Grafeus]

Usually my writing takes place in the vicinity of a mug of tea or coffee. The occasional spill does happen (and every time I know it will again) so inks with better resistance to liquids are preferable. But there are many other factors when choosing an ink so I have a range that includes a little bit of everything, from runny to steadfast to bulletproof.

[AndyYNWA]

I have no idea which of my inks are waterproof and which not. For me it's the most overrated feature in an ink: for the past 40 years I can't think of one occasion where I had needed a waterproof ink.

Ever addressed an envelope or written a post card?

[mehandiratta]

not for me...

I agree with @rayJ that ball pens are there to take care of that....

 

But yes i keep Salix and Scabiosa with me... for writing on envelopes.... even if i dont have those... i write with normal standard inks ... and cover them with clear adhesive tape(sellotape)...

[evyxmsj]

...If I like the color, I'll buy the ink, that's all it takes.

 

Totally!

[ravantra]

For me 95 - 99% of the time it is not necessary. I only use it if I'm signing an important document or signing that now rare check. On even rarer occasions, I have to take notes in the rain…let me explain I am an architect and sometimes out at a construction site I have to take notes and it is raining or drizzling so a pencil or waterproof ink is necessary.

 

Another instance is when applying a watercolor wash over some linework on a sketch.

 

Rest of the time all inks are fair game.

[PJohnP]

Yes.

 

At least, most of the time...

 

I'll confess an undying love for many of the Iroshizuku inks, which are not water resistant at all. Important items are typically written with "bulletproof" ink or perhaps nano-black ink, but when I'm conducting technical audits, I'll bring eight to ten fountain pens stocked with different coloured inks, each coded to specific findings*. A fair number of those inks are Iroshizuku colours like Fuyu-gaki, standing out boldly from the pages that I have annotated.

 

That said, I'll also uncork a Pharmacist's ink or a KWZI ink (or three) for those audits, creating a subtle air of fear and doubt from others reviewing the documents as the colours change over time...

 

... which inks are indeed water-resistant. <cue evil laughter>

 

 

John P.

 

* And yes, the fountain pens typically match or neatly coordinate with the colour of ink in use. The set of pens is brought for an audit, after all, and one expects "detail oriented" people to conduct audits !

[StoneArcher]

Waterproofness is important to me. But, color, feel and flow are also important.

 

I will always have at least a few pens inked with something "bulletproof". My kids journals are usually but not always inked with something at least resistant to water damage with a bulletproof mixed in from time to time. I like to believe that they will be able to and enjoy reading their journals when they become adults (They are 7, 8 and 14 now). Maybe they will burn them when they are in their teens, who knows - Hell, I was a pyro in my teens. But, I don't want a basement minor flood or high humidity to destroy that chance of reading them later.

 

Again, they are just cycled through, so some entries are waterproof, others not. At least there would be some salvageable material in the event of a fully submerged catastrophe.

[weltyj]

Water resistance is always important for me. By that I mean it must be easily readable after a spill. I only have one inked pen at a time and use it at work too, where all my notes are potentially valuable not just to me but my coworkers in the future.

[Martini1R]

I still haven't have a bad spill on the desk yet so I am saying may be I need one or two bottle of waterproof ink. Other than that's it's all about color and other properties like shading, sheen, etc. Ease of cleaning and non clogging is very important to me.

 

If I write an envelope for mailing, I would pull out a permanent gel pen or even a marker. If I am taking notes in a meeting (where coffee cups are everywhere) I would probably do similar precautions and use other pens.

[Wheatflower]

It's important in the sense that my purse pen, the pen I use at work, and one pen at my desk at home are always inked up with something waterproof--almost always that is Heart of Darkness. But I will buy and use non-water-resistant inks; water resistance is a bonus, not a deal-breaker.

[Buzz_130]

For nearly all of my writings, I'm rarely concerned with water resistance or waterproof characteristics. But I do care about fading as my journals stack up and my years of notes from jobs around the world collect.

 

Buzz

[TSherbs]

Ever addressed an envelope or written a post card?

Of course.

 

Waterproofness is not important for me with fountain pen inks, but I do own Noodler's Black. I don't know if I will replace it when it runs out. It's steadfastness is its least important attribute to me, and I like some other blacks, too. Nothing else I have has waterproofness, and a few other waterproof inks that I have tried have been awful in some other more important categories.

[mirosc]

Ever addressed an envelope or written a post card?

 

Quite a lot.

 

But fountain pen ink is a bad choice for my envelopes. I care more about the papers I put in them than about the way I address them. So I have coated and/or waxed envelopes (and as a nice bonus: they look and feel better than the regular envelopes). But you can't write with ink on them.

 

So: a fountain pen is just a tool, but here it's not the right one for me. I rather use a crispy edged felt tip pen

Edited October 31, 2015 by mirosc

[VivienR]

Its not an important factor for me in everyday usage, but I have a few bottle of water proof ink just in case I need for it.

[GardenWeasel]

I feel a sense of loss if I don't have a pen filled with something bulletproof. Even with my handy container of microglaze - addressing envelopes and writing checks seems hazardous without a proper ink...preferably Black Eel.

[JonSzanto]

This attribute never mattered to me until sometime in the last year or so. While not a voluminous correspondent, I've tried to ramp up the number of things I send to people, and in doing so, have fallen in love with the post card. The things that sit out in the open with writing on one side.

 

So, yeah, I had to get a bit more serious about waterproofness. I had originally been using two dedicated pens, one with Ecclesiastical Stationary Supplies Registrar's Ink and the other with Noodler's Black. However, while I still occasionally use the ESSRI (I don't always keep a pen loaded with it, being IG and all), the Black has been a problem in that it starts to thicken up in time, and then won't dry, causing smudges hours and days after writing.

 

So I've now found my preferred ink, which is Sailor Kiwa-Guro. Lovely to write with! I have always hated writing with F and EF points, but I bit the bullet because I wanted as much text on a card as possible. Both a nice Parker Vac Shadow Wave and a Sailor Pro Gear with teeny nibs love the ink, so I'm pretty well set. I occasionally load a different IG ink in, having fun with a couple of KWZ IG inks, but the two above-mentioned inks are now perennials for doing battle with Mr. Raindrops.

[vjones]

It has been important to me, but now a bit less so. When I first learned about waterproof and bulletproof inks it became one of my criteria for selecting inks, but ultimately found that to be a bit limiting. Lately I've been buying some non-waterproof inks if they have another property I find appealing.

 

I still prefer a waterproof or water resistant ink when writing something "important" like my journal because things do get wet sometimes. For example, in this apartment we live in, there have been major leaks in upstairs apartments that have resulted in quite a lot of water streaming into our bedroom on at least two ocassions.

[max dog]

I opened my journal once under a tree after a rainfall. One big water drop obliterated a few lines of written notes. Since then for anything important, I use water resistant inks or at least something that will leave a trace so whatever you wrote can be recovered.