Inky T O D - How Important Is Water Resistance?

[VivienR]

Well not as nearly as the amount of bulletproof ink I have, but its nice to have.. Just in(k) case It can be quite handy addressing envelopes, signing documents. Otherwise, I really don't care about waterproofness. Admittedly there are situation when I realized their needs, like when my cat spilled a glass of water to my notebook and a few pages of notes turned to be a colorful mess.

[BobR]

I don't use them every day, but when I address envelopes or write checks (both less and less frequently) I like to use a waterproof and somewhat resistant ink. I use Noodler's Bulletproof Black because it performs so well, and don't bother with pigmented inks. I do have several iron gall inks but use them mostly because I like the vintage look.

[carlos.q]

I once lost a lot of important notes in a puddle of water. Never again.

 

Therefore I need to have at least one pen with water resistant or fully waterproof ink for my work notes. The other pen can have just a pretty ink, but more times than not, it also has a measure of water resistance.

[Pravda]

For me never. I could say that I got a few so that when I post a parcel/package I would use it as for its journey or weather conditions, but then I don't end up writing the address on the box with a fountain pen anyway so..

 

 

I suppose if I were still in school doing lab work or encountering frequent legal documents.. Meh..

[Goudy]

I have Lexington Gray in one pen that I use for doodling, so that I can add an ink or watercolour wash, and Black Swan in Australian Roses in a black Swan with a stub nib that I use for addressing envelopes and parcels.

 

Otherwise, water resistance isn't very important for me, and can actually be a disadvantage if I want an ink that doesn't stain valuable pens.

[Runnin_Ute]

I am ambivalent about so called bulletproof inks. I do have a couple - Noodler's Black and 54th Mass.. I also have one iron gall.(KWZI IG Turquoise) I have had it for a shorter period of time and used it more. Right now, I don't have any pens filled with any of the three. And I have something between 12-15 pens inked. My Noodler's Black is still at the base of the neck of the bottle. And I have had it since March of 2014.

[Cryptos]

None. Water and important things I write never coincide. If they did it would be a flood of biblical proportions, and at that point I don't think I'll really be regretting not buying waterproof ink!

[sakayume]

Never, for me as well. I use a ballpoint (usually the post office's!) or some other such to address envelopes and packages, and, on rare occasions, a dip pen for line drawings that will be painted over.

[randomist]

It isn't really. I keep a Lamy Al-Star EF inked with Noodler's Bulletproof Black. It is one of my daily carry pens, but not for the permanence, I just need something to write on crappy paper without feathering. The permanent feature is a nice bonus if I ever actually need it.

[Arkanabar]

Would have been cool if you'd made a poll.

Right now, I use Noodler's Red-Black when I want to address mail or packages. The red component may wash away, but the black is bulletproof. I think that any IG ink, or even Pilot Blue-Black or Iro Yama-Guri would have enough water resistance for this task.

If I were taking chemistry, particularly organic, I'd consider getting myself a bottle of Heart of Darkness. Or I might go with my Lenten penitential ink, Bad Black Moccasin diluted 1:1 in a cheap Indian eyedropper. BBM is such a booger to clean out of a pen that I want that level of simplicity and a nib and feed I can pull out barehanded to scrub with a toothbrush, if need be.

If I were to use up all the black inks I currently have, I would seriously consider getting a bottle of HoD anyway. I like it. But we're talking about using up some 10oz (around 290ml) of ink, 3oz of which I dilute 1:1 for improved performance, and mostly used in fine point pens, and not all that much.

In general, I am far more concerned with fade resistance than water resistance.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

For the most part I am not concerned about permanence, which in the long term depends greatly on the custodian of the document to ensure its longevity / availability.

 

I use a fair bit of iron-gall ink and Blue-centric inks, including the nano-particle Sailor sei-boku, but that is more out of preference than desire for permanence, though I will pair cotton paper with a large-bore I-G ink if I have the notion to produce an enduring document.

 

Inks are also selected according to the recipient: those who have an aquatic or rambunctious lifestyle or live in wet climes are more likely to receive letters written with a fairly water resistant ink. Envelopes almost always are written with water resistant ink.

 

At the office, my daily writer ink has a fair bit of water resistance, so will survive common mishaps before it is converted to digital media. (No one enters my work space with food or drink: we can feast & guzzle in the break room.) And the stuff produced in the field is written with I-G ink or Pelikan 4001 BlBk, which are both robust and enduring; and is subject to quite strict document control procedures to minimize risk exposure to loss/damage.

 

I do not use 'looseleaf refill' paper, nor bound journals/notebooks, and am content with reams of laser copy/print paper for utility purposes.*

Bye,

S1

 

__

 

* Paper suitability : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/265201-inky-t-o-d-have-you-ever-had-an-ink-fade/?p=3195217

Edited May 2, 2016 by Sandy1

[Fabienne]

Just before I knock over a glass of water.

[gryphon1911]

I fall into the same camp as randomist. I don't necessarily "need" it, but there are other qualities that come with the ink that I find desirable.

 

My 2 tops are both Noodler's - Black and Liberty's Elysium.

[evyxmsj]

Never tried it! I'm more interested in colour and performance in other respects.

[knarflj]

I like inks with some water resistance, but I avoid the bulletproof inks, because I'm sure I'd stain something expensive with them. I keep a gel pen on my desk for writing cheques, and either use that to address envelopes or rub wax over the address. I'm not terribly concerned about the permanence of anything else I write.

 

Jenny

[clazbill]

I swing back and forth on if waterproof is important or not important. I journal off and on - some of what I write is done in a bulletproof ink, some is not. I've gone back years later and re-read things I've written - invaluable insight has been gained that way. I'm bothered knowing that if I'm at the table writing and one of my kids walks by and spills a drink - well, that could wipe out some important writing. (Improtant to me anyway - I have my doubts about anyone else wanting to read it.)

In an ideal world, ink would be resistant against spills - at least enough to be readable. But not all inks are and I'll just need to be careful when I pull out the beautiful inks that disappear when wet.

I will say that more important than being water proof is how lightfast an ink is. I won't use some inks because they'll fade out to oblivion much too fast.

[wastelanded]

Water-fastness is of zero importance to me. I do tend to use iron-gall inks, but only if I like the colour (e.g., Scabiosa or KWZI IG Turquoise). Shading is my be-all and end-all.

 

The only time I look for some kind of water-fastness is when I'm addressing an envelope, and often as not I'll use a dip pen and India ink.

[JefferyS]

It was only really an issue with laboratory notebooks, and I used ballpoint pen for those. Some researchers shun pencils because the figures can be altered in the future.

[Bookman]

I always have a bottle of one Noodler's black ink or another. But I rarely use it: I've gone through 1¼ bottles in seven years, compared to 7 bottles of Sailor Jentle Blue during the same period, 6 of Visconti Blue, 5 or 6 of Waterman FB/SB (one of these might have been Blue-Black), 4 of Aurora Black, among others. (I know this because I've kept all my empties, reusing many of them.) I use waterproof ink for envelopes: I recently bought a Platinum Carbon Desk Pen for this job and for postcards, obviating whatever need I might have had to keep a regular FP waterproof-inked. I also try to use waterproof, or at least water-resistant, ink for grocery lists (my hands get wet sometimes in the produce area). The Pilot Petit1 I keep in my car almost always goes into the grocery store with me because I almost never have waterproof ink in my EDC pens.

 

 

 

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[pepsiplease69]

I never have a need for the so-called bulletproof, waterproof inks.

 

Like some of the folks mentioned here, I generally keep my writing implements and notebooks far away from sources of water.

 

I even cringe slightly if I have to bring my tea or coffee cup to my writing desk, just for fear that it might tip over accidentally and destroy stuff.

 

What I really look for in an ink is, somewhat moderate to good dry time. Absolutely NO smudging, and if it performs well on cheap paper it's a bonus.