Dux 402 ("dirty Blue")

[visvamitra]

I enjoy discovering new things and hubting for hidden treasures. That's why I'm always eager to try new ink brands.

Dux is a chinese fountain pen ink. I know nothing about the company.

Packaging

Ink comes in cardboard box. The bottle is made of glass and is quite functional.

Ink

Dux 402 is sort of dirty blue that's mind-numbingly boring. It's mediocre in every imaginable way. The flow is average, saturation is average, lubrication is average.

Drying time and water resistance, though, are satisfying.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Color range

Field Notes, Wing Sung, EF

Oxford, Ranga Bamboo, broad nib

Copy paper, Hero 5028, stub 1.9

Water resistance

[lapis]

Thanks, Visva. Numb is a good word here. But maybe they have a few other colours which might attract me more, like a x^th blue-black or a y^th grey??

[Patrick L]

Thanks, Visva. Numb is a good word here. But maybe they have a few other colours which might attract me more, like a x^th blue-black or a y^th grey??

I appreciate your new avatar. Lovely.

[Tas]

Dusky & vintage looking. Yum !

[bobje]

Visvamitra,

your reviews are hilarious and objective. Thank you. I love this: "mind-numbingly boring. It's mediocre in every imaginable way."

[bugsydog55]

Have the black which I feel is quite nice and saturated without being the pigmented stuff you usually see from Hero. Have also seen this brand with other labels and names with price points from 5.00 to 15.00 dollars. I'm thinking it's made by Hero and labeled accordingly. The blue just is not exciting at all but the black is one of the better Chinese inks. IMHO

[chromantic]

​Hmm, looks pretty ho-hum on the Field Notes, rather interesting on the Oxford and back to ho-hum on the copy. Biggest drawback for me is that it doesn't stand out enough from the grid lines - pale on pale on the FN, somewhat darker but against heavier lines on the Oxford. Nice enough color, in and of itself, just not enough contrast for my poor old eyes. Excellent review, as always.

[Mech-for-i]

no surprise here, Dux is the school / student range and the 02 numbering mean this is just blue-black ; ho hum and boring is the game.

[inkstainedruth]

Looks like an unsaturated version of MB Leo Tolstoy LE in the splotches. But the writing? Meh. Yeah, I can see where you'd call it "mind-numbingly boring". Wondering if a broader or wetter nib would bring out the ink better, because when I saw the splotches I couldn't imagine that the ink would look so insipid in a written exemplar.

Thanks for the review, though.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DrDebG]

Thank you, Vis, for looking for these new inks. I fully agree with your assessment of the color.

[fabri00]

Dux should be a brand of hero.