Best Water Resistant, Fast Drying Black Ink?

[YoungMahony]

Looking for any good suggestions for a black ink that is both resistant to water, and fast drying. Essentially an ink that will stick and stay with minimal to no risk of smudging. Any help would be amazing - thanks!

=)

[Torrilin]

How resistant do you need? Are we talking watercolor proof or splash proof or soak proof?

[kalali]

De Atramentis document ink.

[requiescat]

Agreed--I don't know if it's fast-drying enough for the OP's purposes, but De Atramentis Document Black holds up beautifully to watercolor.

[DipIt]

R&K documentus is water proof. But I do not recall whether it would be considered fast drying. I never had problems with smudging but I don't know your application.

[Corona688]

Sailor Kiwa-Guro is a fountain-pen-safe carbon ink so should be more permanent than the paper it's once it's dry, which takes 10 seconds.

[Honeybadgers]

platinum carbon black in a pen that can be cleaned easily. noodlers black or heart of darkness in everything else.

 

But I kind of hate black inks. the only two I use are carbon black (which has a nice sheen like dip pen ink) and noodlers dark matter.

 

I don't see the appeal of black. When you need to sign official documents, blue is superior because it makes it much easier to tell an original apart from a scanned copy (since most legal document copies are black/white)

[YoungMahony]

How resistant do you need? Are we talking watercolor proof or splash proof or soak proof?

Hi,

Essentially splash proof. I'm needing to write up notes for patients in the hospital I need to make sure what I write will stay despite any small splashes etc (even though it's unlikely). So it'd be just occasional risks of spills rather than a deep soak. I'm just trying to avoid loss of the notes due to potential water damage. Nothing big. Thanks a lot for taking the time!

[YoungMahony]

platinum carbon black in a pen that can be cleaned easily. noodlers black or heart of darkness in everything else.

 

But I kind of hate black inks. the only two I use are carbon black (which has a nice sheen like dip pen ink) and noodlers dark matter.

 

I don't see the appeal of black. When you need to sign official documents, blue is superior because it makes it much easier to tell an original apart from a scanned copy (since most legal document copies are black/white)

 

I'm working in a hospital and it's only legally acceptable to write in black ink in the UK. I'd much rather use other colours but i'm kind of bound by what the rules are here.

[dcwaites]

Pilot Black. Available in 30 ml bottles if you want to try a small amount to see if you like it.

[displacermoose]

+1 Kiwaguro. I don't much like black, but when I can't avoid it this is what I use. It dries very well, doesn't feather or bleed, feels great in the pen, and is permanent.

[requiescat]

platinum carbon black in a pen that can be cleaned easily. noodlers black or heart of darkness in everything else.

 

But I kind of hate black inks. the only two I use are carbon black (which has a nice sheen like dip pen ink) and noodlers dark matter.

 

I don't see the appeal of black. When you need to sign official documents, blue is superior because it makes it much easier to tell an original apart from a scanned copy (since most legal document copies are black/white)

Depends on what you're doing! I'm a freelance writer and I've never heard that any of my editors/publishers cared what color ink I used to sign contracts and most of the time I'm sending in electronically scanned signatures. (I've only done blue, burgundy, or black.) Otherwise my main use for black ink is in watercolor--I bet you could get some pretty effects by doing lineart in some different waterproof color, but most of the time I stick to black.

[Honeybadgers]

 

I'm working in a hospital and it's only legally acceptable to write in black ink in the UK. I'd much rather use other colours but i'm kind of bound by what the rules are here.

 

 

That's very interesting, actually. Usually black ink is more frowned on than blue.

 

Definitely noodlers black or HOD in a pen that is difficult to clean, and platinum carbon black in everything else (kiwa guro is exactly the same as carbon black in pretty much every single way, so pick whichever you can get cheaper.)

 

Since those two are nano-pigment, you need to be sure that your pen is able to be THOROUGHLY cleaned from time to time, and while I can report they're both very easy to use as long as you're using a converter or easily-disassembled piston filler, I wouldn't touch it with a pen that has a difficult to access/remove feed or filling system.

 

I'm a paramedic in the US and we can't use black on our charts.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[YoungMahony]

 

 

That's very interesting, actually. Usually black ink is more frowned on than blue.

 

Definitely noodlers black or HOD in a pen that is difficult to clean, and platinum carbon black in everything else (kiwa guro is exactly the same as carbon black in pretty much every single way, so pick whichever you can get cheaper.)

 

Since those two are nano-pigment, you need to be sure that your pen is able to be THOROUGHLY cleaned from time to time, and while I can report they're both very easy to use as long as you're using a converter or easily-disassembled piston filler, I wouldn't touch it with a pen that has a difficult to access/remove feed or filling system.

 

I'm a paramedic in the US and we can't use black on our charts.

 

Black more frowned on than blue? Strange. Prescriptions in the UK have to be in black according to the guidance. It's for a Pilot Vanishing Point, so i'm hoping to try filling empty cartridges with noodlers black or HOD (the converters for the VP are smaller capacity and apparently rubbish). Thanks for the suggestions.

[Torrilin]

Eh, don’t worry about it, different areas are different. In the US the feds will only take black ink for certain things. I know for other stuff, various businesses here will only take blue.

 

If you just need splash proof, Pilot black should do you. Really, same goes for any other regular black, but Pilot Black can be insanely cheap so maybe start there.

 

If you’d be more comfortable with fully waterproof, Platinum Carbon Black is my personal go to black as a lefty. It’s deeply boring ink the best kind of way because it handles cheap paper well, handles expensive paper well, and everything in between. Need to sign a receipt? It works. Many fountain pen inks won’t absorb properly but it does.

 

I haven’t tested Noodler’s Black or Heat of Darkness as thoroughly, but they have a lot of fans.

[Arkanabar]

It's been a couple of decades since I bought any, but IMX Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black is rather splash-resistant.

[WJM]

Yes, Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black has pretty nice water resistance. Under water it smudges a bit but the writing remains clearly readable.