EFNIR: Noodler's Baystate Blue

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Noodler's Baystate Blue

 

This ink was gifted to me by @Tas, so I decided to review it right away rather than put it in the poll.  Thanks, @Tas!

This is review #151 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: The format for this review was changed slightly to accommodate the entire conversation between Quin and Makhabesh as they left the city. (It's not my fault! This is what happened. I had no choice.) The regular format will return next review.

In anticipation of BSB's infamous behavior, I used a different pen body, a different feed, a cartridge rather than the converter, but the same nib. Wax paper covered the counter, just in case. Cleaning involved brushes, swabs, fingernails, pen flush, bleach, and S.O.S. pads (to scrub the sink - I'm still not sure all the blue is gone). It was neither quick nor easy. The Penmanship's section is still stained. I can't tell about the feed - it was already a dark translucent blue. BSB didn't just cling to the back of the nib, it hung on for dear life. My fingernails were the best tools to get into the corner where the Pilot steel nib bends along the sides. Hopefully I got any residue from between the tines... I was not expecting a hard time cleaning the nib. I'm not sure why anyone uses this ink...

This ink was gifted to me by a friend and I decided to review it right away rather than adding it to the poll. It has the Noodler's ink smell, which I don't have any other words to describe, except chemical-y.

The color is possibly the bluest blue I've ever seen. If it leans in any direction, it's toward purple, not green, but I don't think it leans. It does scream rather loudly, however. The absorbent / copy paper, zoom, scan, and post-water-test images all show the ink much lighter than reality. The screen capture is the only one that's close, but it's still not quite right. My eyes see a deeper blue, possibly a tiny bit to the red (purple) side.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Text after water test:

Paper towel after water test:

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: KWZ Green Gold.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

My eyes! They burn! 

... Seriously though, no other review I've seen has managed to depict that vibrancy of BSB. This one though, really does show me why it's described as eye-searing.

Edited December 14, 2021 by IlikeInksandIcannotlie

[mizgeorge]

Thank you @LizEF - another excellent review

[yazeh]

Thanks @LizEf, great job  as usual. I was going to post a review of this but you beat to me. It is indeed eye searing. I've had it in a pen for two years, now. I'm still waiting for it to melt or implode. But joking apart, this ink is a great alternative to red, for editing/ commenting printed text (think teachers/editors who still use paper).

And you got it right, it grows on you, in a very Makhabesh-y way.

[LizEF]

58 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

My eyes! They burn! 

After-images may now be seared on your retinas.

 

59 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

... Seriously though, no other review I've seen has managed to depict that vibrancy of BSB. This one though, really does show me why it's described as eye-searing.

It's my cameras, not me - the actual color is different from what those images display, but yes, they do give the right impression of "blue neon sign".

[LizEF]

48 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thank you @LizEF - another excellent review

You're welcome!  And thanks.

[LizEF]

24 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks @LizEf, great job  as usual.

You're welcome!  Thanks!

 

25 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I was going to post a review of this but you beat to me. It is indeed eye searing. I've had it in a pen for two years, now. I'm still waiting for it to melt or implode. But joking apart, this ink is a great alternative to red, for editing/ commenting printed text (think teachers/editors who still use paper).

I'm certain your review would reveal more / different information, so don't let me stop you!  I'll be sure to go find my sunglasses if I see you've posted one - those flexy nibs might put so much on the page it really is blinding...  And I absolutely agree - this is the one blue you can use for mark-up.

 

26 minutes ago, yazeh said:

And you got it right, it grows on you, in a very Makhabesh-y way.

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEF for the squeezed in review!

 

This is a blue as blue can ...

It reminds me to the special blue which was used for religious illustrations in handwritten books of middle age (there was somewhere an article about the colour, published last year, I think).

 

However, the intensity of this Baystate Blue is simply outstanding.

As is the cleaning effort...

 

LizEF, I'm looking forward to see some blue fingernails in your next reviews ... 😇

[LizEF]

23 minutes ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEF for the squeezed in review!

You're welcome!

 

23 minutes ago, InesF said:

This is a blue as blue can ...

It reminds me to the special blue which was used for religious illustrations in handwritten books of middle age (there was somewhere an article about the colour, published last year, I think).

Yes!  It does look rather similar.  Perhaps the source of the dye is the same or similar.

 

24 minutes ago, InesF said:

However, the intensity of this Baystate Blue is simply outstanding.

As is the cleaning effort...

 

24 minutes ago, InesF said:

LizEF, I'm looking forward to see some blue fingernails in your next reviews ... 😇

I suspect after 4-5 days (however long it was) the blue was gone from my nails.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Even knowing BSB is inevitable, even knowing what's coming....you are never prepared.

 

I had a sample, gave it away after it stained (on a slant!) half the yellow rubber section of a Pelikano Jr.  That is the only pen in which BSB was ever used.

 

Quin and Makhabesh need this as a weapon.

 

Thanks for another thoroughly enjoyable review.  You are very brave!

[LizEF]

18 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Even knowing BSB is inevitable, even knowing what's coming....you are never prepared.

 

19 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I had a sample, gave it away after it stained (on a slant!) half the yellow rubber section of a Pelikano Jr.  That is the only pen in which BSB was ever used.

But it dries instantly! (Except on Tomoe River.)

 

19 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Quin and Makhabesh need this as a weapon.

I'll throw that into the back of my brain and see what it returns.

 

20 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks for another thoroughly enjoyable review.  You are very brave!

You're very welcome!  And thanks!

[Sailor Kenshin]

 

Pelikano: normal.  Section: victim of BSB.

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Pelikano: normal.  Section: victim of BSB.

The sacrifices we make for experience.

[Sailor Kenshin]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

The sacrifices we make for experience.

 

It does have a sort of Dashing Diagonal Dye.

[Tas]

Yay! 👏🏼

 

[LizEF]

15 minutes ago, Tas said:

Yay! 👏🏼

[arcfide]

Noodler's inks are such an experience, and you don't really get to experience anything quite like them anywhere else, for better and for worse. 🙂 There's something about the way that Nathan formulates many of his most permanent inks that makes them, well...stick to everything. 

[LizEF]

12 minutes ago, arcfide said:

Noodler's inks are such an experience, and you don't really get to experience anything quite like them anywhere else, for better and for worse. 🙂 There's something about the way that Nathan formulates many of his most permanent inks that makes them, well...stick to everything. 

Well said.

[PithyProlix]

Thanks a lot. And I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. My eyes will never be the same. 🤢🤮

 

( 🙃 )

 

So, I am curious: what does this color have to do with the Baystate? (And what did the Baystate do to, uhm, *deserve* this?) 

[LizEF]

31 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

Thanks a lot. And I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible. My eyes will never be the same. 🤢🤮

 

( 🙃 )

You're most welcome!   (Your ophthalmologist paid me in advance, so I kinda had to do it.)

 

32 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

So, I am curious: what does this color have to do with the Baystate? (And what did the Baystate do to, uhm, *deserve* this?) 

 

Google says:

Quote

Noodler's Baystate Blue is designed after the colonial era of blue inks which were popular around the 1940s. Noodler's wanted to make an ink that resembled the cobalt blue from that era with the performance on paper of earlier inks while avoiding the acidity common in earlier inks of this color.

From https://gentlemanreviewer.com/2019/11/noodlers-baystate-blue/

 

The images at that link are probably more accurate than mine, which seem to have a whole shade of blue removed by the cameras or lighting or something.