Wanted: Richly Saturated, Wet Waterproof Blue Ink

[GNL]

Hello my fellow fountain pen lovers.  I love rich, vivid, deeply saturated fountain pen inks, particularly those that shade.  My favorite inks are Colorverse Supernova, that shades gorgeously from a rich blue to a lighter blue, and Diamine November Rain, which in my green-and-black Pelikan M600, shades (you guessed it) from green to black beautifully.

 

For my Lamy 2000, which I just bought to be my daily-use pocket pen, I’m searching for a waterproof ink for a specific reason: so when I sign restaurant checks with it, there is no danger of the waiter losing his tip because his check slip got wet and the ink disappeared. 

 

But my dillemma is that I love saturated, vivid inks.  With one exception, all the waterproof inks I’ve tried are cloudy and unsaturated and unsatisfying.  I just bought a bottle of Sailor Seiboku.  To me, this is a pale, cloudy ink, the opposite of the rich, saturated colors I love.  And iron gall inks are generally dry writers, so that’s a nonstarter.  Got to have a wet ink.

 

The exception is Noodler’s Baltimore Canyon Blue, which is saturated and beautiful, and in my own tests is fully waterproof, but… when I write on restaurant checks with this ink, the pen simply stops writing and has to be primed.  The ink seems to react to the thermal paper restaurants use and it clogs right up.

 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

GNL

[txomsy]

An ink that meets the criteria, but I would hesitate to recommend for evident reasons, is obviously Noodler's Baystate Blue. But also, note that I haven't tried that ink on thermal paper, and would be wary of using it in a pen that is to be used with other, non Baystate inks.

[amberleadavis]

As a lover of deeply saturated wet writing inks .....

 

Levenger Cobalt

Levenger Sky Blue

 

or choose your favorite ink and add some Noodler's Ghost Blue. NGB won't make your ink bulletproof, but it will make it water resistant enough for your needs as describedl.

[dragondazd]

Is it a reaction, or could it be capillary action? I find some inks+nibs do not make contact on tomoe river paper. I wouldn't expect them to work on a receipt either. 

 

Like for ballpoints, are you writing on a soft surface such as a check pad or at least an extra sheet of paper? Is it a wet nib? Maybe double check at home what you can get to work. You could try a dip pen to see if it reacts.

 

 

 

[OCArt]

Noodler's Baystate Blue is indeed waterproof but also fades very quickly if that's a concern for you. My favorite waterproof and archival blue is Noodler's Baltimore Canyon. See review here

[dragondazd]

So... I took a Powell's Books receipt and wrote on it with my lamy safari in fairly wide "EF". Wrote readily with and without padding, and dried properly.

 

I dunno.

 

Not all receipt paper is the same. This one was fairly papery. Maybe test on something more coated. 

 

P.S. I think you convinced me to get a bottle of Baltimore canyon. Previously I signed copy paper with liberty's Elysium. 

 

[Carrau]

Noodler’s Bad Belted Kingfisher is a saturated blue that is bulletproof.  It doesn’t shade, and I don’t have experience on thermal paper, but it is a well behaved ink.

[sansenri]

I seem to live in another world, and I'm in old Europe...

Restaurant checks?

Signing thermal paper?

I don't sign anything since years...

I use a contactless credit card.

[txomsy]

Yup! "Ye Olde Worlde" is quite a different world. There are many cultural and other kinds of differences that separate us (in addition to an ocean).

 

But getting into more details would require discussing social-political aspects that are better left out of the forum.

[dragondazd]

Well I did struggle to find a sample to test on haha

[dragondazd]

I tried Baltimore canyon on two grocery receipts today. The papers were coated with different levels of gloss, both glossier than the first one I showed yesterday. The specific safari EF pen and ink worked on these too.

 

[GNL]

11 hours ago, dragondazd said:

I tried Baltimore canyon on two grocery receipts today. The papers were coated with different levels of gloss, both glossier than the first one I showed yesterday. The specific safari EF pen and ink worked on these too.

 

I’ve got to admit, I LOVE Baltimore Canyon, which was recommended to me on another post by two trusty FPNers.  I’m going to try it in my Lamy 2000 and see if perhaps the clogging issue was more related to the nib in the pen I was using than the ink itself.  Wish I could find a bottle locally in Los Angeles (my sample is almost gone), but it looks like I’ll have to order one online.