If You Could Only Choose One Ink for a Lifetime...

[2ouvenir]

Dear FPN Community,

 

Imagine for a moment that you're faced with a rather daunting decision: you can only choose one ink to use for the rest of your life. Yes, just one! In a world filled with endless colors and shades, this task may seem nearly impossible. However, let's indulge in this hypothetical scenario for a moment.

 

If you had to select just one ink to accompany you on your fountain pen journey indefinitely, which ink would it be? Would you opt for a timeless classic, a versatile everyday color, or perhaps something more adventurous and bold?

 

I invite you to share your thoughts and reasoning behind your choice. Whether it's based on practicality, sentimental value, or simply the joy it brings to your writing experience, I'd love to hear your perspective.

 

Let's dive into this intriguing thought experiment together and discover which ink reigns supreme in the hearts of our fountain pen enthusiasts.

 

Looking forward to your responses!

[2ouvenir]

If I were to reply to this topic, I would choose Pilot Black. Yes, I am boring! I love writing a lot, and I am also somewhat of a minimalist. I need a good contrast with the page, and get distracted easily, so Pilot Black. It is a good black, well-behaved and relatively affordable. (If money was no object, then Pilot take-sumi.)

[Mercian]

For those who have eyes to see, I am replying to this thread with the following:

’Three suits? Three suits is dead!’

 

For everyone who has no idea what the vorsprung durch technik I’m blethering on about, I aver the following:
 Just one ink? For the rest of my life? That, sir, constitutes a cruel-and-unusual punishment!

 

If pushed for an answer, e.g. by the persons who oversee the ‘Joycamps’ being run under the aegis of MiniLuv, I would probably nominate:

 

Pelikan 4001 Blue-black

it works really well on pretty much all papers;
it has decent water-resistance;
its colour is work-appropriate, and;
at least its capacity for shading offers the prospect of a bit of ‘entertainment’ for those of us who are likely to find ourselves found guilty of Ownlife Crimethink yearning for variety.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[AmandaW]

My choice would be Rohrer & Klingner SketchInk Lily - a pigmented, waterproof sepia which is good for both writing and drawing for me. Fantastic with watercolour cos it doesn't look harsh against the washes. And lovely on cream paper and grey.

 

One does need to give the bottle or pen a shake before inking cos the pigment settles which makes the colour quite different. I can live with that for the benefits.

[Schaumburg_Swan]

A blue-black registrar's ink, hard to say if I would take ESSRI or Diamine Registrar's... ok, DRI, because it feels a bit drier.

 

It gives beautiful cold black sharp lines from my vintage Swan pens, even on modest papers. Waterproof as a bonus.

They are as close as possible today to the inks once used when the pens were made (1910 to 1950).

[mulrich]

In this situation the world would probably be ending in which case I probably wouldn’t care much about pens anymore but going with the spirit of your question…

 

probably waterman serenity blue. It has more character than it gets credit for and is always the first ink I put in a new pen. There are inks I may enjoy more but this is probably the most versatile, and it can out will never give me problems. 

[OCArt]

Either Pilot Blue-Black, a very trouble-free ink with good water resistance or more likely Noodler's Baltimore Canyon Blue, a wonderful color that is archival and water proof. 

[Jjanek73]

Diamine Aurora Borealis:

 

a) great colour in general,

b) quite variable properties depending on nib used, so at least some "thrill" 😊,

c) its name always brings into my mind first verses of great Neil Young´s song "Pocahontas", which I love. 😊

 

Best regards,

Janek

[AceNinja]

I'll go for Diamine Registrar's Blue Black.

 

1. Great dark Blue Black colour, sharp, great shading as you write, turns almost black a few days later.
2. Dry ink that's good for subpar paper, less problem of bleed through even if using wet nib.
3. Superb water resistant, consider it water proof.
4. Very office appropriate, very journal appropriate, very everyday writing appropriate.

[Lithium466]

I'd pick Pilot Blue, it's a good all rounder. 

[tde44x]

Diamine Polar Glow. Love the way it looks on the page and it is a relatively well-behaved sheening ink. I always have one of my FP's inked up with it.

[Ron Z]

Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue

[Tzimiscegr]

I would say Pilot Kon Peki but yesterday I got Waterman Serenity Blue and Pelikan Royal blue and I am a little divided...  🤣
Yeah... Kon Peki it is!  I think... 

 

[Penguincollector]

Sheaffer Peacock blue. 

[RJS]

Pilot Blue Black. My go to ink since the 1980's, decades before I fell into this hobby. It is well behaved in pretty much any pen and on any of the papers I care to write on. If you evaporate off 20-50% of the water it looks an even more appealing colour. Lastly, if I must have only one ink, let that ink be resistant to water. This is.

[chromantic]

I'll also go with blue-black, Stipula Dark Blue in my case. A beautiful, rich color, dark without being quite 1864 or Kana-cho dark but definitely not a pale, wishy-washy b/b. Writes well on cheap paper and doesn't dry quickly on the nib. Second choice would be MV Sapphire.

[Mercian]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:27 PM, Mercian said:

For those who have eyes to see, I am replying to this thread with the following:

’Three suits? Three suits is dead!’

Gah! This should, of course, be ‘Two suits’ etc 

[Mongo]

Noodler's Kung Te-cheng. It's my favorite ink and I wouldn't want to use a fountain pen if I couldn't choose it.

[langere]

I'd be happy with Aurora Black or Waterman South Sea Blue.  Actually, I could also live with Private Reserve Tanzanite...

 

Erick

[MHBru]

For the first 15+ years of my adult fountain pen use I had one pen (Pelikan M800) and one ink (4001 Royal Blue).  Even though I was quite happy on my single ink journey today I think I would select Iroshizuku Asa Gao.