Noodler's Bulletproof Black

[Harry R]

REVIEW: NOODLER’S BULLETPROOF BLACK

 

The photographs are of a sample written with a Waterman Hemisphere (fine nib) on 80gsm recycled paper. I cap my pens when not writing so cannot comment on how the ink starts up after a leaving the pen uncapped for a few minutes. The review includes a nib creep rating. I am not worried about nib creep unless the ink creeps onto the section or leaks into the cap and I’ve not had this problem with any of the Noodler’s inks I’ve tried. The reason for including this rating is to inform those of you with differing views on nib creep.

 

General comments:

Although black ink has never been my favourite, I like using this ink because it really pops off the page. I don’t know if the ink contains lubricants, but the nib absolutely glides across the paper the way an Olympic iceskater glides across the ice. I have used this ink only in my Hemisphere.

 

Colour:

Good saturation, there is nothing gray about this black ink. Please note that the photographs don't do this ink justice, it is a true black ink.

 

 

Ink flow:

Very reliable. It lays down a tight line and lubricates the nib very nicely.

 

Dry time:

This ink dries somewhat slower than Iraqi Indigo or Legal Lapis, full stops and other punctuation marks may take half a minute or so to dry.

 

Nib creep:

Negligible. I don't have a photograph of a pen inked with Bulletproof Black. However, the amount of nib creep is very similar to what I experienced with Noodler's Golden Brown (see photo).

 

 

Start up:

Excellent. It starts up easily even after the pen has not been used for several days and lays down a solid line immediately.

 

Bleedthrough:

No bleedthrough with this ink.

 

[ruud2904]

Thank you for this nice review. Another one for my list

[Nellie]

Thanks for your review. This is the only one of my more conservatively coloured inks that worked on the very crappy paper I had to use last week (I didn't try to use my other inks as these were official documents that I couldn't write in bright green or orange or the like). Every other ink (e.g. Noodler's Blue and Luxury Blue as well as Sheaffer Blue-Black) bled through the paper really badly, so I was very impressed with the BB's performance.

[*david*]

This ink was made to enable you to do the newspaper crossword with a fountain pen. That built-in feather resistance, along with its strong colour and good flow, makes it my favourite black ink - anywhere, not just on newsprint.

[Harry R]

Here are the results of the water- and alcohol resistance testing of this ink:

 

Water test: 30 seconds under running water followed by 30 minute soak.

 

Alcohol test: conducted after water test by wiping wet page with alcohol soaked swab.

 

Result: Bulletproof Black is completely waterproof and no further ink was released by the alcohol swab.

 

[Spector]

hmm, I always had a little more trouble with nib creep with this ink

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks.

[retpitar]

This ink stands up to my go to ink for journals, work, and recipes. It stands up to frequent coffee drips and water spots nicely, overcoming the major disadvantage to fountain pens (more so than the cliched leaking pen). The ink does not clog any of my pens, including the LAMY and a hand-made tortoise shell gold pen. Surprisingly, the ink cleans up easily.

[djh]

I am another Bulletproof Black fan. Thanks for the review!

[Juicyjones]

I'm a fan of this ink too. My Pelikan 140 has a leeeeetle bit of nib creep with this ink, but it's insignificant. It's great for that pen because it is much drier than, say, Private Reserve, so it works well with the wet-writing Pelikan. Thanks for the review!

Edited March 30, 2010 by Juicyjones

[Lennart Wennberg]

This was my black ink in use, but I've changed to J.Herbin Perle Noire for these reasons. Nooler's BP Black:

 

1. Is a too slow drier for my needs.

 

2. In combination with a high degree of smearing if you touch the script too early, makes my journals messy. I have to use an old Swedish type of blotter paper before I close the journal. (Perhaps this could be fixed by just diluting the ink, but I haven't tried.)

 

3. It's absolutely covering black, not even a tendency to shading. It therefore looks "dead" for my eyes.

 

Well that was only my observations. On the pro-side one can say that it is weatherproof when really dry, and it works well with junkier paper.

 

Lennart

[tanalasta]

I used to be the biggest fan of Noodler's Black.

 

However, the nib creep eventually annoyed me... especially when I started using pens with prettier nibs than a Lamy 2000.

 

The nail on the coffin was when I noticed that it left a smear of film on the nib (perhaps that was my fault for not really flushing the pen out that often, it was a daily work writer and I would just refill it). WORSE was when I noticed a film over the top of the Noodler's ink bottle suggestive of contamination. Lastly, when I accidentally spilled the bottle onto a white benchtop whilst tipping it into the sink (why didn't I just throw the darn thing out) and I couldn't remove the stain.

 

Decided I needed water resistance, not bulletproof. Sure, the above experiences may just be my own fault but now I use J'Herbin Perle Noir (quite water resistant) or Aurora Black (dark, deep black and flows beautifully in extra fine nibs)

 

All in all a good review ... but there probably are better inks out there. And even within the Noodler's range, a half dozen blacks or so!

[Lennart Wennberg]

And of course. Thank you for a nice review!

 

Lennart

[majorworks]

Being relatively new to FPs, my early reading of this forum led me to believe that Noodler's Black was a pretty popular go-to black, so it was one of my first ink acquisitions. I first used it in my 51 aero, where it behaved well and flowed nicely.

 

After picking up a Varuna Rajan ED pen (black ebonite), I figured the Noodler's BB would be perfect in that pen. Well, it wasn't. It flowed poorly, wrote drily, and led me to believe that something was amiss with the pen. But upon acquiring a bottle of Perle Noire, I found that what was wrong with my Varuna was the ink, not the pen. It liked the Herbin ink much mo betta. So much better, in fact, that I didn't try the Noodler's again for months.

 

Recently, however, I thought I'd give the BB another whirl. This time, though, I diluted it (very unscientifically) with a few drops of distilled water added to the rather large load that the Rajan takes. What a difference! Not only are there no flow issues any longer, but it seems to dry a bit quicker. Furthermore, it even exhibits a hint of shading on some papers.

 

So I'm back on the Noodler's black bandwagon for the moment. Still love the Perle Noire, though. For me, both are great blacks.

[Parkermaniac]

This was my black ink in use, but I've changed to J.Herbin Perle Noire for these reasons. Nooler's BP Black:

 

1. Is a too slow drier for my needs.

 

2. In combination with a high degree of smearing if you touch the script too early, makes my journals messy. I have to use an old Swedish type of blotter paper before I close the journal. (Perhaps this could be fixed by just diluting the ink, but I haven't tried.)

 

3. It's absolutely covering black, not even a tendency to shading. It therefore looks "dead" for my eyes.

 

Well that was only my observations. On the pro-side one can say that it is weatherproof when really dry, and it works well with junkier paper.

 

Lennart

 

When I diluted my Noodler's bulletproof black, I fixed all of the problems that you mentioned here. It became a faster drier, it doesn't smear to the same degree, and it has a nice amount of shading.

 

-Nate

 

Edit: inserted comma.

Edited April 14, 2010 by Parkermaniac

[bluemagister]

I just got my Pilot Ecrino F nib and the first ink I reached for was Bulletproof Black. Flawless performance and if I want shading and even better flow, I can just add some water to dilute it.

 

A classy ink and a great review!

[jpeck]

Nib creep and terrible smell.

I only use this ink when I absolutely have to, which pretty much means never.

[xuan87]

given the choice, i rather use the Noodler's black over the PR Velvet black due to the quicker drying time. lefties like me can only use quick drying ink.

[Falcon user]

I like this ink for sketching etc but for some reason it creaps in big blobs sometimes from all of my Pelikan pens. So far, it does not do it through my Lamy Al Star pens (I see maybe a 1/10th of mm crip which is insignificant)...but with Pelikan it comes from all sides, nib, under the nib..so I never tried Herbin Noir ink..maybe I try that.

 

I need it to be at least as black as boolletproof black and at least water resistant.

[Pen Nut]

I used to be the biggest fan of Noodler's Black.

 

However, the nib creep eventually annoyed me... especially when I started using pens with prettier nibs than a Lamy 2000.

 

The nail on the coffin was when I noticed that it left a smear of film on the nib (perhaps that was my fault for not really flushing the pen out that often, it was a daily work writer and I would just refill it). WORSE was when I noticed a film over the top of the Noodler's ink bottle suggestive of contamination. Lastly, when I accidentally spilled the bottle onto a white benchtop whilst tipping it into the sink (why didn't I just throw the darn thing out) and I couldn't remove the stain.

 

Decided I needed water resistance, not bulletproof. Sure, the above experiences may just be my own fault but now I use J'Herbin Perle Noir (quite water resistant) or Aurora Black (dark, deep black and flows beautifully in extra fine nibs)

 

All in all a good review ... but there probably are better inks out there. And even within the Noodler's range, a half dozen blacks or so!

 

 

More or less my sentiments as well