Noodler's Red-Black

October 22, 2007

Alright...I won't rehash it to death (too much), as Kurt has already done an excellent review. Using the same bottle featured in Kurt's review, I found exactly what I wanted, a 50%+ waterproof version of Waterman Havana. On many papers, I can not distinguish WM Havana from Noodler's Red-Black out of the same pen (a Lamy Safari F...my "swing" pen). In any event, as Kurt says, this is far from red-black in the sense that Zhivago is green-black, and it is solidly a brown-red.

Water tests showed the black stayed, the red washed away...as expected. The resulting page (after 24 hours of soaking, minor agitation 3 or 4 times during the soak, and overnight drying) look about like what you would get with a mix of Lexington Gray with a little bit of straight Noodler's Black.

On postcards that aren't entirely FP-friendly, I found I got a dark red (not quite burgundy) with some shading leaning toward black, a pleasant surprise out of the fine nib. On regular papers I get what looks like straight WM Havana with no shading whatsoever.

Nib creep is horrendous. After two days in the Safari the top-side of the nib showed about 75% coverage. The creep was unlike the thin film with 5-25% coverage you see with many PR and some WM colors, but rather it was a thick film...enough ink that a firm shake of the pen nets you droplets of ink flying off the nib. I washed the pen out and went back to a P.R. blue I've been liking lately.

Nib lubrication is adequate. It dries a bit slowly, but smearing was not a problem on most papers I tried. The red seems to dry before the black (unscientific test on a semi-glossy post card). The fine-nib is smooth with most inks, excellent with a few. With Red-Black I found it about average. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to write to Noodler's about, either.

All impressions are based on a thoroughly agitated bottle (apparently it doesn't like being called names). :ltcapd:

For now the Eternal Brown is working wonderfully in my VP, and the Safari seems most content swinging back and forth between some PR blues and greens I like. The Red-Black is back on the ink shelf. It was exactly what I wanted, but nothing I expected....if that makes any sense. I should have been more precise in my wishlist. Since the reality and my expectations don't quite line up, I'm now in the same boat Kurt found himself in, albeit for different reasons. This bottle may end up back on the Marketplace sooner rather than later.

Also, another strong point for this ink is ease of cleanup. Granted, it only lived in my Safari for two days. It washed out of the pen much, much, MUCH more easily than any other ink I've tried in it (including Pelikan, WM, PR, and other Noodler's offerings). Between the red ink and the permanent black I was expecting an epic battle, but it was running clear after 2-3 converters of water. This in itself was almost enough to overcome the nib creep and save it as an ink to keep for my "swing pen." Almost....

If you're looking for an ink you can use for work or other "semi-important" documents, and you really like Havana's color, this is really your only choice. I'm sure with the right pen the nib-creep would be less of a problem. I'm not normally bothered by nib-creep, but it was excessive in my pen. I don't have the patience to try it in the rest of my pens until I like it in one of them. As a performer, it is as good or better than expected and gets high marks. If you just want a permanent ink, don't like ink dripping off your nib, and you're not set on a dark brown/burgundy, there's better choices in the Noodler's Eternal/Bulletproof lines.

Of course, this is all just my opinion, and YMMV according to driving style and personal preference.

Hope this helps someone....

~~Mike

Edited October 22, 2007 by KingJoe