A while ago I got a bottle Noodler's Blue Ghost. It is a bulletproof ink that is transparent, but flouresces blue under ultraviolet light.

INK APPURTENANCES
Is it the ink that is secondary to the pen and paper, or the pen and paper that are secondary to the ink? Regardless, clear ink deserves a clear pen, so I got a Lamy Vista (F) for the job. More important than the pen is the paper. It detracts from UV-flourescent ink to use a paper which also is UV-flourescent. Various papers will do, but you have to check before use. In order to check the paper, and to read what you write, your ghost gear is rounded out with a UV light. Lights are available from various rockhounding/geological suppliers. There is a keychain version available from www.photonlight.com for around $20. (select "covert" body, then UV color.) A good way to correspond in invisible ink might be to include of of these small lights.

WRITING CHARACTERISTICS
In my statistically insignificant sample of one, the ink does very well. No nib creep, seems to flow well, dries reasonably quickly. It is immediately visible while writing under UV light, turning from a greenish to a bluish glow as it dries.

WATERPROOFNESS
It is in fact waterproof, surviving a minute under the faucet with no apparent runs.

VISIBILITY
The ink stands out very well under most common UV sources. I have a "black light" lightbulb that I got from the grocery store or some such place. It is sufficient to make the ink readable. The UV Photon does a good job, but its beam is very narrow. The flourescent portable rockhounding type lights probably are the best, giving wide, floody illumination that causes bright flourescence over an entire page at a (somewhat) reasonable cost.


This shows the ink under a portable rockhounding type UV light. Compare to the image under "invisibility" below.

INVISIBILITY
This ink does often leave a telltale "snail trail" on the paper after it dries. However, some rubbing with a soft eraser will remove the effect and leave the ink totally invisible on most papers. The ink will not come off the paper, but if it might smear some if not completely dry. Pentel Hi-Polymer erasers are my favorites. A few papers produce the faintest blue tinge hinting at the ink's presence (if you know what to look for). Again, some paper testing is required. If you use an eraser, and unless the paper is one that leaves a faint blue tinge, this ink is utterly and completely invisible to the unaided eye.


If you look very closely you can see a faint impression of the writing to the left of the pen. The paper is some mystery brand supplied with my Filson portfolio. Not all papers will do this.


This is the same image with the cyan channel lightness greatly increased for better contrast.

COMPARISON TO OTHERS
The only other invisible ink I have is a ballpoint made by Fisher Space. It does a good job, apart from leaving the telltale ballpoint track. The Noodler's ink does the job much better.

USES
This ink is very much an answer in search of a problem. Nonetheless it is a very cool answer! Two uses I have found are recording information that is legitimately sensitive, and corresponding with children. I find it works to supply the parents with the light, so as to avoid any "issues" with what the light might do to the child's eyes. This is the perfect ink for corresponding with Harvey the 6-foot rabbit.

HAZARDS
UV light is hazardous to human eyes. However, the doses involved in casual use of this ink arguably are negligible. For heavy duty use, for example, if you buy a rockhounding light and decide to use it a lot looking at rocks as well as lengthy invisible correspondence, it is a good idea to get some safety glasses that let the flourescent light pass but block the UV. These are usually available through the rockhounding suppliers.

Stay tuned. Pictures will be added over the next day or so. [edit 17-jul-07: UV and plain light images.]

Scott

P.S. No affiliation, just a satisfied consumer.

Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

I don't think I have any use for Invisible Ink. I don't think work would want me to use it. LOL
But I think the kid would love it. Writing secret messages.

Shawn

I have maybe a use for this ink...

When reading a book I plan to make a summary of, I like to underline and mark it. But then it is not fun for the person I want to lent the book to after I have "read" it.

I though that marking the book with Blue Ghost would "damage" the book less. Cheap black light stands are easy to find here in Europe as they are used to verify that Euro banknotes are genuine.

Has anyone an opinion on that usage before I order a bottle ? (the Lamy Vista is already underway).

Jmm

One further use (not for the faint hearted) would be night clubbing, you could draw funky designs, phone numbers etc on the exposed parts of your body and then when on the dance floor and they put that light on...

thought that noodler's bulletproof ink only works on Cellouse fiber. (Paper) but what about Cellouse Fat. I don't know about that. I guess it will just wash away when you sweat.

Shawn

I thought this was "bulletproof" ink? No washing away here, even with sweat

Trust me it doesn't wash off. It has to wear off! Sorry for the blurry picture. I didn't have a tripod handy

if only they sold that ink here in NZ...hey anyone who has some can you mix it with other ink, so that the normal ink shows but when you put it under a black light it also glows...just a thought but i am glad that it works on skin...actually I have heard that one of the strip clubs here uses a invisible ink so that you can come and go but do not leave a inky smudge to give away your activities to the better half...

Indeed, this stuff is hard to wash off! I spilled some on my hands and even after scrubbing with soap, I could still see the stuff under black light hours later...

I may give it a try!

Shawn

After posting that picture I have trimed the lawn, cut the grass, worked on a mower, driven about 50 miles, and scrubbed my hands numerous times. I can still read the numbers.

I wonder if it would work for tatoos?

If this ink is invis how can you tell if there is nib creep??

Only with a black light. I guess if you also spill the ink. it will not stain unless you have a black light on.

I saw a pic somewhere along my travels of a Vista with Blue Ghost in it. Quite possibly the coolest thing I'd seen in awhile.

Yep - this picture really is cool! I have no idea what I'd do with this ink but that Vista/Blue Ghost combination is pretty darn neat.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=23712

Neat product. I didn't know it existed.
I defiantly have a use for it.

As I am nearly cross-eyed and exhausted from starting my business, finally I stole some time for a couple of quick snaps. Sorry for taking so long!

The first post is updated with pictures under natural light of a piece of paper with writing on it, and natural light plus a UV lamp showing the blue flourescence of the ink. The particular paper used (unknown brand supplied with my Filson portfolio) shows the ink a tiny bit under normal light. Most papers do not do this. I record sensitive information with the ink on other papers, and it is utterly invisible under normal lighting.

Scott

Nope-can not see it scott, maybe you can because you know what you are looking for, or I need a new monitor.
I have emailed Noodlers and asked if they have a supplier in New Zealand (I suspect not), or failing that if they will sell it directly and ship me some.
I have decided that if I can get my hands on some I am going to buy a Safari vista for it, its just too fun a toy not to use, plus a good security precaution.

It shows up reasonably well in person, not so much in the raw image, and almost not at all in the scaled down image I posted. I have posted an enhanced image in which the cyan channel has been turned waaaaay up, repeated here:



Scott

OK - NOW I see it...

any links where i can get this ink online?

Here's how.

Bill

Has anyone who has this tried this experiment:


Write a paragraph in regular bulletproof black.
Let it dry.
Write over the lines with some other message in blue ghost.


and


Opposite: write the secret message first, let dry, then write some cleartext message in black over that.


How well is the blue-ghost message visible in those two cases?

Ha! I use this trick all the time in letters to my granddaughter, and she to me. The blue ghost message is perfectly visible either way. Usually we write the Blue Ghost message at right angles to the visible writing.

If you use a non-waterproof ink, you should write the Blue Ghost message first. Otherwise, the Blue Ghost will cause the non-waterproof ink to spread, and possibly to reveal part of what would otherwise be invisible.

He he I would love to try this ink-unfortunstely emails to onsellers in Australia (closest to NZ) have gone unanswered, and I have not found it in any shop here...

One day I will visit the states and then but Litres and Litres of ink...

Have you tried ordering from an American supplier? Say, Pendemonium, Swisher, Art Brown? (No connection with any.) I'm sure they would ship it to you if you pay the postge. (I don't know how much that would be, but possibly not so much.)

Right emailed-now to wait and see-by the way cats urine glows under a black light, does blue ghost have a smell?

Perhaps it would be useful if FPNers would mention all the practical uses (and fun uses) they have thought of for Blue Ghost ink.

I have only come up with two so far

1) Recording logins and passwords (I have many).

2) Marking "From the library of so-and-so" on the inside of books that are loaned out.

Being a flashaholic I bought a UV torch to look for scorpions. I got a pounding headache instead. Its painful after a while to look at things illuminated by UV lights. Anyway, there are cheap UV pens with a UV torch at the other end.


http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/enso...Pen-P020A-.html

Do regular glasses block out UV light? I know sunglasses do, and I'm pretty sure car windshields do too.
Don't wanna hurt my eyes.

Add to those:

3) Making marginal notes in books that I may want to re-sell later, or that I want to keep apparently unsullied.

4) Making notes on review documents in a way that other reviewers will not be able to detect.

5) Making notes for review under darkened conditions without distracting others (I am an amateur astronomer -- white light destroys night vision, and red flashlight lenses sometimes let enough light through to annoy other viewers).

6) (This is not a use that I need, but someone might) Making notes that can be read under darkened conditions without attracting the notice of other people (you can't see the beam from an uv flashlight for any great distance -- of course, the user would not want to be dressed in anything white or that would flouresce under u/v.)

If "Blue Ghost" is mixed with other inks, will it make them glow in black light? Has anyone tried, and if so, what proportions?

If this is possible, then a mix could be used to create a unique "signature ink," more distinctive than use of "Whitness of the Whale" which is recommended by Nathan Tardiff for this purpose.

Ouch $37 for shipping plus the cost of the ink is too steep, i will leave it...

Excuse my somewhat late addition to this thread, I've only recently joined this forum.

Shelley, try Pen And Ink on the Gold Coast (www.penandink.com.au) who sell some Noodler's inks, including Blue Ghost. It's AUD25 but not sure about shipping charges to NZ.

Here's another possible use for the ink (naturally only after extensive toxicology studies):

Add Blue Ghost to the dog's water and use a darklight torch when walking through your backyard at night. No more stepping on 'unpleasantnesses' that might be difficult to see with a normal torch

Just completed a one (1) year test on Noodler's Blue Ghost ink. I wrote on a sheet of parchment and left it on a window sill for the last year. Today I looked at it under a black light and it was still very visible, no signs of fading. I really expected that the sun would have destroyed the "glow in the dark" property of the ink, but it did not. Granted the window sill in question is on the north side of my house, it is MY office, but it is still exposed to sunlight.

I wrote the test page using an XF nib, Lamy Safari, which is a very dry and scratchy nib. So the amount of ink in the sample is minimal.

I wrote a letter to my girl and mailed it to her with a cheap battery-powered fluro black light from eBay. She liked it

wonder how it works on carbon copy paper