I just received a bottle of Bulletproof black and I am very happy with how this lays down on different papers.

It seems very forgiving of cheap papers and barely feathers on the lesser quality papers that abound where I work.

I use a Boorum and Pease record book which is perfect in every way except paper quality. Every ink I have tried feathers and bleeds to some extent, but the Noodler's stays put.

I am looking for a Blue ink, and it seems that there are a few choices - Luxury Blue, Legal Lapis, and Upper Ganges Blue. Do these have the same feather resistance as Black?

In my experience, no. I have several bulletproof inks and while they are all bulletproof, they are quite different. They all flow well but feathering varies widely. Bulletproof Black is the most feather resistant ink I have. Hunter Green is the most feathery ink I have. Both are Noodlers bulletproof inks.

my experience is similar - they can vary wildly.

Bulletproof Black has been wonderfully feather resistant and bleedproof for me, AirCorp blue black is pretty close.

Polar Blue, Dostoevsky, and Mata Hari have been very variable depending on the pen - but Polar blue in the wrong pen will even bleed through Clairefontaine. I haven't found that they really feathered as such, but the lines aren't very crisp, and the bleedthrough can be substantial.

I just got some Legal Lapis and the feather/bleed/flow properties so far are looking more like AirCorp BB. But since I only got it half an hour ago (is there any happier feeling than walking into your house and finding a package from Pendemonium? ) I haven't tried it on a lot of papers. But in a medium nibbed, fairly wet Pelikan GO, there is no feathering on my moleskine dayplanner, though there is a little showthrough.

Is Legal Lapis easily distinguishable from Black on photocopied/printed documents? I like dark blues and blue blacks, but I need to tell originals from copies.

Another Bulletproof Noodlers Blue to consider is Glacier Blue from Swishers. Bluer than Polar Blue, but not real dark. I use it and other Noodlers when doing crosswords and don't see feathering. Most of then pens I use are Fine/XF. My experience, Noodlers is normally free flowing.

We discussed this extensively a few months ago, check it out [topic="34828"]here.[/topic]

The black is far better than all the others. In a class by itself really. Many of Noodler's other bulletproof colours, while they don't feather, they spread a lot (i.e. write a much wider line than you were expecting), and most of the colours are chalky and lacking intensity. The black pretty much does everything well - the others compromise colour intensity and writing quality in favour of durability.

(EDIT: I agree with David that there is a discrepancy between spreading and feathering. Lex Grey feathers, some Swishmixes feather, most bulletproofs (Goldfinch) just spread. I also agree with Captnemo and limesally: performance varies so much, some inks rarely feather but one paper will throw it over the edge... while other inks do fine on that paper. Same goes for pen-use.)

With the exception of bad nib creep, Legal Lapis performs better on a range of papers than other bulletproofs I own. While Glacier Blue is one of the less-horrendously-feathering Swishmixes (I've tried Burgundy and Lakeshore Spruce), it still will feather occasionally. Now, on the other hand, take a look at Lexington Grey -- that bulletproof ink feathers like crazy! I've heard the Polar colors do too.

Swisher's Verdun feathers on some papers, even nice ones, but looks fantastic on others. Swisher's Goldfinch (now an extinct species) feathers horribly in a totally different way (spreads). Iraqi Indigo rarely misbehaves but is behind L.L., Eternal Brown may not feather badly but is quite dry and spreads. Empire Red doesn't feather much (but spreads), but Djinn Red will occasionally feather in a wet pen. A good solution is to use a dry and/or XF pen!

The near-bulletproofs are probably best if you don't need total-waterproofness. If you don't like any of those colors in particular, mix one yourself.

On an original, Legal Lapis can hardly be confused with black. It's one of those "depends which pen" colors -- but it ranges from a dark ("vintage"? I'm too young to know) blue-black, to a soft greenish blue. If you're lucky you'll find a pen that will do both at the same time.

I would go with LL, not only because I think it's my best-performing bulletproof (besides Boring Bulletproof Black), but because it is a very unique ink. Unless you run into another FPN-nut, everyone will know the writing is yours.

It sounds like I have a definitive answer - Try them all.

I definitely want to try Legal Lapis and Luxury Blue.

Thanks everyone for answering all of my questions, including the ones I didn't ask.

Melnicki, I'm in the South Bay. We should get together over green tea and talk fountain pens, ink, and biodiesel.

I don't know if Noodlers XFeather is considered bulletproof.... but I have put it into my fine nib and med nib Phileas pens.
I shook the bottle before filling them.... and turn over the pens before using them... storing them with the nib upright.
I have been playing with them...I mean testing them....on quadrille lined Norcom , Norcom Basic notebook and Moleskine Cahier ....without lines....
When I take them to the water faucet I am getting No Puff, no lightening, no bleedthrough, no nothing ! When the paper dries ..if I ironed it...you would not be able to tell that it had been put into water... and when they are written I get no feathering...
That is what I was looking for...so I am pleased...
Of course, it will take some time to see if there are any clogging problems.... So far they are smooth ,black and waterproof....
Greg