Here are some scans of all my inks . . . they are all either Noodler's or Private Reserve brands. Note that this test was done using a Fine nibbed Advocate pen, dipped in each ink then rinsed and dried. The paper was HP 32lb Premium Laserjet paper.

To aid searching, the inks in the comparison are:

• Noodler's Swishmix 'Eternal' Nile Ebony
• Noodler's Green Marine
• Noodler's Red Black
• Noodler's Golden Brown
• Noodler's Legal Lapis 'Bulletproof'
• Noodler's The Violet Vote 'Bulletproof' (fka Iraqi Indigo)
• PR Sherwood Green
• PR Avacado
• PR Fiesta Red
• PR Chocolat
• PR Copper Burst
• PR Shoreline Gold
• PR American Blue
• PR Black Magic Blue
• PR Purple Mojo

First, a 'dry' scan. This gives you as decent an idea of the actual color of each ink as is expected on a monitor.



Next, a look at the inks after an initial spray of water down each side of the page. I guess this is what you'd see if you just spilled your water bottle on your notebook.



Now, the soak tests. The page was soaked in a basin of warm water, then removed for a photo. Here is the paper after about 3 minutes of soaking.



Here it is again after a 10 minute soak.



And finally, after a total of 20 minutes soaking.



As you can see, the Noodler's all seem to do pretty well even after 20 minutes of soaking . . . even those that are not 'eternal' or 'bulletproof'. Those that are bulletproof or eternal do excellent. They don't even seem to lose any of their coloration into the water in the initial spray. The worst of this lot is the Golden Brown, which is a rather light ink to begin with.

The Private Reserve inks don't fare as well. Some of them -- the Sherwood Green, American Blue, and Purple Mojo -- are pretty much gone completely after 20 minutes, and in fact are nearly gone after 10 minutes. The Fiesta Red and Black Magic Blue both do pretty well, leaving a dark legible mark that's at least in the same color range as the original. Some act a bit funny . . . the originally green Avacado actually leaves a permanent red residue (weird), as do the Chocolat and Copper Burst (not as weird).

Finally, here are two comparison aggregates, which combine sample strips from each of the dry, 3 minute, 10 minute, and 20 minutes soaks for each ink brand. This really shows clearly how the Noodler's shines in comparison to the PR (at least in terms of water resistance).





All of these Noodler's inks (except the Swishmix Nile Ebony) were part of a recent purchase I made, and I must say I'm very happy with all of them. So far I think I like them better than my PR inks as a whole. The waterproof nature is a big plus . . . now knowing what happens to some of the PR inks in water, I really can't feel to comfortable using them for anything work-related. Also, the Noodler's inks all dry pretty quickly to a smudge-free state, while several of the PR inks seem to stay wet for a long time, or even dry to a state that still smudges with a small wipe. The main thing against the Noodler's bulletproof / eternal inks is that they don't seem to shade much. The others do, though, and the permanence is worth a loss of shading in many situations.

Hope you find some of this useful, or at least interesting . . .

Thas's a great job done here. I know that all black Noodler's are quite water-resistant, but that Violet Vote - oooooooo! I want that ink!

Thak you very much for posting.

Rita

Thanks for this. Now I am considering buying Legal Lapis & Violet Vote!

Hmmm...Violet Vote looks very close to FPN Tulipe Noir, which is made by Noodler's...to my eye.

Nice test! I do have a lot of Private Reserve inks but not a lot of Noodler's. I'm not overly concerned about the water issue - I like to keep my notebooks dry and so far have been successful doing so - but it's interesting how different the formulas are.

I guess no surprise that Sherwood Forest is one of the ones to completely disappear - it has trouble ever drying in the first place!

Thanks everybody.

I am a big fan of purple so buying the Violet Vote was pretty much a given. But I really only bought the Legal Lapis because of the consistent good reviews that it got (along with the near constant mentions in other contexts). The description of the color kinda left me cold.

However . . . now that I have it I must say I *really* like the color! As soon as I dipped my first pen in it and wrote a few words (using a Waterman Broad nib I ground into a cursive italic, which really shows it off well), I totally changed my opinion. Honestly, if I had to pick just one ink to use I might pick this one . . . the combination of 'bulletproofness' and a color that is both conservative enough for any use yet still a bit interesting to look at is a winner!

Excellent post - thanks!

Great job! Very systematic study.

Very nice.

Who'd a thunk that PR Avacado had such a strong red component. Makes me a little uneasy.

I'm glad to see PR BMB stood up fairly well even though it isn't a "bulletproof" ink - It's my preferred "addressing" ink.