Noodlers Polar Brown

[penguinmaster]

http://facstaff.uww.edu/pellizzt/ink%20reviews/Noodlers%20Polar%20Brown.jpg

[MikaLa]

THX excellent as usual. I love the Polar's because they seem to make every nib soft as butter. Like this color too.

[Inka]

It seems to have a fair amount of shading for using a Fine nib, something I'm quite fond of [both Fine nibs and shading, that is].

I know my reply is a month overdue but I've just recently discovered Polar Brown and have been meaning to try it.

I've kept putting it off, since the ink swabs and pictures on Noodlers' Site make it look drab and muddy, not the "...fiery brown with hints of Dante within the halo of the line..." as Noodlers' claims.

I'd recently ordered 2 x 4.5oz bottles of Polar Black @ 2 weeks ago, since the larger eye-dropper bottles are what I prefer and the 3oz bottles are everywhere.

I'm now wishing that I had asked them to add a 4.5oz bottle or two, if available in the larger size, of Polar Brown to my order yet didn't think about it until the order was already placed.

 

Thanks for the review, belated as this is, since I do like what I see far better than what's shown on the Noodlers' Website.

I may just have to ask them to throw in a 3oz bottle of the Polar Brown, that they do have in stock, just to give it a try now.

[Goodwhiskers]

Nice! Thanks for writing and posting it. It looks like a pleasant, slightly reddish, chocolate color. I'm also glad to see it doesn't do too badly on bad paper.

[ccajackson]

Nice! Thanks for writing and posting it. It looks like a pleasant, slightly reddish, chocolate color. I'm also glad to see it doesn't do too badly on bad paper.

Thanks for the review, it looks like a truly nice shade. I appreciate you taking the time for such a great test-drive.

 

Have you compared this Polar Brown to the FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown? M.B. is currently one of my favorite shades (especially with a drop or two of Lexington Gray for some extra depth), but being a fan of Polar ink properties I would add this if the colors are close. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!

C-C

[djh]

Thanks for the review. I am a fan of Polar Brown too- so far it has performed well in all situations apart from in one of my Lamy Safaris. Love the colour and the fact that it is Eternal is a plus too IMHO

[stevo]

Thanks for the review. I am a fan of Polar Brown too- so far it has performed well in all situations apart from in one of my Lamy Safaris. Love the colour and the fact that it is Eternal is a plus too IMHO

 

I have to chime in that it's one of the worst behaving inks I own. I'm considering sending it to Nathan for exchange as I think I got a bad bottle. Dry, skips in every pen I've used with it, bleeds horribly.

 

S

[forumbrowser]

I have used polar brown for about a month now. The color is beautiful and easy on the eyes when you must do a lot of writing (about 50 pages of technical notes so far). I have been writing with a Pilot VP fine point and the only complaint I have about this ink is a substantial amount of nib creep. In the case of the Pilot VP this often results in the entire "rather long" nib piece being flooded with ink (you must open the pen to view this). The pen will write very wet when a lot of nib creep is present, so I keep a tissue close for cleaning. Despite this problem I still use the ink because of its glassy smoothness, its nice shading (even with a fine point), and its great color.

[PatientType]

I have to chime in that it's one of the worst behaving inks I own. I'm considering sending it to Nathan for exchange as I think I got a bad bottle. Dry, skips in every pen I've used with it, bleeds horribly.

 

Earlier I'd read some very critical posts regarding the performance of Polar Brown. Issues seemed to be that it tended to write dry, have excessive nib creep, and bled through paper. It seemed that the consensus was that the ink worked better in low temperatures. But that it was troublesome in normal indoor environments. People seemed more inclined to recommend Brown #41.

 

Those posts are a few years old. Has Noodler's Polar Brown been reformulated? This is a pretty positive review and a lot of members seem to be getting good results. Or, is this a "your experience may vary" kind of issue? I'd love to find a waterproof brown - especially one with lubricating qualities - that doesn't have green under tones (Burma) and doesn't sell for a premium price.

[Alohamora]

I am having trouble with the pen drying out between uses (as I posted elsewhere today). But no feathering even on thin, bad paper. There is heavy show-through on the same paper, but no actual bleed through. On somewhat better paper, like Double A, the showthrough is very minor and would not prevent me from using the second side (and I'm fussy about that).

[aninkstainedwretch]

Thanks for the review. I am a fan of Polar Brown too- so far it has performed well in all situations apart from in one of my Lamy Safaris. Love the colour and the fact that it is Eternal is a plus too IMHO

 

I have to chime in that it's one of the worst behaving inks I own. I'm considering sending it to Nathan for exchange as I think I got a bad bottle. Dry, skips in every pen I've used with it, bleeds horribly.

 

S

I have the exact same problem! I thought it was a problem with my poor pens.

Well, I may try get a hold of Noodlers and see if I can get a replacement.

It also has a sediment on the bottom, light tan, that is the very devil to get to mix in.

Well, now I may get some good ink yet.

Love the color, I would use it all the time, but it runs dry in my nib, skips and annoyingly plugs my nibs overnight. (Water releases them but this is really frustrating!)

[denjsmith]

Got a bottle of this from Goulet the other day. Does this ink just vary all over the place? I have no nib creep, it's actually a little on the dry side. My biggest complaint is that it is flat out gold. There's nothing brown about it.

[nightwing]

Now I'm a bit concerned about my sample from Goulet Pens. I recently ordered a sample because it was listed as part of the Eel series, but here's hoping it isn't dry or pale in colour...

[penguinmaster]

I haven't followed this ink since it came out, but I do know sometimes Nathan re-formulates the polar inks (among others). Usually though it's marked on the bottle the year it was reformulated.

 

-Tom

[grahamtillotson]

I have to chime in that it's one of the worst behaving inks I own. I'm considering sending it to Nathan for exchange as I think I got a bad bottle. Dry, skips in every pen I've used with it, bleeds horribly.

 

S

 

My experience too. Tried it in a number of pens and it dries out and clogs. May just ditch the bottle one of these days.

 

Graham