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Noodler’s Tolstoy Tolstoy on 23 May 1908 at Yasnaya Polyana,[1] Lithograph print by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Disclaimer: I’ve been avoiding reviewing this ink, mostly because I dislike Tolstoy. I have read some of his books in my youth and recently watched a documentary about him, preparing this review. I was impressed by his very modern vision of school system (mostly like the modern Finnish school systems) and “liberating” his serfs. The second part of his life, he becomes erratic. The highlight, I believe, was being ex-communicated by the Russian Orthodox church And to deprive his wife and children of the royalties of his books in favour of charities. It left me perplexed as it was his wife who transcribed his undecipherable handwriting of his early masterpieces. There's a 2009 film, The Last Station which deals with Tolstoy's struggle to balance fame, wealth and his ideal of living devoid of material things. However, this is an ink review. 😛 The greatest part of doing this review was discovering the fantastic colour photography by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky. You can see most of them here: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/ethnic.html So, lets get on with the ink review with the chroma: I don’t like this ink. Filling the pen is torture. The chemical smell is awful and thankfully dissipate with time. But it gave me a headache a couple of sneezes. This isn't a good ink, it has start up issues, it hated pilot Elite, had hiccups with Lamy Safari, until I wrote a few lines, but tolerated well Pilot Kakuna. I recommend it, only to those, who have no sense of smell, love Tolstoy, like a challenging ink, are light handed, use well sealed wet pens and work under UV lights. Writing Samples: Note the difference between the Ef in Pilot Elite and Kakuna. I really had to press hard the Elite to make it write. I didn't bother to scan of the "good papers". But if you're heavy handed, use wet pens, you'll have ghosting and probably a bit of bleed through. Photo: Watertest: Left side was held under water. Kitty was waterproof Comparison: And finally a sketch. I do the yearly Inktober challenge. The prompt was Beard. The black ink is Sailor Kiwa-guro. fluorescence: · Pens used: Pilot Elite/ Kakuna(Ef/), Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B) · What I liked: Fast dry time, spectacular fluorescence (I’m pushing it!) · What I did not like: Name, and chemical stench, bleed through, flow issues. · What some might not like: Same as above, minus the name · Shading: No · Ghosting: On most papers yes. · Bleed through: Depending nib, paper. If you’re heavy handed for sure. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Ok · Nib Dry-out: No. · Start-up: It didn’t like Pilot Elite. Lamy stopped working after a few days of not using. · Saturation: Sort of. · Shading Potential: Dismal · Sheen: No · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Didn’t notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Yes · Staining (pen): Possible · Clogging: No. · Cleaning: Like most permanent inks, the more the ink stays in the pen, the more time consuming it is to clean. I won’t recommend these inks for pens that cannot be fully dismantled and pens that don’t have a great seal. The pilot Kakuna’s transparent section was tainted in a lovely blue hue, and no amount of Q-tip would remove it, but after several hours of soaking, I should be able to remove it. Safari needed an overnight soaking, and 5 minutes in pen cleaning solution, as a safe measure. · Water resistance: Excellent. · Availability: 90 ml bottles / 3 Oz bottles Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Noodler's Dostoyevsky is a bulletproof ink, belonging to the Russian series. Note Russian series are more expensive than Noodler's normal line up. After the De Atramentis Artist/ Document Cyan and Turquoise disaster reviews, I was weary of trying another permanent blue. To my surprise Noodler’s Dostoyevsky was “quite good” compared to the above, i.e. it's very usable with the good pen/ paper combo. A bit about Dostoyevsky (1821-1881). He’s one the greatest, if not greatest Russian novelist of all times. His mother died when he was young and his father, a doctor was killed by one his surfs, when he was about 17, about which time his epileptic attacks started. It marked his literature. In his youth he was condemned to death by firing squad, for belonging to a political movement. His sentence was commuted at the last moment (detailed in his novel, The idiot )to 4 years in Siberia, which were described in the harrowing The House of the Dead. Dostoyevsky was addicted to Gambling, , which inspired his Gambler. His masterpiece Crime and Punishment, about a young man who commits murder for all the good reasons, and his magnum opus The Brothers Karamazov, which I haven't read. Now for the ink. This is a legible turquoise ink. I enjoyed journaling many pages with it. I forgive a lot of things in permanent inks. What I don’t like are long dry times and bleed through. This ink fares quite well. It’s not a perfect ink. Far from that. It’s not very lubricated. So, if you don’t like feedback and use Ef/F nibs it's not for you. I enjoyed it best with Safari M/B nibs. It can create wooly lines if feed is primed, nib B/ Double broad. This ink needs good paper. There's some faint ghosting on Tomoe River but it worked flawlessly on Rhodia and Midori. However, I won't recommend it with a wet stub/ fude nib. It'll bleed through. Also, with the semi-flex, I really pushed it to the limit and there was some bleed through. Would I buy a bottle? If I wanted a permanent turquoise, maybe. Writing samples: All quotes are by Dostoyevsky. You can see it doesn't like very much Hammermill White, 20lb paper. These lines were written with EF/F/M nibs. Watertest: Left side was held under running water. A bit of ink was washed out. But most of the ink stayed put. As usual I had some fun doing a little sketch. This is done on a Fabriano Watercolor paper. It was inspired by a Gaube Lake, a high altitude Lake in the Pyrenees, France. Inks used Sky: Kakimori Karari for the sky Gutenberg Urkundentinten G!0 IG ink Kakimori Kurun And Dostoyevsky for the lake. I use a bit of bleach on Dostoyevsky. Where you see a small triangle on the right side. Under UV light, the triangle changes colour. If I get around to it, I'll post some photos and comparison with other turquoises. · Pens used: Pilot Elite (Ef) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Soennecken Schulfuller S4, Jinhao 450 Fude nib · What I liked: Writing with a medium/stub nibs. Easy cleaning for most pens. · What I did not like: I like turquoise in general, but not for inks. · What some might not like: Woolly lines with broad nibs. Relative dryness. It needs good paper. Longish dry time. · Shading: Not much. · Ghosting: I would say, it was more than acceptable on good paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper · Flow Rate: Excellent · Lubrication: Dryish. It’s best with Medium/ Broad nibs. · Nib Dry-out: None. · Start-up: None. · Saturation: Not saturated. · Shading Potential: Faint · Sheen: None. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Yes, a primed broad nib on some papers. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: No. · Staining (pen): No · Clogging: No. · Cleaning: Quite easy. Though, I would put it in a pen where you can take the section a part. · Water resistance: Very good. The excess ink came off, but the rest was stable. · Availability: 3 oz/90 ml bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Noodler's Tchaikovsky is a bulletproof/fluorescent, muted purple ink, belonging to the Russian series. It's more expensive than traditional Noodle's inks. A bit about the composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893), well known for his Swan Lake and Nutcracker ballets. It is ironic that one of the greatest Russian composers was educated for a career as a civil servant as music wasn't a viable option at his time. Even more ironic his music wasn't “Russian” enough for some of his compatriots. I was 11 or 12, when I discovered his violin concerto, by the legendary Nathan Milstein. It remains to this day, one of my favorite concertos. and soon after I discovered his First piano concerto in the electrifying 1941 version, with Vladimir Horowitz and Arturo Toscanini. It is a recording that will never age. I could go on and on about Tchaikovsky, but this is an ink review after all, and to paraphrase a movie quote, I doubt this ink would make classical music lovers fans of fountain pens or ink lovers fan of Tchaikovsky's music 😅 I’m not sure why Mr. Tardiff used this muted purple to represent Tchaikovsky. Like most bulletproof inks it doesn't shade and like most fluorescent inks, it's well behaved and easy to clean. Though it can and will stain demonstrators, which with a touch of Doyou or Noodler's Red Eel, it could be fixed, if you really insist on using this ink with a transparent section :😜 Let's start with the chroma: I really love muted purples, it has a silver haze about it on Tomoe River 68gr: Writing samples: All quotes are by Tchaikovsky. Hammermill Printer Paper, Premium Multipurpose Paper 20 lb paper. Comparison: Excellent waterproofness. Ink didn't budges under running water: And finally a sketch, a homage to Tchaikovsky: And the fluorescence A · Pens used: Pilot Kakuno (Ef /Stub) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B) / Jinaho 450 with an Ultraflex nib/ Jinhao 450 fude · What I liked: Wet ink, muted purple, with the silver haze, well behaved. · What I did not like: Nothing much. · Shading: Only with fude nib. · Ghosting: This ink is best for coated paper. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Excellent · Lubrication: Excellent · Nib Dry-out: None. · Start-up: None. · Saturation: Muted · Shading Potential: You can’t have it all · Sheen: none. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Didn’t notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: No. · Staining (pen): It’s a purple ink, so it would stain. Though a bit of Sailor Doyou/ or Noodle's Red Eel will clean it up. · Clogging: No · Cleaning: Surprisingly very easy · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 3 oz/ 90 ml bottles Please don't hesitate to comment or share your experience with this ink. The more the merrier

Comparison of two inks with a similar teal-like color, the Noodler's ink brands itself as a Blue-Black, while J. Herbin's is called a Grey-Green. Vert de Gris is very gentle and shades very well, while Prime of the Commons can be a bit temperamental on the page, but both flow very well. Prime of the commons is "Bulletproof, Eternal, Forgery Resistant and Waterproof", and will change it's color to a light blue when tampered with. I've got both inks and the Tomoe River Nebula Notebook at PurePens, so if you like them be sure to check them out! Great service and shipping prices to Brazil, where I live. Writing sample on a Nebula Notebook with Tomoe River paper, Noodler's PotC is on a Sailor Lecoule with a MF nib, and Vert de Gris is on a Pilot Puckish 500 witha fine nib: Here's some dry time and resistance tests on Rhodia dotpad, PotC dries in roughly one second: And here's some ghost/bleed through and smear tests on a 56g school notebook paper. PotC dried instantly! Couldn't smudge while writing if I wanted to.

This is a muted , bullet proof purple in the Polar series. Polar series consists of five inks. Black, Brown, Green, Blue and Purple. Comparison: Polar inks were developed for cold regions. In their original iteration they didn’t freeze, but had flow issues, I believe. In this updated version they turn into slush in subzero temperatures. TR 68 gr /Reverse fude #6 While I live in a relatively cold area, I have not found the need to ever use a fountain pen or pen for that matter outdoors. Frankly, I doubt if I can hold a pen in -30°C /-22°F with a gigantic mitt. And frankly I don't see the point of getting frostbite to prove a point. Midori / dry time decreases drastically on this paper, 9 seconds. Nib is medium Polar Blue and Purple are similar in behaviour: they are both very wet, and muted. So, your EF will probably turn in a fine. These i cellulose reactive inks, don’t behave well on cheap/ thin paper, that is they bleed through like there’s no tomorrow. HP 32 Polar Purple doesn’t shade, unless you use a wide nib. It’s a pastel/muted/flat colour. I like pastel. It's not distracting Shading on TR 68 gr/ #6 fude nib - There is shading on this paper. But dry times are above 20s on this paper. Dry time on Rhodia is almost immediate, with Midori is about 10 seconds. Fude nib/ Midori Polar inks have a bad rap in general. They can have some flow issues at time and need the right pen/nib combination. They stain (Green and Brown do) but a bit of Doyou/Red Rattlers and the stain disappears. Thought they are best to be married to one pen and they live happily ever after. I have Green in a Kaweco and brown in Chinese pen. They just do fine. Clairefontaine/ fude Rhodia - Water test. Note the water test was done immediately after writing. · Pens used: Jinaho 450 fude/ medium nib - Reverse · Papers used: TR 68 gr / Midori/ Rhodia/ Clairefontaine /HP32 · Shading: None. Pastel · Ghosting: On thin absorbent paper yes. With pens · Bleed through: on thin papers for sure. · Flow Rate: Wet. · Lubrication: Good · Nib Dry-out: Needs a well-sealed pen. · Start-up: No · Saturation: Muted · Shading Potential: None · Sheen: None · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed. But I’m sure with thin absorbent paper it would feather and fly! · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not noticed. · Staining (pen): I don’t know. · Clogging: None · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 90 ml bottles There is a strong possibility that this ink might stain plastic convertors.

Hello my fellow fountain pen lovers. I love rich, vivid, deeply saturated fountain pen inks, particularly those that shade. My favorite inks are Colorverse Supernova, that shades gorgeously from a rich blue to a lighter blue, and Diamine November Rain, which in my green-and-black Pelikan M600, shades (you guessed it) from green to black beautifully. For my Lamy 2000, which I just bought to be my daily-use pocket pen, I’m searching for a waterproof ink for a specific reason: so when I sign restaurant checks with it, there is no danger of the waiter losing his tip because his check slip got wet and the ink disappeared. But my dillemma is that I love saturated, vivid inks. With one exception, all the waterproof inks I’ve tried are cloudy and unsaturated and unsatisfying. I just bought a bottle of Sailor Seiboku. To me, this is a pale, cloudy ink, the opposite of the rich, saturated colors I love. And iron gall inks are generally dry writers, so that’s a nonstarter. Got to have a wet ink. The exception is Noodler’s Baltimore Canyon Blue, which is saturated and beautiful, and in my own tests is fully waterproof, but… when I write on restaurant checks with this ink, the pen simply stops writing and has to be primed. The ink seems to react to the thermal paper restaurants use and it clogs right up. Thanks in advance for your advice! GNL

A rich red, homage to the great Russian poetess, Marina Tsvetayeva. Note Nathan Tardiff uses an alternative spelling for Tsvetaeva. Information gleaned from her biography is from wikipedia and poetry foundation. Note: The selected poems are from a translation by Andrey Kneller on Kindle. I've chosen certain lines and not entire poems. Marina Tsvetayeva was born in Moscow 8 October 1892. Her father was a professor of fine arts, her mother a concert pianist, who wanted her to become a musician and not a poet, as she found her poems insipid. She spend most of her life out of use. Don’t mistake these soulful eyes for meekness. Tsvetayeva’s poetry, reads like punctuated bullet shots: an explosion of emotions, imagery, and sounds. She once famously said, “Next time I will be born not on a planet, but on a comet!” A prophetic poem on Midori/ Ahab Note how the saturated feed lightens Some of her poetry is especially apt in the current situation of war. To love a country that does not love you, to be a stranger in exile and in exile in your own country. That was the lot of Marina Tsvetayeva. Tomoe River She and her family paid for it dearly. Her life was mired with poverty, exile, and tragedy. Tsvetayeva married an army cadet, Sergei Efron, who fought in the World War I and during the Russian revolution joined the white army, and after their defeat in 1920, emigrated to Paris. Stuck in Moscow during the great famine, she left her daughters in the care of orphanage, believing they would be fed better. One of them died from starvation. She emigrated in 1922 to Paris and reunited with her husband. In Paris, she was shunned, by the Russian intelligentsia, especially after she wrote to a Soviet poet. From then on she lived from hand to mouth. TR 68gr Her daughter, Ariadna, espoused communist ideals and left for the Soviet Union in 1937, followed by her husband, Efron, who unbeknownst to Tsvetayeva had become a NKVD spy and was involved in a couple of assassinations of Russian dissidents. HP 32 Ironically both Efron and Ariadna were imprisoned in charges of espionage in 1941. Efron was murdered, and Ariadna spend 16 years in the gulag. This is on Hammermill Printer Paper, Premium Multipurpose Paper 20 lb, 92 brightness.... Tsvetayeva moved back to the Soviet Union in 1939. From then on, she lived in abject poverty and hanged herself in 1941. She was 48. To finish the train wreck of her life, her beloved son, volunteered and was killed in 1944. Now for the ink: I thought I had found my dream bulletproof red. But for some reason this ink, like other Noodler’s red, has difficult to dry and depending on the pen/paper/nib can smudge. For example, with a Jinhao 450, it lays a lot of ink that smudges on Midori 30 minutes later. Ironically with Ahab it behaved in a much different fashion. But still, I won’t recommend it to lefties, or those who write copiously on Japanese papers with wet pens and wide nibs. Ironically on absorbent paper it dries instantly. This is an unrelated text. It is a photo to show off the shading with a fude nib.... Though dry times is atrocious... Paper is Apica Comparison Cleaning is a bit like other red/ pink inks, a pain. Though I have had worse, Skrip Red/ Sailor Grenade and Herbin rose cyclamen. But you definitely need a pen liquid wash. This is one beautiful red, and if it didn’t have the smudge problem, I would been buying a bottle. I suspect that a drop of water might alleviate the smudge problem much like Red-Black. Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. Ink is bulletproof, fluorescent. Note the left side was held under water. I didn't wait 24 hour for the ink to dry completely. The excess ink washed away. • Pens used: Ahab/ Jinhao 450 fude • Shading: delightful with wider nib. • Ghosting: a bit on absorbent paper… • Bleed through: No. • Flow Rate: medium.. • Lubrication: average • Nib Dry-out: No. • Start-up: No • Saturation: Deep rich red • Shading Potential: Yes • Sheen: None • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed • Nib Creep / “Crud”: it depends. • Staining (pen): you need to rinse it in a pen wash. But surprisingly it was easier to clean that Rose Cyclamen/ Skrip red. • Clogging: None • Water resistance: Excellent • Availability: 90 ml bottles – More expensive than traditional Noodler’s inks.

Hello Fellow FPNers, I have been away from fountain pens for about 10 years after many years using them almost exclusively. Now that I’m back in the fold, I’m wondering if there are any well behaved, beautiful waterproof inks out there I might not know about. I remember that most of the waterproof or bulletproof inks I used (Noodler’s Luxury Blue comes to mind) tended toward nib creep and were very hard to wash out of pens. I’ve recently received a sample of Noodle’rs Zhivago and have been very impressed by its good behavior, lack of nib creep and good flow. But it basically looks black (barely a hint of green) and I’d prefer something in the blue-teal-green spectrum. MUST be a well behaved ink. Thanks for your insights! GNL

A very unusual looking ink, hovering between dull purple and brown/grey/black. It's quite a neutral colour. The writing experience is quite pleasant. Ink is wet and lubricated and fast drying. I won't recommend this ink for a very wet pen, though. Ink is fast drying. There might be ghosting with a wet/ wide nib like most bulletproof nibs. Rinsing is easy. However, the pink/ red component might stick around a bit like most pink/red inks (bulletproof or not) But overall it is much more easier that Sailor Jentle Grenade or Herbin Rose Cyclamen or Sheaffer Skrip red. Ink's title is a cautionary tale of these times of division we live in and is inspired by Sam Houston and Abraham Lincoln, which I "assume" was take from the New Testament. Most writing are done with a Kanwrite Ultra flex, a wet pen. Midori TR 68 gr HP 32 Paper Ink comparaion This text is on TR 68 gr, written with a #6 fude nib (text is from the Song of Songs, translated by Chana and Ariel Bloch) A sketch with an Ef nib... Water test - Left side was under running water....Note how red and blue separate.... Ink wash on MIdori water colour paper

A complex grey belonging to the Russian series, an homage to the great Russian Poet, Boris Pasternak. In its early iteration this ink was purple. Check 2012 reviews of @Sandy1and @mhphoto Pasternak was born in an integrated Jewish Russian family. His father was a painter, his mother a pianist. As a four-year-old, Tolstoy visited their house, to listen Pasternak’s mother play the piano. A young Pasternak by his father Leonid 1910, Courtesy of Wikipedia. In his youth he met Alexander Scriabin, the great Russian composer, and decided to become a musician but after six years of toil he realized he had no talent. So, he abandoned music and studied philosophy in Germany, but to no avail. Thankfully he settled on literature: Poetry and translation Here is a sample of his work (translation used from Poemhunter) on TR 68gr and Midori… While like many Russians artists, he embraced the promise of the revolution, he soon became disillusioned. He survived the great purge. It is said that Stalin had written besides his name: leave alone this cloud dweller. Yet his lover was sent to the gulag and had a miscarriage. Some say he survived maybe, because he translated works of Georgian Literature. Stalin was from Georgia/Russia. The culmination of his work was Dr. Zhivago, his only work of prose, for which and his poetry he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature, which brought him disgrace. He died two years later. He died two years after, is dishonour for having accepted/awarded the Nobel prize (though he rejected it, 6 days after). Dr. Zhivago was published in Russia in 1988. I don’t know why Nathan has settled on grey. I am not familiar enough with Pasternak’s work. However, the complexity of the chroma has convinced that the literary imagery of this genius would demand a cacophony of colour to create a vibrant grey. Now for the ink: This is a dream ink for an occasional sketcher, on good fountain pen paper. The ink is wetter than the other Russian inks, I tried and it would embrace copy paper like a long-lost lover, never to let go. I preferred it most in my medium Jinhao. I enjoyed less with EF/F nibs, though truth be said, I’m not a fan of fine lines in general, unless I’m doodling. With TWSBI Stub, was a bit difficult to control. Though enjoyable to write. Here is an unrelated sketch: Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. Ink is bulletproof. However, excess ink will wash away as you can see on the left image. · Pens used: TWSBI Go STUB – Jinaho 450 fude/ medium nib, No name F/EF nibs. · Shading: Quite a bit on good paper. · Ghosting: No · Bleed through: Yes on copy paper · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Cushiony · Nib Dry-out: No. · Start-up: No · Saturation: Deep rich grey. Though on absorbent paper it turns into a dull grey. · Shading Potential: Yes · Sheen: None · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed · Nib Creep / “Crud”: No · Staining (pen): Very easy to clean… · Clogging: None · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 90 ml bottles

Noodler’s Kuprin Is a rich garnet colour, belonging to the Russian series, an homage to the Russian novelist, Aleksandr Kuprin. The colour, I assume, is a nod to one of his short stories, the Garnet Bracelet, a sentimental story of unrequited love. Chroma Some snippets from the Garnet Bracelet on Midori - Fude nib - Fine nib Kuprin was born in 1870 in the Russian empire and after a stint in the army and many odd jobs, settled on writing short stories, the most famous being the Duel (life of an officer in a dreary garrison in southern Russia), The Pit (vignettes about life in a second tired brothel), and many other short stories. His style is poetic and paints well the end and the obvious demise of the Tzarist Russia. TR 68 gr Apica Medium/ fine nib I found several of his lines describing Jews, a sad reflection of the pogroms. He left before the 1917 revolution to Paris and never achieved his fame again. He returned to Soviet Union, destitute and finished, to great triumph and died a year after, at age 67, in 1938. In contrast to his depressing life, the ink is rich, deep warm burgundy, with delightful. I found the ink non lubricated when I pressed the nib hard but smooth if I wrote with a light touch. Here is a comparison with some other burgundy inks: Ink is definitely waterproof: And here is a whimsical sketch to brighten your day: Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. Ink is bulletproof. • Pens used: Noodler’s Ahab/ Kaweco Perkeo Fine/ Jinhao Medium/fude • Shading: Quite a bit on good paper. • Ghosting: No • Bleed through: Didn’t notice. • Flow Rate: Balanced • Lubrication: Better with soft/ smooth nibs. I would recommend this ink to people who have a soft touch. • Nib Dry-out: Note noticed • Start-up: Not noticed • Saturation: Deep rich burgundy • Shading Potential: Delightful • Sheen: None • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed • Nib Creep / “Crud”: No • Staining (pen): Very easy to clean… • Clogging: None • Water resistance: Excellent • Availability: 90 ml bottles

Noodler’s Chekhov is Light pastel pink, belonging to the Russian line. One of the most subtle and soft inks I have ever used and one of the best inks, I've ever tried, period. It brings me silent joy. From what I've tried and tested, I really like the Russian Series in General. They are well behaved and easy to clean and water resistant. They have also rekindled my passion for reading poetry. A bit about Anton Chekhov: He was born in 1869 and died at age 44 from tuberculosis. He was a doctor by profession, but is considered one the greatest writers of all times. He once said, "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress." Chekhov was author of four plays, the Sea Gull, Uncle Vanya and 3 Sisters, the Cherry Orchard and many short stories. I assume the ink is a nod to the Cherry Orchard an The ink shades delightfully with broad and flex nibs. It’s a shade that soothes the soul. The ink was slightly less lubricated in my Lamy Safari. It gave just enough feedback to remind me, that I'm writing. Dry time is about 15 seconds. Midori Ahab Lamy Broad/ Reverse The chroma is simple: On Tomoe River - Ahab TR 68gr with Ahab Comparison: Here is a written sample on FIELD NOTES, notebooks. These are non FP friendly notebooks, super absorbent. Front: Back B Note Russian series inks are more expensive than standard bulletproof inks. Ink is bulletproof however, if you drag a wet Q-tip on the ink, it can be removed to a certain extent. However, under running water it looks fine and rubbing alchol doesn't faze it at all. Ink is fluorescent. • Pens used: Noodler’s Ahab/ Lamy Safari Broad • Shading: Quite a bit on good paper with wide nibs. • Ghosting: Not on good paper. Check Field notes. • Bleed through: On absorbent paper with wide nibs. • Flow Rate: Balanced • Lubrication: Good, but it can be slightly dry depending your pen. • Nib Dry-out: No • Start-up: No • Saturation: pastel • Shading Potential: With flex and broad nibs. • Sheen: None • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed…on FIELD NOTES paper a bit. • Nib Creep / “Crud”: No • Staining (pen): Easy to clean… • Clogging: Nope • Water resistance: Excellent • Availability: 90 ml bottles

I’ve been enjoying this eye searing ink for quite a well. In general, most of the Russian Series ink are some of the best “bulletproof” inks I’ve tried, and Esenin is in that category. Sergei Esenin or Yesenin was a Russian Poet. In his young life he married four times. His 2nd wife Zinaida Reich, a famed Russian actress, was killed in 1939 by Soviet Secret service. His 3rd wife was famed American dancer Isadora Duncan. And his fourth wife a granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy. It is said that his last poem, was written with his blood, as he couldn’t find ink in the hotel room, he was staying. Hence this reddish eye searing colour. The next day, he was found dead in his hotel room, having committed suicide at age 30. Some say, he was killed by the soviet secret police and his suicide was staged. Poem (from wikipedia's translation) on Tomeo River 68gr. The pen is Kawrite Ultraflex. The smudge on the word "die" is intentional. The best way to describe his poetry is a quote from Wikipedia: The Empress told me my poems were beautiful, but sad. I replied, the same could be said about Russia as a whole," The ink with a fine nib has an orange red hue, but with the flex it shares more character. Ink is bulletproof and fluorescent. When I first inked, it, I was sketching foxes..... This is with the fine nib of a Kaweco Perkeo Here is another written text: from the Song of Songs.... this time on thin Tomoe River, pen Kanwrite Ultra flex... Savour the richness of the red... and the delicate chroma: In all this is a delightful red ink, for those who are for looking for an unabashed eye searing red Note the Russian series are more expensive than the other bulletproof inks. • Pens used: Kaweco Perkeo Fine/ Kanwrite Flex • Shading: Quite a bit • Ghosting: Not really. • Bleed through: Depends on paper nib/ combination. • Flow Rate: Wet • Lubrication: Great • Nib Dry-out: No • Start-up: No • Saturation: Eye searing… • Shading Potential: With flex and depending on paper • Sheen: None • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed… • Nib Creep / “Crud”: Yes. • Staining (pen): Easy to clean… • Clogging: Nope • Water resistance: Excellant • Availability: 90 ml bottles

Polar Brown is one of my favorite inks. Ironically, I’m not a fan of the color. It’s somehow bland. It can be a frustrating and finnicky ink, depending the pen used. But in this day age, where the veil on life’s non-permanence and uncertainty has been torn to bits, an ink, as permanent as the paper it bonds with is a source of comfort. When I first got into inks, being too lazy, I ordered a bunch of mystery samples. There were two Polar Browns. When I inked my pen, I told myself, what have I done to deserve such an ink in double amounts. But it grew on me, to the point that I bought a bottle, and I always have a couple of pens inked up, just in case, I have to jot down some important information, words of wisdom, sign a check or write a shopping list. Not a pleasant feeling when your painstakingly craft list melts after an impromptu drizzle or stray snowflake…… It dries in less than 10 seconds with a wet medium nib, and 3 with a fine on Rhodia dotpad. On copy paper it’s instantaneous. However, it takes forever to dry on Tomoe River with a wet nib, but it shades. With a fine nib, 45 seconds, until smudge free… It is also one of the easiest inks to clean out of a fountain pen. I’ve tried it even in a vintage Waterman and cleaning was a breeze. Personally, this is one of those rare inks that I would not use with a stub/ oblique nib/ fude. With a wet/ wide combo it would ghost and bleed through unabashedly. Though sometimes I prefer that dark rich brown, haunting the paper, than the mild muted brown it usually is. I’m not sure if it would be happy in a dry pen. I have had it in a Jinhao 992 for a year with no problem. In a Jinhao 450 with a fude nib, it had flow issues but when I changed the nib to a medium it was much better. When it flows, it’s a joy to write with. And unsurprisingly Polar Brown, loves Noodler’s nib creeper. On Rhodia dot pad Rhodia Back On Tomoe River Swab comparaison On Amazon Copy paper - Front Back On Hilroy - King of the fountain pen unfriendly notebooks Back Yesterday it was raining. So, I decided to do a permanence test.... Note the Black Swan in English Roses was actually Sailor Yodaki... Before After 2 hours under rain/sleet/snow After 18 hours under constant rain Finally I subjected the visible texts to swabs of alcohol on the left side and bleach to ride side....

I work in a regulatory chemistry lab so having basically everything resistant ink is a must for archival & forgery purposes. Where I'm at we're under EPA regulations (vs. ISO or TNI) so it only says indelible ink. The majority of the inks I use are Noodler's bulletproof inks & have been approved by our QA/QC officer. Since Noodler's inks are not ISO or anything else certified I decided to do my own tests with some of our common solvents in the lab in case an auditor ever asks about it. My test wasn't anything super scientific but should be enough to show anyone the permanency of the ink. While I was at it I figured it's nice to share my results with you. The test: I filled a beakers with 6 common solvents we use in our lab. The solvents are Hexane, Acetone, Ethyl Acetate, Methylene Chloride, methyl tert butyl ether(MTBE), and Methanol. I wrote the name of each ink on plain copy paper and let it dry overnight. I then let it soaked each piece of paper in the corresponding solvent for at least 1 minuet. During the soak I agitated the piece of paper several times in an attempt to force the ink to wash off. And for reference I wrote the name of the solvent the paper was placed in with a black Bic pen. After soaking I removed the paper and placed it on the counter to dry. Edit: One other note, the ink labeled Noodler's Teal is a 1:4 mix of Bad Green Gator and Bad Blue Heron respectively. This first picture is of everything before it was soaked in solvent. And please forgive my bad handwriting as I was scribbling the names and wasn't worried about penmanship.

Noodler's #41 Brown does what it was created to do, and it does it very well. Will it win an award for the best behaving, best shading, and best sheening brown ink ever created? No. It should, however, win an award for being a ridiculously awesome bulletproof brown ink. I love it for that reason and highly recommend it. Quick stats if you don’t want to read all the details: Flow/Lubrication: 2 of 5 Saturation: 4 of 5 Shading: 3 of 5 on Tomoe River; not much on standard papers Feathering: none Bleedthrough: none Showthrough: none Water-Resistance: 5 of 5 Dry Time (FP friendly): <30 sec Dry Time (non-FP friendly): <5 sec! Smearing (dry): none Sheen: None Cleaning & Maintenance: above-average (needed more frequently) Staining: possible on converters and demonstrators - easily remedied with diluted bleach Buy again: absolutely - will always have in my collection *A quick side note...This is my first ink review. Also, my photo editing skills aren't the best. Hilarious combination.* I love brown inks and #41 Brown was one of the first bottles of ink I bought years ago. It is a dark and deep sepia color, according to the founder of Noodler’s Ink. My first thoughts when seeing it on paper, ‘Yep, that’s brown.’ Anytime I want a bombproof brown ink, this is the first bottle I reach for in my collection. Lamy 2000 fine - Tomoe River (yep, I mistakenly went from 'h' to'j' hahha) TWSBI Vac 700 broad - Tomoe River Lamy 2000 fine & TWSBI Vac700 broad - Leuchtturm1917 Noodler’s 3oz glass bottles are simple and functional, filled to the brim. Here’s a closer look at the label on the bottle (read Mr. Tardiff’s description of the ink for more backstory): If you want the best behaving brown ink you’ve ever experienced in your fountain pen’s life, this isn’t for you. #41 Brown doesn’t behave badly, but it does require careful pen maintenance (as does every other highly water-resistant ink regardless of brand and color). I would not leave this ink unused in a pen for very long. It wants to work, not to sit idly waiting around for days or weeks at a time. As long as you use your pens often and clean them regularly, you’ll be fine. Even better if it’s a pen you can easily disassemble. Compared to regular fountain pen inks, water-resistant and bulletproof inks tend to dry out on the nib a bit more quickly when left uncapped - #41 is no different. As long as you’re conscious of this and keep your pen capped when not writing, it should pose no issue. During extended sessions, I had no problems with the nib drying out as long as I kept writing. When I did leave the cap off too long, a quick wipe on a paper towel (or my finger) had the ink flowing again. Dry times were weird on Rhodia and Tomoe River (anywhere from 8-30 seconds pending on how much ink pooled) and exceptional on lesser quality paper (under 5 seconds!). If you’re a lefty or anyone who needs a fast drying ink and you use standard paper more often than Rhodia or Tomoe River, #41 Brown is a great option. Tomoe River (smears you see are my fault - my cat kept jumping on the desk...) There was little to no feathering on every paper I tried, including a junk-mail envelop and a Walmart spiral notebook. Impressive! No bleedthrough and little to no show-through. It’s a drier ink which is awesome if you’ll be writing on lower quality papers. On FP friendly papers, a juicy nib will work best (that is, of course, just MY preference). There is some shading with wetter lines on Tomoe River and Rhodia. How about the bulletproof & waterproofness qualities? Post-soak. On Rhodia and Tomoe River, a tiny bit of ink slightly smeared with a wet finger (and I do mean tiny). On all other paper where every bit of ink could bond with the fibers, nothing moved. Here are a few quick comparisons to some of the other brown inks I have: I must admit, I'm biased. I love Noodler’s Ink & Nathan Tardiff and have a keen appreciation for his water-resistant & bulletproof inks (as well as his mission). When I was first getting into fountain pens, I only wanted waterproof inks and Noodler’s was the first brand recommended to me. It wasn’t until I had a dozen or more bottles of Noodler’s bulletproof inks that I started exploring other non-bulletproof inks and other brands. Though I have a wide variety of inks now, from most brands and companies, I always have at least a couple of pens in my rotation filled with Noodler’s bulletproof inks.

I LOVE Noodler's Baystate Blue. In my humble opinion, it is the best color of blue for fountain pens. My only complaints about it are: It is not fully bulletproof.It might not be eternal meaning it might not archival nor fade resistant.It bleeds through most of my papers I use including my checks.Rectifying the above are very important to me. I would not be ashamed to try a different brand of ink, but I do really like Noodler's products so I guess I am a Noodler's fanboy I am thinking about ordering a bottle of Noodler's Bad Blue Heron which appears to have what Baystate Blue is missing above other than it is not quite the same color. Noodler's Upper Ganges also might be an alternative, but it does not appear to be as bright as Bad Blue Heron. Noodler's Luxury Blue looks just like Upper Ganges to me, but will glow under UV light which I find kind of cool, but it is not important to me. Noodler's Periwinkle does what Luxury Blue does and kind of looks brighter, but the stock image on the Noodler's Ink website makes it hard to tell. Noodler's Polar Blue looks like Bad Blue Heron with the added possible benefits of being freeze-resistant and lubing piston-fill pens. So my question is what comes close to Baystate Blue that is bulletproof. eternal, and doesn't bleed through most papers? I did a search and found this thread about this subject, but it lists alternatives which are not really pertinent to my question above and things have changed in 6 years: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/185947-baystate-blue-alternative/ THANKS!

Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth is a famous manufacturer of (not only) writing, scribing and painting "tools" and accountrements of all kinds, with over 200 years of continuous history from former Austro-Hungarian Monarchy to current Czech Republic. Their sortiment is broad enoght to cover whole range from hardcore development engineers through different artists by trade to hobby pencil cartoonists. This company is the original, first succesfull creator of todays most simple and notorious writing instrument-a graphite pencil in a wooden stick. From the brief above is quite clear, that Koh-I-Noor is realy not specialized in inks. They have a basic, but usefull range of comon grade writing and india inks in several colours, but kind of "just by the way", they have in portfolio Koh-I-Noor Document Ink Black I can´t say what is it based, as this is kept secret as far as I know. It is not an iron-gal ink, it is not a graphite ink, no way it is a more stable breed of "coloured writing lotion". Probably it is one of the few formulas which work with chemical interaction with celulose in the paper. The colour is dark grey-black or black-grey with distinctive greenish hue, depending on paper and pen combo. It darkens over period of several minutes to several months into flat black with greenish hue.The more it darkens, the more it is resistant to any kind of wash-out. It is awarded ISO 14145-2 and BS 3484-2. The latter is a British norm for permanent record inks, and as the Brits are quite hardcore (another word would fit here better...) about what to consider "permanent record", it means quite a lot. I´m not sure how much pH neutral it is, but will update if I get the info. The ink is a bit more viscous than most others, but flows very well and have some lubricity. Basic Parker Quink feels like running water with no lubrication in compaison, from my point of view on distant memories-but keep in mind this is nib-affected feeling. The viscosity causes very little feathering, even on most low quality papers, but also makes fine nibs to produce M line on some quality papers due to surface tension effects. But the width of the line is consistant, no blots. Frankly, no blots at all, except some realy poor papers or papers of very fibrous nature with "open" surface (like kitchen towels...). Flows well, on some papers almost too fast for my taste, but still not like eg. Quink. Due to its nature, after about 15-30 seconds, depending on the nib, it tends to develop a bit of "skin" and makes the pen a false starter. If the nib has a "baby bottom" grind, it can be realy troublefull to start it again. From wet nibs on quality paper, it produces a realy deeply saturated line, embedded to rock bottom into the paper. From dry writers, it can be kind of greyish, but this realy does not alter the endurance of the line. There may be some trouble with drying up the nib in some F writers with smalish and/or fine compartmented feeds during prolonged period of fast writing. On most papers, is dry almost instantly (2-3 seconds). I posted some general info about torture tests I subjected this ink to, from 2008 to 2014. The post is in the Inky thoughts section, here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/288624-koh-i-noor-document-fountain-pen-inks/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3723625 I must add, that the statement "does not clog the feeds" is OK, but after some testing, I´m sure I wil have to give a good bath to my pens, as the M nib Hero 100 writes dryer now than it should. Well, I used it very sparsely in the last 3 years, albeit it was freshly inked all the time. The abuse this ink can stand is simply unbelievable. The paper vanishes, the ink remains. No matter how do you make the paper to vanish. This says it all. Some people (with degrees in chemistry) claims that this ink is probably the most durable against sun fading ever created, if good, uncoated paper with low filler content is used. Here I will quote myself from the above linked post: Several weeks ago, a clipboard with a day worth of important notes (on poor copy paper, 80g/m2), already a bit soaked in the rain, faceplanted into soaked, liquid clay in a ditch. All was covered to no avail under ochroid mess. So I took it home in a plastic bag, washed the paper gently and recovered every bit of info I had written. This says a lot, when I add the paper was more yellowish-brown-ochroid than white as formerly was... The text was not affected at all. The pens used in the standard review sampler are both Hero 100 of 1950´s vintage, daily writers of my grandfather for some 2 decades, now exclusive daily writers of mine for 8 years. My granddad used them so much that a definitive facette has developed on both nibs, which gives a kind of italic accent to the line, as my writing angle is a bit different to grandpa´s-but close enought to apreciate how smooth gliding writers they are, especialy on vintage paper. The water test-I tried to lay down as rich line as I could, to promote the greenish hue which sometimes apears from this ink on some papers, without any shade of compromising readablitiy of the text. So I wrote about one letter in two seconds the top three lines, the bottom in just slow pace-as writing slow, I write even worse pattern than usualy. The test was performed for about 1 minute under hot running water (like 70°C), then soaking like 5 minutes in a bowl of that hot water and rubbing the bottom line with finger. The paper lost the top layers, is one fluffy spot there, but the text is still there. And by the way-there is no alteration to the text after two years maceration in much more agressive solutions than hot tap water... Generaly, I should apologize for the lack of penmanship screaming out of the paper, I used my pens not as frequently as I was used to in the last 3 years (gap in journaling etc.), no practice either... Also, the sampler was printed with a poor toner cartridge, so the thin grey lines are more nonexistant than anything else, so both samples are freehanded, more in a bit of hurry. The ink is availible in Czech Republic 50 ml plastic bottle for less than 1 EUR to 1,75 EUR equal, depending on greediness of the stationery clerk, or in a nice, simple glass bottle of 30g for 3,5 EUR. On other markets, the price is usualy similarly low, as far as I know. It is one of the cheapest inks I´ve ever seen, but of the most durable and bulletproof you can ever have. There is also a blue version on the market, which is not as much durable and was created, as far as I know-because of demand for "nice blue document ink, not that greyish feculence you sell". But there are traces of fading even after just 1/2 year on direct sunlight, which is nonexistant with the reviewed original black formula.

Greetings All, I love the color and waterproofness of Noodler's La Reine Mauve, but would like to get some shading with it in a flex pen. Has anyone come up with a perfect ink:water ratio to produce a little shading with this ink? Before I experiment with this rather pricey ink, I wanted to see if someone had already done the work. Thanks!

Here's one of the better inks in the 1 oz. Eternal series of Noodler's inks. It's soft and slightly chalky, but looks great on Rhodia. Definitely recommended! http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/901/VFJH2O.jpg

This is another water resistance test. This time, I decided to select only inks that I knew were, or were claimed to be, water resistant. I wanted to find out what that really meant. In addition, I wanted to test for simple water resistance from accidental drops and from smearing by the hand. The test I did followed these steps: Create the written samples using existing inked pens or my Rohrer & Klingner glass pen. Allow to dry for 12 hours.Do a drop test on the grid pattern using an eye dropper and two drops of water. Let stand for 30 seconds, then blot off (not rub) with a tissue.Scan.Do the smear test on the last figure 8 patterns by moistening a finger with water, rubbing firmly for a few seconds, then blotting it dry with a tissue.Scan.Cut the paper down the middle and place the right half in a tray of tap water at room temperature for 1 hour. No rubbing or other manipulation.Remove from tray and place on paper towel until dry.Tape back together and scan.Results are shown below. Baseline scan with drop test: Second scan after smear test: Final scan after 1 hour soak test: Analysis: All the inks tested are more or less water resistant. Several were weakly resistant in that some of the color was washed off, but a permanent line remained behind guaranteeing you would not lose any words you had written. The most permanent inks barely budged when rubbed with a wet finger then soaked under water. Best performers: Noodler’s Kung Te Cheng BlueNoodler’s Heart of DarknessDe Atramentis Document BluePilot BlueNoodler’s Upper Ganges BlueNoodler’s Empire RedNoodler’s Bad Green GatorDe Atramentis Document GreenWorst Performers: Noodler’s Bad Belted KingfisherPilot BlackNoodler’s Liberty’s ElysiumNoodler’s Fox RedThe remaining inks either smeared or faded more than I would want from my permanent inks. Still, there is a good variety of colors available in water resistant inks. Permanence does come with trade offs. The most permanent inks tend to be slow drying depending on the paper. Fast drying isn’t an indicator of permanence, but the faster an ink dries, the less it smudges, in general. Some of the inks are permanent (bulletproof in Noodler’s terms), but that only means some component of the ink is permanent. For example, Noodler’s Fox Red is definitely permanent, but loses some of the red and turns more of an orange if soaked in water. Baystate Blue is permanent, but the color spreads and becomes even brighter blue when wet. Liberty’s Elysium loses its bright blue and leaves behind a faded blue line. Likewise for Bad Belted Kingfisher. If I were looking for the most permanent ink, it would be Kung Te Cheng. However, it comes with warnings about frequent maintenance to prevent pens and feeds from clogging. It does perform well on cheap paper without as much bleed through, but it takes longer to dry. Runners-up would be: Heart of Darkness, Bad Green Gator, and Empire Red. HOD and BGG both bleed profusely and Empire Red will tend to dry in the pen. If permanence is not that important, then there are hundreds of beautiful shades of ink to choose from and this test is merely an academic exercise for the permanent ink purists. Hope these scans help you in selecting your next ink.

I love the colors of the Iroshizuku blues, but far too many times I've gotten just a single drop on the paper and it is ruined. I love Pilot Blue's water resistance, but it is too dull of a blue color...! Are there ANY other water resistant blues out there? I can judge the colors for myself, but I want more viable options. Anything I can find on here gives specific criteria the ink must meet, limiting selection, but all I'm asking for is water resistant blue. By water resistant I mean either A.) a single drop of liquid won't vanish the ink on the page B.) the i k can survive a single wet cotton swab(see photo)! Dry time was around 30 minutes... Plenty of time for the ink to settle. I swabbed a clean wet cotton once over the pilot blue ink once and nothing happened. New clean, wet cotton swab over Asa-Gao and got those ghastly results. With a new wet cotton I swabbed over the Pilot Blue 4 more times until it budged, which is slightly visible in the photo. Any suggestions or other options? Thanks guys!!

I recently purchased 1 oz. of Noodler's Red Fox ink use in an old Lamy Safari I haven't used in a while. I chose this ink due to it's crimson color, bulletproof qualities , and rave reviews on these forums. However, I was incredibly disappointed by the amount of feathering it produced. Granted, Lamy nibs are notoriously large (the EF writes like a M), but the ink is so watery and bleedy that I simply cannot use it. How can a universally praised ink perform so poorly? Is this the case for all red inks? Are there any reds that write tight, solid lines?

I'd like a 1.1mm Italic nib pen to run some Bad Black Mockasin. I'll use it for document signing and other such stuff, so nothing ridiculous looking. $50 absolute tops What are your recommendations? Please no Kaweco's! Thanks, Adam

I've been searching for inks that have very solid water resistance and that can take having water dripped or spilled on them. Unfortunately, many of the colorful inks I like aren't very resistant, so I've been trying different one. I've concluded that only a few companies have truly water resistant inks. Among those are Noodlers, Pilot, and Rohrer and Klingner. I decided to collect all of my water resistant inks and test them to decide which ones I can rely on to deliver what I want. My goal is to find a set of black, blue, red, and green inks I can incorporate in my daily rotation while throwing in some of my more ephemeral colorful inks for fun. So, I selected 16 inks from my collection and conducted a water test. Using a Rhodia pad and a Rohrer & Klingner glass pen, I wrote one line for each ink. Using the glass pen ensured consistency in how each ink was represented on the paper. I let the paper dry for 24 hours. I then cut the paper in half vertically. I first did a water droplet test by dripping some water onto the grid pattern for each ink, letting it stand for about 5 seconds, and then wiping it off with a paper towel to simulate a spill at the office and quick rub off of the spill. Next, I filled a small tray with tap water at room temperature and placed the right half of the paper into the tray, making sure it was entirely submerged. I took a photo of the paper in the tray within a couple minutes to get an idea of how the ink behaved initially in water. After fifteen minutes, I removed the paper from the water and placed it on a paper towel to dry overnight. I then taped the right half back to the left half and scanned the page with a color scale included to help with color adjustments for monitors. The scans and photo are attached. BEFORE: DURING: AFTER: Results: Noodler's Black - unmoved by rubbing or soaking Noodler's Heart of Darkness - unmoved by rubbing or soaking Noodler's 54th Massachusetts - unmoved by rubbing or soaking Noodler's Kung Te-cheng - very light smear from rubbing, but unmoved by soaking Pilot-Namiki Blue - a bit more color moved when it was rubbed and slight fade from the soaking Noodler's Upper Ganges Blue - a bit more color moved when it was rubbed and unmoved from the soaking Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher - smearing from the drop rubbing test and also significant color fade from the soak Noodler's Liberty's Elysium - smearing from the drop rubbing test and also significant color fade from the soak Noodler's Baystate Blue - no smearing from rubbing and just a slight color lifting from the soak. In fact, BSB got darker and brighter blue after the soaking! Noodler's Bad Green Gator - very slight smear from the rubbing, but completely unaffected by soaking. Noodler's Hunter Green - same performance as BGG. Only difference is that Hunter Green does not bleed through the paper whereas BBG goes right through almost any type of paper. Noodler's Empire Red - very slight smear from the rubbing, but completely unaffected by soaking Noodler's Fox Red - no smearing from the rubbing, but loses some of its red hue from soaking. Result is a rather orange remnant. Noodler's Nikita Red - good deal of smearing when rubbed, and a lot of red color lifted off after soaking leaving behind a pinkish red line. Custom Mix "Black Russian" - same performance as Nikita, but left behind a nice, dark black/red line. This is my red/black mix of 1 part Nikita and 9 parts Noodler's Black. I get nice shading from this mix, too. It's a well-behaved blend. R&K Scabiosa - What can I say? It's an iron-gall ink. Absolutely un-phased by anything. Once dry on the paper, it doesn't go anywhere.