Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher

[DanF]

Does it have a pronounced odor? I think I remember someone complaining about that with the Bad Blue Heron, though I could have that mixed up with another ink. This one certainly looks promising.

 

Dan

[Inkanthropist]

Thanks for the great review, Viseguy. This looks very promising indeed, partly because of the lack of 'chalkiness'.

 

Inkanthropist

[Johnny Appleseed]

Thanks for the review. As a result of this review, I just ordered some from Swisher. . .

Edited December 24, 2009 by Johnny Appleseed

[Bill]

I just got BBH and BBK and started playing with them. I ended up with Kingfisher in an M800 that has been my sober "serious business" pen filled with Aircorp Blue-Black for a couple of years, always carried but sparingly used compared to more interesting pens.

 

This ink is likely to permanently replace the Aircorp because of two reasons: I like the color better and it seems to dry significantly faster.

 

I tried it on several popular papers, goofy stuff like newsprint and tissue paper, as well as slick high-quality paper. I tried Moleskine, Staples bagassee, copy papers, Ecosystem, Rhodia, and Red & Black. The dry time was so fast in a Rhodia notebook compared to the Aircorp that I uttered a string of words like "No way!", "fantastic", and "Holy expletive deleted". The trade-off? About a half size wider line. It should be great in an EF for permanent fill-in-the-tiny-box forms.

 

Bill

[downwiththepc27]

]

 

I tried it on several popular papers, goofy stuff like newsprint and tissue paper, as well as slick high-quality paper. I tried Moleskine, Staples bagassee, copy papers, Ecosystem, Rhodia, and Red & Black. The dry time was so fast in a Rhodia notebook compared to the Aircorp that I uttered a string of words like "No way!", "fantastic", and "Holy expletive deleted". The trade-off? About a half size wider line. It should be great in an EF for permanent fill-in-the-tiny-box forms.

 

Bill

How's the bleeding on all of those papers?

[Zarble44]

I'd like to see a comparison with Blue Heron.

Here you go (thanks to FPNer Annie for the sample of BBH):

 

http://www.serve.com/ammaze/xfer/bbh-bbk.jpg

 

 

Legal Lapis was my ABSOLUTE favorite (despite the nib creep in some pens). Then came Bad Blue Heron, which replaced Legal Lapis at the top of my list. Mine seems to be alittle darker, also using B nibs. And a little greener (I think), but a lot more easily available. And the Bad Blue Heron seems not to have much nib creep.

 

Now comes Kingfisher -- which looks fantastic. And they're all WATERPROOF! Got to go get me some Bad Belted Kingfisher.

 

Thanks for the comparison!!

[Rabbit]

Vise--I just filled a medium nib Waterman Kulture pen with my Kingfisher--it's amazing! You're right--almost no feathering, and when it does feather (on cheaper paper) it's not enough to be noticed unless you really look for it. The dry time is incredible and it doesn't really smear at all after it's dry which makes it a step above Noodler's Black in my opinion. Nathan has really done something great here. The color is pretty much exactly what I've been searching for, and actually, according to all the criteria that I've been searching for, this is perhaps my "holy grail" of ink!! I still need to test it more and use it in a real-world setting before I conclude that, but so far it's looking great!

 

Dan--I did not notice any odor that was different from other Noodler's inks. It's not odorless, but I definitely did not detect anything unpleasant, and when using it in the pen, I can't smell it (i.e. just when I open the bottle to fill).

 

--Stephen

[DanF]

 

 

Dan--I did not notice any odor that was different from other Noodler's inks. It's not odorless, but I definitely did not detect anything unpleasant, and when using it in the pen, I can't smell it (i.e. just when I open the bottle to fill).

 

--Stephen

 

Thanks, I'll be ordering some.

 

Dan

[Bill]

How's the bleeding on all of those papers?

 

On first blush I would rate it as average to good. It did vary depending on the paper, which is to be expected. There was bleedthrough on the cheaper papers. I had other inks on the same page in Moleskine, Rhodia, and Ecosystem notebooks so I could see the differences more easily with those. Compared to the Aircorp B-B, it did display less bleedthrough on the Moleskine. The other two brands are more resistant to bleedthrough anyway so it was more difficult to find anything to complain about with them.

 

The feathering was minimal.

 

Bill

[djh]

This does look like a great ink. I have Noodlers Polar Blue (among quite a few others) and I am using it for the winter in a pen that travels daily in my messenger bag- the colour looks quite similar to the Bad Blue Heron sample posted. I am looking forward to trying the Kingfisher. Thanks for the review.

[bluemagister]

I'm SOLD on the Kingfisher! This is going into my Pilot VP, which has a dark blue barrel. I won't be able to stop using it. Is 3 ounces of ink enough?

 

 

WOOOOOOO

[Ed Ronax]

Thanks for sharing, interesting colour.

[Viseguy]

Two more data points (this message and the next):

 

1) A soak test of Bad Blue Heron and Bad Belted Kingfisher. I used the side-by-side comparison that I posted the other day. Here is the "before" scan:

 

http://www.serve.com/ammaze/xfer/bbh-bbk.jpg

 

Here is the "after". I immersed the page in water for about 20 minutes, then ran the tap over it for a couple of more minutes.

 

http://www.serve.com/ammaze/xfer/bbhbbk2.jpg

 

Upon immersion, there was quite a bit of run-off of Belted Kingfisher that had not bonded with the paper; this was to be expected as the nib I used for the BBK sample was a wet-writing B that puts down a lot of ink, and the paper was not particularly absorbent. Even allowing for that, though, it looks to me that the color of the original BBK sample was altered to a noticeable degree by the soaking -- although, as you can see, a perfectly legible line remains. This leads me to wonder whether BBK isn't really a mixture of bulletproof and non-bulletproof colors. The vibrancy of the color would also seem to support this; none of the other bulletproof inks that I am familiar with has the "pop" of BBK. (See also the picture in my next post.)

 

The changes in the Blue Heron sample, before and after, are less noticeable, I think.

[Viseguy]

2) Here's a picture (a photo, not a scan) of Bad Belted Kingfisher on a thermal credit card slip:

 

http://www.serve.com/ammaze/xfer/bbk-cc.jpg

 

Same wet-writing B nib used to make the earlier writing samples. Drying time was amazingly fast; no need to wave the slip around in the air -- just a few seconds and it was good to go. What's more, once dry, you can rub the writing with your finger and the ink doesn't budge. No feathering or pooling, either. Pretty impressive, no?

 

I've been using BBK for several days now, and I have to say I'm thrilled with it. Color, flow, drying time, anti-feathering, anti-bleedthrough, anti-fraud -- this ink has got it all.

 

I hope Nathan has extra-large vats at the ready. He's going to need them to meet the demand for BBK.

 

(After going on like that, I suppose I'd better add: No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.)

[georges zaslavsky]

Looks like an interesting color But my question will be can be it used safely unlike Noodler's Bay State Blue in expensive fountain pens?

[Possum Hill]

Looks like an interesting color But my question will be can be it used safely unlike Noodler's Bay State Blue in expensive fountain pens?

 

I expect that it can be used safely like Noodler's Baystate Blue in expensive fountain pens.

[Jake]

Now that the inevitable Bay State Blue comparisons have arisen, I'll ask explicitly: how does BBK compare to BSB? Any chance of a Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and BSB on the same sheet?

[Possum Hill]

Now that the inevitable Bay State Blue comparisons have arisen, I'll ask explicitly: how does BBK compare to BSB? Any chance of a Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, and BSB on the same sheet?

+1

 

Please.

[Viseguy]

Looks like an interesting color But my question will be can be it used safely unlike Noodler's Bay State Blue in expensive fountain pens?

BBK is not in the Baystate line. I would not hesitate to use it in any pen I own. That includes my old-style OMAS Paragon, which generally does not do well with Noodler's bulletproof inks because of excessive "creep". BBK is so nice, though, that I may just give it a try in that pen.

 

Virtually all of my pens are modern, by the way. I don't presume to say whether it's advisable to use a heavily saturated ink, Noodler's or any other brand, in a vintage pen.

[kiavonne]

The water test kind of bugged me, but if this stuff dries fast and remains with a bulletproof line that can't be removed or lasered, then I may have just found my replacement for Noodler's Blue Black, which has been my favourite blue black.