Best Student/note Taking Inks

[Orange25]

If I was a student again, I'd go for Noodler's Heart of Darkness or Bad Belted Kingfisher. Both are write well in a medium nib, are fast drying, and waterproof.

 

HoD behaves slightly better on poorer papers, in my experience, but paper that's at least half decent shouldn't be too hard to find.

[tonybelding]

Noodler's Black is fantastic if you have to do much writing on lower quality paper. It's more resistant to feathering and bleed-through than anything else I've used.

 

If you usually write on better paper, then Heart of Darkness, Legal Lapis and Violet Vote are excellent, but the latter two are only available through Pendemonium.

 

Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet -- available through Dromgooles -- is my absolute favorite blue ink. I love the color and the way it writes, but it's a bit more quirky than the others I listed. It has a funny smell, and it's not 100% waterproof. There's a cyan component that rinses out. Also it sometimes leaves a greasy blue residue on nibs and feeds, which wipes off and hasn't caused me any problems, but does make me a little wary.

[bassopotamus]

It was towards the end of last year that I found myself hopelessly in love (to the dismay of my wallet) with fountain pens. I've amassed a respectable 4 (2 Pelikan, 1 Lamy & 1 unidentified Cross) pens & as my first ink I chose Noodler's Periwinkle...a beautiful color, yet not fantastic for ever day writing (especially not in my medium nibs). I've a bottle of MB's Racing Green on it's way over from Germany & now all I need is a nice, every day well behaved, waterproof ink.

 

I don't much care what color it is, just that it's waterproof & well behaved in a medium nib and (against my better judgment) I will pay out my arse for it. So, does anyone know of some solid, waterproof well mannered inks?

 

Thanks so much! In the mean time, I'll be browsing the Ink Review forum!

 

As a teacher, I would recommend that you have one pen inked with a basic black or brown or dark blue ink, for assignments that you turn in. Then I'd ink up the other pens with a variety of fun colors for note-taking and to-do lists. Strategies: use a different ink each day; that will help you remember what you learned when. Or use one ink for notes, then when you review your notes (Cornell style), use a different color to annotate and write questions. If you keep a planner, different inks for different classes or different types of assignments are useful. Have fun! If you are a visual person, you'll find the variety of colors helps you remember things better, whether you use them in an organized fashion or not.

 

I get pretty surly when work comes in to me in goofy colors. Blue or black for turned in stuff please. Your notes are your own call

Edited July 21, 2010 by bassopotamus

[psfred]

Skrip Blue-Black is also a very nice ink. Quite water resistant, very very well behaved, fast drying. Noodler's black is great, I use it all the time, although these days I use X-Feather more because the paper in my work notebook is so bad. I'm hoping to get a better one soon and can then go back to regular black -- X-feather on good paper is very messy because it takes an excessively long time to dry.

 

I also use Polar Blue and Kung te Cheng, but Polar Blue is going to feather and bleed on poor quality paper. Kung is very well behaved, but can dry in the nib of a pen more easily than other inks.

 

Peter

[Gabi]

Wow, this thread exploded overnight! Thanks guys!

 

I've decided to go with good ol' Noodlers black (and maybe later Lexington Grey) and get the Violet Vote that tonybelding suggested as a highlight color. I've also been eyeing Caran d'Ache's Saffron...in my dreams I take perfect math & chem notes with it and it dries in a snap...*sigh*.

 

For the record I'm a Rhodia addict straight up...so feathering isn't too much of a problem.

 

Again, thanks so much and if you have any more suggestions, by all means keep 'em comin'!

[Gabi]

Oh, also, thank you to karynv for the suggestion regarding different colors!

[LedZepGirl]

Skrip blue- easy to read and works well in most pens and on most types of paper.

[ateebtk]

ill add my student experience w/ Noodlers bulletproof black aswell..

 

I have used it in Pelikan M215 F nib (wet nib) , Lamy Safari F nib , and Hero 329 (japanese fine) nib on cheap spiral notebooks you get from Staples for (50 cents each) Made in Spain or something, and loose leaf (the cheapest kind) , and printer paper (tests @ school , and hand in worksheets) , and 5 star spiral notebooks as well. I have had all positive experiences w/ the ink.

[nvbrennan]

Skrip blue- easy to read and works well in most pens and on most types of paper.

 

I've been wondering about how necessary permanence over time or the odd water accident is. What do people think? I prefer to use safe inks like Waterman and Herbin and Skrip but have thought I should move to something more permanent for notes (some of which I will want to keep for years after my course). Any advice or thoughts from OP or others?

[bassopotamus]

Skrip blue- easy to read and works well in most pens and on most types of paper.

 

I've been wondering about how necessary permanence over time or the odd water accident is. What do people think? I prefer to use safe inks like Waterman and Herbin and Skrip but have thought I should move to something more permanent for notes (some of which I will want to keep for years after my course). Any advice or thoughts from OP or others?

 

You'd be surprised how unlikely it is that you'll care about notes much after the semester, or at most after college. I unearthed some in a box in the garage the other day, and in all honesty, 13 years later, old botany quizzes don't do much for me. That said, the ink on them was in really sad shape. There had been radical swings in temp and humidity (the garage has seen -20 to 105f in the last two years), but the black had mostly faded to a weird brown yellow. No idea of what kind of ink it started as. Looked like a rollerball.

[redshifteffect]

I'm currently looking at the sailor nano carbon inks (blu-black and black) for this purpose - i can let you know how i get on if you'd like. I start grad school next week.

 

+1 for this, I highly recommend this ink. Not only is the ink smooth when writing, but it's perfect for photocopying, faxing or scanning as it comes out in a nice crisp black. I also accidently left it in a pen I had stopped using and forgot to flush for over a year, and stored it in a place where it was exposed to some extremely hot temperatures, and just flushed the pen out last week with plain water, and it's working fine! No clogging, which is something I was worried about after reading this forum.

[significantpass]

I'd recommend Pelikan Blue Black. I use it for most of my school stuff.

[vans4444]

I accept that I am probably in a minority of 1 here, but I would suggest Parker Quink Black. It flows well, is cheap and easy to buy. Staple stock it in the UK. It cost me £3.99 for 57ml. It is washable, which in many circumstances is a good think

[nvbrennan]

Skrip blue- easy to read and works well in most pens and on most types of paper.

 

I've been wondering about how necessary permanence over time or the odd water accident is. What do people think? I prefer to use safe inks like Waterman and Herbin and Skrip but have thought I should move to something more permanent for notes (some of which I will want to keep for years after my course). Any advice or thoughts from OP or others?

 

You'd be surprised how unlikely it is that you'll care about notes much after the semester, or at most after college. I unearthed some in a box in the garage the other day, and in all honesty, 13 years later, old botany quizzes don't do much for me. That said, the ink on them was in really sad shape. There had been radical swings in temp and humidity (the garage has seen -20 to 105f in the last two years), but the black had mostly faded to a weird brown yellow. No idea of what kind of ink it started as. Looked like a rollerball.

 

I think though I will want my notes as it's a theology degree for pastors in training. I actually regret throwing my physics notes from my first degree.

[kwpalzang]

I'd recommend Pelikan Blue Black. I use it for most of my school stuff.

 

It's water-resistant. Even has a little bit, nur ein Hauch, of iron-gall. Someone on the forum asked Pelikan and that was their response. This renders it as a useful ink for students. In the school-type setting, how can you predict what will happen? Spills, spit, sweat, and tears, only half joking about some of those. :roflmho: Water-resistance is just plain useful. The old "I don't think a Category 5 hurricane is going to come rampaging down here in my area, erasing my important documents into mere blobs of their former glory..." excuse just doesn't cut it... Simply stated, "stuff" (for lack of the ability to use a more obscene word) happens. You don't want to risk everything you write being scared away at the mere whisper of water... at least I don't!! Especially when you have an exam to study for . It's kind of a dry ink, probably a good thing for your cheap school paper, and it even has some shading. Maybe makes it easier on the eyes to look at. It's not some outrageous colour either, your teachers will accept it.

[bassopotamus]

Skrip blue- easy to read and works well in most pens and on most types of paper.

 

I've been wondering about how necessary permanence over time or the odd water accident is. What do people think? I prefer to use safe inks like Waterman and Herbin and Skrip but have thought I should move to something more permanent for notes (some of which I will want to keep for years after my course). Any advice or thoughts from OP or others?

 

You'd be surprised how unlikely it is that you'll care about notes much after the semester, or at most after college. I unearthed some in a box in the garage the other day, and in all honesty, 13 years later, old botany quizzes don't do much for me. That said, the ink on them was in really sad shape. There had been radical swings in temp and humidity (the garage has seen -20 to 105f in the last two years), but the black had mostly faded to a weird brown yellow. No idea of what kind of ink it started as. Looked like a rollerball.

 

I think though I will want my notes as it's a theology degree for pastors in training. I actually regret throwing my physics notes from my first degree.

 

It's possible. Most of my class notes from my PhD got ruined and i haven't missed them, but different minds work in different ways.

[redshifteffect]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Iron-gall was to be avoided in modern fountain pens? Is it actually safe with a good maintenance regime?

[tonybelding]

I've decided to go with good ol' Noodlers black (and maybe later Lexington Grey) and get the Violet Vote that tonybelding suggested as a highlight color.

 

I like Violet Vote a lot, but it's not a bright, vivid color. It's pretty subdued. I'm not sure it'll be satisfying as a highlight color.

[jniforat]

for not taking in class i use private reserve ebony green, dc supershow blue, and noodler's dark matter. all work great.

[mstone]

Generally, I agree with the noodler's black suggestion. Some pens don't agree with the bulletproofs, and for those I recommend Namiki/Pilot Blue. That ink is extremely water resistant (though not bulletproof for solvents), light resistant, and very well behaved. Curious side note--in Pilot Blue-Black the black component washes out and leaves the blue.