Ink Brand Loyalty?

[afderrick]

So I'm new to the fountain penning. I am curious how many people out there have ink brand loyalty? Do you buy all of your inks from one particular company? Just trying to get ideas as I make my list of inks I want to try out.

 

I own a 3 bottles of Diamine ink (midnight, chocolate brown, and red dragon) and 1 bottle of Perlikan (Edelstein Onyx Black) that I got when I puchased my first nice pen.

 

I've mainly been looking at other Diamine inks, Private Reserve, and Noodlers. Not because I know much about these inks but that these companies make lots of different (and highly saturated) inks.

 

Just curious what other people are doing.

[mirosc]

Life's too short to limit yourself.

 

There are just some brands I would never buy, because the cost-benefit-ration is just ways beyond my own limit. But otherwise I see no reason at all why I should deprive myself of nice experiences.

[Soot]

Nope, no ink brand loyalty here. Why would you want to? Besides-- there's nothing better than inkfidelity~~

[mturk]

Until recently, I would have said no. However, I have been experimenting with Gate City Everflo ink, and I think I'm going to stick with it. Since I have ink-jet printers, I see no need for super-saturated ink. I want my handwriting to look like it would have in the 1930s -40s, and saturated isn't it! True, the color range is very limited, but since 85% of my ink usage falls in the BB range, I'm not disappointed.

[saketb]

Rightly said - why to limit and deprive ourselves of nice experiences.

 

I use inks from Sheaffer for my daily writings and some from Private Reserve for in-between comments and quotes.

Like, currently using a Purple from Sheaffer and Orange Crush from PR.

[afderrick]

-- there's nothing better than inkfidelity~~

 

:roflmho:

 

So far it looks split down the middle. For those who do shop around are you looking at color and ink characteristics mainly, just trying to share the love, or what? (Enjoying "inkfidelity"?)

[afderrick]

Saketb, you sound like you are mainly focused on only two inks though, Shaeffers and PR?

[inkspot]

Oh I'm loyal - loyal to pretty much all ink brands

 

If I like the colour and the performance of the ink, I'll use anything.

[WendyNC]

Nope. The primary limiter for me is cost related to shipping and import costs. Since I live in the USA, I have more Noodler's and PR inks. If I lived in Japan, Iroshizuku would be far better represented.

[ObserveClosely]

I chose by color first and foremost. Second by shading. (I haven't quite figured out this whole "dry" vs. "wet" thing here. Yet. So don't use that or other so-called "performance characteristics".)

 

I don't care who makes the ink. If it's purty, I'll try it.

 

Jan

[mackthepen]

I tend to use Diamine, but that is primarily because of good service here in the UK - particularly with the small sample bottles (and it is consistently well behaved ink with any number of shades available).

 

That said, I have only used Noodlers La reine Mauve at work for a few years, so in terms of volume (or mile) about half of my writing is probably done with this one ink.

 

Andrew

[The Good Captain]

I tend to use what I need for a particular purpose and also, colours that I can read easily. Diamine are ones that I'm particularly fond of on the whole but Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black and Black are also high on the list and now my solitary Noodler's - Zhivago. Cost has to come into it too.

[torstar]

Not really loyal to any brand, there are (I guess) 80 bottles on the go in my life somewhere.

 

The majority are Noodler's.

 

Those who like Diamine (it's a good ink, a few bottles are around) will crawl across a highway of broken glass to tell you all about it.

[KCat]

I'm an ink s...

 

I have Diamine, PR, Noodler's, Pilot Iroshizuku, vintage Sheaffers, MB and Levengers (off the top of my head). Mostly Diamine and Pilot.

 

I look for color, behavior in a particular pen, and the two Noodler's inks I use were chosen for specific purposes.

[Essensia]

No loyalty here. I'll use whatever I end up enjoying.

 

However, I will admit that as time goes on I tend to look first to the brands that have been most reliable, consistent, and non-fussy in my personal experience, with my favorites pens and nibs. (Enough disclaimers there?) Those brands are Sailor, Mont Blanc, and Diamine.

 

Nooder's and Private Reserve are fine inks as well. It's just that I'm in a less-saturated phase. Which is very different from my saturated-only phase when I first started using fountain pens.

[saketb]

Saketb, you sound like you are mainly focused on only two inks though, Shaeffers and PR?

 

Currently, yes... focused only on these two inks. But I'm not limiting myself to them, as my approach to inks is a bit different...

I use at least, half the quantity of the ink in the bottle and then go to hunt a new one. Well, my next try would be the inks from Waterman...

[padams2359]

I have no loyalty to any brand. I just so happened to have purchased Edelstein Onyx as my first black, and I would be hard pressed to find another that I liked better. I would prefer if it were water proof, but as far as flow goes, I could not be happier. I keep it in my Sheaffer Snorkel that I got from my father that he purchased in the 1950s. I also keep it in my MB144. Both of these pens can sit for days, and as soon as I start to write, they start up immediately. I would like to say that for all my inks, but alais, No.

[Messmer]

I stick to Noodler's for mostly anything. It is not because fully of the name. I just buy bulletproof ink. So I only buy Noodler's bulletproof portion of the brand.

 

I only use bulletproof because of my dyspraxia. I found more comfortable to know I won't have to redo my personal note because of water spillage. Waterproof is mostly what I need. But why not go for eternal and bulletproof ink if you found the right colors?

 

Also, it is kind of a rule in the house for bulletproof ink. My wife is strictly forbidden from using a common pen to write a check. She can only do it with a FP using bulletproof ink or using a Signo 207. She has been the victim of a fraud in the past. It was by credit card cloning and not by check. Still, we prefer to be on the safe side.

 

I used other non bulletproof ink before, but the bottles hang on the shelf. I don't like the quality of Hero ink. It is darn cheap ink and darn cheap quality ink...

[geoduc]

I look for inks with a combination of interesting color and good behavior. The brand doesn't matter. Some brands seem to fit my preferences pretty consistently, thus they are better represented in my collection (Diamine, Iroshizuku, Sailor, Montblanc).

[HeartMan]

Ink samples are a wonderful thing. These can be purchased from various online vendors, including gouletpens who also have a $10 a month plan for 5 different ink samples.

For check writing, my wife has mandated that I use Noodler's Black bulletproof to prevent fraud.