Noodler's Ink - Bad Green Gator

November 18, 2015

Ink Review: Noodler's Ink - Bad Green Gator

Grade: 66.25%

Paper Tested On: Norcom Composition, Staples 20lb, 85g Clairefontaine, 90g Rhodia, Post-it Note, Moleskine sketchbook.

Bad Green Gator (BGG) is now the 3rd Noodler's 'warden' series ink that I have tried. I have found myself wondering why green would be chosen as one of the forgery resistant colors chosen by Nathan Tardiff. It may have something to do with the chemical composition that goes into whatever he uses to make theses inks forgery resistant; I really don't know. Nathan just may like the color, and he's not the only one. A friend of mine said BGG looks like moss, and after giving it some thought, I agreed. However, unlike my friend, I love this shade of green. I may be biased though. Green is one of my favorite colors, and moss-green is one of my favorite shades.

BBG is a fast drying ink that will feather and bleed and you will get a fair amount of ghosting from the other side of the page. I see that as the trade off of using a fast drying ink. BGG is very saturated and has a good flow without feeling wet, but the color can seem muted. Which I think can be attributed to how much this ink is absorbed into the paper.

BBG, like all the inks I've tried in the warden series, is a very permanent ink. It barely budged at all in my permanency tests (it did move in the chromatography test oddly enough). BGG is the easiest warden ink I've cleaned so far. BBG is very uniform in color and won't give you much shading even on good paper like Rhodia.

Overall, BGG is a nice ink with a lot of special attributes. I love the color but I realize it's a shade that some people will hate.

Competitive Options: Noodler's Zhivago. Just because it's so dark most people will think it's black and you will have no problem using it in a business setting.

November 18, 2015

Thanks for the great review. I tried a sample of this and the feathering/bleed/show made me decide to keep to Bad Blue Heron instead. Incidentally; the V-Mail G.I Green and the 'ordinary' Marine Green are two very pleasant inks with more than enough (for me!) water-resistance.

November 19, 2015

Thanks for the great review. I tried a sample of this and the feathering/bleed/show made me decide to keep to Bad Blue Heron instead. Incidentally; the V-Mail G.I Green and the 'ordinary' Marine Green are two very pleasant inks with more than enough (for me!) water-resistance.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I love the color, and I could even get over the feathering, but I struggle to see how I would need a green to use everyday. Maybe for artistic purposes?

November 19, 2015

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I love the color, and I could even get over the feathering, but I struggle to see how I would need a green to use everyday. Maybe for artistic purposes?

You have a good point there. I happen to use various green inks, relatively regularly, but that's just my preference.

November 19, 2015

Thanks for the review. I tried it at a pen show years ago and bought a bottle. Even diluted 90% with water (I tried it that way once), it's an interesting green. This is my go-to ink for check writing and addressing envelopes. Truly waterproof, but I find I have to frequently flush the one pen I use it in or little varnish-like particles show up.

November 20, 2015

Nice review Agent Venom,

excellent job with the pictures.

November 20, 2015

Thanks for the review. I tried it at a pen show years ago and bought a bottle. Even diluted 90% with water (I tried it that way once), it's an interesting green. This is my go-to ink for check writing and addressing envelopes. Truly waterproof, but I find I have to frequently flush the one pen I use it in or little varnish-like particles show up.

Thank you.

I can see it being great for that. I wonder if what you're seeing is sedimentation.

Nice review Agent Venom,
excellent job with the pictures.

Thank you.

I also did a video (if anyone is interested). It's long but I spend a good amount of time talking about the purpose of my reviews.

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December 24, 2015

I bought a bottle of this yesterday and am using it in a Waterrman with a medium nib. In a Moleskine quadrille-ruled notebook I see some 'show-through,' but in my context it didn't bleed through in a big way. But I experienced serious bleedthrough with Noodler's Polar Brown, so my bar for that may now be lower than others'. My writing with this one does look more like I used a felt tip than a fountain pen, but I love the mossy color and the fact that it's way permanent. For anyone who does any grading of papers, to my eye this would be a nearly perfect 'sympathetic green' to use for the purpose.

Edited December 24, 2015 by obilot