Advice for a black ink from Noodler's

[fabri00]

Hi everybody,

I need to pick a black ink from Noodler's for daily office use and what I need is resistance to water and easy managment of it.

If there are more safety caracteristics it will be better, but just water resistance will be ok.

I can choose among:

 

Bad Black Mocaassin

Bernanke Black

Black

Borealis Black

Dark Matter

Eel Black

Heart of Darkness

Polar Black

X Feather

 

Thanks for your help.

[sgphototn]

I've tried HoD, X Feather, and Black. None do I use now and have given those away. If I had to choose among the three I used, it would be HoD. 

 

If your work requirements need black, I would use KWZ IG Blue Black. It has a hint of very dark blue when first applied, but then dries to a very black. When I discovered it, the Noodler's blacks went away.

[txomsy]

If you do not want to be disappointed, maybe you should give some more information.

 

What kind of paper are you going to write on? For very bad paper, X-feather may be a good option.

 

Do you need very quick drying? If so, Bernanke may be a good option.

 

I don't think so, but may be you will be taking notes in a cold room (a giant freezer) and then Polar Black may do the trick.

 

What kind of pen are you going to use? How does it write? some inks may work better on dry nibs/pens or may need a better flowing nib/feed. Eel black may facilitate use of a scratching nib.

 

Generally speaking, I think Noodler's Black and Heart of Darkness are probably the most (or among the most) popular ones, which is not necessarily what you seek.

[fabri00]

Thanks for the 2 answers.

 

Sgphototn: Kwzi inks are not anymore available in Italy. I'll contact them to ask if they started again to ship them to Italy directly, as they did in the past.

 

Txomsy: I understand well your questions, but what I need is an ink for all purpouses: I write and signe in a moltitude of different papers and in my collection I have several hundreds of pens, from extra fine to broad nibs, and from dry to wet feeders. The only pen in use every dy is the first vintage I bought many years ago, with a medium nib and a wet ebonite feed. The rest of pens rotate following my moods. I just need a multi-purpouse black ink, as Pelikan blue royal might be for the blue color. Most important is te be an easy ink, not problematic for pens as sometimes Noodlers are.

 

Thanks.

[ENewton]

I confess that I have no help to offer on your question, but I am curious as to why, for daily office use, you are restricted to Noodler's as a brand.

[Paganini]

4 minutes ago, ENewton said:

I confess that I have no help to offer on your question, but I am curious as to why, for daily office use, you are restricted to Noodler's as a brand.

 

I was also wondering this. It seems like what you really need is Pilot Black, or maybe LAMY Black. I prefer LAMY Black, because it's less feathery on bad notebook paper, but Pilot Black is a little more water resistant, is inexpensive, and comes in giant (350 mil) bottles. 

[lapis]

2 hours ago, ENewton said:

I confess that I have no help to offer on your question, but I am curious as to why, for daily office use, you are restricted to Noodler's as a brand.

Ditto 2. Nothing against Noodler's (well, not always) but the "best" black -- and/or at least a "good" black -- can definitely be found elsewhere. Assuming of course that you have online access to the store, and that they have it on hand....

Take a look at this link (showing the image below also but lots of discussion about blacks in general) and judge for yourself. Sure, you can't see what the flow and drying time and show-though etc. all look like here on your screen but there's lots of news on that there and in the reviews.

 

  1. Aurora

  2. Herbin Perle Noire

  3. Montblanc Mystery Black

  4. Noodler's Black

  5. Noodler's Heart of Darkness

  6. Noodler's Old Manhattan

  7. Pelikan Black 4001

  8. Private Reserve Invincible Black

  9. Sailor Kiwa-Guro

10. Visconti

11. Montblanc Ultra Black

12. Montblanc Permanent Black

[inkstainedruth]

I haven't tried all the inks on your list, fabri00, but I would say that Heart of Darkness has been the best all around for me.  It dries faster than some of the others (especially the "regular" Noodler's Black -- "cellulose reactive" only works when the ink is in actual contact with the paper), is pretty waterproof, and doesn't smudge.  It's also "black enough" for my use (I have a bottle of Noodler's Old Manhattan, which is blacker -- but part of reason for that is that it spreads more on the page.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[fabri00]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I haven't tried all the inks on your list, fabri00, but I would say that Heart of Darkness has been the best all around for me.  It dries faster than some of the others (especially the "regular" Noodler's Black -- "cellulose reactive" only works when the ink is in actual contact with the paper), is pretty waterproof, and doesn't smudge.  It's also "black enough" for my use (I have a bottle of Noodler's Old Manhattan, which is blacker -- but part of reason for that is that it spreads more on the page.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Thanks Ruth: you answered my question !.

 

 

2 hours ago, lapis said:

Ditto 2. Nothing against Noodler's (well, not always) but the "best" black -- and/or at least a "good" black -- can definitely be found elsewhere. Assuming of course that you have online access to the store, and that they have it on hand....

Take a look at this link (showing the image below also but lots of discussion about blacks in general) and judge for yourself. Sure, you can't see what the flow and drying time and show-though etc. all look like here on your screen but there's lots of news on that there and in the reviews.

 

  1. Aurora

  2. Herbin Perle Noire

  3. Montblanc Mystery Black

  4. Noodler's Black

  5. Noodler's Heart of Darkness

  6. Noodler's Old Manhattan

  7. Pelikan Black 4001

  8. Private Reserve Invincible Black

  9. Sailor Kiwa-Guro

10. Visconti

11. Montblanc Ultra Black

12. Montblanc Permanent Black

Ok, thanks.

 

 

4 hours ago, Paganini said:

 

I was also wondering this. It seems like what you really need is Pilot Black, or maybe LAMY Black. I prefer LAMY Black, because it's less feathery on bad notebook paper, but Pilot Black is a little more water resistant, is inexpensive, and comes in giant (350 mil) bottles. 

I was looking to Noodler's inks because price is reasonable, and I have several other inks from them, and I'm not disappointed. I'll pay no shipping costs as I have to buy other goods from a seller selling also this ink.

Pilot in 350 Ml bottle seems to be not available in Italy or in EU stores, and I do not want to import ink from outside EU. I visited since about 30 years twice a year Japan for business before Covid, and I hope to be able to do this again soon, but it is not a good idea to keep in the luggages a bottle with 350 ml of fluid.

I did not considered Lamy, thanks for the suggestion.

[amberleadavis]

I really like Heart of Darkness when I use black.

 

If possible, buy samples and try the different inks in your pens with the paper you want/have to use.  

[TSherbs]

I am another for Noodler's Heart of Darkness. I've tried nearly all of their blacks, and I like this one best.

[fabri00]

Thanks everybody.

I'll try then Heart of Darkness.

[Paganini]

18 hours ago, fabri00 said:

Pilot in 350 Ml bottle seems to be not available in Italy or in EU stores, and I do not want to import ink from outside EU. I visited since about 30 years twice a year Japan for business before Covid, and I hope to be able to do this again soon, but it is not a good idea to keep in the luggages a bottle with 350 ml of fluid.

 

Hahaha! You need one of those wine transportation luggage things. "No it's not booze officers, it's ink! Honest!"

 

Anyway, I hope LAMY Black is a good one for you; I have some (but not all!) of the Noodler's black inks on your list, and I never use them; I do use LAMY Black nearly every day. I think it's one of the best black inks out there - kind of a sleeper hit. 

[sgphototn]

I did have one bottle of Noodler's Black that went bad after a couple of months. It's the only ink I've ever experienced that went off.

 

But that incident wouldn't stop me for buying Noodler's Ink if I was so inclined.

[Runnin_Ute]

Only one I have any experience with feom your list is Noodler's Black. I bought it in 2014 and it is still seven years later at the base of the neck of the bottle. That's how little I use black. Only other black I really have experience with is Levenger Raven Black which they call "semi-permanent" whatever that means. Bought around 1998, finished in 2013, though there was a period when I was using either Pelikan 4001 Blue Black or no ink at all.