Ink Review: Diamine Safari

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Diamine Safari (150th Anniversary Series)
Pen: Lamy Al-Star EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: moderate
Saturation: moderate
Flow: medium
Dry Time: 12 seconds

I picked up Diamine Safari on a whim thinking I'd like to try a brownish colored ink.  Based on the swab from Goulet's site, I thought it would be a sandy-brown, but as you can probably tell from the photo, it's closer to an olive green.  I actually really like the color, as it reminds me of a cross between Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun and J. Herbin Vert Olive.  I actually just picked up a sample of Noodler's Army Green, and I have a feeling it will end up being closest to that color.  More on that in a future review!

Safari is an ink from Diamine's 150th Anniversary series.  It's one of eight total inks in the series, which come in cool triangular shaped bottles that, when placed flush to one another, make a cool circle of ink bottles.  Not a bad marketing ploy to get folks to buy all of the inks!

I was really pleased with Diamine Safari when I used it at work for a few days.  I had worried it would be too light for practical use, but that isn't the case at all.  It's a nice medium shade of olive green that has a good bit of shading.  I did not see any feathering on my Rhodia pad and had no problems with bleedthrough or ghosting.  Dry time was a bit on the long side at 12 seconds, so it may not be a great ink for some left-handers.

All in all I was glad that I picked up a sample of Diamine Safari to try out.  I probably wouldn't get a full bottle, just because I have other green inks that I like better.  If you like the color, I would definitely recommend it!  You can pick up a 40mL bottle from Goulet or a similar retailer for $15.95.

Ink Review: Noodler's Bad Green Gator

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Noodler's Bad Green Gator
Pen: Lamy Al-Star EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: low
Saturation: medium
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 5 seconds

Noodler's Bad Green Gator is another member of the Warden Series of Noodler's Inks.  Among these include Bad Blue Heron, Bad Belted Kingfisher, Bad Black Moccasin and Bad Green Gator.  I'd reviewed Bad Blue Heron recently when it was part of the Goulet's Ink Drop and really enjoyed that ink.  It was a very vibrant rich dark blue that behaved well in my experience, so I figured I'd give Bad Green Gator a try next.

Nathan Tardiff created the Warden Series of inks to combat both currently existing forgery techniques, as well as ones that haven't actually been observed by law enforcement as of yet.  The inks are what he calls "combination lock" inks, that have a set aging and component variable that are different on a per-bottle basis.  Essentially they each have a unique fingerprint; this makes it impossible for a forger to have an ink exactly identical to your bottle, making the forgery process nearly impossible.  In addition to the standard Bulletproof and washing-resistent properties that a lot of the Noodler's inks have, the Warden Series inks are also laser proof - pretty cool!

When I wrote with Bad Green Gator the first time, I noticed that the color seemed to flatten out a bit in it's saturation and richness once it soaked into the page.  There was very little shading, but it did fare well in regards to feathering and bleedthrough.  Like most Noodler's inks, it flows very well which is a plus.  It was a very impressive dry time at around 5 seconds for my fairly wet EF nib - likely because of it's permanent properties.  I'd probably recommend this to a left-handed writer for that reason.

In swab form, the ink looks a lot more saturated than it does out of my EF nib.  I had imagined the color would be a lot darker and have more shading, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.  So I wasn't really a huge fan of the color for that reason; but honestly that may not be the reason a lot of people buy this ink.  If you love the color green and want an ink that will stand the test of time (and forger), then Bad Green Gator is definitely for you!  You can pick up a 3oz bottle from Goulet or a similar retailer for $12.50.

Giveaway Winner: Noodler's & Diamine Inks, Tons of Ink Samples & Nock Co. Notebooks

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There were over 200 entries for this giveaway - I am humbled by the turnout and thankful for each and every reader of the blog.  I look forward to having another giveaway soon for all the awesome folks in this pen community!

Now for the fun part - the winner is.......

Congratulations Janis!  I'll be emailing you shortly to get your address so that I can get the package on its way to you (be sure to check your spam folder just in case)!  Thank you so much to everyone that entered - it was neat to read what everyone's favorite pens were!  If you're curious Janis' was the Pilot E95S.

Giveaway: Noodler's & Diamine Inks, Tons of Ink Samples & Nock Co. Notebooks!

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The Desk is getting a little cluttered, and what better way to remedy that than to do a giveaway to all you readers!  I have a few bottles of ink that I am not really using and a TON of ink samples in various volumes that I've reviewed and now do not need.  To put the icing on the cake, I've thrown in some Nock Co. notebooks - a 3 pack of the yellow, and a single book of the new super fountain pen friendly black.

Bottled Inks:
Diamine Grey
Noodler's Antietam
Noodler's Gruene Cactus

Ink Samples:
De Atramentis Charles Dickens
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun - you'll probably get 1-2 converter fills with this one
Caran d'Ache Magnetic Blue
Diamine Twilight
J. Herbin Gris Nuage
Sheaffer Blue-Black
Waterman Intense Black
Diamine Safari
Noodler's Bad Green Gator
Noodler's Army Green
De Atramentis Mahatma Gandhi
Rohrer & Klingner Lepziger Schwarz
Noodler's Socrates
Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher
Diamine Registrar's Blue-Black

So what do you have to do?  Enter using the Rafflecopter widget above - the only requirement is that you answer the question "What is your favorite fountain pen?" If you would like an additional 2 entries, follow @thedeskoflori on Twitter, and for an additional 2 entries per day, tweet about the contest.

Fine Print: Contest will end May 11 at 12:00AM EST. Open to US Residents only - unfortunately shipping ink bottles outside the US is insanely expensive, and since this is out of my own pocket, it's not practical for me to ship overseas. My sincerest apologies for this - I do plan on doing a giveaway in the future for smaller items that will be more practical for overseas shipping, so stay tuned!  This giveaway covers USPS Flat-Rate shipping, so if you require additional shipping options or insurance, those will be covered by you, the winner.  Please provide a valid email address for your entry so that I may contact you if you win - I assure you that your email address will not be sold, traded, given away or used in any way other than to notify you that you've won.  If I do not receive a response in 1 week, I will draw a new winner.  Thanks for entering!