Ink Review: Noodler's Army Green

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Noodler's Army Green
Pen: Lamy Al-Star EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: moderate to high
Saturation: medium
Flow: moderate
Dry Time: 11 seconds

Apparently I'm on an olive green kick these days, because I've been using Diamine Safari, Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun, and Noodler's Army Green.  I love all three inks, though I think I will still always return to Alt-Goldgrun as my favorite olive green.  Army Green is still an awesome ink.

You may remember when Nathan Tardiff changed the color of Army Green to be a more kelly green color after some customer suggestion/complaints.  Brian Goulet put out a video soliciting feedback on the new color.  Like most people, I liked the old color better, and luckily enough people agreed that Nathan ultimately changed the color back.

Army Green is a very well-behaved ink that does not feather or bleed.  It has a good amount of shading, even with an EF nib, and flows well like most other Noodler's inks.  It's not as highly saturated as some of the other Noodler's inks, but it's not muted by any stretch.  Dry time was 11 seconds, so not short, but not terrible either.  Still may not be idea for some left handed writers, especially on ink resistant paper.   All in all, a great ink with a unique color!

If you're interested in a bottle, you can pick one up from Goulet or a similar retailer for $12.50.

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.

Ink Review: Diamine Twilight

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Diamine Twilight (Ink Drop - April 2015)
Pen: Lamy EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: low to moderate
Saturation: high
Flow: wet

The second ink in this month's Ink Drop is Diamine Twilight (not Diamine Midnight as subconscious seems to think it should be called).  It is a dark teal color with fairly decent shading.  Being a Diamine ink, it's highly saturated and wet flowing.  It reminds me a lot of De Atramentis Pigeon Blue from last month's Ink Drop - just slightly darker.  It doesn't feather or bleed on my Rhodia pad, and dries moderately quickly at 9 seconds with my Lamy EF nib.

All in all, Twilight is not my favorite ink in the world, but it's still another great ink from Diamine's vast line.  You can pick up am 80mL bottle from Goulet or a similar vendor for $14.95.