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.