Iroshizuku Shin-Kai vs Pilot BlueBlack

[stoop]

The Pilot Iroshizuku line looks amazing and is fairly inexpensive here - and as everyone knows some of the colors are outstanding. Shin-kai and asa-gao in particular are great looking to me. Murasaki-shibiku would probably be excellent mixed with one of those as well (it's a little too bright for me on its own). Same goes for yamabudo. Awesome colors.

I was about to buy some shin-kai when I found a review of Pilot's normal BlueBlack. I was surprised - I think I like the color of BB *better* than shin-kai. And it is much cheaper.

Anyone here use both? I'd love a comparison by someone familiar with both inks.

I went ahead and bought some BlueBlack. Shin-kai is about $12 for 50ml here (vs. $8 for 70ml for BB), though, so I am probably going to pass on it and go with asa-gao or another blue as my next purchase.

 

[lishijia]

I don't have experience with Shin-kai, but the Pilot BlueBlack is one of my regular workhorse inks. It's wonderful in my opinion, as is the regular Pilot / Namiki Blue. Both have good (if not inspiring) color, excellent waterfastness, are cheap, have nice flow, etc. Where I suspect the Iro will surpass it (for most FP addicts) is in lubrication. Every Iro ink I've tried (5 or 6) has had outstanding lubrication or slickness. Personally, I like a drier, scritchier (ink and nib) most of the time. But when I want that "butter on a hot skillet" feeling, I reach for my Iro inks. Usually, however, Iro inks do not do well in the water resist department (fairly important for me as I usually have tea around and it tends to end up on the notes I'm writing at some point).

 

[OC513]

I have never used the Pilot but I have both Shin Kai and Asa Gao. Both are beautiful inks and Shin Kai is my daily ink for the last few weeks and I dont see that changing anytime soon. It is very well behaved and professional without being boring. It doesnt look like an ink you could find in a store bought pen, which I love, while at the same time it doesnt draw attention to itself.

The Asa Gao is a beautiful color but just too bright for business in my opinion. It is a bit too purple for my taste businesswise. I am sure some people would feel it is fine. It also is not as well behaved as Shin Kai for me. Used on Rhodia it is nice but used on cheap paper it feathers like crazy in my experience. So I use it at home for letter writing and quick notes but always on Rhodia paper where it doesnt feather.

Sorry I have no experience with the Pilot ink. Hope the above helps on the Iroshizuku inks.

 

[Kevan]

Regular Pilot Blue-Black and Shin-Kai are close, but Shin-Kai shades a bit more. Blue black is a flatter color...but that is by no means a bad thing. It's also my favorite blue-black because it's smack dab in the middle of the two colors and has great flow (though the Iro is superior). You can't go wrong with either one, really. But if you want to save money and don't care about the extra bit of character (which isn't *THAT* much), go for the regular blue-black.

 

[stoop]

Thanks!

 

[Nightcap]

The Iroshizuku "Tskui Yo" is also a very nice color, likely my favorite blue black , however not water resistant.

 

[JCinPA]

Holy old thread bump, batman!

But having recently discovered fountain pens, I've been reading a lot of ink reviews. And the Pilot blue black is very well-regarded, as is the Iroshizuku, of course.

But prices have changed considerably in the last 5 years apparently. With Amazon Prime, which includes shipping, the Iro Shin-Kai is about $0.48 per ml (50ml bottle) and the Pilot, if you get the 350ml, is only $0.07. That's very close to a 6X price difference!

I like blues and blacks, but I'm finding my favorite every day, professional ink color is a blue black. I purchased an Iroshizuku Sin-Kai. But I won't do it again. It's wonderful ink, to be sure, but the Pilot blue black appears to be, by most accounts (subjective, of course, YMMV) something like 95% of the ink 'quality' however you define that, at 17% of the price!

That clinches it for me. It's Pilot Blue Black in the large bottle going forward. Iro has some truly unique colors, though, I can see getting one of their 3-bottle sampler or two. Namiki and Pilot inks are truly amazing values, I like them a lot. Good for their color, black, blue, or blue black, well-behaved, and ridiculously economical, what's not to like?

 

[tankerjohn]

I don’t know, it takes a long time to work through a 50mL bottle, let alone that huge 350mL one. In real terms, the Iro is a few dolllars more expensive spread out over a long time - several months at least. To me, that makes it worth springing for the Shin-Kai even if I liked Pilot Blue Black 95% as much. Not to mention that the Iro bottles are wonderful desk ornaments, like works of art even. Some people like Pilot Blue Black best at any price. Plus, I do believe it has better water resistance than Iro. I say, lucky them! Their favorite ink is also the cheapest in bulk. Just like Cella lovers who buy the 1kg brick.

The base Pilot inks are indeed a great value. The only drawback that I can think of is that they, like most Japanese inks, are highly alkaline and therefore not recommended for vintage pens.

 

[JCinPA]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Agree about the beauty of the Iroshizuku bottles. And your Cella analogy is spot on. I could get an expensive soap. But I like Cella the most. lol

I'm definitely going to get a 3-pack of unusual Iro colors, though.

 

[tankerjohn]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Agree about the beauty of the Iroshizuku bottles. And your Cella analogy is spot on. I could get an expensive soap. But I like Cella the most. lol

I'm definitely going to get a 3-pack of unusual Iro colors, though.

Excellent! You know, since you already have the bottle of Shin-Kai, you can just refill it with Blue-Black. It’s hard to refill from the ginormous 350L bottles anyway.

 

[Tomo]

I have both. They look virtually the same but the Pelikan is an iron gall ink with the typical iron gall performance. The Iroshizuku is nice but like the rest of the range there isn’t much in the way of water resistance.

 

[tankerjohn]

I have both. They look virtually the same but the Pelikan is an iron gall ink with the typical iron gall performance. The Iroshizuku is nice but like the rest of the range there isn’t much in the way of water resistance.

Pelikan Blue-Black is nice too and certainly has its fans. I would say, compared to Pilot Blue-Black, Pilot is better sheening ink, but Pelikan is better shading. Same(ish) color, but very different presentations. Water resistance is an interesting topic. It seems to be a top priority for a lot of people. I have a couple of water resistant inks for forms and addressing envelopes, and other than that, it makes no nevermind to me as I keep my notebooks well away from potential wetness. Maybe in 30 years I'll look back through those books and wish I'd used a more archival ink.