Need advice on permanent ink

[Tricky]

Good afternoon gents,
I use a pilot VP during the day at work (pediatrics resident). Before residency, I used Iroshizuko asa-gao/kon peki. I need a professional ink that ideally would be blue or black that feathers little and is extremely permanent (for prescriptions). Can I get some suggestions??

 

[tankerjohn]

The usual suggestions are iron gall ink or pigmented ink like Platinum Carbon or Sailor Nano. I don’t have any personal experience with those types of ink, so that’s about all I know.

 

[Whiskey Badger]

Noodler’s has some definitions for permanence and a .pdf explaining each of their colors and to what level of permanence each has: Noodler’s Ink Properties – Noodler's Ink

If you are looking for well-behaved, X-Feather (black) is designed just for that and has about the full package of anti-forgery/permanence aspects you can ask for.

 

[nemo]

I use iron-gall type inks when I want permanence. I've had no problems yet in over a decade but I generally practice good pen hygiene. Nice blue-black color in the older styles.

There are a multitude of other permanent inks, De Atramentis document line, Montblanc's, registrar's inks (Gall) -- besides Noodler's which I won't use. Also I wouldn't and don't use pigmented inks (instead of dye-based) as the particles could be clogging although there are users out there who swear by those two (Nano and Carbon), YMMV.

 

[Jut]

I would suggest Rohrer and Klinger Salix. Blue-black iron gall ink that is well behaved, reasonably priced, and permanent.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Slivovitz]

I find that ordinary Namiki Blue and Pilot Blue Black (same company but different branding on the bottles) are quite water resistant. Don't know how they would hold up to chemicals, if that's a concern.

Lately, I've been using De Atramentis Document Blue, which is a very nice color, and supposed to be permanent, but again I've only tested it with water. They have "Document" inks in other colors too.

Of course, even with permanent inks, you'll have to give them at least a few seconds to dry, and maybe longer.

 

[captp]

Noodler's Black. Bay State Blue. The Black is very waterproof, BSB is very close. Don't be scared of BSB, it's nowhere near as dangerous as many folks think it is.
Plus, of course, everything recommended above.

 

[bray144k]

Noodler's Zhivago is a black-green I've been using that has a high level of permanence

 

[Tricky]

I have ordered samples!!! I am quite curious about Zhovago as well. Thanks everyone!

 

[Doc4]

I really like this stuff and am working my way through a bottle now.

Ecclesiastical Stationery Supplies Registrars Ink Blue-Black With Iron-Gall

Don't think they do samples, though. It ends up pretty close to black, maybe the darkest of charcoal blue.

 

[Sreekanth]

De Atramentis Dark Blue or Archive Black. I found that they are water-proof (they remain as long as the paper survives) and must be useful for your application, they have't feathered at all.. but then I just used on Indian Paper (JK Cedar, 100 GSM)..

 

[KW Driver]

I use EF/F nibs, so these lay down a bit drier than in say, a M nib. Some of the IGs don’t like some of my EF nibs/feeds for flow. I prefer a threaded cap for carry, and my primary pocket pens are a TWSBI 530 mini, and Estabrook SJ. the SJ doesn’t like the IGs, so it’s got HoD.

In not sure how a VP will react to them, or what nib you’re running.

I’ve run Diamine’s Registrar’s in a couple pens for a few years straight with no issues.

R&K Salix is a bit lighter blue than I prefer, but super stable. New got it wet to test.

R&K Scabiosa was a long time favorite, very dark purple that most take for a black, but a fair bit of the color washed away when some pages got wet.

Noodler’s Heart of Darkness has been super stable for me as well.

 

[Deacon Frank]

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron has proven to be very waterproof in my experience. It's on the lighter side of blue-black. As with anything, there's a trade off, and most permanent inks seem to be more sensitive to drying out. Thus, I would highly recommend a pen with a sealing cap. For instance, I now keep Blue Heron exclusively in my Platinum 3776, and the sealing mechanism in the cap does a fantastic job. In my other pens, Blue Heron could be a bit finicky.

X-Feather is another good one. While it will bleed off some color when submerged, a large amount remains permanent. It's a very intense black.

 

[Doc4]

As with anything, there's a trade off, and ...

... I really notice the "trade off" issue with inks. Noodler's seems particularly interested in "pushing the envelope" one way or another to get a particular characteristic emphasised ... but that means we give up other stuff to get it. You want the most non-feathering ink ever? No problem ... but it takes for eeeeeevvvaaaarrrrrr to dry. You want fast-drying-est ink ever? No problem ... but it's going to feather! And so forth. End result, they almost certainly have the perfect ink "for you" ... and a whole bunch that will dissatisfy.

Samples rule!

 

[Tricky]

Been giving X-feather a try and it’s a really nice ink except at times it takes FOREVER to dry. I am not crazy about my thumbs being a bit inky after a day of taking notes and handling the paper.

Next up,

 

[Deacon Frank]

Been giving X-feather a try and it’s a really nice ink except at times it takes FOREVER to dry.

Agreed, on good paper it dries slowly. It's really aimed at the junk paper commonly used in the office and at school. I think it was actually formulated to be used on newspaper, if that's any indication. I find it works great on cheap copy paper.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

Diamine's registrar's ink was my go-to. It writes kind of dry but is very permanent. It gets darker as it dries too.

 

[Tricky]

I think I’m gonna start caring Xfeather in the vanishing point for all the cheap paper laying around the hospital. Will put something else that is more fast drying in the Prera for signing scripts as that paper is not great for slow drying inks.

 

[Matt O]

Noodler's Black. Bay State Blue. The Black is very waterproof, BSB is very close. Don't be scared of BSB, it's nowhere near as dangerous as many folks think it is.
Plus, of course, everything recommended above.

Noodlers Black with the fish on the front of the bottle is pretty permanent/forge proof. I think I read somewhere that the only folks able to get it off the paper were 30 pound brain types from MIT using a laser!

In my experience Bay State Blue from Noodler is wonderful and beautiful ink, but it will mess a pen up if used long enough!

Vr

Matt

 

[catchacoolbreeze]

DeAtramentis document series inks do not budge and don't smear. I've used other permanent inks like Noodler's and Monteverde that all do that. If by permanent they mean, still readable if dunked in water, yes but with DeAtramentis the color doesn't budge at all. Not as "glossy" looking as the lovely Kon Peki, which is a downside.