WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet and Noodler's Texas Live Oak

Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet

It's ok.

This, however, is not ok.

INK REVIEW: Montblanc Daniel Defoe - Palm Green

Handwritten Ink Review - Montblanc Palm Green

Montblanc recently released their newest ink: Daniel Defoe - Palm Green.

It's a darkish yellow-green. 

It's not super-saturated and it writes great - no problems at all out of the pen.

Amazing shading? Yes!

Daniel Defoe - loving the shading.

At first glance, I was concerned that this ink would be too much like DeAtramentis's Saraha Grey, but it really is much more dark with more depth of color than that. And then I thought it might be a bit like Sailor Jentle Epinard (now discontinued), but it really is much more pretty than that, with less blue in the ink.

I'm not 100% convinced that the color is for me. I'm generally a fan of clean green colors. For example, Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel is appealing to me.

Having said that, though, I will also say that Daniel Defoe and his Palm Green ink is growing on me a quite bit in the week or so that I've had it.

I'm going to check in soon with an update after I've used it a bit more.  What do you think?  Love it, have to have it?

THIS OR THAT: Yama-dori or Ku-jaku

This or that? Top or bottom?  Which do you love?

Can you see the differences between these two inks?  One color is always on top. The other is always on the bottom.

Let's take a closer look . . .

One of these is Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku.  The other is Sailor Jentle Yama-dori.

Color is quite similar.

I see a definite difference here.

Not much difference here.

Which ink is this?  Hint:  it's both!

Alrighty, which do you like? Both? Neither?  They are pretty close, yes? I would choose the top color - but not by much. It's the shading that made the difference for me. I think I could be happy with either (even though teal isn't my most favorite color).

Scroll down for the spoiler . . .

Clicky Clicky for the Full-Sized Image

The top shade is Sailor Jentle Yama-dori. 

The bottom is Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku.   

What is so interesting to me about this is that Yama-dori is legendary. Ku-jaku gets favorable reviews, but it's not a Big Deal. The differences are subtle and if they weren't side-by-side, I wonder if you or I could tell them apart.

Like I said yesterday, Yama-dori is my E.T. ink. You can read all about that right here.

What do you think? Am I crazy and there's a huge difference that I'm not appreciating here?

INK REVIEW: Sailor Jentle Yama-dori

Sailor Jentle Yama-dori Fountain Pen Ink Review

I generally try to avoid reading much about inks before I have the opportunity to try them for myself. I want my opinion to definitely be my own and not influenced by others as much as possible.

That was impossible with Yama-dori. This ink has superstar status over on Fountain Pen Network. Even before the ink was re-released, there was chatter about how amazing it is - it sheens, it shades, it's perfect! Gotta get me some of that!

I got mine from JetPens with pennies from my own piggy bank. It's listed at $20 there. Looks like it can be had for a buck or two less at some other online stores.

There are things I really like about Yama-dori. It sheens, it shades, it flows really well. It passed the smear and highlight tests with flying colors.

Yama-dori is my E.T. of inks. Let me explain . . .

Waaaay back when the movie E.T. (you know, the Extra-Terristrial) came out in theaters, it was the Must See movie. OMG, gotta see it. What, you haven't seen it?  You don't know what you're missing!  Best. Movie. Ever.

The build-up was just so much that there was practically no way the E.T. was going to meet my expectations. And it didn't. I mean, it was ok.

And that's kind of where I am with Yama-dori. It's good. It's nice. I like it. But am I coco-crazy-go-nutters for it?  Nah.

I'll be back tomorrow (a rare Tuesday post!) with more show and tell on Yama-dori.  (How is that for a tease?)

In the meantime, check out the full review (click here for the full-size image - it's huge), and tell me what you think.  Do you love Yama-dori?  Do you have an E.T. ink?

PEN REVIEW: Kaweco AL Sport Grey

Kaweco AL Sport Grey Fountain Pen Review

I'm usually not into the weights and measures of my fountain pens, but I can't help it this time. Capped, this great-looking pen measures right around four inches - the perfect size for pockets or smaller bags. When posted, the Kaweco gains over an inch to just about 5.25 inches.  Perfect.

The AL Sport weighs in at a solid 22g. For comparison, the Kaweco Ice Sport weighs just 10g.

I love the look of this pen - classic Kaweco design, sleek, simple, smart.

The color of is simply called grey. It's a very warm grey - leaning well into red. Lot of depth of color for what is basically a flat finish. I can't help but think that if you wanted to match this pen to an ink, you should try Pilot Iroshizuku's Kiri-same.

Unfortunately, this pen only accepts short international cartridges. Fortunately, some short international converters may work with the pen. Unfortunately, I don't know which those are - I am hoping someone will post with suggestions.

A great solid pen.

But how does it write?

I loaded up my medium-nibbed AL Sport with a Private Reserve Spearmint cartridge and got to writing . . . .

My early (and only) concern was that the section (grip area) is quite short and my thumb was hitting  (and rubbing against) it oddly. Honestly, I wasn't sure it was going to work out.

After writing with it for awhile, putting it down for a day or two, and then going back to it, there were no issues with the section/grip. Whew.  Perfectly comfortable, but something to be aware of because that section does seem short.

Click here for full-sized writing sample (it's big).

My bottom line . . . At around $80 (I got mine from Goulet Pens with my own saved pennies), it's a bit more expensive than some of the other Kaweco fountain pens, but the quality is there. Definitely recommended. In fact, I'm already looking for the Stonewashed version of this same pen - stay tuned!

xoxox

GIVE AWAY: Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku

It's true!  I'm giving away a mostly unused bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku.

Bottom Line:  Leave a comment below to be entered to win. Do it before next Thursday, February 20. And, omg, please please leave a way for me to contact you - you know, in case you win.

Details: About 100 years ago (more like May of last year), when I was on my honeymoon, I was shocked to see the Paradise Pens in Las Vegas was closing. They had a deal on inks and I bought a few - mostly on speculation - including this one.

Got it home, inked a pen (I never ever dip right into the bottle, no contamination here) and realized that, omg, I don't like this ink. I stuffed it into my ink cabinet and haven't bothered with it since then.

In fact, how funny is it that my very first ink giveaway (implies there are more to come, hm?) also happens to be the very first ink I ever reviewed?  (That review was from a sample.)

I don't have the box or the fancy hang tag, but the bottle and its contents are in good shape. There are maybe 3 ml missing from the bottle, but probably not even that much.

So! If you'd like to enter to win, just leave a comment below before next Thursday (the 20th) and I'll announce a winner (chosen randomly, of course).  Hopefully, I'll get my act together enough to ship the ink pretty quickly after that.

Fun, right?

No enter to win! Do it!

INK REVIEW: De Atramentis Sahara Grey

DeAtramentis Sahara Grey Ink Swab

DeAtramentis Sahara Grey Ink Review

Those of you who have been reading here for more than a week know that ink names is one of my biggest pet peeves. Seriously, they could have just left it at Sahara and been ok, right?

If you're looking for a great shading olive or drab green, this color may be the one for you.

It wrote great in the Pilot Metropolitan I was using for testing. (If you're looking for fantastic inexpensive pen, the Metropolitan is one I'd definitely recommend.)

No starting issues, no flow problems, and (bonus!) lots of great shading.

I also want to show you this . . .

I couldn't believe how little it smeared (I was using Rhodia paper). 

Bottom line? If you love the color, you'll probably love this ink. It really is a winner.

As for me, I'm not a fan of the color - a little too Army for me. What do you think?

DeAtramentis Sahara GreyInk Swab & Review

Click For Full-Size Image
DeAtramentis Sahara Grey
Ink Review

INK REVIEW: Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel

Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel

The color of this fountain pen ink reminds me of (now-discontinued) Amazon from Caran D'Ache. That is to say, I love this green.  No red, no blue, no yellow - just green.

As an aside, I checked a couple of weeks ago - you can still find the old Caran D'Ache inks in some places if you look around for them. I ended up not buying Amazon - at the time, I wasn't able to commit to a green 100%, and since that time, I've fallen for several other greens and won't miss Amazon.

Anyway...back to Gruene Cactus Eel.

All of the inks in Noodler's "eel" line are lubricated. As in, "slippery as an...."  Have you seen the PDF that Noodler's and Goulet Pens published?  It shows Noodler's inks and their special properties. Looks like it was last updated more than a year ago, but here you go.

So, what are lubricated fountain pen inks? They are specially formulated inks that could apparently help your pistons (pens and converters) gliding smoothly. These inks may also flow better from the pen due to the lubrication.  I tried to find out exactly what component makes an ink lubricated, but came up (ahem) dry.

Flow was good from this ink in the Lamy Safari with an Extra Fine Nib. Was it better than some other inks? I really don't think so.

The one big issue that became more annoying the more I used the ink as that it took forever to dry. Even with the extra fine nib. Forever.

So..even though it has amazing color and it writes beautifully, I can't imagine using this ink on a regular basis because of the dry time.   Check it out below....

I'm not out completely on this or other lubricated inks. If I had a pen with flow issues, I'd probably try a lubricated ink before giving up on the pen.

But what about you? Have you tried lubed up inks? Love/Hate? Or maybe you have a favorite green ink you'd like to tell me all about?