Noodler's Green ink review

Back to another green ink and this time it's Noodler's Green. In what has almost become a tradition these days, I'm reviewing a sample of this ink in my Pilot Varsity.

Bottle
A bottle of Noodler's Green will run you the usual $12.50 for 3oz (90ml) or $0.14 per milliliter. Cheap as rainwater... well, almost.

Color and saturation
Noodler's Green is well saturated and dark in color. It is very similar to Noodler's Green Marine, the other recently-reviewed green ink. Sometimes I wonder why Noodler's keeps producing such similar-looking inks. But then of course, Green Marine is much more water resistant. On my sample I've also compared it to Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel, of which I own a bottle. You will notice that the Eel ink is lighter in color.

Shading
Though the ink is dark and it's harder to notice, Noodler's Green does have some shading. This is more obvious with a thicker nib.

Feathering
I haven't noticed any feathering.

Bleedthrough
As is the case with most dark inks, this one ghosts a little on cheap paper and may even bleed if applied liberally. With a dip pen or flex nib that's almost a given, but, I repeat, on cheap paper. There aren't such issues on something more decent like, for example, Rhodia or Clairefontaine.

Flow and lubrication
While in general it flows on the semi-wet side, I can't say I was very impressed with how well Noodler's Green flows on Rhodia paper where it felt dry. Even on photocopy the flow was sometimes erratic. When it flows, though, it feels quite smooth.

Drying time
Perhaps due to its rather dry flow, Noodler's Green dries quickly, around the 5-second mark on photocopy and in about 10 seconds on Rhodia.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
While its almost identical brother (sister?) Green Marine seems to have some hidden waterproof qualities, Noodler's Green is much more down to earth in that most of it washes off when exposed to water. However, all is seemingly not lost, as a light green component remains on the paper. I guess that you might be able to recover some of your precious manuscripts if it comes to that and you move fast enough.

Conclusion
Sometimes it's hard to come to a definite conclusion regarding an ink. Noodler's Green is one instance where I'm not very happy with how the ink performs but I can't call it terrible either. For someone who likes dark green, this ink might do the trick. On the other hand, having reviewed Noodler's Green Marine, I very much prefer that ink. The bottom line, and my recommendation, is to simply go with Noodler's Green Marine.

Here are the two samples on photocopy and Rhodia 90g, respectively.

Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue

I haven't reviewed many Private Reserve inks so far, and Invincible Aqua Blue makes my third. It's also the most "exotic" of them, mostly because it has been discontinued (correct me if I'm wrong). This means that you won't be able to buy it anywhere, which makes this review almost pointless. However, since I managed to grab a sample before it disappeared completely, and because I tested it anyway, I thought it might be worth posting a review just for completeness' sake.

The other thing that makes Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue special is its water resistance, denoted by the term "invincible" in its name. I rather like this. I wish other brands followed a similar naming scheme. Noodler's Ink comes close with certain ink series (Hunter, Bad..., Baystate, etc) but it's still erratic.

But enough chit-chat. Let's get down to reviewing this now-defunct ink, which I tested in my Pilot Varsity.

Bottle
Back when you could still buy it, Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue retailed for... hmm... I don't know anymore, because I failed to record the price. However, going by the price of its surviving sibling, Invincible Black, you will notice that it costs about $9.75 for a 2 oz (60 ml) bottle, or $0.16 per milliliter. That's not very expensive at all for a waterproof ink.

Color and saturation
Invincible Aqua Blue is an aqua-bluish kind of ink. That means it is a lightly saturated light blue color. It reminds me in a way of Noodler's Polar Blue, which also happens to be a waterproof ink, with the special distinction that it is also cold-resistant. Although the two inks are distinctly different (with Polar Blue darker and more saturated), they both have the "faded jeans" look.

Shading
Invincible Aqua Blue is quite flat and doesn't show any shading.

Feathering
None.

Bleedthrough
Unfortunately this ink tends to penetrate the paper a little. It doesn't bleed heavily but it ghosts a little on cheap paper and almost shows through where the nib presses harder. In this case it's a good thing the ink is only lightly saturated.

Flow and lubrication
Invincible Aqua Blue flowed well in the Pilot Varsity, perhaps a bit on the wet side.

Drying time
One good feature of this ink is that it dried extremely quickly. As you can see from the two samples, it dried in less than 5 seconds even on the shiny Rhodia 80g paper.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue was marketed as a waterproof ink and, true to its purpose, it casually rejected any attempts to wash it off with water. I didn't try other liquids.

Conclusion
I have no idea why Private Reserve decided to discontinue Invincible Aqua Blue. It's not a bad ink by any means. The only negative is that it bleeds a little on cheaper paper but that shouldn't be a major detractor. I'm sure they had their reasons for it and I'm not going to waste time googling it. Too bad it is not among us anymore but what can we do about it? If you are looking for a waterproof ink with these qualities, the closest I can recommend is Noodler's Polar Blue. You can even dilute it a little with water if you want to match colors.

Following are the two samples written on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.