Through the whim of the TH-cam algorithm I find myself here after so many years and I'm here for it. VittaR's videos sparked my interest in fountain pen inks back in 2016. It's been a good time. Thanks!
Great review of a great ink. I have used this in a variety of pens for over a year & love it. It is my go to check writing ink. Love the super fast dry time. AND it is REALLY Black.
I had some Heart of Darkness I'd diluted about 3:2, that I hung in a (north-facing) window for about 10-11 months. No fading, whatsoever. And in its own way, that is nearly as impressive as the water resistance.
It'd be interesting to see a review done on artist papers to see which ones would allow the ink to dry waterproof and which wouldn't absorb the ink enough for you to do washes.
Finally got my hands on a sample of this. It is every bit as black as you made it out to be. Mine also seems to have that glossy finish that you've mentioned with some other blacks. The only disappointing thing is that it doesn't perform as well on cheaper papers as everyone else seems to say it does. I get feathering and bleed on just about any paper that isn't Rhodia or Clairefontaine, even with a Japanese fine, so I don't know what to make of that. Maybe my sample is a little weird.
I bought this ink for the first time only recently. Filled my Sailor Pro Gear w/broad nib with the HoD. Enjoying the look of the deep, unadulterated blackness of the ink. My only concern, though, is if such a rich, permanent black ink like the HoD would make cleaning and maintaining the pen that holds it that much harder and tedious.
I'm not 100% certain, but I think that it's pronounced Tomo"A" river, with the E at the end making an "A" sound. Please don't hate, cuz I've got none, and I thoroughly enjoy Your videos. Keep at it!
One of the better if not the best review I have seen on inks. THANK YOU!! How is it that you are unemployed?! LOL. I just bought this ink and I normally use Rhodia paper (Rhodia Goalbook). I loved the interaction between this ink and Rhodia. Excellent for Bullet Journaling especially when migrating or adding lots of content to lists which is when I tend to get smudges. The ink will come with a Charlie pen. Seems to be a cheap but sturdy pen to work with this ink. Thanks again. I'm subscribing.
Love your reviews and have learned so much as a new fountain pen user. I have a Lamy Safari and TSWBI eco. I plan on using my clear eco with various color inks to show off the demonstrator. I plan on using the safari for just black ink. Can you recommend a relatively fast drying, dark ink, that cleans fairly easy from pen. Does this ink exist?
Oh alright, I will listen to reason. Baby steps, my pocketbook with truly thank you. I have never had a problem with other addictions but when it comes to art.....maybe a little help "is" in order. Thanks voice of reason.
Have you ever worked with Iroshizuku Take Sumi (black)? I use a Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib and it doesn't seem to bleed through my Mead paper... but then again it's a fine nib. I want a new black for school, so I am trying to figure out what to get, and Heart of Darkness is cool-seeming
Hi. I'm a high school student new to fountain pens and have a Lamy Safari EF. I'm looking for a good, saturated black ink for notes and assignments. I tried X-Feather and liked the way my pen wrote with it but was put off by the nib creep I experienced. Does this ink suffer it as well?
I just put this in my Safari Fine pen. It appears to write smoothly, although it comes out a little fast. Do not hesitate with your strokes! I used it on legal notepad and that is my result. On standard paper, it performs OK.
Hi there amazing videos BTW, very in-depth. I was wondering which ink you would recommend for a medical student who writes very fast during exams where they supply very thin pieces of paper and your required to write on both sides. Thanks! Would love to hear from you soon. FYI, I use a fine goulet nib on my conklin duragraph. In case you needed to know =) I'm leaning towards Heart of Darkness ATM.
Hi thanks for your very in-depth reply. Your are definitely not the only FP user who doesn't like the black ink debate. Using a FP is like a way to express feelings and emotions that just can't be done using normal pens so using all different colors of inks and even the ones that have scents, are perfect to convey emotions to a person. I've literally watched all your reviews (black inks only and waterman blue/black I believe) and the two that really stand out to me are the Lamy's Black and HoD ink reviews. As you mentioned the lamy's black did surprisingly well but the HoD really takes the cake. I can see why you picked it as your top pick for black inks. It comes out like a deep black no real feathering/shading issues. So naturally as an amateur FP user, I been doing quite a bit research and have collected a few inks thus far. For my casual writing or even note-taking I'm using several Pilot Iroshizuku inks. For the black ink dilemma I found a "solution". After checking out the FPN, most users that have to write on low quality paper especially those that use their pen on exams recommend Parker Quink and Waterman (even mont blanc was recommended). Now from my knowledge Waterman is a good wet flowing ink whereas Parker is leaning on the dry side. Since I'll be using a Conklin Duragraph (with Goulet F nib) and a Pilot Custom 823. These pens have quite different characteristics in terms of ink flow so I'm planning on buying the following inks to solve this dilemma in a practical way rather than doing so much research to end up with an ink that won't just work for me. I'll be purchasing the following in 50ml variants: Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi Ink - You might ask why this, well besides getting it for 13 bucks, I've used this in different colors before just not in the black so I know it'll work perfectly on good quality paper like on apica notebooks, just not so well on low quality paper. Parker Quink Black Ink - This was recommended by the FPN, but this ink tends to run on the dry side so I'm worried about this for the conklin, it should be fine for my 823 because that one has a nice wet nib on it. Waterman Black Ink - This was also recommended by the FPN community specifically for writing on low quality paper XD Lamy Black Ink - I chose this after seeing your review of the ink, it really does surprisingly well. Mont Blanc Black Ink - This is a ink I'm not that sure about but I might as well after considering the number of other companies I'm trying out. It is quite expensive tho! Noodler's Heart of Darkness -- this is actually a maybe on the list. I just wish I could buy the ink and ONLY the ink, why include a cheap FP that I don't need guys! So after trying out all these inks I'll see which suits my conklin and 823 best. And hey inks are not expensive at all so I think I'll enjoy trying them out and guess what in the end they are all mighty good inks that I could use on my apica notebooks whenever I want =D Don't think I'll have a ink shortage problem anytime soon XD I'll definitely update you on which ink I'll end up using for my 3+ medical exams on those poor quality paper! I always wondered why they use such shitty paper in med school XD
Got a sample vial of this. In addition to the crazy feathering, it also has a lot of unfortunate gray shading! I like my blacks to be black, not gray. :(
Well, it does really depend on the paper, and sometimes even the humidity of where you are, I'm learning! I'm sorry - I wish I knew one that I could say "use this!" and feel confident about it, but there are just a lot of factors-- like, do you care about bleed-through, or show through, etcetera. I don't know of amy almost-instant-drying black inks that are super-black that aren't extremely bleeding... I'm sorry!
Private Reserve invincible black. It dries so fast that I find it difficult to keep a Lamy 2000 uncapped for over 30 seconds without having the ink completely dried at the nib.
This ink does not appear to be waterproof on watercolor paper. That, or the drying time is really long. After five minutes, a few simple lines washed out. And the free pen that comes with it, the ink drips out of the nib.
So far my go to is x-feather in a twsbi EF for work it seems to work but still can always use black. Esp since I am a part time care care giver so I have use to use black ink for that
In your experience is this ink still a dark black even in drier and finer writing pens? My only black is J. Herbin Perle Noire and it's a perfectly good ink, but in most of the pens I've tried it with it does have some shading toward dark gray.
+Matt Taylor This ink is the darkest, most well-behaved, least-shading I've ever encountered. And, I tend to keep it in finer/dried-writing pens both on my desk at home and around in my bag for when I need to sign prettymuch anything (besides a letter or birthday card; those it's more acceptable to writing in more 'fun' inks). I love this ink. I call 'Heart of Darkness' from Noodler's "My Black-Ink" in *every* subsequent black-ink review (including the one I did of 'Perle Noire'). I hope that helps. Caveat: I have just inked up 'X-Feather' yesterday, but have *yet* to put it through it's paces. so far, it takes forever to dry, and that's all I can report on that.
+VittaR Awesome, thanks for the info! I'll definitely have to try out a sample of this one. And I forgot to ask before, but how does this ink go as far as cleaning (at least compared to Noodler's other eternal or bulletproof inks)? My only fancy un-removable Noodler's ink is 54th Massachusetts, and that one's definitely some work, but not too bad.
+VittaR What's the difference between Heart of Darkness and the canonical Noodler's black? Can you shed light? In particular, is one more heavily pigmented than the other or more opaque (less shading)? Thanks for your thoughts.
+IVeverm0re I just ordered a bottle. Nathan throws in a Charlie pen and I thought the story behind the pen is interesting so I look forward to my new black ink. Thanks.
Yep! you can, it's fairly easy. Just be sure to expel the ink from the eyedropper before you take it out, and then rest it on a paper towel or something.
That was the most amazing intro I've ever heard.
Nice sense of humor with the intro. It's been awhile since you posted this but hope everything is better with you now.
Through the whim of the TH-cam algorithm I find myself here after so many years and I'm here for it. VittaR's videos sparked my interest in fountain pen inks back in 2016. It's been a good time. Thanks!
Great review of a great ink. I have used this in a variety of pens for over a year & love it. It is my go to check writing ink. Love the super fast dry time. AND it is REALLY Black.
Lmao at the intro. Had to replay many times
+banihex
I'm dead.....Best intro and very informative review
Good review! You are missed!
I had some Heart of Darkness I'd diluted about 3:2, that I hung in a (north-facing) window for about 10-11 months. No fading, whatsoever. And in its own way, that is nearly as impressive as the water resistance.
2014: LOL at the intro!
2020: ...yeah, I feel ya. *sigh*
Thank you. I am now a proud owner of Heart of Darkness.
Hey there you're on the internet and I'm unemployed ... LOL subbed just for that ... plus you got a lot of ink reviews ... keep them coming :)
It'd be interesting to see a review done on artist papers to see which ones would allow the ink to dry waterproof and which wouldn't absorb the ink enough for you to do washes.
Great review. I need a solid black, and I think this will do.
The quick brown fox was a great fan of "Apocalypse now "-Directors cut !!
lol that was hilarious xD xD xD
Always happy to entertain!I constantly wonder if people will notice when I change up the pangram - - It happens a lot more than people realize... ;-P
VittaR :D
Finally got my hands on a sample of this. It is every bit as black as you made it out to be. Mine also seems to have that glossy finish that you've mentioned with some other blacks. The only disappointing thing is that it doesn't perform as well on cheaper papers as everyone else seems to say it does. I get feathering and bleed on just about any paper that isn't Rhodia or Clairefontaine, even with a Japanese fine, so I don't know what to make of that. Maybe my sample is a little weird.
This is my new go-to black. Thanks for the review. Love it on rhodia, even with Nemosine M nib it dries quick
Excellent video. RS
I bought this ink for the first time only recently. Filled my Sailor Pro Gear w/broad nib with the HoD. Enjoying the look of the deep, unadulterated blackness of the ink. My only concern, though, is if such a rich, permanent black ink like the HoD would make cleaning and maintaining the pen that holds it that much harder and tedious.
I love yur voice. I often play yur videos only to listen your opening ments.
I'm not 100% certain, but I think that it's pronounced Tomo"A" river, with the E at the end making an "A" sound. Please don't hate, cuz I've got none, and I thoroughly enjoy Your videos. Keep at it!
One of the better if not the best review I have seen on inks. THANK YOU!! How is it that you are unemployed?! LOL. I just bought this ink and I normally use Rhodia paper (Rhodia Goalbook). I loved the interaction between this ink and Rhodia. Excellent for Bullet Journaling especially when migrating or adding lots of content to lists which is when I tend to get smudges. The ink will come with a Charlie pen. Seems to be a cheap but sturdy pen to work with this ink. Thanks again. I'm subscribing.
Love your reviews and have learned so much as a new fountain pen user. I have a Lamy Safari and TSWBI eco. I plan on using my clear eco with various color inks to show off the demonstrator. I plan on using the safari for just black ink. Can you recommend a relatively fast drying, dark ink, that cleans fairly easy from pen. Does this ink exist?
Oh alright, I will listen to reason. Baby steps, my pocketbook with truly thank you. I have never had a problem with other addictions but when it comes to art.....maybe a little help "is" in order. Thanks voice of reason.
Alhamdulillah .the best and most usefull reviewer i have ever seen .thank you so much
Thanks for the perfect review !!!!
i love you! thanks for your reviews
Which is the darkest black ink ? Noodelers HOD or Sheaffer skrip?
Have you ever worked with Iroshizuku Take Sumi (black)? I use a Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib and it doesn't seem to bleed through my Mead paper... but then again it's a fine nib. I want a new black for school, so I am trying to figure out what to get, and Heart of Darkness is cool-seeming
Hi. I'm a high school student new to fountain pens and have a Lamy Safari EF. I'm looking for a good, saturated black ink for notes and assignments. I tried X-Feather and liked the way my pen wrote with it but was put off by the nib creep I experienced. Does this ink suffer it as well?
I just put this in my Safari Fine pen. It appears to write smoothly, although it comes out a little fast. Do not hesitate with your strokes! I used it on legal notepad and that is my result. On standard paper, it performs OK.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy GoD
Hi there amazing videos BTW, very in-depth. I was wondering which ink you would recommend for a medical student who writes very fast during exams where they supply very thin pieces of paper and your required to write on both sides. Thanks! Would love to hear from you soon.
FYI, I use a fine goulet nib on my conklin duragraph. In case you needed to know =)
I'm leaning towards Heart of Darkness ATM.
Hi thanks for your very in-depth reply. Your are definitely not the only FP user who doesn't like the black ink debate. Using a FP is like a way to express feelings and emotions that just can't be done using normal pens so using all different colors of inks and even the ones that have scents, are perfect to convey emotions to a person.
I've literally watched all your reviews (black inks only and waterman blue/black I believe) and the two that really stand out to me are the Lamy's Black and HoD ink reviews. As you mentioned the lamy's black did surprisingly well but the HoD really takes the cake. I can see why you picked it as your top pick for black inks. It comes out like a deep black no real feathering/shading issues.
So naturally as an amateur FP user, I been doing quite a bit research and have collected a few inks thus far. For my casual writing or even note-taking I'm using several Pilot Iroshizuku inks. For the black ink dilemma I found a "solution".
After checking out the FPN, most users that have to write on low quality paper especially those that use their pen on exams recommend Parker Quink and Waterman (even mont blanc was recommended).
Now from my knowledge Waterman is a good wet flowing ink whereas Parker is leaning on the dry side. Since I'll be using a Conklin Duragraph (with Goulet F nib) and a Pilot Custom 823. These pens have quite different characteristics in terms of ink flow so I'm planning on buying the following inks to solve this dilemma in a practical way rather than doing so much research to end up with an ink that won't just work for me.
I'll be purchasing the following in 50ml variants:
Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi Ink - You might ask why this, well besides getting it for 13 bucks, I've used this in different colors before just not in the black so I know it'll work perfectly on good quality paper like on apica notebooks, just not so well on low quality paper.
Parker Quink Black Ink - This was recommended by the FPN, but this ink tends to run on the dry side so I'm worried about this for the conklin, it should be fine for my 823 because that one has a nice wet nib on it.
Waterman Black Ink - This was also recommended by the FPN community specifically for writing on low quality paper XD
Lamy Black Ink - I chose this after seeing your review of the ink, it really does surprisingly well.
Mont Blanc Black Ink - This is a ink I'm not that sure about but I might as well after considering the number of other companies I'm trying out. It is quite expensive tho!
Noodler's Heart of Darkness -- this is actually a maybe on the list. I just wish I could buy the ink and ONLY the ink, why include a cheap FP that I don't need guys!
So after trying out all these inks I'll see which suits my conklin and 823 best. And hey inks are not expensive at all so I think I'll enjoy trying them out and guess what in the end they are all mighty good inks that I could use on my apica notebooks whenever I want =D
Don't think I'll have a ink shortage problem anytime soon XD
I'll definitely update you on which ink I'll end up using for my 3+ medical exams on those poor quality paper! I always wondered why they use such shitty paper in med school XD
I find the ink to be pretty light, or grey once it dries. Not the biggest fan, and I want to be because I love noodlers inks as a whole.
This review was amazingly sexy. I mean no disrespect. I am now subbed! Thank you.
So dumb question...I want to pick up this ink, but what do I do if I get it on me? Can I scrub it off?
I don't love how it gunks up my vintage pens.
Got a sample vial of this. In addition to the crazy feathering, it also has a lot of unfortunate gray shading! I like my blacks to be black, not gray. :(
Probably wasn't shaken well before decanting..
Perfect ink review, new sub 👍😄
From your experience any nice rich colour black inks that dry fast / near instantly for a medium nib fountain pen?
Well, it does really depend on the paper, and sometimes even the humidity of where you are, I'm learning! I'm sorry - I wish I knew one that I could say "use this!" and feel confident about it, but there are just a lot of factors-- like, do you care about bleed-through, or show through, etcetera. I don't know of amy almost-instant-drying black inks that are super-black that aren't extremely bleeding... I'm sorry!
Private Reserve invincible black. It dries so fast that I find it difficult to keep a Lamy 2000 uncapped for over 30 seconds without having the ink completely dried at the nib.
Still go back to Vitta’s reviews. 👍🏼
This ink does not appear to be waterproof on watercolor paper. That, or the drying time is really long. After five minutes, a few simple lines washed out. And the free pen that comes with it, the ink drips out of the nib.
Miss you!!
even though I have noodlers black and x feather. I want this one plus free pen woo
+mgmmaze
It's AWESOME! This is "my" Black ink. Hands-down. Period. Have yet to find anything close to unseating it from the thrown.
So far my go to is x-feather in a twsbi EF for work it seems to work but still can always use black. Esp since I am a part time care care giver so I have use to use black ink for that
is it pigment free????
Ok this ink I'm getting, and I don't really like black ink. Thanks Vitta great stuff.
+Sherrie Taylor
Samples first! This ink only comes in a 4.5 oz bottle! =-)
But I do love it, and do highly recommend it as a Blackest-Black Ink.
In your experience is this ink still a dark black even in drier and finer writing pens? My only black is J. Herbin Perle Noire and it's a perfectly good ink, but in most of the pens I've tried it with it does have some shading toward dark gray.
+Matt Taylor
This ink is the darkest, most well-behaved, least-shading I've ever encountered. And, I tend to keep it in finer/dried-writing pens both on my desk at home and around in my bag for when I need to sign prettymuch anything (besides a letter or birthday card; those it's more acceptable to writing in more 'fun' inks). I love this ink. I call 'Heart of Darkness' from Noodler's "My Black-Ink" in *every* subsequent black-ink review (including the one I did of 'Perle Noire'). I hope that helps.
Caveat: I have just inked up 'X-Feather' yesterday, but have *yet* to put it through it's paces. so far, it takes forever to dry, and that's all I can report on that.
+VittaR
Awesome, thanks for the info! I'll definitely have to try out a sample of this one. And I forgot to ask before, but how does this ink go as far as cleaning (at least compared to Noodler's other eternal or bulletproof inks)? My only fancy un-removable Noodler's ink is 54th Massachusetts, and that one's definitely some work, but not too bad.
Looking forward to maybe getting this ink with the "Charlie" pen.
"Here's Moleskine paper which despite their notebooks being about 10 times more expensive, their paper seems to be 10 times cheaper" - royal roasts...
+VittaR What's the difference between Heart of Darkness and the canonical Noodler's black? Can you shed light? In particular, is one more heavily pigmented than the other or more opaque (less shading)? Thanks for your thoughts.
+IVeverm0re I just ordered a bottle. Nathan throws in a Charlie pen and I thought the story behind the pen is interesting so I look forward to my new black ink. Thanks.
Can you use the ink bottle only as an eye dropper? Or can you draw up ink with other pens (cartridge/piston)?
Yep! you can, it's fairly easy. Just be sure to expel the ink from the eyedropper before you take it out, and then rest it on a paper towel or something.
I-talic
extremely....extremely....extremely
zzz