After taking the long way round via 1986, this is the fifth in this batch of ink reviews, for Cult Pens Deep Dark Green.

For a description of the bottle and box, please see the review of Diamine Crimson ink and for the Cult Pens variants please the review of Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue ink. In this case there were no small labels on the box or the bottle cap. The sole supplier is Cult Pens and the ink is low priced.

The test pen in this case was a green Pilot Prera with a medium nib.

Water resistance was minimal again, only faint lines were left under running water and lines were obliterated by water drops. Cleaning was mostly easy but I did need to use an ultrasonic cleaner for the grip section. This may be due to the design of the pen as the problem area seem to be the metal ring which is a feature of the Pilot Prera. The drying time was around 50 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The scan makes the ink look close to black but in reality its a very dark green with a hint of grey. I like it.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Again this looks almost black in the scan rather than the dark green it is on the paper. Feathering is more of an issue here.

Yellow Post-It

This scan is more true to life, and performance is okay on this paper.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

The scanner is fooled again – even thought in reality it looks almost grey, there is still a stronger hint of green in the original.

Mnemosyne Word Card

This is the most accurate representation of the colour of the ink. The hint of grey and the shading is apparent.

Cult Pens Deep Dark Green – Conclusion

I don’t usually like inks with a hint of grey, but I’m happy to make an exception in this case. Another one in the series which would be useful as an unusual note-taking ink.

Cult Pens Deep Dark Green

Cult Pens Deep Dark Green - Close Up

Cult Pens (Diamine) Deep Dark Green - Word Card

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This is the eighth and final in this batch of ink reviews, for Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green ink.

The name of this ink evokes lush vegetation, although the actual colour is darker than I personally would expect a tropical green to be.

The ink cost £7.75 (including VAT), for a 40ml bottle, from a UK supplier, which along with the other inks in this series I would class as moderately priced.

I gave descriptions of the box and bottle of the 150th Anniversary series in my review of Diamine Anniversary 1864 Blue Black Ink, so I won’t repeat them here. The only difference is that the backgrounds of the box and bottle labels are a close approximation of the Tropical Green ink colour.

The test pen in this case was the Pilot MR White Tiger with a medium nib.

This ink showed minimal water resistance and water drops obliterated text easily. Cleaning the test pen was easy. Drying time was around 20 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The flow was excellent on this paper which led to a lot of ink being put down resulting in a very dark green colour which is almost black in places. I really like this effect. The downside is that this ink smudged quite easily.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Good flow again but not quite as dark – the feathering is disappointing though.

Yellow Post-It

Much lighter on the yellow Post-It.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Feathering and bleeding but not too bad overall. Lighter again on this paper.

Mnemosyne Word Card

This gives a good idea of the shading this ink is capable of.

Conclusion

I really like this green ink and the range of shading is a nice bonus: I will be using it again in the future. Whether the smudging and feathering will prove to be much of a problem in future only time will tell.

Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green - Word Card

Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green

Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green - Close Up

Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green - Word Card

The post Diamine 150th Anniversary Tropical Green Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

This is the fifth in this batch of ink reviews, for Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari ink.

The name “Safari” suggests the khaki green colour of the ink. Googling “Safari Green” yields a few close matches to the colour.

The ink cost £7.75 (including VAT), for a 40ml bottle, from a UK supplier, which along with the other inks in this series I would class as moderately priced.

I gave descriptions of the box and bottle of the 150th Anniversary series in my review of Diamine Anniversary 1864 Blue Black Ink, so I won’t repeat them here. The only difference is that the backgrounds of the box and bottle labels are a close approximation of the Safari ink colour.

The test pen in this case was the Pilot MR Black with a medium nib.

This ink showed minimal water resistance and water drops obliterated text easily. Cleaning the test pen was more tricky than other inks in this series, but I wouldn’t describe it as difficult. Drying time was around 20 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The ink gives a really nice shading effect from almost black to dark olive green. Not usually my favourite colour, but in this case I really like the effect. Still a bit of smudging, but I’m sure I’m looking too hard and would probably of overlooked this in my earlier reviews. Overall a good performer which would be suitable for personal note taking.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Very similar performance to Rhodia paper – good overall.

Yellow Post-It

Coverage is a little patchy on this paper.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Not bad at all on this paper.

Mnemosyne Word Card

A good hint at some of the shading possible with this ink.

Conclusion

This is another good ink in this series, and one I can see myself using again as a note-taker. It’s dark and subdued enough not to shout out of the page, so is suitable for longer note-taking sessions.

Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari - Word Card

Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari

Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari - Close Up

Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari - Word Card

The post Diamine 150th Anniversary Safari Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

The fifth in this batch of ink reviews is for Kaweco Palm Green.

This ink was supplied free of charge by Kaweco. I was not paid to write the review, which is my honest assessment of the ink, and is not influenced by the fact it was supplied free of charge.

All the comments that I made regarding the bottle, box and cost of the ink in my Kaweco Pearl Black Ink Review apply to this case too, so I shall not repeat them here. The only difference in this case is that the front and top labels have white text on green, matching the colour of the ink.

The test pen in this case was a Pilot Prera Green Demonstrator with a medium nib.

Water resistance was almost nil – no traces of lines were left after holding a writing sample under running water, and text was obliterated by water drops. Cleaning was very easy, presumably a result of the low water resistance of the ink.

The drying time was okay at around 30 seconds.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

Excellent performance and colour.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

A good experience on this paper.

Yellow Post-It

Good performance on this paper too.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Even decent results on the Field Notes Paper.

Mnemosyne Word Card

A good representation of the ink and the texture shows some of the possible shading.

An updated image of the Word Card is here:

Conclusion

In writing this review I wasn’t really sure what “Palm Green” was meant to look like, so I resorted to Google. None of the images came that close to this colour – most leaned towards grey (actually closer to the label), and a few were a lot darker. I appreciate the problem that Kaweco had when naming this ink, as it’s neither too blue or too yellow, so I suppose it is mid green and while “Palm Green” may not be the best name, short of just calling it “Green” I can’t think of anything better. The colour itself is exactly the kind of green that I like, so this one will come into use as soon as possible. The performance is very good too so it should be suitable for markup on most papers. Once again, if you like the colour and are okay with the cost, this ink will not disappoint.

Kaweco Palm Green - Word Card

Kaweco Palm Green - Close Up

Kaweco Palm Green

Kaweco Palm Green - Word Card

The post Kaweco Palm Green Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

The third in this set of ink reviews is for Noodler’s Gruene Cactus, which is a green ink, in more ways than one, much to my confusion.

There is nothing on the Noodler’s website giving any background information about Noodler’s Gruene Cactus. Googling “gruene cactus” just gives loads of links to reviews and websites stocking Noodler’s Gruene Cactus ink. “Gruene” is German for “Green” and it’s pronounced, er, “Green”. There’s also a district in Texas called Gruene where prickly pears are commonly used in landscaping. So is it called Gruene because Opuntias are green? Of course not – Gruene was founded by a man called Gruene. All I do know is there’s a fuzzy picture of a prickly pear on the label, so “Gruene” could refer to the colour or the place. My brain is starting to hurt.

The liquid ink reminds me of a chemistry experiment from school, dissolving chlorophyll from grass in alcohol, then separating out the different types of chlorophyll using chromatography. The ink looks to me exactly like the dissolved chlorophyll.

The 3oz bottle wasn’t from my usual Ebay supplier, so the shipping was slightly higher than normal, but the overall cost I would still consider to be moderate.

The box and bottle were as normal. The test pen was a Pilot Prera Green Demonstrator with a medium nib, and the ink complimented the pen well.

The drying time was rather long at around 1 minute 30 seconds. Cleaning was easy and the ink showed little water resistance.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

This ink gave a really nice writing experience, with some shading as an added bonus. The colour is a really nice vibrant green, with a hint of (but not too much) blue or emerald.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Another good experience and attractive colour.

Yellow Post-It

The flow was slightly restricted and the feathering increased – otherwise the experience was still okay.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

Well it couldn’t last forever, and on this paper the ink feathers, bleeds, spreads and ultimately goes a bit weird. The changes of ever needing to use this ink on this paper in reality are remote anyway.

Mnemosyne Word Card

Looking good, and showing a nice range of shading.

Conclusion

Mid green inks are limited in their application (probably restricted to markup) and it’s taken a while for me to find a few that I like – and this is one of them. Not really for general use, but if you really want your letters to stand out you could do a lot worse.

The post Noodler’s Gruene Cactus – Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

For the second in this batch of ink reviews, I have selected Noodler’s Bad Green Gator, which is one of the “Warden” series, resistant to the dark arts of the forger. Why I would even be signing an important letter, or a cheque, with green ink I’m not really sure, but let’s park that thought.

The gator from which this ink derives its name is bad because it eats catfish (the Noodler’s mascot). The gator pictured on the label is however being used like a pony to pull a happy child along on a cart. The label appears to be derived from postcard depicting the “Joy Ride” at the California Alligator Farm in Los Angeles. It’s difficult to read the emotion of the alligator, but I don’t detect joy, perhaps rather homicidal intent. Judge for yourself here.

This bottle came from a UK supplier, so I would again class it as modestly priced. Standard text about bottle and box goes here. The test pen was a Pilot Prera Green Demonstrator.

The ink was strongly water resistant (no surprise there). Drying time was quick (less than 10 seconds). Cleaning was surprisingly easy.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The colour of the ink when I opened the bottle encouraged me to think I would really like this ink. However, on Rhodia paper it was a letdown. The colour leans slightly too far towards blue – and the feathering was a surprise. The other surprise was the strong methylated spirit smell – maybe that explains the quick dry time and the ease of cleaning. Regardless, once dry, a cotton bud dipped in meths only slightly shift the ink.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

No feathering on this paper, but the ink spreads giving a broader line.

Yellow Post-It

This actually gives an interesting colour combination, but the feathering is a minus.

Field Note – Pitch Black

After the other papers I expected severe feathering – and I got it.

Mnemosyne Word Card

The ink probably looks at its best on the Word Card. If it looked like this on other papers I think I could tolerate the feathering.

An updated image of the Word Card is here:

Conclusion

Sorry Bad Green Gator, but your quick dry time, ease of cleaning and water resistance don’t outweigh the feathering and so-so colour, meaning you are not the green ink for me.

Noodler's Bad Green Gator - Word Card

Noodler's Bad Green Gator - Close Up

Noodler's Bad Green Gator

Noodler's Bad Green Gator - Word Card

The post Noodler’s Bad Green Gator Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.