Ink Comparison: final blacks! 

I love bay state blue so much. It was my very first ink, and I’ve never found anything more joyful to write with.

Thanks for reviewing those black inks. I’ll try the pilot.

I love that there are still people who have so many pens in their shirt pockets. I may very well do the same, if they made shirt pockets that big for women.

Thank you. Very helpful.

Very interesting. I have never been a fan of black ink, but now that I am officially retired, which means I'm working harder than ever, some of the sideline work I do requires a permanent black ink of archival quality paper. I chose Noodler's Heart of Darkness because, well, it meets all the specs, and I'm a fan of the novel. I also use black ink for much of the tinker, tinker writing I still do when I get snowed in on long winter days. But a few weeks ago I realized two things. 1. I no longer have need of using black ink for my own writing. 2. I had roughly two liters of Heart of Darkness cluttering my office. So I gave all of it away except one 4.5 ounce bottle, one three ounce bottle, and a nearly empty bottle that certainly has no more than enough to fill three or four pens. Aside from this, I kept two boxes of Pilot black ink cartridges, this for a quick ink transfusion when I'm out and about, and for taking notes that I'll inevitably throw away shortly after writing. Essentuially, I'm firmly resolved to using black ink only when absolutely required to do so, or when nothing else makes economic sense. No More Black. I feel even stronger about gray, even if you spell it grey. I love gray fountain pens. I love gray clothing. I hate gray fountaoin pen ink more than any other color. To me, it just looks like black that didn't try hard enough. Anyway, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. And found a few inks I really do want to try. Thank you very much for the effort.

Nicely done Michael - you make what might otherwise be quite mundane, both informative and entertaining, thank you!

It would be lovely if you can ask your daughter to upload pictures/scans of all the pages somewhere! The comparisions are immensely useful,Thanks you Mr.Jecks.

I’ve seen a lot of ink reviews and yours are the best for me. Nice job 🙂👍🏻

Was very interested in your comments on the Waterman black. It is the only black I have, and it feels so good on the paper, I wondered if it was just my imagination, but your comments matched mine. Thanks.

Thanks for all these, Michael.

The Diamine Twilight is a very nice shade of blue! I really liked it. Hoping you could give it a separate video as I really like your way of ink reviews! Thanks!

I am hoping that this is merely a pause and that you will be back to reviewing inks soon. Your comparisons have been extremely helpful! Also, Baystate Blue isn't bulletproof on paper, however I have a towel that swears to its bulletproof properties lol All the best from across the pond.

Noodlers bsb is basically sharpie blue and closest diamine sapphire blue

Another brilliant video Michael. Your recommendation of Diamine Grape was absolutely spot-on. I'm going to try Diamine Twighlight next. Death Ship of Dartmouth was superb as well. Cheers,Steve

Diamine Graphite has always leaned green when I've bought it. Looks pencil-like in EF.

Do you have any "Black As My Ex-Wife's Heart"?

Thanks. I really like Graf von Faber Castell carbon black.

Thank you for this review. Very informative. By the way there’s also a permanent version of Montblanc black that probably is easier to find than grey, since the latter was a 2014 limited edition. But they all are certified for notarial and archival use. I hope this series will continue, you’re doing a great job! Cheers, Chris

I absolutely adore Baystate Blue but cannot find any paper other than the old Tomoe River that it won't feather on or bleed through. :C

Good video

Aurora Black is possibly my all-time favourite black, and I have several black inks in my collection. Waterman Intense Black and Noodler’s ‘Eternal’ Heart of Darkness are two of my firm favourites, as well. I’d love to see you to do a similar video on excellent blue and blue-black inks.

Finally some down time for inks......... that Diamine Midnight is rather a treat. Surprise myself with that but you never know with inks do you?

The Journal Shop seems to be selling the Iroshizuku for about £5 less than Amazon, and with free delivery to boot. It's still waaaay more expensive than a Diamine equivalent (especially by volume) but at under £20 comes much closer to Edelstein Onyx...

Platinum Carbon Black is waterproof and great with watercolour. Haven't seen any of your paintings for a while?

The blackest black: Take Sumi or Aurora Black ... or ... ?

Genuinely sad the series is complete, as far as I’m concerned you did an amazing job reviewing them. Perhaps if we all ask Gouletpens, Jet Pens, etc nicely they can provide you with some more inks? Lamy’s new series seems interesting, Pelikan’s Edelstein series deserves a better look and perhaps some more Noodler’s samples?

The Baystate blue is known to stain converters, etc, so don't use in a pen you love - it is bulletproof

I was hoping you would flip the page on your Baystate Blue writing. That stuff is gorgeous but it can bleed though sheet steel, plus you have to clean your pen with a bleach solution using any of the Baystate inks.

New to your channel and found you because of your inky reviews ☺️. Bay State Blue 😱😱😱😱😱 best used in an inexpensive Chinese pen, or a pen you don't value 😂😂. Will have to check your books out, as I've never heard of them ☹️. I'm an avid reader and I love mysteries, so don't why I've not come across them before!

It’s a shame about the price of Iroshizuku as the ink is lovely .

The black inks give me respect in case I don't get a good flow with them ... I prefer the blue-black ones. By the way, what are your favorite blue-blacks (not permanent)? Thanks!

PS reading the comments I think I'd dispose of that Noodlers somehow so the hound doesn't become a blue one for ever..................

i know you said the onyx black came out thinner - you also seem to be using quite a thick nib - i'm just ordering an extra fine nib for my Lamy - do you reckon that would pose any sort of problem? Thanks!

I took a shot of tequila every time he said "black" and nowflbb23!2234