What are your "top five" inks?

[maxman]

Hmmm. I like PR inks quite a bit. The American Blue or DC Supershow blue are nice. Chocolat is really nice too.
Waterman inks are great. Havana Brown (or whatever they call it now).
Aurora Red is a great red.
Montgrappa Bordeaux is nice too.

Those are about all I like to use on a regular basis. No black inks. There is no time for black.

 

[Dave258]

Edelstein Topaz because it is a nice brite blue that I can use in my Pelikans
Noodler's Heart of Darkness for when I need a bulletproof black
Visconti Brown because I like brown ink and this one behaves well. I haven't tried my bottle of Pelikan Brown yet.
Noodler's Liberty's Elysium is a very nice bulletproof blue

Can't think of a fifth favorite. It also depends on which pen I want to ink up. I have plenty of other inks that I like using. I need to pick up Yoma-buda to try out.

 

[Snargle]

In my somewhat limited experience, here's my top five, not in any particular order:
1) Noodler's (Bulletproof) Black - Very black and very bulletproof. For when you want real permanency. It's my go-to ink for writing checks, addressing envelopes, etc.
2) Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher - A nice blue-black. Not really waterproof, but still legible if it gets wet.
3) Noodler's Ottoman Azure - A vibrant blue, with nice shading.
4) Noodler's 5 O'Clock Shadow - Black with a hint of green. And of course it's a B&B exclusive!
5) Noodler's Kiowa Pecan - A beautiful rich medium brown with excellent shading.

As you can probably tell, I do like Noodler's inks!

 

[The Nid Hog]

Pelikan Blue Black (Akkerman Shocking Blue)
Sailor Kiwaguro
PR Black Cherry
Iroshizuku Yamabudo
J. Herbin Rouge Hematite

I also use a lot of Pelikan's yellow highlighter ink. Great stuff.

 

[nemo]

Pelikan Blue Black (Akkerman Shocking Blue)
Sailor Kiwaguro
PR Black Cherry
Iroshizuku Yamabudo
J. Herbin Rouge Hematite

I also use a lot of Pelikan's yellow highlighter ink. Great stuff.

Is that a tie for first place?

 

[BowTieGuy]

Okay, I'll play. On my desk right now, at work, are PR Electric DC Blue (a fave), Midnight Blues and Velvet Black. Also a vintage bottle of Quink. At home I have some trusty black Skrip and a huge supply of vintage (as in really old) black Skrip. Another non-black favorite is PR's Lake Placid Blue. Love 'em all.

 

[Nosduj]

Mine current favorites are:

Noodler's Heart of Darkness
Noodler's Baystate Blue
PR DC Supershow Blue
Noodler's Dragon's Napalm
Scribal Work Shop Cryptid Ink - Leviathan Green

 

[Doc4]

Lotta love for Private Reserve and Noodlers ...

 

[syngent]

Private reserve is one ink i have almost no experience with, ill have to look into my sample vials and see if there is anything in there before i get ready to run them back over to Sam, I know i had a black somewhere but not sure i ever used it

Im still gun shy with noodlers after what Liberty did to my cap and section area around the nib on the pelikan, the cat i was okay with, hair grows...

 

[Doc4]

Im still gun shy with noodlers after what Liberty did to my cap and section area around the nib on the pelikan, the cat i was okay with, hair grows...

Give them a try ... maybe the non-bulletproof ones if you are worried about staining &c. I'm thinking the eel inks might be great for Pelikans ...

 

[the_edski]

PR is probably the best bang for your buck ink there is. You can get a bottle for 8 bucks usually. Also, even if they aren't designated as such, they usually dry fairly fast. And Noodlers, I think we all know why.

Lotta love for Private Reserve and Noodlers ...

 

[Dave258]

Im still gun shy with noodlers after what Liberty did to my cap and section area around the nib on the pelikan, the cat i was okay with, hair grows...

I agree with you, James! I will not put anything but Pelikan ink in my Pelikans! Though I did use Roher & Klingner Salix Iron Gall after getting it recommended and OK'ed with Doug first.

 

[syngent]

I have the army coloured green from them as well as to Massachusetts black one I've put that in the sheaffer at least the liberty was blue like the pen... just afraid of a different colour staining as it would be very noticeable

 

[Dave258]

I have the army coloured green from them as well as to Massachusetts black one I've put that in the sheaffer at least the liberty was blue like the pen... just afraid of a different colour staining as it would be very noticeable

I mainly use Noodler's inks in pens that have converters. I do like many of their inks, and Liberty's Elysium is one of my favorites.

 

[andrew98]

Pelikan Ink is great. I really like their blue black, which isn't available in the US now.
I've used Parker Quink and Waterman Ink a lot, too, and both of those are good.
I have a few Noodler's inks. I really like Black Swan in Australian Roses, Apache Sunset, Legal Lapis, and 5 O'clock Shadow. I don't tend to leave Noodler's sitting in pens for very long, especially the permanent inks. I always flush out a pen very well after using Noodler's because they're such saturated inks. I'm going to try some Diamine inks next, I think.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I really enjoy Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku (forest green).

-Andy

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

Noodler's Blue - Just a great, vibtant blue that's very well behaved in every pen I've used it in. I wonder if it's worth getting Liberty's Elysium, too?

Waterman Blue/Black, circa 1940s - another that's extremely well behaved in everything with the exception of my Esterbrook J with an extra fine nib.

Sailor Kiwaguro - Simply cool!

Noodler's Polar Brown

Noodler's Heart of Darkness

 

[The Knize]

The B&B Noodler's special edition inks are great and I am not a big Noodler's fan. There is something about Noodler's Van Gogh Starry Night that really grabs me, too.

Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun (grey)

Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo (blue-black)

J Herbin 1670 Bleu Ocean

All those vintage inks named in this thread are nice.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Is that a tie for first place?

Kind of. I was thinking about the five I've been using most lately. I probably use Pelikan Blue Black more than any other ink, but I occasionally feel remorse about ignoring other blue or blue/blacks and I've been reaching for Shocking Blue then.

 

[nemo]

I probably use Pelikan Blue Black more than any other ink, but I occasionally feel remorse about ignoring other blue or blue/blacks and I've been reaching for Shocking Blue then.

OK, time for me to fess up. Pretty much a blue or blue-black guy, I use some blacks.
In no particular order:

Sailor Jentile blue
Pelikan Royal blue and blue-black (a favorite)
Rohrer & Klingner Konigsblau
Lamy blue, possibly my favorite or maybe their blue-black



Oh crap, this is too hard. I can't do it -- I haven't even gotten to my vintage ink.

 

[cstephens]

Levenger Emerald
Private Reserve Midnight Blue or Sheaffer Blue-Black
Visconti Black
Levenger Cobalt Blue
Pelikan Royal Blue