A comparison of ink manufactures

I have been looking at and sampling inks recently and have realized it will take me ages at this point to get a grasp the landscape. To make it easier I was hoping we could compare not individual inks and colors but the properties or characteristics of the makers. Example, it seems that Noodle is supposed to be "bullet proof" and more permanent. Even within Noodler's it seems there are characteristics per line.

Is there any characteristics of brands out there that they are known for or help define them? Or is it just based of color really and each color will behave completely differently within one line?

I just bought different samples from Goulet Pens and tried them out. I have heard that Noodler's, and possibly Private Reserve, are not kind to vintage pens. Beyond that (and don't use iron gall inks in fountain pens), I don't have much guidance.

Of course, I end up preferring Private Reserve and Noodler's inks . . .

Diamine and waterman have a high water content. Their inks are generally unlikely to stain and clean up well.
This also makes them good candidates for vintage pens.

Both behave really well.

Great site. I wish I was writing as much as this guy. I have been reading it for a couple hours. Thanks for the lINK.

This page http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/ink/ is the best on the internet about ink. It explains it all in detail. He list the major brands of ink. For each brand he has provided some information in terms of colours available and size of bottle. For many of them he has included a review of how particular colours perform.

Click to expand...

Thanks as well! A very nice reference site.