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Comment by mrob | Hacker News Reader

Richard Binder specializes in repair and maintenance of old and valuable pens. Recommendations for those pens don't necessarily apply to cheaper modern fountain pens. I've been using Noodler's inks for about 8 years in a Lamy Safari, and I've never had any trouble. The only Noodler's ink I've heard of causing problems with these pens is Bay State Blue, which is unlike any other Noodler's ink.

I personally recommend Noodler's Bulletproof Black. It writes consistently and reliably on any paper I've tried, it's waterproof, and it's reasonably priced. If you're interested in fountain pens as a hobby rather than as practical writing implements you might have different recommendations.

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Same here, been using it for years in Lamy Safari, Shaeffer 100, and Noodler's own pens, as well as Preppy Platinums. Would I put it in a vintage pen? Absolutely not. Modern <$100 pen? Most definitely.

I'll go a little further. I've been using Noodler's inks, mostly Heart of Darkness (which is bulletproof), for several years. I started with a TWSBI but when I upgraded to a Pilot Vanishing Point I continued to use Noodler's without any hesitation. It's continued to serve me well, and it remains my favorite and most dependable brand of ink.

I did have one mold issue with Private Reserve in my TWSBI, and to be safe I have avoided using it in my Vanishing Point. I may be being overcautious though; I'm not sure how much to extrapolate from that one incident. My mother is an artist and has used several dozen Private Reserve inks spanning over a decade, all without any issues.

Same here, I haven't had a problem with any modern pens. I have Jinhaos, WingSungs, and a few Pilot Kakünos and Metropolitans.

I'm 2 years in and I think I'd just designate a pen to be dedicated to the known Noodler's "problematic" colors(BSB and Mass 54th). I just cleaned out 4 pens, some of which had dried ink in them, all of them were fine.

I'm partial to Noodler's Heart of Darkness and X-Feather.

I hear Noodler's House Divided also causes trouble. To be fair they make so many inks, there gotta be some turds.

I've also used Noodler's Bulletproof Black for the past 8 years, in a Lamy Safari and a variety of other pens. Never had any problems with it.

Ditto on Bay State Blue though. Beautiful ink, but notorious for ruining pens in various ways.

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