Why Noodlers? Noodlers Ink has the lowest cost per volume in stores that carry it and it's 100% made in the USA from cap to glass to ink. The ink with the catfish on the label symbolizes a southern sport that attempts to equalize the struggle between man and animal in the quest for a sense of fair play and thus a fair price. When people who have purchased a tip dip or Sheaffer Admiral find themselves facing costly ink bottles and then ask me how on earth such a pen can be more economical to use than a Bic, there is a problem. Ink should not be so high priced that affordable luxury pens lose the battle for economic viability over the long term. A gold nibbed, $25 pen has, until recently, always been a better deal over several years than purchasing ball pens it also maintains a resale value (often appreciating over the purchase price if well cared for) and avoids permanent deposits in landfills as is experienced with disposable ball pens. Where can you get good fountain pen ink that is safe for use in pens, yet affordable and with a decent color selection? And if you want to have it stocked by your local ink/pen retailer at a location near you so that postage costs are avoided, please let them know about the all new Noodler's Ink. The waterproof/fraud proof line (currently black only) cannot be altered on a check or envelope by rain or bleach/ammonia. They consist of over 97% water content...and rinse (or simply rub) off lucite/celluloid/acrylic rod stock testing and ebonite testing stock...and if dried in the bottle it can be reconstituted with tap water...but once on cellulose paper they stay on it as a bulldog biting the leg of the enemy despite rain/soaking and the soaps of a check forger. One word of caution - if mixed with conventional ink the fraud proof ink WILL REVERT TO CONVENTIONAL INK and all those properties will be lost. It is a delicate formula best left alone if one wants the features to remain constant. Finally a formula has been settled upon that I think will please the majority of people. Safety and feathering resistant ink was a priority voiced by several pen collectors - and many wanted a more traditional ink that more closely followed the traditions of 1950s Skrip and Quink. Thus an ink one can use on the newspaper crossword puzzle, most recycled smooth papers, and even card board and industrial brown paper, rice paper and tissue thin papers from the far east. Feathering has been virtually eliminated (unless you use paper towel type material!) - yet the ink is still extremely safe when in contact with vintage pens - safer still than the quick dry formula and more similar to 1950s Skrip for such factors. However, several of the brighter colors were lost in the transition - yet other colors were gained. Those colors people liked to use have been selected as the basic 36 with other more unusual colors with white tints and neon effects to be offered as custom orders at a later date. Quick dry ink was called by some as revolutionary - but it does not behave itself on cotton fiber and some of the higher recycled content papers. The colors may have been intense and with the greatest penetration ability since Parker 51 ink, but it was not an ink to write ideas on the airport meal sheet, back of the newspaper, or on an insert torn from a magazine. Without universal abilities, the utility of such an ink suffered in my opinion and greatly contributed to the decision concerning its elimination. Noodler's ink must be capable of doodling ideas and concepts in as many places and forms as is possible for a fountain pen ink - the greater the utility to the user - the better. I've sent a sample bottle of quick dry ink to Chuck - and some left handed writers will try it out...if they don't mind its feathering tendencies with broad nibs on recycled paper it may be offered again at some time in the future. The benefit of quick dry was intended for left handed writers - as no matter how fast you write and press the freshly written word - it won't smudge...even if it hit the page a fraction of a second earlier. It truly hates recycled papers though - and dislikes broad nibs as it feathers from too wet a nib. It was also made more than obvious to me that Noodlers Ink had to be offered over the counter in stores or people would not be able to try it before purchase. A loss after the initial shipments and the need to more widely distribute the line forced the issue of a wholesale and retail price separation. The price will still be the lowest per volume of fountain pen ink (please feel free to compare - the price, smoothness, and depth of my black to your favorite black any time!, but will better reflect the costs of distribution nationally for as many people to use as possible in as many stores as possible.
3 oz. bottle