Comparison of Noodler’s Texas Black Bat and Old Manhattan Blackest Black

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Here is a quick review of two inks that I have been playing around with for about a year in my Lamy 2000.

Noodler’s Texas Black Bat (TBB) and Old Manhattan Blackest Black (OMBB) are very similar inks. Both are store exclusives: TBB was made for Dromgooles of Houston, Tx and OMBB for Fountain Pen Hospital of New York, NY.

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Paper for this test is cheap card stock

Similarities
1) Both inks are dark, rich, saturated black inks that look about the same on on cheap paper.
2) Both inks share similar water resistant properties.
3) They share a tendency to smudge for an extended period of time after writing, though TBB is a little worse than OMBB.
4) They both leave particulate on and under the nib that has to be more rigorously cleaned out in comparison to black inks from other manufacturers (z.B. Aurora Black, Waterman Intense Black). On my Lamy 2000, the inks make the platinum coating look like its Ruthenium.

Differences:
1) TBB takes longer to fully dry than OMBB on Clairefountain paper. I have had TBB smudge on Rhodia paper three-to-four days after writing, where as OMBB seems to fully dry in 10 minutes.
2) TBB seems to have a slight sheen to the ink, whereas OMBB is more flat in color.
3) Another difference lies in the textile feel when writing. In my Lamy 2000 (F), TBB feels less lubricated than OMBB. TBB seems to add a pencil like feedback when writing in comparison to OMBB, which seems a little bit smoother.
4) The biggest difference is that Texas Black Bat behaves better on cheap paper. It feathers less than Old Manhattan. This can be seen on the first image.


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Which ink do I enjoy most:
Though I typically prefer inks with better lubricated characteristics, I have found myself using Texas Black Bat more than Old Manhattan Blackest Black. Texas Black Bat works better on cheaper paper and has become one of my main inks that I use in grading papers.