Ink Review: Pilot Blue Black

[Chrissy]

Today I’m reviewing Pilot Blue Black ink.

It’s not what I would call a regular dark blue black ink and looked quite blue when I wrote with it. I didn’t see much shading or any sheen but found it nicely wet and smooth to write with. It’s not a saturated ink but showed some water resistance.

It didn’t suffer from any hard starts or non-starts when I put the uncapped pen down to do swab tests, dry times and water resistance.

Apart from it staining my pen when filling it was otherwise well behaved.

Standard Pilot Blue Black ink is available in 30ml and 70ml bottles as well as cartridges including those supplied with Pilot pens. It’s readily available in many outlets worldwide.

When I reviewed this ink it was a mystery ink sample on FPGeeks. Thank you junglejim for sending me the sample.

• Flow Rate: Good - wet.
• Lubrication: Good - felt nicely smooth.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: Not saturated
• Shading Potential: A little shading seen.
• Show-Through: Some seen on Exacompta & Rhodia. A little on others.
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None seen.
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after several days in the pen.
• Staining (pen): Stained the pen on filling. Washed off with soapy water.
• Staining (hands): Washed off of my hands easily.
• Clogging: Not seen.
• Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but shows some water resistance.

Pilot Blue black.jpegPilot Blue Black 1.jpeg

[LizEF]

Thanks, Chrissy! My Pilot pens love this ink, though I find it boring as a blue black.

[Yazeh]

Great review @Chrissy This was one of those inks that left me indifferent. The only thing going for it, is the writing experience. But it's cons surpasses it's pros for what it is

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks, Chrissy... I like this in Pilot pens with Medium to italic nibs. It worked poorly (for whatever reason) in a Lamy Al Star.

[Chrissy]

Thanks, Chrissy! My Pilot pens love this ink, though I find it boring as a blue black.

You're welcome. I can understand why it might be described as boring. I also think it's boring but I don't like blue black inks no matter who makes them LOL.

Great review @Chrissy This was one of those inks that left me indifferent. The only thing going for it, is the writing experience. But it's cons surpasses it's pros for what it is

You're welcome. It left me indifferent too. The staining I experienced means I will never use it no matter what its writing experience pros are.

Thanks, Chrissy... I like this in Pilot pens with Medium to italic nibs. It worked poorly (for whatever reason) in a Lamy Al Star.

You're welcome. It worked well enough in my Lamy Safari but stained the red section so my money is safe.

[mizgeorge]

Thank you Chrissy - another excellent review.

The ink's a bit meh though. I have it, and rarely use it. Looking at the chroma, I might have a play with diluting it though.

[manoeuver]

I use it a lot, esp when I don't want to think about ink.

[Chrissy]

Thank you Chrissy - another excellent review.

The ink's a bit meh though. I have it, and rarely use it. Looking at the chroma, I might have a play with diluting it though.

You're welcome. The chroma is an interesting one.

I use it a lot, esp when I don't want to think about ink.

I use Pilot Blue cartridges in my Capless for addressing envelopes because that has good water resistance. I know what you mean about not needing to think about ink.

[dneal]

Good review. For me, it’s the go-to color for cartridges. It’s utilitarian and ‘safe’ - particularly for business use; but I wouldn’t buy a bottle.

[Chrissy]

Good review. For me, it’s the go-to color for cartridges. It’s utilitarian and ‘safe’ - particularly for business use; but I wouldn’t buy a bottle.

You're welcome. I wouldn't buy a bottle either.