Noodler's Texas Inks, Part 2
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Noodler’s created 9 exclusive inks for Dromgoole’s in Texas, and yesterday we took a look at four of them. Let’s take a look at the last five of them today: Chisholm Trail, Banker’s Tan, USS Texas, Texas Navy and Texas Blue Bonnet. You can find these inks online at Dromgoole’s or at Vanness Pens (they have samples too).
Swabs:
Left to right, Chisholm Trail, Banker’s Tan, USS Texas, Texas Navy and Texas Blue Bonnet.
Writing samples:
Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.
Dry time:
Banker’s Tan, Texas Navy and Texas Blue Bonnet dried in 3 seconds. USS Texas dried in 20 seconds and Chisholm Trail dried in 30 seconds.
Dry time: 3-30 seconds
Water resistance: Medium-Chisholm Trail and USS Texas both smeared some when exposed to water, Banker’s Tan, Texas Navy and Blue Bonnet feathered.
Feathering: High-feathering everywhere!
Show through: High
Bleeding: High
Other properties: no shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.
On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as quite a bit of bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.
Comparison Swabs:
Chisholm Trail is similar to Birmingham Persian Copper. Banker’s Tan isn’t close to any inks I have, but Graf von Faber Castell Cognac Brown is the closest. USS Texas is close to Lamy Petrol. Texas Navy isn’t close to any inks I have, but Diamine Oxford Blue is the closest. Texas Blue Bonnet is close to Noodler’s Legal Blue. Click here to see the Noodler’s inks together.
I used a Bond A5 (Tomoe River 68gsm) Notebook in cheaper pens with medium and fine nibs.
Frankly, I don’t like any of these inks. Chisholm Trail is the best behaved out of the five. USS Texas leaked in every pen I put it in. Texas Blue Bonnet, Texas Navy and Banker’s Tan all dry super fast but feather like crazy as a result. Feathering everywhere! I’d rather use inks that take a bit longer to dry but don’t feather than use these. They spread out a lot as you write, so a fine nib feels like a broad. Banker’s Tan also had a lot of sediment in it that separated and stuck to the bottom of the bottle.
Disclaimer: Samples of these inks were provided by a reader for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.