FPN Review: Noodler's X-Feather

(Here's a link to my review on FPN.)

As many of you know, Jetpens has started carrying Noodler's ink. They had a few bottles that were damaged during shipping that couldn't be sold. They offered the damaged bottles free to the first 6 people who responded in exchange for a review of the ink. They kindly sent me a bottle!

Noodler's X-Feather was designed to resist feathering, especially on cheap papers. It is billed as archival and 100% bulletproof.

I tried to use different papers than those used by the other 2 reviewers. I tried Noodler's X-Feather along with Noodler's Esplanade (Singapore exclusive), Noodler's Prime of the Commons Blue-Black (UK exclusive), and Noodler's La Reine Mauve (regular distribution). Esplanade in particular feathers a lot on many different papers, PCBB varies in its feathering qualities, and La Reine Mauve is generally well-behaved.

I used Sensa Meridian FPs, custom ground to 0.3mm, in all the handwritten samples.

Here are pics of samples on the different papers I tried:

Cheap copy paper (Georgia Pacific, 88 brightness, 20#)

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Mead Composition Book, Vietnam paper

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Index card (Oxford brand, really old and slightly yellowed)

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Newsprint (old TV guide from the Sunday paper)

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Facial tissue (Puffs)

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Ink drying time: As you can see, it smudged at 10 seconds (but not much at 5 seconds). This will be variable depending on how much ink was laid down by the pen, etc. I've used X-Feather to take notes on cheap copy paper, and it seemed to dry pretty fast--I'd heard it takes a long time. It probably does on Clairefontaine paper with a super-smooth finish, but that's not the type of paper this ink was made for!

Ink flow: I really like the flow--it's not too dry in my pens, but not too wet, either! It puts down a nice, tight line, and doesn't widen on the page. I left it in a pen without using it for 5 days, and it started up immediately. I haven't experienced any problems while pausing during writing.

Overall, this is a nice, rich black ink that was very well-behaved in my Sensa Meridians. It performed beautifully on cheap recycled papers, and, true to its name, didn't feather! It didn't bleed through anything I tried, either, not even on the facial tissue! Its flow was perfect in my pens, and felt nice while writing. The drying time on cheap, absorbent papers was much better than I thought (on the newsprint, it seemed to dry almost instantaneously). I wouldn't bother using this ink if you mostly use Clairefontaine paper or other papers that are pretty feather-resistant anyway, but if you use a lot of more porous papers or a wide variety of papers, X-Feather will do the trick!