I Know It's Over, Still I Cling...

The 2015 Atlanta Pen Show is in the books, and it was amazing. Truly one of the best experiences of my life. I've just made it home and started to catch up on things, but it will still be slow going around here for a couple of days.

Jeff Abbott's pen show recap will be posted Wednesday this week, and mine will be up on the weekend. Until then other attendees reviews have started to roll in, so be sure to check them out:

Gentleman Stationer: Day 1, Day 2

The Well-Appointed Desk: Day 1, Day 2, Flickr Album

Johnny Anypen: Recap

Jeff from The Pen Addict: Recap

Dave Rea: Recap

Love Romance Tales: Pen Community and Acceptance

Reverenced Writing: Recap

Gear Compass: Recap

Pens'N'Coffee: Recap

Leigh Reyes: What not to do at a pen show

I'll add more as they pop up and definitely send me a note if I've missed one.

2015 Atlanta Pen Show Game Thread

It is finally here! The 2015 Atlanta Pen Show gets underway on Friday, with many of us traveling on Thursday to the show. Posting will be scarce around here, but I'm sure myself and many others will be hyperactively posting on Twitter, Instagram, and everywhere else. You can follow the action on my feeds:

Twitter @dowdyism

Instagram @penaddict

I may even drop in a Periscope or two if I am feeling frisky. I know Ana will be doing the same, along with many other attendees. Stay tuned for the insanity!

Noodler's X-Feather Black Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Admittedly, it's been a long time since I've tried out a new black ink. I've been really obsessed with all the different colors available that I forgot about the old standard. In all honesty, I haven't tried a new black ink since I wrote a review about Noodler's Heart of Darkness a year and a half ago. My philosophy on black inks is: you only need one.

Well, that might be true, but the choice isn't an easy one. Let me introduce Noodler's X-Feather — a brilliant, well-behaved black ink that is surprisingly resistant to feathering.

At first glance, this is just an ordinary black ink that you might have a hard time telling apart from other Noodler's black inks (or other black inks of any brand). It's a rich black, it's well-lubricated (maybe a tad dry), and dries pretty quickly. What's the selling point with this one? Well, for one, it supposedly feathers a lot less than other inks — especially on cheap paper. I tested this out on some 20# copy paper, and it actually did pretty well compared to a couple of Iroshizuki inks that I had nearby. Does it still feather? Yes, but you have to look closely to notice it.

Unlike some black inks, this one is a rich, dark black. There's a tiny bit of shading if the nib is wide enough, but it's difficult to detect. Honestly, I can't tell a difference between this and Heart of Darkness, so that's a big win.

When writing, the ink is smooth and flows very well. Again, on par for Noodler's. Cleaning the ink out of a pen is simple and doesn't cause any headaches. I'd say this ink is right in the middle of the wet/dry spectrum. It might be a tad wet for some tastes, especially in wider nibbed pens.

As the name implies, this ink does really well in the feathering department. Both feathering and show-through are minimal with this ink, which makes it ideal for use on cheap papers or papers that tend to cause ink tendrils due to the composition. No control over the paper quality you use? This is a good ink to try.

I'm not concerned with water resistance, but I tried it out with this ink since it's one of the bullet points on the description of the ink. Lo and behold, it does really well when water is introduced. A little cloudiness shows up, but the lines are true.

At the end of the day, this is a solid black ink. It's not exciting, but I don't think it was meant to be. If you need a reliable, water-resistant, non-feathering black ink, then this is a strong option for you to consider.

Of course, you can purchase a whole bottle if you want to dive in, or you can try out a sample to make sure it's everything you hope it to be.