You may not have heard of Octopus Fluids prior to this review, but don’t be fooled: this is a big-time company. With a lineage dating back prior to 1900, the modern version of this German brand focuses on the industrial ink market, supplying manufacturers of varying sizes with ink used in large-scale production.
Over the last decade-plus, Octopus Fluids has used that expertise to expand into what they call the creative market. Ink for dyeing resins, alcohol-based ink for art, stamp ink, and so on. Importantly, for us Pen Addicts, Octopus branched out into fountain pen inks, which I have started to test, beginning with this review of Write & Draw Petrol Buffalo.
Octopus has two primary ink lineups for pen hobbyists: standard, and pigmented. The basic writing inks are simply marked Octopus Fluids, and ship in Pelikan-esque 30 ml bottles. The ink in this lineup is designed to be easy to use and clean, and is not waterproof. The pigmented inks are marked as the Write & Draw series, and are contained in taller, 50 ml bottles. These inks are designed to be permanent on the page, and require a little more consideration around their use and cleaning.
Petrol Buffalo is a beautiful dark teal-blue, which I inked up in my TWSBI 580ALR Prussian Blue pen, with a 1.1 mm stub nib. I like to use this pen for ink reviews for two reasons: the stub nib spreads the ink well, and the clear barrel shows if their is any staining, which is an important consideration for a pigmented ink.
From a writing perspective, Petrol Buffalo is fantastic. The flow is nice and smooth from this 1.1 mm nib, with various amounts of shading and light sheen depending on the paper being used. The color is relatively flat on bank paper, and shows more character on slower drying papers like Sanzen Tomoe River.
Top, dry, on Sanzen Tomoe River. Bottom, fully soaked under the faucet.
Permanence-wise, it is rock-solid under the faucet. Once dry, it is completely waterproof, with barely a fuzzy line edge to be seen. This level of performance is why you would buy a pigmented ink. Do know that you will want to take added care with any pigmented ink filled in your pen. If you leave the nib uncapped, it will dry out quicker than with a standard ink. Also, it could stain your barrel if you leave it inked for long periods of time. Time will tell on this one.
I don’t hesitate to use pigmented inks in most pens, but given the added care required, I will be particular to choose one that is easily cleanable, and that I will be using daily. If it isn’t in my regular writing rotation, it gets cleaned.
I’m impressed with my first Octopus Fluids experience so far. I’m a pigmented ink fan due to the colors available and permanence of the formula, and this Write & Draw Petrol Buffalo is as good as any as I have used. The price is right, too, at just over $17 for a 50 ml bottle. I have some of their standard inks on hand also, and so far so good with those as well. If their formulas or colors are something that ticks your boxes, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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