Water resistance testing

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Inspired by MachTech’s Noodler’s ink torture test, I decided to see how various inks would hold up in heavy rain.

The lineup: (Horrible handwriting, I know…)
[img width=216 height=640]http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7135/watertest1yh5.jpg[/img]

Not having any heavy rain to hand, I held the paper (a folded sheet of A4 80g/M2 copier paper) under a running tap (warm water) for about a minute, making sure each… contestant got an equal amount of water, until the paper was saturated to breaking point.

I took it out from under the tap and inspected it.
[img width=222 height=640]http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4060/watertest2bx6.jpg[/img]

Another view (stuck to the window) showing bleedthrough.
[img width=636 height=640]http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/1327/watertest3dp9.jpg[/img]

The aftermath

Signo 207 – Nary a thing
Parker black fountain pen – blotching, running, colour separation, bleedthrough – the whole nine yards
Pilot Frixion – faded,
Pilot permaball – No effect
Lamy Safari – Did I use this one?
Bic permanent – smudging, some bleedthrough
Stabilo Write4all – No effect
Pilot Hi-tecpoint – blurred, faded
Stabilo Bionic – Blurred, faded
Parker (jotter) rollerball – held up where the paper did
Mini Sharpie – No effect
Inka stainless – smudged
SAK minichamp – smudged
Zebra F30? – remarkably unaffected
Fisher spacepen – smudged

Final thoughts

There are a few surprises in there – the staying power of the zebra, the blurring and smudging of the Inka and Spacepen, not to mention the overlooked Parker Rollerball.

What’ll you be writing with in your next tropical downpour (on better paper than me I hope)?

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