Welcome back to Duck’s Doodles and Happy Fountain Pen Day!

In honor of FPD, I wanted to review one of my favorite inks of all time- Noodler’s Apache Sunset.

Maybe I have some bias because this was one of the first inks I used, but when I first put it on paper it I said “WOW” out loud. This was one of the inks that made me fall deeply in love with this hobby.

So, without further delay, let’s get into the details!

Close up of the color variation from the ink’s writing

Coloring

The most distinctive property of this ink is the coloring. In the bottle, the ink is a deep red. However, when it goes down on paper it ranges from a yellow to a deep orange.

The coloring of this ink is so rich- no matter how thickly or thinly you’re putting down the lines the range comes through.

The thing I love about this ink most is that this color variation happens of it’s own volition; you don’t need to “layer” the ink to get a different color- the ink just seems to settle to the different parts of the letters so naturally.

I have used this ink on several different kinds of paper and I must note, to get the most out of it I would recommend using a fountain pen friendly paper. Copy paper just absorbs it too quickly for the ink to settle and really let the coloring shine through.

Feathering

I’ve never really had any feathering on this ink- I’ve used it in Field Notes, on regular copy paper and this ink test was done on the Rhodia softcover notebook I’ve discussed in the past.

Dry Time

On this paper I found this ink to have a dry time of about 20 seconds. While writing in my Field Notes books or on copy paper this ink has slightly different dry times (usually closer to 30 or 40 seconds).

Water Resistance

This ink isn’t water resistant, but it’s not advertised as such. Normally I find that the water tests help deconstruct the colors that make up the ink, but this water test didn’t reveal anything earth shattering; the colors follow the deep orange to yellow range that you get while writing.

Writing sample of Noodler’s Apache Sunset

Writing Experience

This ink goes down super smoothly and evenly on paper. It flows a little on the heavier side of medium and I’ve never had any problems with this ink clogging pens. I’ve used it in a Jinhao Shark, a TWSBI Go and a Lamy Safari. The coloring of this ink has attracted some attention while at work, since it’s not the usual black or blue ink you might see in an office.

I haven’t used this ink for anything outside of note taking, but the variety of color and the ease of control might make this a good candidate for folks who use their pens for sketching

Verdict

I love this ink. So much. The coloring is unique; it’s depth makes it a joy to look at, and it goes down so smoothly it’s a joy to use. I have had some difficulties with cleaning up Noodler’s inks in the past, but I have yet to have that with Apache Sunset. It’s not perfect since the dry time is a little longer than I prefer, but it’s not so significant that it’s ever stopped me from using it.

You can pick up a bottle from Goldspot pens, from Goulet pens or from Noodler’s on Amazon for $12.50 for a 3 oz. bottle (note- I’m not affiliated with any of these companies)

Thanks for reading, happy writing and enjoy Fountain Pen Day!