Quick Specifications
Ink Brand and Name: Private Reserve Vampire Red
Color Category: Red/ Red-Brown
Price: $11.00 for a 66ml (2.23 oz approximately) bottle
Pen(s) Used: Lamy Al-Star Fine nib
Paper Used: Rhodia Ice No. 18 Graph
Flow: Somewhat smooth most of the time. Very finicky ink that chooses to come out heavier and wetter at times and lighter in color and drier other times.
Saturation: Medium
The Low-Down
I have not personally had the best experience with this ink. So it appears many others have not as well (will discuss further down). It is a very "finicky" ink and can't seem to make up it's mind from one word to the next. Sometimes, especially when first starting out, it writes nearly perfect - wet, dark, smooth. The rest of the time I get a really light and dry ink and it feels like I need to press harder on the pen (which I did not do, but wanted to) to make more ink come out. I also do NOT suggest doing that for most pens.
It doesn't seem to skip or have hard starts at all. Just...not enough saturation. Acts as if it is clotting a little bit in the pen with how it randomly performs. It is almost like the ink is too diluted most of the time. Which means I have little to no issue with feathering. No Bleed through and no ghosting.
Other people's experiences with this ink are also pretty negative...
"Do not expect this to be a blood red in any way...it looks like the color seen on the knees and elbows of so many grade school kids: dried blood" - C.B. 11-19-2013
"It dries far too quickly and has a wierd clumping thing going on in the pen" - Faith
"It has formed a clot in every pen I've tried." -R.M. 07-09-2013
Conlcusion
Sadly, it does not appear that this ink is real favorable among those who have tried it (myself included). If you want some nice reds, I would suggest Noodler's Red Black or Ancient Copper.
Other Reviews of Vampire Red (Links)
Pentulant (More Positive review)
Fountain Pen Network
Ashley thanks for the review, not sure I would be drawn to an ink by the name of Vampire to begin with. Despite the wet dry wet dry inconsistencies you experienced (which would drive me crazy) the hue has some similarities to Diamine Oxblood.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! I would have to agree that this ink looks somewhat similar to Diamine Oxblood. This is definitely not an ink I would recommend to anyone. I like creative names with some inks (like Diamine Oxblood) however if it has a creative name that sticks out, I think it's performance should do the same (stick out and grab people's attention).
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