Ink Flight #30 Reveal, July 2019

"Wait, hold up. There's 8?" Most Ink Flights contain (7) 2ml ink samples from makers around the world. This month, we threw in the bonus 8th sample from a brand new manufacturer from a country we've never explored before.

Straits Pen of Singapore is a distributor of fine writing and stationery products. Mr. Sunny Koh, the resident nib meister, adjusts and custom grinds nibs to their customer's preferences. Straits Pen Honest ink is their own house brand of ink named with a cheeky sense of humor.

Straits released four of these colors at the Singapore Pen Show in July - "The Only Serious Color in the Entire Lineup," "Slowpoke Green," "Bougainvillea Purple," and "Ultramehrine." Ink Flight crew members were the first in the world to sample these new inks.

ink flight 30 straits pen honest inks

Here is a rundown of July 2019's Ink Flight lineup. 

Straits Pen Honest Ink Happy Accident Lilac
From my own experience of mixing Platinum mix-free inks last December, I feel for the title of this color. I could imagine they inadvertently mixed this color together and were happy with the result. Not quite purple, not quite blue - a BLURPLE!

Straits Pen Honest Ink Poorman's Sapphire
Parker Penman Sapphire is the "grail ink" that fountain pen enthusiasts will pay top dollar for the privilege to own such a rare ink. This bright, saturated blue is a "poorman's" version of that ink.

Straits Pen Honest Ink Literally, the Only Serious Color in the Entire Lineup
Instead of calling this color "Blue/Black," Straits gave it an unconventionally long moniker. It's still a blue-black.

Straits Pen Honest Ink Slowpoke Green
This dark, olive green has wet flow with shading. It dries different shades depending on the paper.

Straits Pen Honest Ink Sad Stormy Swedish Sea
Yes, a dark teal that sheens! The color reminds me of Lamy Petrol a bit.

Straits Pen Honest Ink Shitty Sepia
This brown flows out smoothly like melting soft-serve ice cream. Poo puns galore!

Straits Pen Honest Ink Ultramehrine
They tried for a bright ultramarine color and got this "meh" version. Still quite nice!

Straits Pen Honest Ink Bougainvillea
Shares its name with the colorful, flowering plant.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect with these inks when they first arrived. The names first caught my attention. I thought, with a sense of humor and boldness to call a color "Shitty Sepia," they had to be good inks. And they are! The blues are quite close to each other in color, but one can never have too many nice blues to choose from. 

If you are looking for full bottles of these colors, I've been advised by Sunny for you to contact Straits Pen through their Facebook page to place your order until their website is ready. They will also be attending the upcoming DC Pen Show.

Ink Flight 30 contents

Box Extras: Dingbats Pocket A6 Wildlife Notebook (Assorted Covers in Dotted or Lined Paper) + Exclusive Art Sticker

Dingbats is crafted in Turkey from one of the oldest paper manufacturers in the region. Their sense of traditional quality is only matched by their dedication to sustainability. Even the water used to produce the paper is returned to the rivers cleaner than when it was taken out.

The Wildlife Collection is a hardcover notebook bound with vegan certified PU "leather" with rounded corners and includes 100gsm coated cream, acid-free paper that is, of course, fountain pen friendly. Each book contains 192 micro-perforated pages with a lay-flat design. I love being able to neatly tear out the pages. 

Besides the quality, FSC certified paper, this notebook has all the trimmings of a great journal - inner pocket, bookmark, elastic closure, and a pen holder.

In order to make the quantities work, we had to obtain several cover styles and a mix of dotted and lined paper. Congrats Ink Flight Crew, we cleaned out the US distributor of nearly all their A6 inventory!

Inktopus Illustration

This month's vinyl sticker is a commissioned illustration from artist & fellow fountain pen enthusiast Thales Medeiros (@untaughrod on Instagram). 

Let us know what you think about the July Ink Flight contents by leaving a comment below. After you're done with that, head over to @inkjournal on Instagram to find our giveaway post so you can enter for a chance to win an August box coming up shortly!

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Previous Ink Flights (Ink Flight #1 - Noodler's, Ink Flight #2 - Robert Oster Signature, Ink Flight #3 - KWZ, Ink Flight #4 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #5 - P.W. Akkerman, Ink Flight #6 - Papier Plume, Ink Flight #7 - Platinum Mix-Free, Ink Flight #8 - Franklin-Christoph, Ink Flight #9 - Organics Studio, Ink Flight #10 - Monteverde, Ink Flight #11 - Krishna, Ink Flight #12 - Caran d'Ache, Ink Flight #13 - Rohrer & KlingnerInk Flight #14 - Blackstone, Ink Flight #15 - Colorverse, Ink Flight #16 - De Atramentis, Ink Flight #17 - Aurora & Montegrappa, Ink Flight #18 - Krishna, KWZ, Papier Plume, Ink Flight #19 - Diamine, Ink Flight #20 - J. Herbin, Ink Flight #21 - Robert Oster Signature 80's Collection, Ink Flight #22 - 3 Oysters, Ink Flight #23 - InkJournal Holiday Blend, Ink Flight #24 - Taccia, Ink Flight #25 - Kyoto TAG, Ink Flight #26 - Kaweco, Ink Flight #27 - April Fool's Surprise, Ink Flight #28 - Pelikan, Ink Flight #29 - Sailor)