thINKthursday
Bungubox 4B
To be, or not to be… The math is simple. The correct answer is Bungubox 4B!
thINKthursday – Bungubox 4B
The “4B” in Bungubox 4B stands for “Bungubox Blue Black,” and that is exactly what is ink is! It’s a classic, perfectly-executed color from the Bungubox ink lineup, now re-released in their new 30ml bottle. The rounded triangular glass bottle looks a bit like a high-heeled shoe and it’s both gorgeous and easy to fill from. This review was done with a Sailor 1911 F, a LAMY Safari B and on Rhodia blank No.18 paper.
The folks at Bungubox put a lot of effort into this bottle redesign and it certainly shows. The bottle is both easy to grasp and bottom-heavy enough to be stable, and all those graceful swooping lines really show off the thick, high-quality glass. It is imprinted with the slogan “Ink tells more” on one side, and the Bungubox logo on the other. The cap is translucent so you can see a little bit of the ink color showing though!
Inside that bottle is something even more beautiful! 4B is a classic blue black that shades from a navy blue to a deep, near-black with a gorgeous red sheen that appears even on more absorbent paper like this rhodia pad! The blue in 4B is more vibrant than many blue-blacks, so it feels very rich when you’re looking at a large block of text or a big swab.
Like all inks produced by Sailor, Bungubox 4B behaved spectacularly! The ink had good flow with no feathering or bleedthrough on Rhodia paper. Dry times were pretty good at 15-25 seconds, especially compared to other sheening inks which tend to dry more slowly due to a high concentration of dye. In addition to that sheen, I got a fair amount of shading out of 4B, especially with a broad nib. And while I wouldn’t call this ink waterproof by any means, it held up pretty well in our water test. The color smudged a lot, but the words were still legible!
Bungubox 4B is one of those rare workhorse inks that looks just as good on your tax return paperwork as it does on instagram! It’s vibrant, but also professional. It doesn’t just have great flow and lubrication, it also sheens AND shades! If you don’t already have a bottle in your collection, 4B is an absolute must-have!
As with any ink review, the pen, paper, and person doing the writing will influence the way the ink looks. If you’re not sure about a color, try a sample to see if it’s the one for you, or see how it measures up against your favorites using our ink tool.
Ink it Up!
New to thINKthursday? No problem – I explain the formatting of my reviews here.