First Impressions: Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book

I love fountain pen inks and have more inks than I would ever need in my life time. I don’t know what it is but it’s something that’s keeping me in the hobby and also pushing me to get more pens. Honestly, when I first started in the fountain pen hobby, I didn’t think that I would need this much ink but here we are.

Now that my fountain pen ink collection has grown (thanks to ink samples), I finally decided that I should get a Col-o-ring book for myself.

What is a Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book?

If you’re in the journaling/fountain pen hobby, you’ve probably seen this around. It is what it is – a small deck of cards used to test inks.

Their history:

Previously, many fountain pen users had been using Japanese flash card to test their inks. One product was pretty good, but wasn’t perfect. It was discontinued a couple years ago and while many people had stockpiled a supply, many folks were starting to run low, myself included. So, my husband and I decided to make our own.

Ana Reinert, The Well Appointed Desk

While it’s initially designed for testing inks, you can also use this as a mini sketch pad or watercolor paper

Col-o-ring Features

From their shop:

• 2”x4” with die cut rounded corners 
• 100 sheets of 100lb/160gsm European acid-free bright, natural white paper 
• slightly toothy paper but not enough to catch even the sharpest dip nib 
• sturdy chipboard covers letterpress printed with a crisp application of “afterburner” black 
• handy split ring so pages can be removed, rearranged and reinserted as needed

Disclosure: This product was purchased by the author. Photos are ours unless otherwise stated. All opinions expressed here are the author’s own and are not in any way influenced by the aforementioned organization. For inquiries, please visit our Partnership and Advertisements page.

First Impressions

I knew that the Col-o-ring testing book was a 2″x4″ but it was still bigger than expected. It’s not bad – just unexpected.

Overall quality is good and you can tell at first glance. The split ring is easy to snap off but isn’t flimsy at all. The cover is sturdy and well designed. The paper is nice and thick too (it’s 160gsm). No complaints so far.

How I Use the Col-o-ring

I purchased a Col-o-ring so that I could index my fountain pen ink collection (it’s not huge but it’s growing). I do have a Fountain Pen Ink Journal where I talk about my inks but that requires a bit of time and effort.

The Col-o-ring is small and kind of acts like a paint swatch palette so it’s easier to use as reference. I am planning on linking these cards to the ink journal by writing down the corresponding page number on each card.

I just took a swab of ink and colored half of the Col-o-ring card then labeled it with the ink name. I made sure that I got the ink up until the edge so that I could easily find it while I flip through the Col-o-ring.

Overall Thoughts

This is going to come in real handy when I’m out buying inks, that’s for sure. I love the design overall.

I’ve only tried one card but I really like the quality. No bleeding, no feathering, no showthrough. The paper didn’t curl or fold after I dumped ink on it. The paper is toothy (as stated in their product description) but I did not have problems writing with an extra fine nib, which is great!

I’m really excited for when I try more inks on the Col-o-ring. By then, I might be able to do a full review of the product.

Next step: buy more inks