The Lamy Safari is a fairly cheap fountain pen - perhaps the cheapest you can get that’s actually good.
(Click any pictures to see them on Flickr, with notes, comments, and bigger sizes available.)
- Plain ABS plastic casing.
- Simple design.
- Takes cartriges or a converter, but the converter is not supplied. Budget a little extra if you want to use bottled ink.
Looks
Personally, I like the way this pen looks, but it’s not for everyone. It’s quite different in styling to most fountain pens, and the case is plastic rather than laquer. The oversized ‘paperclip style’ pocket clip is effective, but not very decorative.
As I said, I like it, but it’s not going to fool anybody into thinking it cost you a lot of money.
The unusual look even continues to the nib. There’s none of the usual flared shape, polished two-tone metal, or swirly engravings. It’s just plain black-coated metal, with “LAMY” and a letter for the nib width marked on it.
It’s all very understated and minimalist, and that appeals to me.
Feel
For a plastic pen, this actually feels really good. The ABS plastic used for the body feels strong and firm. The screw thread on the barrel feels very precise, and it all has a sensation of quality about it that cheap plastic pens never normally manage.
In Use
This is where this pen shines. The ink flow starts instantly, and doesn’t require any pressure on the paper to keep going. It can keep up even with scribbling and sketching, and although the nib is fairly firm, you can still get a bit of variation to the line width.
Push down firmly, and the nib will give you a thicker line. Turn it upside down for another trick - the top edge of the nib will still write, and writes with a narrower line. The shape of the pen makes it uncomfortable to use that way for long, but if you need a few quick thin lines, it can be a handy trick.
Compared with some other pens (the Parker 45, for example), the Safari is slightly scratchy in feel, but it’s not at all unpleasant, and the flow is still perfectly smooth.
If you like a fairly heavy pen, this isn’t it. The safari is very light, with very little resistance to moving it quickly. For some reason, though, it doesn’t seem to be prone to the sort of shaky lines I sometimes end up with when using very light pens. The balance point is almost exactly in the centre. Pop the cap on the top for writing or drawing, though, and this pen becomes a bit heavier, and very top-heavy. I find it quite uncomfortable to use this way, so I never post the cap.
Oh, and that all-important question for many of you - any good on Moleskine paper? Well, that will depend on the ink, but the Lamy black ink that comes in their cartriges works really quite well. It’s a bit slow drying, so I tend to smudge it quite badly, but doesn’t feather too much, and doesn’t show through to the next page much at all.
Conclusion
I love this pen. It’s the first fountain pen I’ve used that really performs how I expect a good fountain pen to perform. Before this, almost every one I’ve tried has been disappointing. After this, others have a lot to live up to.
Certainly if you’re looking for a good fountain pen to use, this is about the best you’ll find for the money. Alternatives? You could look at some of the Parker pens. Their really cheap fountain pens really aren’t too bad, and a bit more money can get you some nice ones. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, Pelikan make some of the best pens around, and Lamy make some great pens further upmarket too.
For the money, though, the Safari really does perform.
Related
- Pens
- Lamy pens at Penspotters - includes a short review of the Safari.
Tags: fountainpen, Lamy, pen, review, Safari
May 6th, 2006 at 16:42
This is the fountain pen amongst German students. Very cheap, durable and good in performance. Comes in many different colors & designs, also in fairly “expensive looking”.
August 16th, 2006 at 21:56
The Safari I bought on the basis of this review arrived today, and I’m disappointed. The bottom line is that the pen neither feels nor performs much better than the four-dollar Sheaffer fountain pens that I used to find in every drugstore school-supplies aisle (in the US). A more attractive nib, yes–and perhaps a more even line–but not enough to justify a twenty-dollar price difference. Additionally, the cutouts along the grip for the writer’s fingers don’t align very well with where my own fingers are habitually placed. I don’t doubt that this is a fine starter fountain pen for some, but I do wish I had had the opportunity to try one out before I purchased, as is not possible where I live.
I have no quibbles with the review above; the pen just doesn’t work for me personally. I’m still looking for a pen that combines a smooth feel with a fine, solid line and an appropriate heft. I use a Uniball Signo 207 micro to write in my Moleskine–no heft, and not nearly as pleasurable to use as I imagine the perfect fountain pen would be, but the best solution I’ve found so far.
August 17th, 2006 at 04:03
Hi John,
Sorry you’ve been disappointed with it. I know what you mean about the cutouts - they’re in the right place for me, but sometimes my thumb slides down a bit too far, and they’re not so comfortable then.
If you prefer a pen with a bit of weight to it, the Safari really is too light. Sam likes a heavy pen, and she’s never liked the Safari. It’s a Sheaffer that she’s ended up with - a Prelude. We’ve not reviewed it yet, but we will soon - it’s quite a lot more expensive than the Safari, though, so you’d definitely want to try one out before shelling out for that. For a smooth feel and a bit of heft, though, Sheaffers may be hard to beat.
Rotring would be worth checking out, too, if you can get hold of a Newton or 600 for a good price. I’ve not actually tried one (got outbid on eBay for one yesterday), but they’re supposed to be the sort of solid brass construction that’s good if you like a heavy pen that can also be useful as a weapon
I don’t think we’ve got a Signo 207 yet, but we’ve loved most of the Uni-ball pens we’ve tried.
August 17th, 2006 at 13:01
The Signo 207 is about the same weight as a Pilot G-2, but the center of gravity seems slightly farther forward. (Oddly, the balance point isn’t different by more than a couple of millimeters, but I certainly feel the difference when I pick it up.) My preference–which I couldn’t have stated before thinking about it this morning–is not for a heavy pen, but for one whose balance can be clearly felt and appreciated. I’m afraid the Safari feels to me like it’s going to float out of my hand.
What I appreciate most in my Signo is the perfectly reliable, jet-black, very thin, yet very even line. I prefer to write quite small, and next to the line the Signo makes, the line from the fine-point Safari looks bold.
I’d still love to find a fountain pen that gives me pleasure every time I pick it up. What I’m most looking for is that frictionless feeling of ink flowing gracefully yet neatly out of the nib. So far I haven’t found one like that. I had a more expensive pen a few years ago — I’m afraid I no longer remember the model, but I believe it was a Parker (did they make a pen called the Signature?) — but it never lost that scratchy feel, although I tried nibs with three different weights. I’ll definitely try a Sheaffer the next time I’m in an urban center and can find a good pen shop. (Rotring may be a bit too Terminator for my taste!) Thanks for the tips.
August 17th, 2006 at 13:32
As soon as I posted my last comment, Sam passed me a Signo 207 - we did have one after all. Very nice, and I certainly see what you mean about the fine and reliable line. Doesn’t take much pressure at all to get going - feels like it’s a liquid ink rollerball, though I’ve not seen the packaging to check.
I think most fountain pens get more scratchy as the nibs get thinner, so finding one with a really thin line that still feels smooth may be a problem. Also, if a very even line is important to you, fountain pens may not be the best thing at all. Modern nibs are generally pretty firm, and don’t give much variation, but a bit of line variation is quite normal.
Whilst we were out today, I spotted one, I think it was a Uni-ball, that was a retractable pen, gel ink, but needle point. Unusual. Gels always take some pressure to get moving, though, so that might not be so good either.
October 22nd, 2006 at 09:35
I got a Safari the other day (as a gift, but changed my mind and retained it for me
:)!!!
I love it, a bit bulky but very comfortable and it writes really nicely… F size, perfect for me, indeed… I’m happy now
PS- sorry for the shop, but it’s probably less hussle that way… Good luck and thanks!
–
Episkopos Excalibor, Pontifex Maximus :. V. S. C. Max Disc Eccl
October 22nd, 2006 at 13:26
my one and only, my favourite fountain pen…the Lamy Safari Vista, the clear one. Got it for free, due to an error on the Munus site, when they listed it as £0.00. Snapped it up! Good to see I’m in good company in my choice of pen.
October 22nd, 2006 at 13:37
I don’t have a Vista, but they do look good. Same as the Safari, but clear. We’ve got an AL-star now, which is slightly different - a bit chunkier, which I like.
I don’t use the Safari or AL-star much any more - they don’t stack up quite so well to a 1950s Parker 51 or Sheaffer Snorkel - but I still keep the AL-star around, as it’s one of the most confortable and reliable pens you can buy.
October 22nd, 2006 at 13:41
Glad you like the Safari. People always seem to like the fine nib. As for the shop, don’t worry - eBay and Amazon are doing pretty well for us, and probably make better places to clear out anyway.
November 14th, 2006 at 14:11
Could you guys help me telling me where I coud get the Extra Fine pens for Lamy Safari (and Vista as well)fountain pen?
Thanks.
November 15th, 2006 at 13:35
Hi Marcos,
Do you mean replacement nibs? As far as I’m aware, Lamy don’t supply the nibs on their own, but they can be swapped between pens reasonably easily - you wrap some tape around the nib, sticking to the top surface of the nub, but looped loosely underneath. Then put your finger in the loop and pull forwards and down (taking care not to damage the feed) - the nib should just slide off. I’ve heard of dealers being willing to swap over nib units, but they might well only do it with uninked pens, not after they’ve been used. Probably varies a lot depending on where you are, and what your local dealers are like.
December 10th, 2006 at 23:24
I first fell in love with the LAMY Safari while studying abroad in Germany. While I was there, however, I bought a few other items I haven’t been able to find anywhere else–they sell pens in Germany to accompany the blue Lamy ink cartridges–one end of these pens erases the blue Lamy ink, the other half will write where you erased. I haven’t been able to find any here in the states or online. Help!! The writing on the pens is German, and I don’t know where to look! Any information you can find to help me will be wonderful! THANKS!!
December 29th, 2006 at 01:26
I’ve fallen in love with the Pilot Varsity pens– they’re disposable fountain, the kind that you don’t feel bad about losing (perhaps $5 USD for a three pack? I don’t remember.) They write very smoothly with a medium line (as far as I know, you don’t get a line choice), but are very light– which is, I suppose, expected in a disposable pen. I use the blue (they come in several colors) and it’s deep but not too dark.
December 29th, 2006 at 02:47
The Varsity (or V4 as it’s known here) is indeed a fantastic pen - excellent if you’re just experimenting with fountain pens, but equally good if you want the fun of fountain pens without the fuss of refills or the worry that it could be damaged or lost. And they come in a range of ink colours too.
In my opinion, they compare very well against the likes of the Lamy Safari. But not as good as the Birdie.
Sam Randall
Devon knows how they make it so squeemy
January 2nd, 2007 at 02:17
I’m using an Al-star right now, and it’s an absolute joy to write with, smooth and flowing feel to it, I’m quite addicted … my only problem is that it seems to have problems with leaking - with all the Lamy cartrages I have tried in it, ink slowly leaks down through the structure of the nib, and then bleeds enough to stain my fingers fairly reliably at the point where the … internals? of the nib leave the plastic surround.
I am currently on the lookout for something that feels like this, but is rather more reliable … so far, nothing that appeals, but I keep searching!
February 1st, 2007 at 23:46
Hi Gang,
I’m on the hunt for pens that have the flat end tips, similar to the nibs you see for calligraphy only much thinner. When I was on vacation, some time back near Germany, I saw a gentleman using what looked like a flat tip pen in a journal. The pen looked something like that of the Lamy, but thus far I’ve been unable to find a referaance to that type of nib from the company.
Any ideas??
Thanks in advance!!
Ragnobash Bookbinder and Calligraphy enthusiast
February 2nd, 2007 at 03:27
Hi Ragnobash,
Sounds like an oblique nib you’re looking for - tipped to produce a thicker stroke up and down, and a thinner stroke side to side - depending which way you hold the pen.
In the UK, The Writing Desk have the Lamy Safari (and others) with oblique nibs - they’re the ones in the size list beginning with an ‘O’. Should be available anywhere that stocks a good range of Lamy, though, and other pens have oblique options too.
The result is usually a bit more character to your writing, but at the expense of a little more care - the nib needs to be kept a bit more level than a more rounded tip.
For easy experimenting, there’s also the italic version of the Fountain Pentel that we sell at Cult Pens - it’s cheap and disposable, but at 0.8mm, probably a little thicker than an oblique medium nib. Surprisingly fun to write with, though.
February 3rd, 2007 at 14:39
Thanks! I’ll give both of the sites a shot.
-Ragnobash
February 17th, 2007 at 01:47
I bought my first Lamy Safari (burnt orange) in 1982 when I was a young industrial design student. I liked the simple design and effective function and still do. I’ve bought numerous Safaris as gifts as well as for myself and still use one today (black). I guess that makes this year my 25th anniversary as a Safari user.
March 7th, 2007 at 09:53
I just purchased a Lamy Safari, fine nib off of Worldlux. Does anyone have any recommendations for ink though? I bought 5 Lamy black cartridges along with a converter, but I’m unsure which bottled ink to go with. Heard lots of good things about Noodle’s bulletproof though, but how good would it be on say.. a Moleskine notebook.
I’ve grown rather fond of mine and the Parker fountain pen I’ve been using has been fairly good with it, not bleeding through pages and such, but I’ve heard bad things about other inks/pens.
Thoughts?
March 7th, 2007 at 11:00
Hi Jot,
Noodler’s is certainly good stuff, and the Eternal black has worked well for me on Moleskine paper. It tends to feather less than most inks.
If you’ve been happy with the Lamy ink, you can always get that in bottles, too - Lamy do nice bottles.
March 24th, 2007 at 00:02
After researching fountain pens on this website, I bought a disposable Pilot v4 (Varsity in England) and it was awesome. So decided I wanted to buy a fountain pen made to last. I ordered a Safari Al-Star (with a converter) and I’m really happy with it. The extra fine nib allows me to draw thin lines to very very thin lines. With practice you can draw about like a .005 Micron, but it’s tough to pull off. I have to hold the pen upside down to get that line quality. Holding the pen correctly or upside down is actually feels great. The holder shape works both ways.
As an American, I had trouble finding this pen in stores. In fact, as far as I can tell, you can’t buy it in any stores. I had to order it online. If anyone is interested, I ordered from pencity.com (as linked from Lamy USA) and had no issues.
So now I have my wide fountain pen, the V4, and my fine Safari for my work. Thanks for all of the information on this site. I plan on buying Noodler’s Ink soon but I am waiting until the Lamy ink runs out or I’m bored with it. I’m thinking Bulletproof black and then convincing myself to buy another Safari with Grey Noodler’s ink. Man this got addicting fast…
March 24th, 2007 at 08:25
Hi Nylisk,
Glad we could help. The AL-star is a great pen - I find it a bit more comfortable than the Safari, for some reason - the barrel is just a touch thicker. The nib works well upside down, for very fine lines, as you say. The V4 pens aren’t great, but they’re not at all bad, and amazing value for money. The nibs wouldn’t seem too out of place on a pen many times the price.
If you get the Noodler’s Black, you could always try mixing some with water to get a grey - I’ve not tried it, but it should work ok - it’s water-based ink. You’d probably only need a surprisingly weak mixture, too. Once you’ve got through a couple of bottles, you’ll have saved as much as the price of the second Safari
April 4th, 2007 at 19:31
I personally use nothing but the LAMY turquoise, and it looks great mixed with just a tiny bit of black. it’s a bit of an unusual color, but that’s been what I’ve used all year. (that’d be in a LAMY AL-star, medium nib)
April 5th, 2007 at 05:55
We both used a mix I made for quite a while - Parker Quink Blue-Black with a little Noodler’s Eternal Black. The Quink Blue-Black actually dries to a turquoisey shade, so it might have ended up as a similar colour.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:29
I returned my Parker Sonnet Matte Black to the local fountain pen specialist in Sydney because it had a problem: When writing it would “skip”. When writing the letter A or putting in a commma, or just starting a new sentence it would skip and the letter would be incomplete. So in its stead I bought a Diplomat Attache, which is absolutely beautiful in every way, and a Lamy Al-Star. Son of a proverbial, the Al-Star has exactly the same problem as the Parker. It can be incredibly frustrating. Has anyone had this problem? It may be because I use cartridges, or at lesat with the Lamy I do, and they seem to be more bubbles than ink. I just can’t win. Of course, apart from the fact that it won’t write, I like the pen itself. It looks good, it’s solid and it feels nice, and the few times it has worked perfectly it has written as beautifully as pens far more expensive. I think it’s just bad luck, but time will tell.
April 20th, 2007 at 03:10
You might just have been unlucky. I’ve also heard of pens where the feed doesn’t work too well at first because of oils left over from manufacturing. In these cases, flushing out a few times with some water with a bit of detergent (washing up liquid) in it can help - breaks down the oils and cleans out the feed. It can also be down to a faulty feed or a bad nib.
Cartridges are usually less problematic than converters - they are usually a bit wider in diameter, so they let the ink flow inside a bit more easily.
Lamy generally have a good reputation for service, so it might be worth contacting them or their Australian distributer, see if they’ll fix it.
April 27th, 2007 at 07:29
I took it back to the shop, and they gave me a new nib - the one that had been attached to the display model. So the nib they gave me was more “broken in”. I’m very happy with the pen now, and I take it everywhere I go, though it is not the cheapest I have. Just today, I went back and bought a Lamy Joy (with aluminium cap) in a 1.1 calligraphic nib, and I have to say it’s beautiful. It can make crappy handwriting look classical and elegant, or at least confident, and is a pleasure to hold, though it is not very portable because of its extra length. So I am no longer disgusted with Lamy. Unfortunately, their blue ink is washable and thus fades after use, which I don’t specially like, but I can always comfort myself that a converter is a mere AU$7 away. But in any case, problem seems to be solved. Thanks for your help though, I’ll remember that when using my next few fountain pens coming in the mail next week. Cheers, Anthony.
May 1st, 2007 at 00:06
By the way, has anyone ever heard of Stypen, and are they any good?
May 1st, 2007 at 13:23
I’ve never seen any here in the UK, but they are owned by Bic, and the clip looks identical to pens sold here under the Bic brand.
Doesn’t help all that much, though, as I’ve never had a Bic either - maybe Gary will wander past, I think he got a Bic that looked a lot like a Stypen a while ago.
May 4th, 2007 at 06:52
Lamy Safari fountain pen is my favourite. I have three always with me (orange & red, black and transparent) and two as back up (alu and grey) at home.
May 4th, 2007 at 16:30
I thought we were a bit excessive having two Safaris and an AL-star between us! That’s a lot of Safaris. Great pens, though.
May 13th, 2007 at 18:01
Absolutely love it, especially the grip and the lightness. I got my first when I was 11 years old, thats almost 12 years ago now and I still use the safari. Too bad I lost the original one during cycling a few years back, I spend two hours looking for it, but no luck. I actually felt sad that day, as if I had lost a favo pet.. I instantly bought a new one, it took a while to settle, but its okay now, though I do seem to have a problem since switching to black ink; every time I pull off the cap it sorta spills a few drops on the grip.. Might be time for safari #3?
June 29th, 2007 at 20:24
I have been (re)using a Vpen for quite some time now. I used a pair of nose pliers to gently twist the nib assembly out and then refilled it using a hypodermic needle/syringe thingy which I keep just for this purpose (I have cut out the sharp needle point and sanded the tip a bit and put the protective cover on immediately after I’m done).
I did this as an experiment and expected the ink to leak out, but actually this has worked really well for me and I’ve been using my pen with bottled ink for almost a year.. (yeah it’s cheap but it is such a waste to just throw a perfectly good pen away)..
Long story short, I love the V-Pen and refill it myself.. though I’m looking at getting a bright yellow Lamy Vista very soon.
September 5th, 2007 at 14:25
The Safari sounds like a good buy but I have a question. I am a lefty and I usually end up smearing ink that I use because my hand goes over what I just wrote. Will this be a problem with the Safari? Also, I usually need to write in very small ledgers so should I get a fine or extra fine point? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
September 5th, 2007 at 15:38
Hi Archer48,
If you smudge your hand over what you’ve just written, any fountain pen is going to be a problem. The ink will make more difference than the pen. That said, a pen that writes reasonably dry lines - doesn’t put as much ink down on the page - is likely to be best for you. Safaris can vary - of the ones I’ve had, one has been quite dry, but at least a couple of them are really quite wet writers.
If you need to write very small, the extra fine might be the better bet. The finer the nib, the less ink they’ll usually put down, too, which might help with the smudging problem.
You might get some good ideas by posting your questions on the Fountain Pen Network - there are plenty of lefties there who use fountain pens, and people may be able to advise on quick drying inks. A quick search there might even answer your questions - you probably won’t be the first person to ask.
September 5th, 2007 at 21:33
Thanks!!
September 12th, 2007 at 04:00
You said you found some Safaris to be wet writers and some to be dry. Does that correlate with whether they have bright metal nibs, or black lacquered ones like the one in your picture? (I think which you get depends on the finish of the pen.)
September 12th, 2007 at 07:15
Nope - no correlation. I’ve had a black Safari that was a dry writer, and a red one that was very wet, and they both had black nibs.
September 13th, 2007 at 04:11
Bang goes another nice hypothesis
I heard of someone who patiently chipped the lacquer off because he thought a plain nib worked better, which is why I asked.
September 19th, 2007 at 19:06
Maybe the eraser was the “Pelikan Super Pirat Ink Eradicator”. Read you post and just saw this http://www.pendemonium.com/ink.....nkremovers
Hope it helps.
September 25th, 2007 at 13:55
I recently purchased a Lamy Safari Al and love it. However, there is ink on the inside of the clear plastic finger hold. This doesn’t hurt the performance at all but next time I refill my convert, I’d like to clean it. I’ve tried setting this portion of the pen in a glass of water but the ink is still there. It appears the feeder needs to come out of the finger hold portion of the pen before it can be cleaned.
Does anyone know how to do this? There is a little square notch under the nib. There is probably a tool to turn this (CW?, CCW?) to remove it.
Thanks! Matt
September 25th, 2007 at 16:32
Hi Matt,
The inside of the grip is the feed - the ink that’s in there is the ink that’s flowing to the nib - there’s no way to keep it out and have the pen work. Dismantling the feed is probably not a good idea. I think the square notch is the breather hole, letting air back into the feed, and letting the ink flow in quickly when filling the converter.
If you have a converter, you can use that to flush water back and forth through the feed, and it should eventually come reasonably clean, but as soon as you put ink in it again, the feed will fill up with ink again.
September 25th, 2007 at 16:52
Thanks for your quick reply! I thought the ink ran down the inside of what looks like a piece of corrugated plastic (inside the many rings stacked along the length of the pen) inside the grip? The ink I’m seeing is on the inner wall of the see-through grip (covering up those “rings” in places). Hard to describe, but it sounds like you know what I’m talking about.
I flushed water back and forth many, many times but it never moved the ink on the inner walls of the grip. The water doesn’t seem to reach this area.
I won’t mess with it unless someone has taken it apart (and has pictures), if that’s even possible.
Thanks again, Matt
September 25th, 2007 at 17:15
The ink should at least partly fill the section - the part you actually hold. On some models (AL-star and Vista) that part is clear plastic, and you can see the ink inside the grip - the idea is that you can see the ink running low a bit before it runs out, so you get a bit more idea of how much is left than just being able to see the cartridge or converter.
I may get around to photographing my Vista at some point - you can see the ink very clearly in there, filling the whole of the section.
October 5th, 2007 at 17:37
They have them everywhere in the UK, but I havent seen them in the US site. Amazon.co.uk should have a couple. They are called ink eradicators or ink erasers.
October 19th, 2007 at 15:36
I got my Safari a few days ago and I like it a lot. Got it in Charcoal, Fine Point. I want more now, perhaps one in each nib size. Is it just me, or does the ink from the disposable Pilot Varsity pens really stink to high heaven? I wrote a few lines with a Varsity and could smell the ink accross the room. Oh well, cheap pen, probably cheap ink as well. Peace!
November 3rd, 2007 at 08:34
I am noticing that the Lamy blue ink fades. I’m wondering if the black fades as well. Has anyone tried mixing these two together? Btw, I carry 5 Lamy pens with me everywhere - one Vista, two Al-Star, and two Safaris. That way I have blue ink and green ink (each with an extra fine nib) as well as pink and blue ink (with the 1.1 calligraphy nib), and hot pink ink (with a 1.5 calligraphy nib). It makes work a lot more fun! I am able to buy the nibs separately here in Canada at specialty pen shops in Toronto that carry Lamy.
November 4th, 2007 at 05:38
Over here in the UK, the Varsity is known as the V4 or the VPen. I’ve never noticed any smell from the ink. My old Cross Ion gel pen had really smelly ink - smelled like curry.
I think the VPen/Varsity is a pretty impressive pen for the money - a real metal nibbed fountain pen for the price of a disposable ballpoint. The fact that it’s disposable is enough to stop me wanting to actually use one, though.
November 4th, 2007 at 05:43
Most inks will fade somewhat if they’re exposed to light - I’ve not noticed Lamy ink being worse than any others, but I haven’t done any sort of testing, either.
Lamy Blue-Black should be pretty much fade-proof, because it’s an iron gall ink. It’s also a bit more risky to use in your pens, because iron gall inks contain particles that can clog up the feed, and they’re acidic. Presumably Lamy are confident that all of their pens can handle the stuff, though. Noodler’s ‘Eternal’ inks should be about as permanent as you can get, too - as permanent as the paper, at least.
Over here in the UK, The Writing Desk supply spare Lamy nibs - I may have to turn my Vista into an italic pen next time I’m ordering from them. I don’t suppose it’ll be long before I’ll start drooling over another shade of ink…
January 21st, 2008 at 12:26
Hi,
I am a student in the UK and after reading this review, I am considering buying a Safari to replace my Parker Jotter stainless steel fountain pen which fell off a desk and damaged the nib.
However, I would like to know if the Parker converter pump would work in the Safari so I can use bottled ink and refill it.
If anybody knows or is able to try, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
January 21st, 2008 at 15:42
It’s just about possible it will fit (I haven’t tried), but you’d be much better off with the real Lamy converter. The Lamy converter has a pair of lugs on the converter that slot into the pen, and locks it in place, so it can’t twist around as you fill it. Lamy’s converter is £2.50, but it’s worth getting rather than pushing a Parker one in there and hoping it doesn’t leak. The Writing Desk have them, along with the Safari itself, and even spare nibs.
January 21st, 2008 at 17:38
Thanks for the quick reply, I just thought it may be worth asking because the end looks quite similar.
Now I just need to decide whether I go for the black Safari or silver-blue Al-Star!
January 22nd, 2008 at 05:05
I e-mailed Lamy a while back to ask about their blue-black ink. The person who replied didn’t have perfect English (I can’t speak German) but as far as we understood each other, said there was no problem using Lamy blue-black iron gall ink in any Lamy pen, which would include Safari.
I haven’t tried a Safari, but experience with Faber-Castell and Paper Mate ballpoints leads me to think it’s too thin for my hands. When a pen has a triangular barrel, I seem to need it fatter than usual, as the Paper Mate PhD Ultra is. The Faber-Castells are too thin to be comfortable. Strangely, I seem to get on better with round or hexagonal barrels if the pen/pencil is thin.
January 24th, 2008 at 18:02
I am now using my new Safari in black!
I ordered it with the fine nib and the converter on Tuesday from The Writing Desk as you recommended, and it arrived this morning (fast despatch).
It writes nicely and is smooth, with no ink flow problems- just loaded some Quink and worked straight away.
And in case you were wondering, my Parker converter didn’t fit.
January 24th, 2008 at 18:27
Glad you like it - thanks for coming back to answer the converter question.
March 3rd, 2008 at 03:04
i haven’t read all the posts yet and this discussion my be well and truly over but i just bought a lamy safari with 1.1 italic nib from pen city and i have never used a fountain pen before. i am wondering if it is safe to carry this pen around in a bag and i was wondering if it needs to be stored upright or if i can just leave it lying near my journal. thanks all.
March 3rd, 2008 at 03:34
help!!! i just tried my new lamy safari with the 1.1 italic nib to write in my journal and it totally hateds the paper.a few lines went ok then i really started to struggle,the line got thinner and thinner and patchier and patchier and 14 lines in i have had to give up. pen city said i could change nibs within a month of my purchase. would any other nibs cope better with thick visual diary paper? thank-you : )
March 3rd, 2008 at 07:44
Hi Honeybee,
If it’s carried or stored for a long time with the nib down, it could leak a little ink into the cap, but I’ve carried Safaris about pretty roughly and never had any trouble. They don’t need much in the way of careful handling.
March 3rd, 2008 at 08:19
Thanks for that pigpogm. I still can’t quite believe it won’t leak on me. What does ‘pretty roughly’ mean….does that mean laying horizontal a lot of the time when not in use and carrying it at the bottom of your bag when you are out and about? I so hope that is what you mean.I will feel much confident about it then. thanks : )
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:27
H Honeybee,
I’ve had a Safari knocking about in a bag, in a pocket, and clipped to the neck of my t-shirt. Never had a problem. Most fountain pens aren’t as delicate as people tend to think.
I have an old Parker Slimfold, from around the 1940s or 1950s, which tends to spill ink into its cap rather easily, and open-nibbed Sheaffer Snorkels can be a bit messy if shaken, but I have a 1940s Sheaffer Tucky clipped to my t-shirt neck today, which knocks about with no problems. The only time my Pelikan M600 has dripped into its cap is when it got knocked flying out of my t-shirt, and bounced across the supermarket car park - not something I’d recommend with a £140 pen, but it was fine.
The Safari is probably about as tough as fountain pens get - drop it on the nib on a hard surface, and you’ll probably do some damage, but they’re ok other than that. And even then, a replacement nib is fairly cheap compared to most other pens.
March 3rd, 2008 at 17:12
That doesn’t sound good. Unless it’s very odd paper, though, it doesn’t sound like the Safari is working as it should. Are you using cartridges or a converter? Does it work ok on other paper?
It may also be partly down to the ink you’re using - some inks ‘feather’ more than others - spreading into the paper fibres. This sounds like a bit more of a problems than just feathering, though.
March 3rd, 2008 at 18:14
It isn’t good at all. The nib works fine on other paper.I think my journal paper must have a coating of some kind on it. My Uniball 1.0 Jetstream works fine on the same paper.I wrote a letter to make sure the nib was working and then wrote another full page in my journal and the nib worked ok for about half the A4 page and then became all scratchy and could barely write at all. I am hoping the standard nibs, maybe a medium,won’t collect whatever is on the surface of the journal.The journal is cheap but I have been using them for years.Hard cover A4 with over a hundred thick blank white pages of drawing paper for less than $20 aussie dollars.I don’t think i can give them up.I haven’t been able to find anything else even close to that and i go through one every month or so.I really need to sort this out!! i am using Lamy black ink cartridges.
March 3rd, 2008 at 20:11
Wow! this blog is very informative!
well being a young f pen enthusiast in a ballpoint city is very hard. ive been barly surviving on a cheap sheaffer calligrafy pen since i have no nearby pen shops. So one day my friend showed me hid waterman philieas. very good until it started skipping. Then one day while surfing the web the vista came up alot on blogs about moleskine(yes i like moleskines too. Moleskine and the perfect f pen is my current obsession) So i researched it and the vista seemed good.
I ordered it on amazon with a converter, and some private reserve midnight blues bottled ink. So can any one give me VERY DETAILED FEEDBACK! on: The Lamy vista/ care and use tips converter/care and use tips and Private Reserve midnight blues bottled ink/moleskine compatability and how it works on the vista/saturation.
If you return this great request i will be SO GLAD since i hate looking on google for raw info since no one else knows about f pens where i live.
thankyou.
March 4th, 2008 at 02:25
) honeybee
March 4th, 2008 at 02:41
If it works ok on ‘normal’ paper, I doubt a different nib would make much difference, unfortunately. Sounds like the paper in your journal just isn’t fountain pen friendly. A round nib (like just a Medium or Fine) might be better, but probably not much different.
March 4th, 2008 at 02:50
Moleskine paper is quite thin. I use fountain pens in it, but you do get a bit of bleed-through.
Private Reserve inks are highly saturated, so the only thing to watch for is a slightly higher risk of clogging than with most inks. It’s not really anything to worry about, but you should probably flush the pen through with water every few months, and if you’re going to leave it unused for a while (more than a week or so, perhaps), empty and flush it first.
You don’t really need to do anything to look after the converter, and if it ever breaks, they’re cheap and easy to replace.
March 4th, 2008 at 03:46
I hope it does make a difference.I really want to write in my journal with a fountain pen. Maybe it is time for me to hunt for another large, cheapish, hard cover, A4, blank page journal. I will see if the pen city dudes have any ideas. Thanks. Honeybee : )
March 5th, 2008 at 04:41
Hi all, I was just wondering if Lamy ink is acid free? thanks : )
March 5th, 2008 at 06:33
Lamy blue-black ink is iron gall ink, which is acidic, but Lamy say their own pens are OK with it. I believe other Lamy inks are not acidic, at least not to the extent that they will cause any pen a problem. You’d be better off going to Lamy’s own Web site [ Link: http://www.lamy.com/index_eng.html ] and asking them, to make certain.
March 5th, 2008 at 06:36
Just seen what I think might be a new low-end Lamy pen - the “Smile…” with emoticon rings round the cap… http://www.lamy.com/eng/b2c/smile/084
March 5th, 2008 at 13:21
The Smile has been around for a while now, but it’s still fairly recent. I haven’t actually seen one, but it’s one of the Safari ‘family’.
March 5th, 2008 at 21:57
thanks for that, i will follow it up : )
March 27th, 2008 at 13:29
I have bought a Safari today. It’s great in every way, but I am not sure if the cap will hold tight. I have a feeling that the clutching mechanism inside the cap is not perfect, and it might come off its own in a few months. Am I right?
March 27th, 2008 at 13:58
I’ve no way of knowing if your pen cap will come loose in a few months! The Safari’s cap should click fairly securely into place. It can come off a little too easily with a push sideways, they shouldn’t come loose without being pulled or twisted. None of mine have become noticeably looser with time.
March 28th, 2008 at 14:08
Thank you for the prompt reply. Your words are reassuring.
June 8th, 2008 at 14:42
Is the nib flexible enough to give some line variation so i could use it to write some decent copperplate script?
June 8th, 2008 at 15:12
No, not even close. The Safari has a fairly stiff steel nib. You can get a little extra width with quite a bit of pressure, but nowhere near enough for copperplate script. Very few modern pens have the sort of flex you need. A dip pen may be your best option, or a custom-ground nib if you don’t mind the expense.
June 9th, 2008 at 03:50
(I love that smell)
June 11th, 2008 at 14:55
The Lamy’s are quite interesting; I do agree that at that price there’s nothing better.
That doesn’t mean they’re perfect, of course, but for someone like me who has a tendency to lose or break a nib, they’re at the right cost point. They’ve definitely been around in Europe and the United Kingdom (where fountain pens are far more common) a long time and in the States now the Lamy is the cheapest brand that a “fountain pen store” will carry.
There are a few things I’ve found to be aware of. Firstly, I lean towards a narrower nib, but the Lamy medium’s fine enough for me; I’ve gone finer in the past but I think the feel of the pen suffers and becomes scratchy. Secondly, I’ve (sadly) noticed that Noodler’s Ink Bulletproof Black, which is otherwise fantastic, is not a good match — the Lamy nib errs towards sliding off (as opposed to scratching in) and the Noodler’s doesn’t help. (On the other extreme is Quink “Permanent Blue” — sadly not permanent at all, fades very quickly, but of course that’s not Lamy’s problem.)
Finally, the quality variation from pen to pen varies — simply due to manufacturing tolerances being rather wide I suppose. Since I tend to lose these guys every few months, I’ve sampled a large number of different Safaris and they vary from the wonderful to the just OK.
June 11th, 2008 at 15:34
Yes, now that I’ve used a few, I’ve found quite a bit of variation between them. Most seem to tend towards being dry writers, and although they can flex a little with quite a bit of pressure, they dry out after a couple of centimetres when under pressure. Great solid pens, though, and the nibs are nice and cheap to replace if you damage one or just fancy a different width.
July 17th, 2008 at 07:32
Hi, I’ve had my Lamy Safari for the last two years, it is the black one with a black medium nib. I have been very happy with my pen, and recently I decided to buy another Safari and Al-Star with medium nibs. When I opened the boxes and filled both pens with ink it turned out the nibs in both pens are very scratchy compared to my old one, which was always a very smooth writer. I noticed that the nibs, although black, have a silver coloured tip, unlike my old safari, which was all black, including the tip. It looks as if the top of the nib was cut and the steel underneath black paint is now visible. I got both pens brand new and boxed, so there was no chance that anyone could do anything to the nibs. Is it possible that Lamy changed the nibs they put in Safaris and Al-Stars? Did anyone notice that? Thanks for any help with solving my problem:)
September 12th, 2008 at 15:42
I just read the 06 post below and want to ask about a Sheaffer Snorkel. I was given one in 1954-55 and lost it within a couple of months - what can I say, I was only 14. It cost a lot for a pen in those days but I really wanted it so my mother gave it to me for Christmas. I have always wanted another one and wonder if they are still available anywhere.
September 12th, 2008 at 16:07
@nbt - there are still plenty around, through vintage dealers and eBay, but they may need servicing before they’ll work.