Lamy Safari Cap Longevity?

[Steven]

Greetings fellow Lamy Safari aficionados. Have any of you experienced the cap clip mechanism wearing out so that the cap no longer snaps in place securely? This has not happened to me but I ask this out of curiosity. If this has happened to you, how many years of every day use did it take for this to happen?

[discopig]

My Safari cap started getting loose after only a few months of daily use, but it seems to have stabilized since, it isn't getting any worse.

[theverdictis]

Design fault?

 

Ben

[knarflj]

No problems with my Safari cap. I don't remember exactly how long I've had it, but at least eighteen years. For at least half that time, the Safari was basically my only pen, and it's still my workhorse-almost-never-without-ink pen, so it's seen a lot of use.

[Koyote]

For $20 or $25, I'm not worried about it.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Koyote

[Moshe ben David]

I have an older Safari charcoal this happened to. Wish I could say how many years before this happened. When it did, I consigned it to a drawer for a very long time and only recently replaced the cap. Honestly, replacing the cap was not that economical a thing to do; but it was one of my first pens and so I did. This pen was one I purchased I think back in the 80's?

 

I can tell you there were no cracks in the cap plastic or any other fault I could see. The "O" ring on the barrel was still ok -- I have a RB from the same set, purchased at the same time, and that cap still snapped into place both on the RB barrel and on the FP barrel.

[hbdk]

Been using mine for some 30 years - no problem so far...

[MBFan]

6-7 years of use and no signs of letting up. And I'm one of those people that'll play with the clip and the snap mechanism over and over.

[grahamtillotson]

Very timely topic for me too. I just bought an Al Star and returned it because the cap was "loose" -- not falling off loose but not seating fully, and being a long time Safari user I didn't think the pen was quite right. I could push the cap off with my thumb, and my concern was the cap coming off with the pen in my pocket, particularly with a clip that is designed to take on all sorts of clothes.

 

The Safari cap click is something of a mystery. You can click the cap on/off a few times and it doesn't seem to seat with a strong grip. Leave the pen sitting for a little while and the cap seems harder to pull off. Not sure if this is poor perception on my part but I'd swear a capped Safari gets a little tighter if it sits for an hour or so.

 

Another reason I returned the Al Star is that those caps can't be adjusted. There are a few posts on adjusting a Safari cap, which can be done by popping off the top and tweaking things, but the Al Star caps don't have the removable top part.

 

Graham

[grahamtillotson]

Couple other random thoughts on this topic. I've picked up a few of the faux Jinhao versions, the 599/599c, and those caps click on with a death grip. Would be interesting to see how the inner caps differ between the Lamy and Jihnao versions.

 

With the click caps I've also used thin strips of metal HVAC tape up in the blind cap to reduce the diameter of the ring into which the section clicks. I have done this with cheaper pens but not with a Lamy because I'm inclined to not hack pens that have proven designs and quality control. Might work on a Safari though.

 

Graham

[Steven]

Thank you all for your answers. Reason I asked was that I have both a Safari fine and x-fine and they write beautifully. The fine wrote well out of the box. The x-fine needed a little nib tuning to fix a symmetry issue meaning that the horizontal line drew wider that the vertical line making this pen write wider. When a pen writes well out of the box or one gets it tuned in, you simply want them to write for ever. Thus my over active mind was thinking ahead as to what could ware out relegating these pens the lost sole pen draw. I do have a collection of these pens, but that is a post for another time.

[cambookpro]

My friend had an Al-Star and after about a year the cap came loose, and it often wouldn't sit properly on the pen.

 

He recently replaced it with a Safari, and after just a couple of months the cap mechanism has completely failed - the cap is useless! Doesn't click on at all, and comes off without any pressure.

 

Must be the way he uses them, my Safari seems fine!

[grahamtillotson]

Interesting. I am curious about the way the barrel seems to push into the blind cap when the pen is posted. Could it be that pushing too hard when posting the pen forces the blind cap up, and then the section can no longer seat fully?

 

Graham

[FayeV]

With the click caps I've also used thin strips of metal HVAC tape up in the blind cap to reduce the diameter of the ring into which the section clicks.

What is metal HVAC tape and where do you get it?

[grahamtillotson]

Metal HVAC tape is used on ducts to seal connection points. It is extremely sticky (but smooth on the exposed surface) and can withstand high temperatures. I find it useful for certain types of shim repairs because it has backing, so you can cut pieces to size and peel the back off before sticking, and you can wrap it around things then shave/shape it with an X-acto knife.

 

You can find it in any Home Depot type store near the duct/HVAC vent stuff.

 

Graham

[wastelanded]

Mine has seen daily use for two years, cap on and off at least 30 times a day, and it clicks fine. For the record, I don't ever post.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Lamy service is highly touted. They should replace any cap that's not some RARE color.

 

The question is, is it tight Enough. If it stays on and stays sealed, that answer is yes. Mine is less clicky than I'd like but more than clicky enough.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Edited April 17, 2014 by OcalaFlGuy

[Runnin_Ute]

I have an Al Star and while the cap isn't as tight as I would like it to be, I have had it since the late 1990's (~1998) and for the first 1-2 years it was my only fountain pen. My second pen, which was a red marbled Waterman Phileas still had a solid click when it disappeared in January 2014. Until December 2012 they were my only fountain pens.

 

It doesn't get used quite as often as it once did, but it is still adequate for most things.

[Koyote]

Thank you all for your answers. Reason I asked was that I have both a Safari fine and x-fine and they write beautifully. The fine wrote well out of the box. The x-fine needed a little nib tuning to fix a symmetry issue meaning that the horizontal line drew wider that the vertical line making this pen write wider. When a pen writes well out of the box or one gets it tuned in, you simply want them to write for ever. Thus my over active mind was thinking ahead as to what could ware out relegating these pens the lost sole pen draw. I do have a collection of these pens, but that is a post for another time.

 

Okay, so you've got a couple nice nibs...And they can be swapped onto ANY Lamy Safari or Al-Star or Vista. So, even if a cap fails, you can have a nice-writing pen for a few more bucks.

[HDoug]

Don't know if everyone here realizes it our not, but the Safari (and Al-Star) doesn't seal around the o-ring in the barrel. The actual seal is inside the cap and grabs the area directly in back of the nib. You can see the indentation that rings the area in front of the triangular section. So there is some lateral play built into the design, but it doesn't have to be tight around the o-ring in the barrel so long as it's tight at the actual seal. Hope this helps understand the dynamics.

 

I've had Safaris and Al-Stars in use for 9 years and I've never had a cap failure or become loose. Love these pens.

 

Doug