Thanks to you guys, I am on my way to discovering the joys of FP-writing (and sketching!) This is what I received today (Thank soo much Todd!):

-Lamy Safari matte Charcoal Extra-Fine (now filled with Noodlers Black)
-Lamy Safari polished White LE Fine (now filled with Noodlers Kiowa Pecan)

I hope I filled and installed the converters correctly. There are little plastic nubs on each side of the convecter. That is suppose to fit snugly into the similar size indents in the top half of the pen, right? When you refill the converters, do you suck them up from the nibs or do you unscrew the pen and take the converter off?

After installing the converters, I didn't know how long it would take for the ink to make its way down. After trying to draw one line, I was impatient and dipped the nib into the little droplets on the cap of the ink bottles. And both pens have been writing beautifully ever since! I'm actually surprised at how fine the lines are. I've read over and over on this forum about how the Lamy line tends to be thick. I may have to try a medium and an italic next time to see which nib suits my handwriting more!

Oddly enough, I think the White Fine tip writes finer than the Black Extra-Fine tip though I cannot be sure if that is the ink's doing - maybe the Black is wetter than the Kiowa Pecan?

Now I much prefer the matte texture barrel over the highly polished one. Do any of the other Safaris have a non-polished texture? I would love to get some more now!

You have installed the converter correctly.

To fill the pen, screw down the converter, dip the pen in the ink bottle until a small portion of the section is under the ink, screw the converter up, lift the pen out of the ink, screw the converter down slowly until a drop of ink comes out of the nib and screw the converter up, wipe off the ink and you're done.

Hello,
there is a loooong thread on Safaris colors and variants on the Pen History section of this forum.
The charcoal is the only textured color in production, I am afraid. The originals "savanna green" and "terracotta red" from the 1980 were textured too, but they're very rare now...

pick a number, get the line and... good hunt!! (I'm on the prowl too )

Cheers,

I also vastly prefer the textured version. It shows less wear and tear and is easier to grip. I'm even thinking of swapping in the charcoal section for the translucent one on my Al-Star. I know there are a few old/discontinued textured colours, but I'd love to see current incarnations of more colours in matte.

I don't think thats do able because the Al Star and Safari have the plastic O ring on different parts of the pen

As far as I know there are 5 colors that were produced textured... Terracotta orange, Savannah green, charcoal, Alpine white (the old white with black clip) and the grey.

You can mix and match the Al-star sections with the regular Safaris. Just pop off the "o-ring" on the Safari when moving the section to the Al-star. I have been using a charcoal Safari with the smokey section from the Al-star lately.

/Woody

I have a matte light gray Safari - has that been discontinued? Both my dark charcoal and the light gray have sections that match the bodies and black nibs (I have a fine and a medium). My Al_Stars have a translucent smoky section and steel nibs (unpainted).

If you look closely at them, you can see where the safari o-ring ridge that it snaps onto rings the al-star section above the threads. They are cast from the same mold. I just confirmed this with a bit of minor surgery. A charcoal section doesn't look that great on an ocean blue aluminium barrel, alas.

glossy -> matte

find a local sandblasting place. couple bucks to get instant matte.

I have three Safaris, and my matte charcoal is my favorite.