Very Heretical Question About Lamy Safari

[OMASmaniac]

 

 

I bought two Aurora Idea fps when the local pen store had them on sale. They are absolutely horrible writers, dry and scratchy. Since they were inexpensive, it's not worth my while to pay to have the nibs adjusted. They are cute little pens though, much cuter than the Safari. I have a couple of Safaris to take with me on trips when I'm going to spend a lot of time outdoors and don't want to risk any of my better pens. I'm not a big Safari fan, however. The ones I have write very well, and the grip doesn't bother me too much. they're not favorites of mine, even among cheap pens, but they do what I need them to do. (Cheap Pilot fps are my favorites. I'll even take a disposable Pilot like the Varsity above both a Safari and an Aurora Idea.)

 

Oh... I'm sorry to read that you had a bad experience with Auroras... Actually, their steel nibs tend to be slightly (VERY slightly) scratchy. For some people, this is a positive feature, and I find them absolutely ok..

[Scrawler]

Hi!

 

I apologize for my question, which will upset many (if not most) of you:

 

I've noticed that everybody (or almost everybody) in this forum has at least one lamy safari..... lots of people even have it in their profile picture, so I guess that they consider it their favourite pen...

 

I never had one before joining this forum (I had a Joy, but it's different), so I decided to buy one, in order to understand what makes them so special for so many people... and I haven't understood yet... I've found it soulless and I gave it to a friend of mine.

 

The safari is a cheap pen, ok, and yes, it writes rather well (but not particularly thrillingly), but I have tried dozens of cheap-pens-with-steel-nibs-and-modern-design in my life, and I simply can't understand why the safari is so special...

 

I can understand that it's a good cheap pen to start with, but... why people who have amazing collections and have been buying luxury and excellent pens keep buying Safaris?

 

Sorry....

Fabio

There is nothing special about them beyond being a cheap, readily available and reliable starter pen. You get one to transition from being a ballpoint user to becoming a fountain pen user. People collect them because they come in a nice range of colors, which looks like a rainbow in your box when you have the whole series.

[OMASmaniac]

 

 

Style, maybe?

 

I've been thinking of picking up a Talentum - not that that's a cheapie, mind you - but an Ipsilon might find its way into my collection one of these days too. Auroras really are pretty great.

 

YES, precisely: "Style"! Thanks!

Talentums have been on my wish list for YEARS! They must be really nice and their nibs are GORGEOUS, much better than the Ipsilon (which I find too expensive, especially those with the steel nib... )

[rwilsonedn]

I've been baffled by this question as well. The stock answer is that the Safari is a cheap, reliable starter pen. But it is none of the three. A new Safari can cost twenty times the price of, say, a really nice-writing Wing Sung. That's not cheap, it's mid-priced for a young beginner. I have not found Safari pens to be particularly reliable, and judging from the number of "What's Wrong with My New Lamy" posts here on FPN, my experience is not unusual. I entirely agree that at best, the Safari is an uninspiring writer, about like using a rather dry but fairly smooth rollerball. It comes in broad, medium, and medium points, which you can easily interchange to get any medium you want.

As a starter pen, the Safari introduces the new user to its quirks, its uninspiring performance, and that weird triangular section that appears to be an attempt to overcome ergonomics with authority. I'm glad I didn't start out that way, and I certainly wouldn't ask anyone else to.

ron

[HDoug]

Well, it's a very subjective, personal preference kind of thing. I do notice, though, that Lamy has made it easy for Safari/AL-Star fans by making them in many different colors. The nibs are cheap and easy to change out, and all AL-Stars have the same section so you can interchange entire nib/section/ink between bodies if you want. I have five AL-Stars and I'd love to have a couple more (raspberry if I can find one, and the new coffee brown). I have them sitting here on my desk and it's fun to look at them when the sun is coming into the room the right way. Like right now...

 

Doug

[Pentech42]

The Safari has style it is just a germanic style rather than an Italian style. It is Bauhaus rather than Art Nouveau. And like people who really love either style trying to explain why you like it is hard to the other.

[jgrasty]

I use a Lamy Safari EF in Charcoal as my travel pen. I fill it up with Noodler's FPN Van Gogh Starry Night Blue and carry a spare Lamy cartridge for backup. It hasn't failed me yet. I use it as my travel pen because it is reliable, durable and I wouldn't be heart broken if I lost it.

[Spector]

while its certainly not a pelikan or a high end pen, its most definitely one of the best of its caliber

[Parse Error]

It just works. It won't break, and the amount that you could write on one refill is not that bad.

[hecya]

In Mexico almost all available fountain pens are quite expensive and most suited to business man. The popular brands are Sheaffer, Parker, Montblanc, Cross and Lamy. Among all these the only brand that shows pen designs that appeal to students and youg people is Lamy with the Safary line and they are way cheaper than the others. So at least in my country I guess that Lamy Safari is almost the only cheap, modern looking fountain pen.

[GraceThroughFaith]

While I like the Pelikano nibs better (at least the ones I've had), the Safari is bigger and more durable. I've put the Safari through the torture test of high school, though, and it's survived mostly well, except for the small fact that the cap no longer fits due to some problem with the inner cap. For a cheap pen it works well.

 

It's special because it's the epitome of the the anti-fancy, something Lamy is very good at. It has modern style, writes well and most importantly it bucks the often stated but often incorrect statement that a FP=expensive.

[ExcaliburZ]

Pentech42 I think hit on an important point, it is a different style. It is not your grandfathers fountain pen. I have five fountain pens, non look like your standard fountain pen. I don't want a traditional looking pen. Safaris stand out without being gaudy, paper clip clip, not totally round, different nib. As for the price versus a Chinese pen, I live in China, a Lamy have some problems but it nothing compared to the Chinese pens.

[jason808]

I guess to each their own.

 

I got really attached to them in college and they've developed into really pleasant writers. They're knockaround worthy, travel in my pocket, come in lots of colors and are easy to clean. I'd agree that a Pilot 78 is cheaper, but I just found them too dry/fine for my taste.

 

As for a Wing Sung...the ones I have are fair, but I wouldn't trust any of those in my pocket.

[limesally]

@Silvermink: I wouldn't recommend a Lamy safari as a cheap pen with steel nib. I would rather recommend an Aurora Idea. Actually, that's the pen I bought for a friend, to introduce her to the world of fountain pens. It's nicer, the design is not so strange as in the Lamy Safari, the nib is good and not dry-writer as the safari... and it's made in Italy!

 

You know, funnily enough, I said to myself, "I bet he's going to recommend one of the low-end Auroras". And if they're as enjoyable to use as my 88 - or even close - I wouldn't disagree with you, either.

 

I would be perfectly happy to pick up a low-end Aurora if I could find one!

But that's another thing about the Safari, it's easy to find - not just in brick and mortar stores, but in any of the on-line stores that I frequent (and I only frequent the ones with reasonable shipping to Canada). It's easy to throw in the cart with other items.

 

If it were as easy for me to have found a low-end Aurora or Wing Sung, I would almost certainly have a couple of each by now.

 

so, Safari succeeds for similar reasons as the Moleskine, (without the hype and fake-o credentials) - good market coverage.

Edited June 3, 2010 by limesally

[faustulus]

I have four pens on me right now, a Pilot Vanishing Point, a Reform P120, a Parker 75 and a Lamy Safari.

The Parker is the best of the bunch. It has a nice nib and writes without hesitation, but it is also the most expensive. At roughly twice what the Safari cost, it should. But is it twice the pen of the Safari? I don't know. What I do know is that if I don't have to worry about losing my Safari. The Reform is also cheap, but not as robust as the Safari. And the vanishing point holds about enough ink for a day's worth of writing. Someone earlier stated pens are tools, I agree, and the Safari is a good tool, it does everything you ask of it for a fair price. What more could you want.

(Also, the Safari wasn't my first pen -- wasn't even in the first few dozen -- but it is one of my favorites.)

[dizzypen]

Hi!

 

I apologize for my question, which will upset many (if not most) of you:

 

I've noticed that everybody (or almost everybody) in this forum has at least one lamy safari..... lots of people even have it in their profile picture, so I guess that they consider it their favourite pen...

 

I never had one before joining this forum (I had a Joy, but it's different), so I decided to buy one, in order to understand what makes them so special for so many people... and I haven't understood yet... I've found it soulless and I gave it to a friend of mine.

 

The safari is a cheap pen, ok, and yes, it writes rather well (but not particularly thrillingly), but I have tried dozens of cheap-pens-with-steel-nibs-and-modern-design in my life, and I simply can't understand why the safari is so special...

 

I can understand that it's a good cheap pen to start with, but... why people who have amazing collections and have been buying luxury and excellent pens keep buying Safaris?

 

Sorry....

Fabio

 

The Safari/Al-Star/Vista was a first "real" fountain pen for many of us. As such, it often times get recommended for a first fountain pen.

 

Some people decided that the Safari/Al-Star/Vista if perfect for their needs so they continue to use them. Others, MANY OTHERS, quickly move away from their Safari/Al-Star/Vista and on to something different.

 

You are incorrect in you assumption that all of us own a Safari/Al-Star/Vista. I do not. I did at one time, but I sold it months ago. There are a lot of people who have done the same.

 

The only Lamy I own is a Limited Edition Violet Lamy Studio. I own this pen because it is pretty and has a nice 14k Medium nib. I don't anticipate owning another Lamy (unless I break down and get one of those ugly 2000's to use for long stretches of writing).

[Kabe]

Fully agree with the OP

[Ada]

I can't explain it -- I do not have one, nor I have I ever tried one. I don't like the look of them (yes, I know this shallow), and having heard that their XFs run wide I see no reason to overcome my dislike of their appearance to try them (I strongly prefer Western XF nibs). But many others here do like them, so they clearly do have redeeming qualities.

[Silvermink]

I can't explain it -- I do not have one, nor I have I ever tried one. I don't like the look of them (yes, I know this shallow)

 

I don't think it's shallow at all. Fountain pens are an aesthetic experience, too, so you may as well write with something you like the look of.

[TangleCrafts]

I couldn't get over the ugliness of the Safari, so bought a Nexx M, instead (which is still no looker, but at least keeps a lower profile).  I have lots of low-mid priced pens but I've found that this is the one I throw in my bag to take to work, because it's sturdy enough to take care of itself.  I've taken lots of my pens to work, and no mishaps have befallen them, but I did worry about them...  It's definitely not my favourite writer, though.