Estie Or Safari

[cadfael_tex]

Not much difference in price for the Lamy Safari with converter and a restored Esterbrook SJ. Which would you have?

[Sasha Royale]

What is the intended use ?

The SJ can be an excellent writer, and carries well in the shirt pocket.

The Safari is well-suited to rugged environments. This "ugly" pen will last three lifetimes.

A college student gets the Safari. His father gets the Esterbrook. I have both.

[cadfael_tex]

I don't do rugged much anymore though I am thinking of getting a Safaari for my middle school son.

[rwilsonedn]

Many differences, and each has its fanboys. The Safari is a creature of the 1970s Modern wave: pacifier-grade plastic, bullet (and tooth) proof, rugged steel nib of unpredictable line width, and a triangular section that some love and others loathe. It uses a proprietary cartridge and converter.

The Esterbrook is of another era--arguably the 1940s. Its shape, size, and decoration all look back to classic 1930s pens. The nibs are interchangeable, and usually excellent, even in the low-cost series, but they won't take abuse. Most Esties are lever-fillers, a very traditional and reliable mechanism once the sac has been restored.

So it's really a matter of preference: mid-century modern student pen, or reprise for adults of the golden age of pens. Both are solid products.

ron

[sirgilbert357]

There is also a significant size difference between an SJ and the Safari...I would hope that isn't being overlooked.

[inkstainedruth]

What other people have said.

Plus, I think it's going to depend on the nib. If it's a 1xxx nib I would probably lean towards the Safari; also if you have really large hands (the SJs really are quite small pens in comparison). If it's a 9xxx series nib I'd likely go for the Estie; also if you don't think you can get used to the triangular section.

I have about 15 Esterbrook J series pens at this point. I have 1 Safari (plus a metal bodied Jinhao 599, which is a knockoff of a Safari/Al-star.

Odds are, you're probably going to end up with both at some point....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[vinniekowalski]

I have greatly enjoyed using my Esterbrook J more than my previous Safari. More history in your hand, I feel, and the nibs have been more consistently good.

 

Plus if you're hoping your son will get into it, I think the Estie is a better gateway drug -- more variation in nibs, more stories in terms of who's used them through the years, and it's still pretty rugged in terms of an every day carry pen.

[cadfael_tex]

There is also a significant size difference between an SJ and the Safari...I would hope that isn't being overlooked.

Having not handled the SJ is there a modern pen or two that is comparable sized? Which of the Pelikans for instance?

[pajaro]

The Safari. It looks cleaner in design, but is a poorer writer than the Esterbrook. However, the Lamy Safari is easier to find in the pen cup full of pens that dry up.

[cadfael_tex]

The Safari. It looks cleaner in design, but is a poorer writer than the Esterbrook. However, the Lamy Safari is easier to find in the pen cup full of pens that dry up.

 

Please elaborate, don't think I fully get what you wrote.

[welch]

Esterbrook: SJ, LJ, or full J. Restored, they are about the same price as a Safari. The Lamy has a strange grip...unless you love it, it feels like torment. Esterbrooks had a typical round grip.

 

Esterbrook offered about 16 types of nib in three different classes...roughly economy (1xxx series with folded-under tip), moderate (2xxx better with folded-under tip), and good steel (9xxx: tip welded to the nib). Each Esterbrook nib-unit (called a Renew-Point) can unscrew and be swapped for any other Esterbrook nib-unit. "Buy one Esterbrook pen-body and three Renew-Points...it's like owning three pens!" (approximate advertising slogan).

 

Further, an Esterbrook cap and barrel -- the colorful ones -- are beautiful. Clean even the dirtiest with sunshine cloth and it gleams.

 

Finally, an Esterbrook was one of the toughest fountain pens ever made. In design terms, they were "over-built"...as clumsy as I am, the only Estie I ever (mostly) destroyed was one that I scorched with a heat gun, the first time I used a heat gun. The section and nib, however, survived just fine; I put them into a Majestic, a pretty-looking third tier pen that had an atrocious nib.

Edited July 22, 2016 by welch

[welch]

Having not handled the SJ is there a modern pen or two that is comparable sized? Which of the Pelikans for instance?

 

The SJ is about the same size as a Pelikan M150...the smallest Pelikan. Both feel a proper size when you "post" the cap.

 

The "full" J is about 5 inches capped. The SJ is about 4.75 inches. The Slender J (LJ) is about 5 inches, but thinner than the "full" J. A Nurses / Doctor's pen was about 4.75 inches but nearly as thick as the J.

[cadfael_tex]

Just too throw out another option - Parker 21?

[Water Ouzel]

Not much difference in price for the Lamy Safari with converter and a restored Esterbrook SJ. Which would you have?

 

Both. Eventually.

 

I prefer Esterbrook's nib selection possibilities, my wife prefers the Lamy nibs (puts them on her Al Star, which is more prettier). The Safari section annoys some people, though.

 

The Safari seems tougher, but as I don't abuse my pens, it's not a factor for me.

 

Finally, I ended up with Esterbrook J's, the SJ's being too small to be comfortable to me. (A Pelikan M200 is about as small as I go comfortably, and that almost always posted.)

Edited July 22, 2016 by Water Ouzel

[welch]

Just too throw out another option - Parker 21?

 

The Parker 45 was my long-time school pen. Durable. Comfortable writer. One of the first cartridge / converter pens, and Parker-Aurora cartridges fit any P45.

[zwack]

Personally... My wife loves Lamy Al Stars (the metal bodied version of the Safari) but she also loves the Esterbrooks she has.

 

Personally I prefer the Esterbrooks and there are more nibs available for them. The Lamys have EF, F, M, B, 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9 Stubs... That is 7 options. Esterbrooks have about 10 times as many options. Some of those are variations in quality rather than style but there are 18 2xxx series nibs for example.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/nibs/renew_point.htm

 

So, both are good pens, and you can't go wrong with either.

[Runnin_Ute]

The red one is an Esterbrook SJ, the green a Pelikan M150 - uncapped

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/20160722_195648_zpswoqdwvgs.jpg

 

Note that the M150 as short as it is unposted is still about 10 mm longer than the SJ. (117 mm to107 mm approx.) For short periods I can use the M150 unposted. For virtually everything I have to post the SJ. I got one because I didn't have one and gave me a SJ, J and LJ......

 

Same pens capped....

 

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-07/20160722_195726_zpsjmitb53w.jpg

 

Capped the difference is only 2 mm (122 mm to about 120 mm)

 

From wrist to tip of middle finger my hands are about 210 mm

 

My SJ is a lovely writer - uses the 9450 nib. Right now, neither is inked. I have a J and two M200's inked right now.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Runnin_Ute

[ac12]

 

Not much difference in price for the Lamy Safari with converter and a restored Esterbrook SJ. Which would you have?

 

 

I would go with the longer LJ, rather than the shorter SJ.

[Runnin_Ute]

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-01/20160127_180935_zpsxwmycjtl.jpg

 

Green and Gray = J

Red = SJ

Black = LJ

 

just to give some idea of relative size.

[inkandseeds]

My preference would be the Estie. I rotate through a lot of different pens in a year, but keep coming back to my Esterbrooks. Love the nib selection. Have been using three Esterbrooks this last week (two 2556's and one 9048).