Lamy Safari

[paul1968]

Hi all. Paul from the UK here and my 1st day on FPN. So please be gentle. I've been into fountain pens for about the last 18 months and have a small collection of about 28 pens ranging from 1926 up to the present day. Anyway, after using some of these pens I began to think what if I dropped 1 and damaged a nib? I imagine some would be very difficult to replace. So I decided to look at a modern pen for everyday use. After looking at several websites, I decided to go with a suggestion from S.B.R.E. Brown and got a Lamy safari and also bought the ink converter. All in all a very cheap £23. So I got it home, slipped in the converter and inked up with Diamine Tudor Blue and started to write. I was stunned. I have less smooth 14k gold nibs than this. the writing experience is second to none and the pen has a lovely feel in the hand and the nib glided over the paper. This is a writing bargain. I know that a lot of you will already know this and I hope I haven't waffled on too much and that this post is of interest to anybody who is looking for an everyday pen at a great price. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.

 

Paul

[inkstainedruth]

Howdy from Pittsburgh!

It took me a good long while to cotton up to the triangular section on Safaris, but now I'm sold. What nib width did you get? I have an F on the Dark Lilac, and and M on the Ruthenium LX, and they are both very smooth....

Oh, and I recently got a bottle of Tudor Blue and it's a very nice color.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[goodpens]

Welcome, Paul.

[paul1968]

Thx guys for the warm welcome. Hi Ruth. In answer to your question I got a medium nib which is nice but I may get a fine nib too. Just to try it. I've also got a bottle of Diamine regency blue too. I haven't tried it yet but it looks lovely on the writing sample on the website I bought it from. I'm also luck as Diamine is in Liverpool about 20 miles from where I live so i'm thinking of contacting them to see if I can buy direct. Fingers crossed. What inks do you like to use?

 

Paul

[inkstainedruth]

Oh, where do I start....?

My husband tells people I used to collect pens, but now I collect inks....

I like a lot of blues and blue blacks, some pinks, a lot of purples. More partial when it comes to greens (I like ones that lean just a little yellow), reds (I want a true, smack in the middle of the spectrum fire-engine red), and browns (don't like ones that lean red).

Right now I'm using a lot of Iroshizuku Kon-peki and Edelstein Tanzanite, but also have a tWSBI 580-AL inked up with Lamy Vibrant Pink, and vintage Sheaffer Snorkel with some vintage Skrip V-Black (although it's more of a grayish brown), and an old Parker Vacumatic Speedline filler has vintage Quink Pen Permanent Microfilm Black (which seems to have a blue-black undertone to it).

Probably my favorite inks (in no particular order:

Noodler's Kung Te Cheng Walnut, Heart of Darkness, and El Lawrence

Diamine Oxford Blue, Classic Red, Turquoise (the best match I've found for vintage Skrip Peacock) and Anniversary Terra Cotta (the only red-leaning brown I really like)

De Atramentis Red Roses (which is scented). Sky Blue, Aubergine and Tchaikowsky/Silver Grey.

KWZI IG Violet #3, IG Blue-Black, IG Blue #3 and IG Gummiberry.

J Herbin Eclat de Saphir, 1670 Rouge Hematite, 1670 Stormy Grey.

Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Yama-guri, and Kon-peki (and I'm waffling over Tsuyu-kusa).

Akkerman Shocking Blue, Rood Haags Pluche, Izjer-Galnoten, and Dutch Masters Ruisdael Stormachtig Blauw.

Pelikan 4001 Violet, Edelstein Tanzanite, Edelstein Amethyst LE, Edelstein Smoky Quartz [still waffling between Edelstein Topaz, Diamine Havasu Turquoise, and Akkerman Treves-Turquoise.

Lamy Vibrant Pink LE, Dark Lilac LE, and Pacifa LE.

Birmingham Pens Truss Blue, Walnut Street Brown (original formula), Thicket Green.

Montblanc Lavender Purple and Leo Tolstoy LE.

Rohrer and Klingner Salix (another iron gall ink) and Documentus Hellblau.

Robert Oster Moss; still making up my mind about Black Violet -- which is extremely dry -- and Midnight Sapphire (and have a bunch of samples I haven't tried yet).

some vintage Quink inks, particularly the Microfilm Black, and Violet.

Private Reserve American Blue and Ebony Purple.

Waterman Mysterious Blue - it's my go-to ink for one of my Vacumatics, which has been in constant rotation without being flushed any other sort of maintenance for nearly 3 years (!).

And one that I'm not sure is available any more: Turkish Night, by FPN member Pharmacist (a "cyan-black" iron gall ink that is one of the few green leaning turquoises/teal leaning greens I can stand...).

​Platinum Classic Lavender Black IG and Forest Black IG.

Yikes! The list is longer than I realized, and doesn't even include a lot of inks that I like (just not as well as the "must haves"...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[alexwi]

I have less smooth 14k gold nibs than this.

 

Hi Paul,

 

In my experience gold vs. steel has no bearing on smoothness.

 

Lamy's nibs are some of the smoothest I've used. I've tried EF, F, M, and B, and they're all a pleasure to write with. And they use the same nibs from the Safari on many other models, so it's easy to know what one's getting into with them.

 

I have a Sheaffer Prelude and 2 Parker Sonnets that write just as smoothly (if not more) than some of my pens with gold nibs (Aurora Ipsilon Deluxe comes to mind).

 

I imagine that the difference lies on the nib's flexibility, which to me is immaterial because I'm not into flexing.

 

Enjoy your Safari and welcome! (one of these days I'll muster the courage to introduce myself) ;-)

 

alex

[paul1968]

Hi again Ruth. Wow you have a serious collection of inks going on there. I'm only just getting into the ink thing and have been looking at Akkerman myself. As for Noodlers, I believe its great ink but quite difficult to get hold of here in the UK. I can order from the US but sometimes the postage is more expensive than the item. However I think I'll get my ass in gear and order some. I notice you have a bottle of Edelstein. I have a bottle of Onyx and it's a superb black. I'm always going on about pens and and ink, even paper. I'm sure my wife thinks I'm insane. But what I have found, in the fountain pen world, is that people are so friendly and are more than will ing to help you. I'm just starting, tentatively, I might add to get in to the restoration side of things. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no Richard Binder or Peter Twydle, but on a cheap pen I'm more than willing to give it a go. Plus it's my 50th birthday in Sept and my familywant to club together for something. So i'm thinking a Mont Blanc 149 Meisterstuck. Dreaming? Probably. Keep in touch.

 

Paul.

Oh, where do I start....?

My husband tells people I used to collect pens, but now I collect inks....

I like a lot of blues and blue blacks, some pinks, a lot of purples. More partial when it comes to greens (I like ones that lean just a little yellow), reds (I want a true, smack in the middle of the spectrum fire-engine red), and browns (don't like ones that lean red).

Right now I'm using a lot of Iroshizuku Kon-peki and Edelstein Tanzanite, but also have a tWSBI 580-AL inked up with Lamy Vibrant Pink, and vintage Sheaffer Snorkel with some vintage Skrip V-Black (although it's more of a grayish brown), and an old Parker Vacumatic Speedline filler has vintage Quink Pen Permanent Microfilm Black (which seems to have a blue-black undertone to it).

Probably my favorite inks (in no particular order:

Noodler's Kung Te Cheng Walnut, Heart of Darkness, and El Lawrence

Diamine Oxford Blue, Classic Red, Turquoise (the best match I've found for vintage Skrip Peacock) and Anniversary Terra Cotta (the only red-leaning brown I really like)

De Atramentis Red Roses (which is scented). Sky Blue, Aubergine and Tchaikowsky/Silver Grey.

KWZI IG Violet #3, IG Blue-Black, IG Blue #3 and IG Gummiberry.

J Herbin Eclat de Saphir, 1670 Rouge Hematite, 1670 Stormy Grey.

Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Yama-guri, and Kon-peki (and I'm waffling over Tsuyu-kusa).

Akkerman Shocking Blue, Rood Haags Pluche, Izjer-Galnoten, and Dutch Masters Ruisdael Stormachtig Blauw.

Pelikan 4001 Violet, Edelstein Tanzanite, Edelstein Amethyst LE, Edelstein Smoky Quartz [still waffling between Edelstein Topaz, Diamine Havasu Turquoise, and Akkerman Treves-Turquoise.

Lamy Vibrant Pink LE, Dark Lilac LE, and Pacifa LE.

Birmingham Pens Truss Blue, Walnut Street Brown (original formula), Thicket Green.

Montblanc Lavender Purple and Leo Tolstoy LE.

Rohrer and Klingner Salix (another iron gall ink) and Documentus Hellblau.

Robert Oster Moss; still making up my mind about Black Violet -- which is extremely dry -- and Midnight Sapphire (and have a bunch of samples I haven't tried yet).

some vintage Quink inks, particularly the Microfilm Black, and Violet.

Private Reserve American Blue and Ebony Purple.

Waterman Mysterious Blue - it's my go-to ink for one of my Vacumatics, which has been in constant rotation without being flushed any other sort of maintenance for nearly 3 years (!).

And one that I'm not sure is available any more: Turkish Night, by FPN member Pharmacist (a "cyan-black" iron gall ink that is one of the few green leaning turquoises/teal leaning greens I can stand...).

​Platinum Classic Lavender Black IG and Forest Black IG.

Yikes! The list is longer than I realized, and doesn't even include a lot of inks that I like (just not as well as the "must haves"...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Oh, where do I start....?

My husband tells people I used to collect pens, but now I collect inks....

I like a lot of blues and blue blacks, some pinks, a lot of purples. More partial when it comes to greens (I like ones that lean just a little yellow), reds (I want a true, smack in the middle of the spectrum fire-engine red), and browns (don't like ones that lean red).

Right now I'm using a lot of Iroshizuku Kon-peki and Edelstein Tanzanite, but also have a tWSBI 580-AL inked up with Lamy Vibrant Pink, and vintage Sheaffer Snorkel with some vintage Skrip V-Black (although it's more of a grayish brown), and an old Parker Vacumatic Speedline filler has vintage Quink Pen Permanent Microfilm Black (which seems to have a blue-black undertone to it).

Probably my favorite inks (in no particular order:

Noodler's Kung Te Cheng Walnut, Heart of Darkness, and El Lawrence

Diamine Oxford Blue, Classic Red, Turquoise (the best match I've found for vintage Skrip Peacock) and Anniversary Terra Cotta (the only red-leaning brown I really like)

De Atramentis Red Roses (which is scented). Sky Blue, Aubergine and Tchaikowsky/Silver Grey.

KWZI IG Violet #3, IG Blue-Black, IG Blue #3 and IG Gummiberry.

J Herbin Eclat de Saphir, 1670 Rouge Hematite, 1670 Stormy Grey.

Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Yama-guri, and Kon-peki (and I'm waffling over Tsuyu-kusa).

Akkerman Shocking Blue, Rood Haags Pluche, Izjer-Galnoten, and Dutch Masters Ruisdael Stormachtig Blauw.

Pelikan 4001 Violet, Edelstein Tanzanite, Edelstein Amethyst LE, Edelstein Smoky Quartz [still waffling between Edelstein Topaz, Diamine Havasu Turquoise, and Akkerman Treves-Turquoise.

Lamy Vibrant Pink LE, Dark Lilac LE, and Pacifa LE.

Birmingham Pens Truss Blue, Walnut Street Brown (original formula), Thicket Green.

Montblanc Lavender Purple and Leo Tolstoy LE.

Rohrer and Klingner Salix (another iron gall ink) and Documentus Hellblau.

Robert Oster Moss; still making up my mind about Black Violet -- which is extremely dry -- and Midnight Sapphire (and have a bunch of samples I haven't tried yet).

some vintage Quink inks, particularly the Microfilm Black, and Violet.

Private Reserve American Blue and Ebony Purple.

Waterman Mysterious Blue - it's my go-to ink for one of my Vacumatics, which has been in constant rotation without being flushed any other sort of maintenance for nearly 3 years (!).

And one that I'm not sure is available any more: Turkish Night, by FPN member Pharmacist (a "cyan-black" iron gall ink that is one of the few green leaning turquoises/teal leaning greens I can stand...).

​Platinum Classic Lavender Black IG and Forest Black IG.

Yikes! The list is longer than I realized, and doesn't even include a lot of inks that I like (just not as well as the "must haves"...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[paul1968]

Hi Alex. I know what you're saying. I have some lovely pens but this Lamy is superb. It's smotther than my Waterman Laureat ballpoint, which is really silky smooth. However, I have a Parker 45, my old school pen which got me in to fountain pens again in the first place. They've got a lot to answer for haha. But I bought an XF nib for that which suits my writing style, as my writing is quite small and with this nib my writing doesn't look cluttered if you know what I mean? Think I'll buy an XF or F nib for my safari. I don't know whether you watch SBRE Browns videos on youtube, but he did a "greatest of all time" fountain pens and the safari was 1 of them. I don't know how they do it for the money. Keep in touch Alex.

 

Paul

Hi Paul,

 

In my experience gold vs. steel has no bearing on smoothness.

 

Lamy's nibs are some of the smoothest I've used. I've tried EF, F, M, and B, and they're all a pleasure to write with. And they use the same nibs from the Safari on many other models, so it's easy to know what one's getting into with them.

 

I have a Sheaffer Prelude and 2 Parker Sonnets that write just as smoothly (if not more) than some of my pens with gold nibs (Aurora Ipsilon Deluxe comes to mind).

 

I imagine that the difference lies on the nib's flexibility, which to me is immaterial because I'm not into flexing.

 

Enjoy your Safari and welcome! (one of these days I'll muster the courage to introduce myself) ;-)

 

alex

[Marioferu]

Wellcome and happy colector journal. I have found that german made pens are very soft. I have two Lamys one of them stub 1.1 which is even more Smooth. Also own a fine Faber-Castell E-motion (fine fill less “smooth”). My recent adquisition is a Montblanc Boheme with a 585 gold nib. The only Pelikan that I own is a vintage M600 that purchased for £80 british pounds. All of they write like a dream. The other soft dream writers are my Japanese Platinum, Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point and Falcon.

[paul1968]

Hi Marioferu. I know what you're saying about German pens. I have a vintage Goldfaun about 40 Years old and it writes like new. Ive been looking at Montblancs and Pelikan too and the e-motion has had good reviews. As for the Pilot vanishing point thats on my wishlist.

 

Paul

Wellcome and happy colector journal. I have found that german made pens are very soft. I have two Lamys one of them stub 1.1 which is even more Smooth. Also own a fine Faber-Castell E-motion (fine fill less “smooth”). My recent adquisition is a Montblanc Boheme with a 585 gold nib. The only Pelikan that I own is a vintage M600 that purchased for £80 british pounds. All of they write like a dream. The other soft dream writers are my Japanese Platinum, Pilot Namiki Vanishing Point and Falcon.