How Did Your Relationship With Lamy (Or Any) Fp Start?

[Sal the List Maker]

I was 10 years old when I received my first FP - it was a Pilot, and a dark forest green (although I saw that some of my classmates had the same pen in a dark red colour. For some reason my father liked to give me green pens, I realise now).

 

I don't remember the model, but I will know it when I see it. In those days we had cursive handwriting practice in class using a FP (why don't they do this anymore?) and we would have had our knuckles smacked with a ruler if we didn't leave a finger's width space between words (I went to a convent and the nuns were ferooooocious). I used the green Pilot until I finished secondary school, after which time, when I entered university at age 18, he gave me a Savannah green Lamy Safari.

 

He had my name engraved on the barrel, and it was THE writing instrument I used for all my notes, exams, and even coursework essays (yes in those days we could submit handwritten assignments, and edits and amendments to the paper were literally cut and pasted onto the essay! Who else experienced this? LOL).

 

I didn't know then (and this was before the Internet and FPN!) that my Lamy could be serviced. I'd dropped it many times and finally the nib didn't write well, the cap was kind of loose so I put it away. We moved, and sadly I lost the pen. A few years ago, I bought my own Lamy Safari in memory of the good old days - a red, then yellow, then the neon pink .and then my collection just grew.

 

It has now been over 30 years since that first Safari, and my dear father is no longer with us. My own son is starting uni this year, and what could be more suitable for a young man about to pursue a degree in petroleum engineering than a Lamy Safari in Petrol? Like my dad did for me, I also had my son's name engraved on the barrel. I hope he'll use it for many years to come!

 

Here is a photo I took of the pen.

 

I'd love to read your story with the Lamy (or any FP, really!). If you have a photo or two to accompany the story, even better!

[Calabria]

I like that Muji pencil!

 

A few of my cooler school mates had Lamys, before the Safari came out - the 25p and cp1. These were not really school pens, and Lamy wasn't in the market for that sector - it was dominated by Geha and Pelikan. A few friends got the Parker 25 towards graduation, and I did as well. That was definitely the cool pen to have. I also bought a Parker Falcon for journaling.

 

My first Lamy that I remember having was the 86, which wrote surprisingly well. It fell on the floor and broke, unfortunately. It's only when I moved to New York that I became nostalgically attached to the German brand and allowed myself the 2000, but it always had to compete with my Pelikans - my all time favorite, the trusty M100, the M200 my sister gave me for graduation, and the M400 my father gave me as a present.

 

I can safely say that Lamy was never my primary pen, but one that I used alongside others. Recently I've become more interested in the brand, as the quality has improved and I am more interested in the design aspect. I agree with their early statement, though, that Lamy is not a pen for everybody.

[Sal the List Maker]

I like that Muji pencil! ...

LOL you noticed. Yes it's my son's.

 

These days even the 'cooler' students hardly know what a FP is (I teach at university) unless their own parents exposed them to this wonderful world of pen and ink.

[Calabria]

LOL you noticed. Yes it's my son's.

 

These days even the 'cooler' students hardly know what a FP is (I teach at university) unless their own parents exposed them to this wonderful world of pen and ink.

Of course I noticed! Nice picture btw - could be my desk! I love the Petrol.

 

I kind of agree but then there was this student using a fp in a coffee shop I go to ... I think it's making a comeback of sorts, among hipsters!

[Sal the List Maker]

That would be great, in fact you might be right, otherwise penmakers would not still be selling FPs. It can't all be old people using FPs LOL.

 

Oh and I converted my nephew into a FP user (and he is hip!) I bought him 2 Safaris - a charcoal & a Vista - when he was 16. He's 20 now and studying architecture. He told me his friends would admire the 'strange' (I'm sure they really mean cool ) pens each time he whips them out to write or draw with them. I must ask him next time I see him if anyone bought a FP after they'd seen his (and will report here LOL).

[Karmachanic]

As a child I went to school. Parker 51

[senzen]

I was barred from using fountain pens because of the extreme mess I made at school, which made my handwriting terrible and painful with ballpoint pens, I eventually thought of retraining myself to write, got a few nice pens but didn't appreciate them; only much later did I get into it with a few Lamy Vistas and Mujis, which made me appreciate ink colours and my older pens. I don't think the transparency of the Visas quite does it for me (only took me seven to realize this ), but I appreciate that they can be reliable pens, and get along with inks no other pens do. Unfortunately they do evaporate faster than other pens.

 

In my quest for specific colours I discovered Studios with EF nibs did exactly what I wanted, even if I had to eventually hack the shiny sections on two of them, one well, the other one botched. It's a strange model with timeless design but fragile finishes. I'm intrigued by older Artus pens.

 

Even when you can get cheaper pens, there's something to be said for the Safari / Vista's original design, ergonomics that work very well for me, quality, reliability.

[inkstainedruth]

My first Lamy was the Dark Lilac LE from a few years ago. I had tried someone's Safari or al-Star at a pen club meeting early on, but didn't think I could get used to the triangular grip (I had graduated from a couple of cheapie Parker Reflexes to a Parker Vector, and then to a Parker Urban, then found my way onto FPN).

Several years ago someone put together a secret Santa thing on here, and then did another one for Valentine's Day. And one of the things I got for the Valentine's one was a metal-body Jinhao 599 (a Safari/al-Star clone). And I found I actually didn't mind the section after all, so I decided to get one, either a Safari or an al-Star. Didn't like the grip on an al-Star I tried at a pen show; thought I'd go all wild and crazy and get a pink Safari, but didn't like the color when I saw what it looked like in person. Then the Dark Lilac came out and it was All Over™.... I've since added a Ruthenium LX to the stash.

I'd love to get one of the French blue ones with the red clip, but I'm not willing to pay the nosebleed prices for one.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[1nkulus]

My grandfather taught me to use a FP in school and the journey still continues. I remember using his grey Lamy FP, unsure of the model.

[bogiesan]

Goulet had a close out on some Lamy AlStars a few years ago. I bought three, two for me and one for my son. I now have 7 AlStars and 3 Safaris.

[inkfade]

When I was still in high school in the early 2010s, I had bought a Monteverde rollerball pen to journal with, because I wanted to feel fancier, but it was too heavy to use comfortably, so I went looking again for a fancy pen. Stumbled across the Nemosine Singularity (back then they were $15 on Amazon), bought one with an EF nib, and used that exclusively (and ignorantly) with calligraphy ink (!!) for a few years. As for Lamy, used to think Safaris were hideous, but then I bought the Dark Lilac LE when it came out because it was my favorite color, and then ended up buying another Dark Lilac, and now I own way too many Safaris and variations. Back then I would have scoffed at whoever told me the Safari would end up being one of my favorite pens. Also have long since realized calligraphy ink is no good for fps lol.

[Almu]

In early 2015 I was looking to buy my first fountain pen, and I ended up choosing a Lamy Safari.

 

I honestly think I couldn't have chosen better, as so far I've only found one pen that I like as much as the Safari (Lamy 2000).

[Albrecht17]

In the first year we were learning how to write in school we were all issued a Lamy ABC. I received a 'lefthanded' version in red. A fountain pen, combined with a lefthanded kid and a teacher who preferred me not writing with my left hand was a lethal combination. My rapport cards were all bad when it came to writing and neatness and I became to hate writing. When I could finally drop the fountain pen and start writing with a ballpoint, I finally learned to write properly.

 

Fast forward to about two years ago. During a deep clean of our house, I found my old Lamy ABC, unable to throw it away. I even still had some cartridges with it. I started to write with it again and it was so much fun. Way better than during school, as I now had become an underwriter and was able to write with it without making a mess. By then I had also started to write novels and short stories and how cool would it be to do that with a fountain pen. So I did some research, needing a fatter grip to accommodate my rheumatism affected hands. I decided a Lamy Nexx M was a good choice. So I dragged my husband with me to Akkerman and bought it.

 

By now I know the joy of writing with a fountain pen, and I have found that with the right pen, neb, ink and paper I can write with a fountain pen for longer periods of time with limited pain in my fingers. So the collection is ever growing, being the proud owner of two Nexx, a couple of Safaris and others. And I still have the old Lamy ABC!

[bitterwonder]

I camehome from third grade in 1963 needing a fountain pen to learn to write with. My father gave me my Uncles 1935 Waterman. Used it in grade and high school, college and grad school and still use it today. Wanted a Shaeffer cartridge pen like everyone else but parents tbought it too expensive. I finally got one and used it throughout my school years and beyond.

I have been writing and drawing with fountainpens all these years and have a lot. My Waterman and Schaeffer still thrill me to use.

[Intensity]

Kept reading about Lamy Safari being THE fountain pen to get, before I got into fountain pens. But I didn't like the shiny appearance of the standard models I saw. They looked like todler toys.

 

Then I noticed Lamy Safari Petrol, and it was love at first sight. Not only was it matte textured, but with black nib and clip, and in a beautiful dark muted green-teal color. It was my first Lamy, and it took me a while to hunt down some of the Petrol ink. I've since added (and then sold some) LX and Al-Star pens, but ultimately realized that I really don't like the super-nail-like steel Lamy nibs, with the exception of the italic versions. My favorite is the 1.5mm italic nib. Recently I was able to get a great deal on a second-(really third-)hand gold Z55 nib in Fine, and it made a big difference in my enjoyment of using my Safari/LX. It's not so much the springiness, though that's nice too, but the somehow softer feel of writing. Like a soft pencil gliding on paper as opposed to a smoothed rounded nail. I have some lovely soft-feeling steel nibs on a couple of other pens, so it's not entirely the gold vs. steel difference. But something about the Z55 gold nibs just makes them much nicer to write with over the steel counterparts. Now I really wish it were possible to get an italic Z55 gold nib.

 

I now have a Lamy 2000 Makrolon on pre-order, which I did like as soon as I saw it a couple of years ago and loved even more when I handled one at a pen shop. As much as I like the look of the new Pastel Lamy Safaris and the Bronze Al-Star, I won't be getting those because of the steel nibs.

[Enkida]

My sister visited me for her summer vacation roughly 2 years ago. She does calligraphy for fun and is quite good at it, and she wanted to get me into fountain pens so she joyfully shared the collection she'd brought overseas with her for me to test.

 

I was a little intimidated by the inundation of what I now recognize as some mid-to-high-end fountain pens that were in her collection amongst the Kakunos and Jinhaos, but I did get myself an Online College fountain pen, F nibbed, to satisfy my curiosity. It was OK, not too great, and I now recognize that I hate the pen, but at the time I was just still not very into it. I liked the ability to use fancy inks but the pens weren't all that great to me, and then she left me a sample of Diamine Shimmering Seas (which I also strongly dislike, I recognize now), which promptly clogged up my pen like nothing else, and I forgot about it all for a while.

After she left, though, I got curious, because I live in Germany, home of the Safari, so I got myself one. Then the husband got himself an AL-Star. Then I got myself a LE Safari that was apparently out of production at the time (Dark Lilac or Petrol or something). Then I got a blue one, because it was nice and cheap. Then I got a few more inks. And then and then and then...

 

Now I'm on my way to owning a Lamy 2k, haha. I let myself be bamboozled into getting way too many M nibbed Safaris, before realizing I was originally right: I like the fine nibs. And here we are today, I now have 14 Lamy pens in my collection and almost five times that much ink to use with them.

[Ruxton]

I was going down the YouTube hole, watching how stuff is made videos and ended up watching the Goulet Lamy how they're made video.

Intrigued, I tried a Vista, a few hours later I ordered a Studio and a Joy and have since piled onto Safari's and Al-Star's.

[Sal the List Maker]

My sister visited me for her summer vacation roughly 2 years ago. She does calligraphy for fun and is quite good at it, and she wanted to get me into fountain pens so she joyfully shared the collection she'd brought overseas with her for me to test.

 

I was a little intimidated by the inundation of what I now recognize as some mid-to-high-end fountain pens that were in her collection amongst the Kakunos and Jinhaos, but I did get myself an Online College fountain pen, F nibbed, to satisfy my curiosity. It was OK, not too great, and I now recognize that I hate the pen, but at the time I was just still not very into it. I liked the ability to use fancy inks but the pens weren't all that great to me, and then she left me a sample of Diamine Shimmering Seas (which I also strongly dislike, I recognize now), which promptly clogged up my pen like nothing else, and I forgot about it all for a while.

After she left, though, I got curious, because I live in Germany, home of the Safari, so I got myself one. Then the husband got himself an AL-Star. Then I got myself a LE Safari that was apparently out of production at the time (Dark Lilac or Petrol or something). Then I got a blue one, because it was nice and cheap. Then I got a few more inks. And then and then and then...

 

Now I'm on my way to owning a Lamy 2k, haha. I let myself be bamboozled into getting way too many M nibbed Safaris, before realizing I was originally right: I like the fine nibs. And here we are today, I now have 14 Lamy pens in my collection and almost five times that much ink to use with them.

You started 2 years ago and now have 14 Lamys?!!

 

Who else a late bloomer LOL.

[Enkida]

You started 2 years ago and now have 14 Lamys?!!

 

Who else a late bloomer LOL.

 

Well my husband started at the same time and he now has 19 plus one ink roller, so there you go.

 

By the way, note that I only mentioned Lamys in that post.

I'm actually a Waterman and Pelikan fan now. Pilots aren't that bad either, but I'm falling out of love with Faber Castell... fortunately Kaweco is there to pick up the slack........ uh, and TWSBI come to think of it

Edited May 6, 2019 by Enkida

[LuckyKate]

I bought a Lamy Alstar--a green color--in the early 2000s (2004/5/6?--I don't remember exactly). I don't remember where I bought it. Maybe Farhney's? For 10 years it and a Pelikan 250 were my only fountain pens. I took that al-star everywhere with me. It faded in the sun and was chewed on by my cats (it has little bite marks).

 

In 2014 I somehow went from using fountain pens to being obsessed by them. I bought a Pelikan 600 green tortoise and two Nakayas followed by many other pens. My first Lamy is sitting somewhat sadly in a cup with a loose cap, cat teeth marks, and aluminum bleached almost yellow. I do feel attached to it but have lots of other bright and shiny al-stars now. The Pacific blue and copper orange are my favorites.