Lamy Safari review

[aka]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I really wanted one of these, especially after reading this review and looking at the pictures!! I'm glad to say....

 

I just bought one!!!

 

Picked it up yesterday with a 1.1mm italic nib!!!

 

Loving it~

[von buck]

I'm thinking of picking up a couple of them this weekend. So I take it at a store, the pen will only have a M nib, and if you want something else you'll have to order it? I like fine nibs and want to try the italic one.

Plus I like the color options.

 

Andy

[RLTodd]

I find the Lamy Safari almost perfect for a daily writer. It is just that I find the Pelikan Future a bit more almost perfect and so I carry it.

[el3ssar]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I really wanted one of these, especially after reading this review and looking at the pictures!! I'm glad to say....

 

I just bought one!!!

 

Picked it up yesterday with a 1.1mm italic nib!!!

 

Loving it~

Thanks for the kind words Hope you'll enjoy your Safari !

 

 

 

I'm thinking of picking up a couple of them this weekend. So I take it at a store, the pen will only have a M nib, and if you want something else you'll have to order it? I like fine nibs and want to try the italic one.

Plus I like the color options.

 

Andy

 

www.thewritingdesk.co.uk and www.swisherpens.com sell Safari nibs for a very reasonable price (No affiliation)

 

[Rapt]

Got my first Lamy Safari/Vista with EF nib last week.

 

I can certainly see why they're popular, ts a really nice pen for its price point.

[Juan in Andalucia]

I got 2 Safaris white (the shiny ones with chrome clips); at the shop there was an army of the shiny black ones, which is I think, a regular model, not a linited edition.

 

Is the white one a limited edition?

 

Juan in Andalucía... guess which is gonna be my next pen.

[aka]

I think the shiny black were also special editions~

[limesally]

I'm thinking of picking up a couple of them this weekend. So I take it at a store, the pen will only have a M nib, and if you want something else you'll have to order it?

 

Not necessarily - when DH and I got ours recently, they both had M nibs and the dealer replaced them with F nibs at our request. It probably depends on the dealer.

 

[Hans-Peter Ording]

Is the white one a limited edition?

The black and the white ones were both special editions, but the black pen is now a regular model. So the white ones will soon be difficult to find while the black ones are everywhere.

 

Regards

Hans-Peter

 

[Juan in Andalucia]

 

Thanks, I knew that at some point, both had been special editions. The girl at the shop put F nibs instead of the M they came with, and the one I'm using is great; sort of F/EF and very smooth.

 

Juan

[calliej]

I have had mine a few days now - love it to bits

 

mine is the matt black with m nib but have ef and b on the way

 

it is a little narrow on the grip for me with extended writing but its worth the pain!

 

its the first pen i've ever had that wrote straight off - the al-star that arrived the same day needed encouragement and skips (still love that too though)

[el3ssar]

I have had mine a few days now - love it to bits

 

mine is the matt black with m nib but have ef and b on the way

 

it is a little narrow on the grip for me with extended writing but its worth the pain!

 

its the first pen i've ever had that wrote straight off - the al-star that arrived the same day needed encouragement and skips (still love that too though)

 

 

Congratulation for your new pens ! You should try to clean your AlStar : flush it with cold/lukewarm water a couple of time, or soak it with a drop of soap in a glass of water and then flush it !

 

My Safari was a bit scratchy the first time I used it, I cleaned it and now it works perfectly !

[nicholasyeo]

There are a few issues with this pen, some of which include:

 

1- The Lamy ink included is not good. Always better to use other brands of ink, most preferably darker ones. Lamy ink is greyish and bluish, probably from the different dyes used to make it. The Lamy ink is also watery.

2- Always better to use converter with other brands inkwells, as the cartridges have the above problem, as well as writing that is not really fine.

3- The pen leaks ink at the nib's slit when the cap is pulled of. If pulled off very very very carefully, it will turn out fine, however if not, blotches of ink appear at the tip, making the pen's nib unpleasant to look at. Maybe, the hot weather conditions in my country Singapore cause this, or maybe my 3 pens all have defects, or maybe it is simple, the Lamy ink sucks. I verified this problem by using a converter for one pen, a cartridge for another, and another with a cartridge.

 

Despite all this,

 

1- The pen is very very very durable and reliable.

2- Lightweight making it good to carry everywhere.

3- Cheap, which means you won't cry when you lose it. Very good for students.

4- Smooth to write with, coming with a large sweet spot - when comparing with some pens that cost thousands of dollars.

Edited July 5, 2008 by nicholasyeo

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Pardon me for being late to the party, but...

 

This particular Safari has a few neat things that I haven't seen on the other models:

- With the matte finish, the grip is not polished smooth. It has a finish that users who are in hot damp sweaty conditions may appreciate; also those who wear slippery gloves (cotton, silk, etc.) will also appreciate the enhanced texture.

- Oddly, the word 'Lamy' on the barrel is not apparent when writing: it faces down toward the writing surface.

 

As with other Safaris with the black coloured nibs, it hides the great nastiness of the nib creep of typical of some [Noodler's] inks.

 

Bye,

S1

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks, I'm probibly one of the few who don't have one of these maybe its time I did.

[maschuu]

 

- Oddly, the word 'Lamy' on the barrel is not apparent when writing: it faces down toward the writing surface.

 

The orientation of the logo is not fixed, it only depends on how you position the barrel when screwing it onto the nib part.

[hecya]

My first fountain pen was a Lamy Safari I bought about 7 years ago with an F nib. It was a complete disaster as the nib skipped frequently and was very scratchy. I tried everything and nothing worked. I still have the pen.

 

So I came to the (wrong) conclusion that the skipping was to expect from a fine nib when writing on normal everyday paper as it didn´t skip on couche paper. So I kept myself away from fountain pens as my writing is small and requires the use of fine points. Eventually I got a Pilot G-Tec extra fine gel pen that is just perfect for me.

 

Past february my wife gave me another Lamy with F nib as a gift. I even tried to return it to the store before using it because I was so sure that it would be exactly the same as the first one. My wife convinced me to try the new pen (she said that at the store she tested an F nib) and I was hooked to fountain pens once and for all. This new pen writes smoothly, no skipping and very little scratchiness.

 

Since then I have acquired several more fountain pens.

[smwknits]

I love my Lamy Safaris! When I got into FPs a couple of years ago, the medium blue with red clip, and medium nib, was my first. I wouldn't have thought so, but the molded grip section works for my over-writing left hand. I have five now, in five different colors. Oddly though, the nibs are inconsistent. Of the two medium nibs I have, one writes more like a fine. And one of the fines, writes like my newest medium nib. I'm thinking of ordering an italic nib just for fun!

[harryakaurda]

My first real fountain pen was the Lamy safari in black with medium nib love it grat pics.

[jpeck]

Thanks for a great review.

I've got a red Safari with EF nib myself, although it's about twice as wide as my Sailor F.

I think Safaris are a bit dry writers, and they are not buttery smooth, but I love the feeling when I use it.

It has just right amount of resistance against the paper, and it feels and sounds like I'm writing with a #2 pencil.

It's very hard to beat this pen at this price range.