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Lamy Safari Charcoal | Ef | 1.1 | 1.9 |


lhl_henrylui

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LAMY Safari

 

Colour: Charcoal

Nibs: EF, 1.1 Italic, 1.9 Italic

Lenght of use: ~2 years

Ink: Parker Quink

Converter: LAMY Z24 Converter

 

Design & Quality (6.5/10)

The pen is black and has a matte finish, which makes it exceptionally robust. Even after about 2 years of use, there is not any visible scratch on the surface.

post-40226-0-41461600-1333357949.jpg

The clip is a unique design and is made to withstand wear. Personally, I do not think that it looks pretty.

post-40226-0-06731000-1333356659.jpg

Apart from the clip, the pen looks neat and normal. But when the cap is put on the back of the pen it gives a bit of unbalanced feeling because the width of the cap is bigger than that of the pen body. This is what I dislike most in terms of its appearance.

When capped, there should not be much worry about it rolling on the desk. When uncapped, the partly flattened barrel of the pen could prevent the pen from rolling.

post-40226-0-82145600-1333358011.jpg

 

Weight & Dimensions (8/10)

When uncapped, the pen is so light and pleasant to write with. But when capped, the centre of mass of the pen is largely shifted to the back of the pen and is not as pleasant to write with because the feeling of inertia actually slows down the writing speed.

The size of the pen just feels right. It does not give any additional advantage to holding it and writing with it.(Sorry for the dust)

post-40226-0-50171700-1333358002.jpg

 

Nibs & Performance (8/10)

The colour of the EF nib is perfect for this pen. It is very hard. It has a nice and wet flow and writes smoothly on most papers, but has very little scratching when the ink is running low.

The aspect I dislike is that the EF nib is not as fine as I expected. The lines it produces is too thick. An asian M or B nib is needed to produce such thick lines.

post-40226-0-31989600-1333359308.jpg

Here is a sample writing. (Sorry for the poor handwriting)

post-40226-0-30506000-1333359448.jpg

The nib can write when inverted, producing finer lines, but scratchy.

post-40226-0-88589100-1333359603.jpg

 

The nib of the pen can be removed by sliding it off. There are many kinds of interchangeable nibs.

post-40226-0-83947900-1333359879.jpg

 

The silvery 1.1 Italic nib is not crisp enough. The variation of the thickness of the produced line is not significant enough to write neat, crisp italic. The edge of the nib is made too round, probably because LAMY does not want to compromise its smoothness. Its smoothness makes it suitable to be a daily writer, but not a good choice if one wants crisp italic. I do not use it as a daily writer because it is too wet and depletes the ink too quickly.

post-40226-0-64184300-1333359921.jpg

Here is a sample writing of the 1.1 Italic nib.

post-40226-0-11584900-1333359938.jpg

 

Like the 1.1 Italic nib, the 1.9 Italic nib has rounded nib. However, due to the increased width of the nib, the variation of thickness suffice the requirement of neat italic writing. But it is still not crisp enough, in my opinion. Again, the nib is smooth but I do not use it as a daily writer because it depletes the ink even faster.

post-40226-0-31292200-1333359930.jpg

Here is a sample writing of the 1.9 Italic nib.

post-40226-0-35137400-1333359944.jpg

 

 

A comparison between the nibs.

post-40226-0-07961900-1333361195.jpg

 

A comparison between the lines produced by the nibs.

post-40226-0-39878000-1333359952.jpg

 

Filing System & Maintenance (9/10)

The Z24 converter works perfectly well on this pen without any problem. As a student, I have to ink the pen every 1.5 to 4 days.

 

Cost & Value (6.5/10)

The pen is affordable and comes with good performance and durability. But the nibs are too expensive.

 

Conclusion (final score 7.6/10)

The pen has good performance, high stability and durability. It is suitable to be a daily writer. At such a price range, this pen is absolutely worth it.

However, the 1.1 Italic nib not sharp enough to produce crisp italic writing. If one wants to use the pen as a calligraphy tool, I would recommend using wider nibs like 1.5 or 1.9 Italic.

It might be possible though that the poor performance of the 1.1 Italic nib is due to the ink and paper I use. You know, Parker Quink's quality is very poor and has bleed-through and feathering even on high quality papers. :doh:

I have not tested the pen with other brands of ink. But I have ordered my very first bottle of Noodler ink (Walnut) in my life. I hope it would make this pen a better writer. :clap1:

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Very nice comparison of the nibs! If I could write like that, I'd use nothing but italic nibs :)

Tamara

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What a good idea to review a pen and its performance two years afterwards - a new "tried and true" dimension to a pen review. I found your nib comparison very interesting, and your handwriting is enviable. Thanks!

"Life would split asunder without letters." Virginia Woolf

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Thanks for this review - I have a couple of Lamys sitting on my desk doing nothing because I tend to use my Pelikans or the Sailor KOP, but I'll have to start playing with them now that I've seen your writing samples!

Happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got.

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I also like your approach to the typical review. Nice to hear feedback based on considerable use. And your handwriting is fabulous. :notworthy1:

 

I have a couple of 1.1 nibs, and I like them for their smoothness and ease of use. I don't look for much from an italic nib as such, but I can see your point about Lamy's italic nibs not quite producing as crisp of lines as others. However, they're an excellent introduction to italic handwriting. I also think Lamy's replaceable steel nibs are a bargain at $10 or so.

 

Your Safari seems to have held up well in two years of use. I think Lamy should produce more pen bodies with the matte, textured surface. It aids in gripping the pen, and I think it resists wear even better than their smooth Safaris.

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Very good information. I have a white Lamy fountain pen , but the ink stained the plastic nib assembly.

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A good review. I have 1.1mm and 1.5mm italic nib, each fitted on Lamy Al-Star. I echo your viewpoint on Lamy italic nibs not good enough in producing crisp italic.

 

I use light pressure when writing with a FP. However, whenever I need to write crisp italic (practising calligraphy), I have to add more pressure when holding the pen. This tires me quickly, which shouldn't be the point of using a fountain pen.

 

I believe the black nib produces slightly thicker line compared to its stainless steel sibling. I found this true for my 2 fine nibs (stainless steel and black finish).

 

I have a white Lamy fountain pen , but the ink stained the plastic nib assembly.

 

I, too, have a white Lamy Safari (I love white pens). Being a clean freak, I always have to wipe the pen section and the inner side of the cap every now and then :P

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Excellent review here! The Lamys I have sports the 1.1mm nib which I prefer over the 1.5mm and 1.9mm. Then again, I'm no Calligraphy Artist by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Enjoy!

See with what large letters I have written you with my own hand. GaVIxi

The pen is the interpreter of the soul: what one thinks, the other expresses. (MdC)

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Great review! I'm looking at my lamys thinking about getting a nib pack right now

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Thanks for the appreciation. :rolleyes:

Here is another sample written with the 1.1 Italic nib. (Not very good)

post-40226-0-94785500-1333466210.jpg

I would later post another sample written with the 1.9.

Edited by lhl_henrylui
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That's not even handwriting! That's typesetting! From a book on calligraphy!

 

:wub: :notworthy1:

Seriously beautiful handwriting, and great review. A charcoal Lamy Safari 1.1 got me back into the species, after a bad start several years ago with a yellow model that was scratchy and stingy.

 

The Safari calligraphy nib is a little more angular than the Rotring 1.1... still not crisp enough for some, I guess.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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:notworthy1: :notworthy1: :notworthy1:

 

Wow fantastic handwriting!

 

I do have two Lamys. :happyberet: Looks like I will have to try the italics nibs. I love oblique nibs and stubs. With Italic calligraphy nibs, it would be too scratchy for me even though they make crispy italics. So I think the Lamy italic nibs should be just fine for me.

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Complete agreement on the comments on the charcoal Safari EF. I have exactly the same pen and had some initial scratchiness that resolved after a minor tine alignment. (Now writes smoothly upside-down as well.)

 

On the italic nibs, your pictures appear more rounded at the edges than those on my Joy and also a gloss black 1.1 that I use daily as a desk pen. (Not unlike my TWSBI 1.1 stub....) Have the nibs been in use for several years and show wear, or possibly even reground to a stub? Mine are all around a year old, and just seem crisper. At about $14 to replace, a Dremel session might be a very low-risk way to resharpen the writing edge.

 

/Soundsider

Edited by Soundsider

...jumps over the lazy dog.

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Wow... love your handwriting. If I didn't know any better, I might have thought it was a computer font! :)

 

Anyways, I just saw this and realized I posted something about an hour ago that was pretty much the same as your thread (comparing nibs). Sorry didn't mean to steal your thunder :embarrassed_smile: :crybaby:

Edited by danahn17

[url="http://i-think-ink.tumblr.com/"]thINK[/url]: my pen & paper blog :)

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My 1.1 Lamy nib is so poor that gathers paper fibers between the tines. It looks like one tine is longer than the other. I tried to fix it with no avail. Bad QC on this one.

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