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Hi guys, I have a fairly new Safari with fine nib and Noodler's Hear of Darkness ink that keeps drying out or clogging up and skipping. Not sure if the fault is in the pen, ink or combination of two. Any advise would be appreciated. p.s. I have other various other pens filled with noodlers ink and they seem fine.

The Lamy Safari is arguably the most significant fountain pen currently in production. Its popularity is immense, and if you go to any thread even remotely about beginner pens you’ll see its name, or at least the name of its twin the Vista or older brothers the Al-Star or LX. Although it now has its rivals, the Pilot Metropolitan and, to a lesser extent, the TWSBI Eco, the Safari will always hold a special place in the fountain pen world, and was the first fountain pen for countless new enthusiasts. However, this popularity doesn’t bring only good effects. Like any popular pen, or popular item for that matter, the Safari has countless knockoffs. The most prevalent, other than straight-up counterfeit Safaris, are the Hero 359 and the Jinhao 599. There is a new pen emerging, however, and it is a closer replica to the Safari than ever before. The Yiren 566 is a near clone of the Safari in size, mass, and even nib and feed size and shape. (The nib on the 566 cannot be removed though, so sadly no nib swapping can occur). It even takes Lamy (and Parker) cartridges. So, here is a brief comparison of the Safari with this new knockoff and one of the older and most famous ones, the Jinhao 599. Lamy Safari: Pros: -It’s the original, the real thing. The pen comes with the reliability and ethos of an 80-some year-old German pen brand. -(For this specific pen) DARK LILAC!!! The best Safari Color in history, in my opinion, looks even better with its black clip and nib. -Everything feels a little bit smoother, and more refined, from the screwing in of the section to the polish on the nib. -Easy nib swapping with other Lamy Pens. Cons: -Money. The Safari costs $25 to the other pens’ $1-$2. -No convertor without added cost. Yiren 566 (The Newbie): Pros: -Cheap. Only $2. -Takes Lamy and Parker Cartridges. -Comes with a converter. -Clear Section looks great. -Pen is relatively attractive. (It’s no Dark Lilac, but I kind of like the “When a Pilot Kakuno and a Lamy Safari love each other very very much” vibe it has going. Neutral: Every dimension is an exact copy of the Safari. It is as close to the definition of a “clone” in terms of pen knockoffs as is possible. Cons: -No Nib Swapping. -Price goes up if you want shipping to take less than a month and a half. -Quality control/finish issues. The steel in the nib has some surface level scratches, the body has a tiny dent. The screwing out of the section feels friction-y and rough. Jinhao 599: Pros: -Cheapest of the three, only costs a dollar. -Takes a number five nib, meaning you can easily outfit the pen with a high-quality JOWO nib if you so desire. -Takes international cartridges. -Comes with a converter. -Jinhao has a little bit more brand ethos than Yiren, they generally don’t have too many quality control issues. Neutral: -Enough has changed that it feels like its own pen. It is obviously a Safari clone, but the completely different nib style, cartridge format, and slightly different weight gives it its own distinct feel. Cons: -The section screwing into the barrel is prone to cracking, and feels weaker than the other two. -Feels like cheaper plastic. -Very long shipping time. -Short international cartridges only make it halfway down the window. They sacrificed functionality for looking more like the original Safari. If you want my opinion on which one to buy, I'd honestly say all three. Why? The Safari, in my opinion, is a must-have pen. The knockoffs are great, great values for their price, but the Safari is just better. So, if you're looking to get a new Safari, get a Safari. The knockoffs together are cheaper than a Lamy convertor, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if you hated them. In conclusion, you should definitely try the knockoffs, but don't try to substitute them for the real thing.

~ As a schoolchild in the late 1950s and 1960s, I exclusively used pencils for all homework and notes in class. I preferred softer leads, as the shading appealed to me, as opposed to the harder leads used for mathematics proofs and such. Growing up in a medical family, plastic promotional ballpoint pens distributed by pharmaceutical corporations were readily available. As ballpoint ink wasn't erasable, and didn't shade as soft pencil lead did, it was less appealing to me. The oily ink in the ballpoint pens around the house smudged without aesthetic effect, looking messy on homework assignments. Finally in high school, in the late 1960s, a couple of ballpoint pens became part of my standard school equipment, but without inspiring any special loyalty, let alone passion. My father gave me a Cross ballpoint pen for high school graduation, which was little used, serving more as a symbol than used as a writing tool. I'd noticed other students with fountain pens, which were different than the older Parker and Sheaffer fountain pens in my father's desk. Around 1970, with funds earned from working part-time as a kennel-boy in a local veterinary hospital on weekends and during vacations, I went to a local drugstore and bought my first fountain pen. It was a Sheaffer Cartridge Pen, sometimes called a School Pen, in chrome and black with flat ends on the cap and barrel. Not knowing anything about fountain pens, the M nib satisfied my modest requirements. The ink cartridges of choice were blue-black, although I went through a phase of using peacock blue. The character of the ink on paper had a crispness which I liked, but the greatest pleasure was a sense of writing as the ancients had, water-based ink on paper. Fountain pens struck me at that time as being a link to more traditional, tested ways of communication. The era was replete with social change and cultural upheaval, which was unsettling at times, therefore the calm stability of ink strokes was reassuring. When heading off to university at age 17, I wanted to somehow upgrade to mark the transition, so I purchased another Sheaffer fountain pen. A No Nonsense pen in brown, also with an M nib, it's larger size better suited my large right hand. With two fountain pens, my practice was to have both inked with different cartridge colors, typically blue, blue black or peacock blue. Seeing Pravda's recent images of his Tropic Brown Heritage B nib fountain pen reminded me of the brown No Nonsense pen which I'd used for several years. With the completion of graduate school I drifted away from the familiar tools of a student lifestyle, including switching over to ballpoint pens. With passing years, I discovered and liked felt-tip pens, and later also used gel pens. Pencils remained part of my life, but more for sketching than for writing. I have no recollection of ever having read or heard of Montblanc as a brand. As far as I know, no one in my limited sphere was using Montblanc products at that time. The familiar Montblanc white star was a wholly unfamiliar trademark to me for decades, without ever having knowingly encountered it in my reading or travels. As I've described in detail in another FPN Montblanc Forum thread, in 1987 I was given a Meisterstück 149 M nib, 14K, with ‘Germany’ on the Clip Ring. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/312503-my-original-montblanc-149-background-and-age-estimation/ Although it was an exceptionally generous gift, I was unsophisticated, not recognizing the value of what I'd received. It never registered in my muddled consciousness that Montblanc was an esteemed brand, such that for over two decades I was unaware that I owned a genuine Montblanc fountain pen. Consequently, the 149 was stored as a friendship keepsake, but never inked or examined. Gradually it was forgotten, remaining unseen in a small white presentation box. My career took me many places to far-flung university settings, eventually leading to Beijing in 1999. Around 2007 I spotted an unfamiliar name in the ‘Malls at Oriental Plaza’ by Beijing's Wangfujing, a ‘pedestrians only’ shopping street. It was a Lamy pocket boutique, the first of its kind in Beijing. Curious, I looked over the merchandise, settling on a bright red M nib Safari pen. I'd never heard of Lamy, but had dim memories of the pleasures of writing with a fountain pen while attending college and graduate school. The choice of bright red was a not-so-subtle acknowledgment of working and living in mainland China. Using the Lamy pen was satisfying, such that several other Safari pens joined the first one, inked with converters rather than using cartridges. I tried several local fountain pens, which invariably clogged up, skipped, and failed to start the ink flow every time. In 2011, during a household cleaning and reorganization, I encountered the long-forgotten Montblanc 149 M nib. Removing it from the box, I wondered how it might be inked and used. For the first time I took the time to look at the brand name — Montblanc — which still meant nothing whatsoever to me. Looking on the Internet, I found that there was a dedicated Montblanc outlet, called a ‘boutique’, in the same mall where I found and purchased the Lamy pen. Taking my gift pen downtown, I asked the boutique staff to examine it to determine if it was an authentic Montblanc pen. They smilingly confirmed that it was, presenting me with two outdated bottles of ink as a gift. I tried to ink it, but nothing happened, so I gave up, putting it away for one more year. In 2012, I thought about the 149 again, pulled it out and asked myself why it wouldn't write. A search on the Internet suggested that it might benefit from soaking the nib in lukewarm water. The dried ink which had long clogged it came out with a watery burst, some time after the pen was in the water. Within weeks I returned to the downtown boutique, bought more ink, made friends with staff members, and began my Montblanc journey. Many pens later, I now own various Montblanc fountain pens, ballpoint pens, a rollerball, a wallet, two belts and a fine document case. There are even two Montblanc umbrellas in my home office, both gifts from the Montblanc boutique. I still use pencils, but now they're large charcoal pencils for sketching. I also have a half dozen gold-filled cap Parker 51s on my desk. One month ago I looked in a small box which had been with me for more than thirty years, but perhaps opened no more than once or twice. To my great surprise I found the two original Sheaffer fountain pens that I used as a kid. Using a syringe and needle from a biology laboratory, I filled the empty cartridges with ink, after having thoroughly cleaned all parts of the two pens. They both write very well. I've used them in recent weeks in classes I taught, pleased to use them towards the close of my career after they served me as a student. Today jar kindly replied to my inquiry about how to remove the wedged-in cartridge in the chrome and black Cartridge Pen. It easily came out, so now I'll know how to regularly re-ink it. ************************************************************************** Below are several images of the first fountain pens that I used, as well as the initial Montblanc 149, which started me out on my Montblanc journey. I'm interested how others originally came to know Montblanc, even if it was long before they acquired their first Montblanc product. Tom K. Two Sheaffer Fountain Pens Revealed My First Three Fountain Pens Fountain Pen Series

I have been shopping online for a Dark Lilac safari. There are several ebay sellers who are located in Hong Kong or china who have them listed for around $21-$22 with free shipping. I'm just wondering whether anyone knows if these are legitimate? It seems like a pretty low price for a limited edition pen that is no longer available. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get one at that price, but I don't want to spend even that much for a fake. Thanks for any information you might have.

The Lamy Safari is 17 grams and 37 years of design excellence that’s been the beginner’s fountain pen of choice for almost all those years. Its design is one of the most strikingly simple yet modern in the pen world, yet it has proven to be as timeless as any of the classics. The Al-Star is its big brother. Made from aluminum instead of ABS plastic, the Al-Star weighs more and feels more solid in the hand, but is nearly identical to the Safari in every other way. They share the same nib, design, and internal functions. The Al-Star is a way to own the classic yet modern design in a sturdier and slightly heavier body, and it appeals to people who like the feeling of metal in their hand while writing. Each year, a unique color is released as a limited edition for both the Safari and the Al-Star. This year, the Al-Star came in Pacific Blue. The Pacific Blue Al-Star Along with a Regular Blue Safari and a Dark Lilac Safari Appearance and Design The Pacific Blue color of this year’s Al-Star is striking and vibrant, yet light enough to not be overly flashy. The silver coloring of the nib and clip match well with the blue, creating a look of warm ocean waters. One factor of the design to be aware of, if you don’t already know, is that both Lamy Safaris and Al-Stars have a triangle grip, so they can be uncomfortable for some people to hold. For most, though, the grip is perfectly comfortable. As someone who enjoys having slightly unique pens, this limited edition is a truly gorgeous one, and in my opinion Lamy really nailed it with their color choice this year. The Al-Star Alone Construction and Quality This is a solid pen. In preparation for writing this review I used this pen daily for a little over a month, and in the course of use I dropped it countless times on varying surfaces, none of them particularly soft. The pen has yet to get a scratch. (These were all with the cap on however; you may fare far worse if the pen is dropped nib first.) Safaris have a bit of a reputation for being indestructible, and the Al-Star is a Safari but stronger. If you get this pen, you won’t have to worry about breaking it. Additionally, the overall quality of the finish is excellent. Lamy’s quality control is famously excellent (every pen is tested with a bit of blue ink before being shipped) and their care is on display in their pens. The Al-Star Deconstructed Weight and Dimensions If you’ve ever seen a Safari, it’s that but slightly heavier. As someone with large hands, it fits nicely posted in my hand while writing. I asked a friend with much smaller hands to test the pen as well, and she had no issues, although she did prefer the pen unposted. The pen posts easily, and I haven’t had any issues with scratching on the back of the pen from the cap, as I occasionally do on other pens. Nib and Performance So here’s the thing. It’s a steel nail. A very boring steel nail. But is boring so bad? The nib comes smooth straight from the box, and is incredibly reliable and consistent. In short, there’s nothing exciting going on but it’s a real work horse, and it’ll be smooth and ready to go from the get go. The nib sizes on these pens do tend to run broad, so if you aren’t used to Lamy nib sizes (or German sizes in general), I’d get one size smaller than you would usually buy. A Writing Sample with the Al-Star Filling System and Maintenance The Al-Star is a Cartridge/Convertor pen. It fits proprietary Lamy cartridges or a Lamy convertor, which can be purchased for give or take five dollars from wherever you buy the pen. The accompanying ink for this Limited Edition, Lamy Pacific Blue, can be purchased in either cartridge or bottle form, and matches the color of the body of the pen nicely. Cost and Value An Al-Star will set you back just under $40. Is it worth it? That’s up to you. For the same cost, you could have a gold-nibbed Platinum PTL-5000a or most of a TWSBI Diamond 580, both definitively better, or at least more interesting, pens to write with. The Al-Stars price forces it to compete with pens outside the Safaris league when it’s essentially a Safari with fancy skin. For me, the pen was worth it for the color. As a big fan of limited edition Lamy’s, I loved the Pacific Blue. But if you aren’t that into the color, there are other, better options for the price.

Last year, I was zealously searching for a perfect olive/musk/dark/umber/you-name-it green ink. I gathered almost 20 samples, and in the end decided that Safari, one of Diamine's 150th anniversary line, is that one ink. On Paperholic paper, with G dip pen. Green inks tend to go a bit "off" on this paper. Is it sheen, or is it not? The texture kinda reminds me of 2H pencil. I'd call this a mauve ink. Same paper, with different fountain pens. The pens I used here. By now they all sunk to the bottom of the Meuse, I guess... (weep) On copy paper, with G dip pen. On copy paper, with the fountain pens metioned above. On Tomoe-kawa paper (creamy). All the smudges were caused by my clumsy fingers. Comparison with 14 other similar inks. You can see that Safari looks browner on one paper and greener on the other.In some circumstances it is very similar to Montblanc Daniel Defoe or Diamine Salamander. On cheaper notebooks, it looks darker, almost black. No bleed-through or feathering. Some doodle on Tomoe-kawa paper. I only used a fountain pen, but the excellent flow and shading made it seem as if it was done with watercolor and paintbrush. Added water with a Chinese calligraphy pen. Close-up: How the color dissolved in to yellow and blue gray. Chromatography on tissue paper. Comparison It turned more umber-ish when dried. How it looks in the pen. Only the parts where I heavily applied water bled through a bit. 【Thoughts in general】 Color：A color with complexity (which I like). Varies from burnt sienna to dark green depending on different pen/paper combination. Dark enough for daily use, yet still an interesting and enjoyable color. Performance：Good. No bleed through or feathering. Water resistance：A little. Water washes away the color but leaves the strokes gray and still legible. Flow: Average~nice. Lubrication slightly less than Sailor inks, but still pleasant. Price：Cheap~Average. Accessibility：Average (Special but not limited edition) Other: Lovely bottle and package design. For the color itself I like Sailor Rikyu-cha and Montblanc Daniel Defoe the most, but they are just waaaaay to hard to acquire (limited edition & so pricy). R&K Alt-goldgreen and Sailor Tokiwa-matsu are also great inks with excellence performance, but the color is a bit "too simple" for my taste.Therefore, in the end I declared Safari the winner and got one full bottle P.S. Other inks that were also on my list: 1. Diamine Wegner (didn't get a sample)2. Sailor Waka-uguisu (didn't get a sample)3. Papier Plume Moss green (got one bottle after I did this review)4. J. Herbin Olive green (crossed it out because I've had enough of this brand)5. Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-rin (too light)6. Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho (not green enough)7. Kyonooto Kokeiro (didn't get a sample) Mandarin version of this review:http://chingdamosaic.blogspot.nl/2016/07/diamine-150safari.html

Greetings! Hoping to get some advice. I have a Safari Orange Flame (orange plastic with red clip & dot button) & I love this pen. However, I noticed that there are 2 hairline cracks at the nib end of the section. There is a scant amount of ink leakage & inky fingers; otherwise, the pen writes like a dream. I'm wondering if I should try to fix this or just deal with the issue. I've looked to see about either a replacement or parts, but pricing I've seen is upwards of $150-350 USD on fleabay and I can't seem to find a replacement section. I'm a bit leery of sending it to Germany or dealing with Lamy CS in TX, as I don't really want to lose this pen. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, Jen.

Hey whats up guys, this is my first post. I just wanted to ask a stupid question about the Lamy Safari petrol colour, Is it matte or glossy? I'm about to buy my first fountain pen and I was going to buy either the matte charcoal or limited edition petrol colour and I usually prefer matte coloured things. Also let me know which colour you guys prefer as I am quite indecisive of what colour to choose. Thanks guys.

Hi folks, Lamy Safari Petrol is here! Fountain pens come with black Fine or Medium nib (feel free to add any Z50/Z52 nibs of course). They have matt finish, just like Dark Lilac pens. There are Roller-balls and Ball-point pens too. Ink comes in T10 cartridges and T52 bottles. Petrol colour is dark teal-green similar to Sailor Miruai. It shows a slight sheen on Tomoe River paper. BTW if you wonder about shipping cost - we use Royal Mail Airmail service for orders outside UK and you can check the cost in the shopping basket before you place the order. Enjoy! Mishka

Heya peeps So my mother recently uncovered her Lamy Safari from when she was much my age (so it's ~20 years old, I'm guessing), and decided to give it to me, knowing that I was into fountain pens. It's a little the worse for wear (or lack of, rather), as she didn't clean it out before it got shelved, containing a goodly quantity of blue sediment. I eventually got the pen apart and (mostly) cleaned up, but the converter is giving a little more resistance. http://i.imgur.com/tNBBwXZ.jpg It's marked as being a Lamy converter, but it's neither a Z24 nor a Z26. The twiddly plastic grip section is circular and ribbed, rather than the semi-rectangular flat of the standard Lamy converters, and the metal divider between the knob and the clear reservoir has etchings at the top of it, all rather different to the Z2* converters. I can't find any mention (or graphical evidence) of these existing anywhere. Anyway, I'm having some difficulty working out how to disassemble it. Regardless of whether it's an authentic, if outdated, Lamy converter, I'd be happy to continue using it if only I could get it apart to give it a good clean. Does anybody have any tips about its origins or how to get the little bugger apart? A few more images.

Has anybody experienced serious quality control issues with Safaris, vistas and Al stars? 3 out of 4 safaris and 1 out of 2 Al stars I own have scratchy medium nibs. All of them are bought from different places. Some are misaligned out of the box, one of them has a slit that is not properly cut, it's cut at an angle rather than a straight vertical cut. No more Lamys for me.

Dear Community, Not too long ago, I was writing in my journal and accidentally skipped a page. I erased what I wrote with correction tape. When I came to that section, I wrote over it with my Lamy Safari fountain pen, and since then, the nib has been extremely scratchy and the ink flow is horrible. I have tried to fix it but to no avail. Here is what I have done so far: I have flushed it with water I have soaked it in water I have soaked it in water and dawn soap for a day I have filled and refilled it with various ink I'm not sure what I did. I can't imagine that mere correction tape would destroy my nib but that's what it seems to have done. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to repair this? Is there a fluid that would dissolve correction tape that I could soak my pen in? I'm at a complete loss Thank you

Just a little fun with a macro lens... I cleaned that pen with Rouge Hematite on the left a few days ago. The other one's got Diamine Poppy red.

About a year ago, I bought a Lamy Safari off of Amazon. It was the only second pen I ever bought, so I didn't realize that Amazon is notorious for selling fake pens. I wrote with it pretty regularly, had no problems, but on a whim I checked the same Amazon page that I purchased from. The seller was LAMY, but over half of the reviews complained that they were sent fakes. That got me worried that mine was counterfeit, too. Looking at all the known indicators, my pens seems to pass the rest, but my worry comes when I compare it to my AL Star. I know they are different in width, but is the Safari supposed to be taller than the AL Star? Another thing I found, the body of the AL Star takes three turns to close, and the Safari 3.5. Is this normal among all authentic LAMY pens?

Hi Everyone Myself from India. Excited to join FPN after reading lot of information about my new hobby of starting again with Fountain Pens. I have started with Pilot Metropolitan , Lamy Safari (the dark Lilac color), Baoer 388 and Baoer 507. I have started with Water man Serenity Blue and also Private Reserve Midnight Blues. Looking forward to lot of interactions with everyone here. Thanks Nitin Arora

I am sort of hoping to keep this as a running topic. There are a lot of unusual Safari pens out there. For example Safari pens that have logos or are specially made for an occasion or are just limited editions. This year in Korea, Lamy is making a special pen in conjunction with the company LINE. I thought it would be good if folks posted what they have or have seen up here. Here is the one due out next month for LINE. Which was not Green as I predicted (to match their cell phone app icon) and is nothing like what I imagined. It is seemingly aimed for folks younger than me (heh).

Alright - time for round two. I currently have on order the following brand new items: A Lamy Safari in blue with a medium nib A Z24 Converter A 30ml bottle of Diamine Oxford Blue All this can be yours - if your number is drawn! I will be out of town for work a couple of days this week, so let's run the deadline to FRIDAY JANUARY, 20th at 12:00 PM EST. Here be the rules: - You can only enter once. - Post a comment under this post - handwritten posts are cool though they won't earn you any extra probability of winning! - Each entry post will be assigned a number as they are posted. - I will use random.org to generate a random winning number based off the number of entries. - Anyone can enter and so long as shipping to your country from the U.S. is not prohibitively expensive and possible, I will ship your prize to you. You are responsible for any customs, etc., of course but this isn't a super expensive giveaway so I don't know if that will be an issue. - Uh... that's it... I think. Thanks for playing and good luck!

Hello! I have a lamy safari with a medium nib but it is just too broad for my writing! I am in search of a fine/extra fine. I would be willing to trade! Can anyone help me out?!

I just received a Hero 359 (Safari clone) in the mail today and, after some writing, I decided to throw a Lamy 1.1 nib onto the thing...unfortunately the Hero's nib seemed to be glued in place. It took quite a bit of work to get the stupid thing off, and when I did the Lamy nib did not seem to fit the feed. Being an enterprising guy I decided to file down the shoulders on the feed so that my nib would fit. Long story short, the feed did not cooperate and in a dremel rage I carved that thing up. I was pretty upset by this, as I was under the impression that Hero 359 nibs came off as easily as Lamy nibs, and that the two were interchangeable. I wonder if the good folks over at Hero have made some adjustments, or if I just happened to get an oddball Hero 359. In any event, I am on the hunt for a feed to fit a Hero 359. Now, I know that I could just buy a new Hero, but I dislike having perfectly good pen bodies sitting around doing nothing. I thought that I saw a listing on eBay for some feeds, but I can no longer find it (and it's entirely possible that these were actually Jinhao feeds). I have put an add up on the classifieds here, but I am not holding out much hope. If anyone has any insight into the interchangeability of the Hero 359 with the Lamy Safari, I would appreciate the info. Also, if anyone can point me in the right direction as far as Hero 359 feeds go I would be eternally grateful.

I bought several inks when I bought my first several pens so I had a little bit to sample from. Here are the inks I initially bought: Noodler's Eternal Polar Blue. (Bought it with my Lamy Safari at store and was the only blue available.) Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku Boxed Set (Bought it for Kon-Peki) Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-Yake I've been happy with all the colors above in all my pens except I don't like the Noodler's Eternal Polar Blue all the much; I especially don't like it in my Lamy Safari. I've put all those inks in my Safari over this last week and the Iroshizuku inks seem to flow better in the Safari. The Noodler's Polar Blue seems to make my Safari have slow starts. Anyways it has seeped in my mind that the nib on my Safari may be out of alignment which I plan on looking at as soon as I pick up a good loupe. I have a magnifying glass, but it just doesn't have a high enough magnification to really get a good look at it. Has anyone else noticed issues with Noodler's inks? Someone else had a thread recently about Noodler's Elysium not working well in there Safari. I would like to try some other Noodler's blues, turquoises, and other colors; but now I am afraid that I'll have similar issues as with the polar blue. As I mentioned above The Iroshizuku inks seem to flow significantly better in the Safari. I plan on buying some more inks to try, but there is so much out there would like to hear from people on what they think are the "Staple" or "Must Have" inks that all newcomers should get / try. I tend to lean more towards the blues and turquoises, and greens. Having said that I recently stumbled upon some reds like Sailor Oku-Yama and Diamine Ancient Cooper and purples like De Atramentis Aubergine and Sailor Shigure that looks really cool and may pick them up so really I am open to all color suggestions.

So... I have settled in on my Lamy Safari and it's my pen of choice. I have a charcoal black pen with a fine nib and I absolutely love it. The ink I use is the Noodler's Bulletproof Black and it is the best black for me. So now, I want to look for a blue that I would like to use. I have ordered some samples from Goulet and tested them, such as Liberty's Elysium and 54th Massachusetts. Unfortunately, they didn't work well for me... Liberty's Elysium looked beautiful, but it would stain my converter and cause very slow starts. I noticed that Liberty's Elysium would actually dry my feed and my nib so it could take 10 seconds before I actually start writing. I definitely won't be going back to Elysium and I experienced the same with 54th mass, but the slow starts weren't as bad. I am hoping you great folks can tell me what your favorite inks are for a Lamy Safari, or something that would work well for this pen. I am not too worried about it being waterproof, I just want something that looks nice, flows well, and won't cause problems with clogging. I ordered a bottle of Waterman's serenity blue and looking into Pelikan Royal Blue. Hopefully these inks might be good. Give me some suggestions please!!

I'm a student, and I usually carry one of my nice pens (I don't actually have any cheap pens - just my grandpa's 51, Snorkel, and my Edison Nouveau Premier) in a leather sleeve in a separate compartment in my backpack. In my pocket, along with my keys and knife (and whatever else makes its way in there) I usually carry a cheap ballpoint or gel pen. Just a Bic or a G2, sometimes a mechanical pencil. I want to carry a fountain pen instead, and I was wondering what you thought would be best for something that I can throw in my pocket and not worry about it breaking. It's between a Preppy, a Metro, or a Safari. It'd just be for times when I need something to write with right away, so a cheap pen with a fine nib and a snap cap is what I want. Would a Preppy work? Can it stand up to the abuse of being smashed around like that? Or should I upgrade to a Metro or a Safari? (I welcome other suggestions) Thanks!

So I am new to fountain pen usage, and loving it. I have a Lamy Safari pen. I like to use it in my Midori traveler's notebook, but I have an issue with how long it takes the ink to dry. I have to keep a piece of paper between the pages when I close my Midori to keep the ink from transferring. Then if I write one day, and come back to write again the next, the ink will smudge on my hands and fingers as I hold my notebook. So my question - is there a different kind of ink I can get to use in my pen and not have this issue?

All, So I thought I would create an account to ask this question that has been making me wonder for days. I have two Lamy's, a Charcoal Safari and a Vista. I started with the Charcoal Safari purchased from Amazon. Used the included blue cartridge for a while and decided that I wanted two pens (one blue and one black ink). I found the Vista at a local pen shop and right away I noticed that they write very differently. The Vista is significantly smoother and thinner than the Safari (I've included pictures below). So I got two converters and loaded them up with the same ink (Private Reserve American Blue) and did a test. I found that the Safari is still slightly thicker than the Vista. My questions are these: Is the Safari defective or is that just how it is? Should there be a difference between the normal steel nib in the Vista and the black nib in the Safari when they are the same size? Should I just order a normal steel nib for the Safari and ditch the whole "blackout" effect? Note: from what I can tell based off videos and other reviews on FPN, the Charcoal Safari is not a fake. For pictures, I took one without flash, one close up, and one with flash.

Hi, Newbie to Lamy here. I'm a loyal Pilot user, but couldn't resist the lure of Lamy's Lilac Safari EF. I've been writing for a few hours (in an Apica notebook) and te Safari skips! It's scratchy! (The only time it flows consistently is when I write on newspaper.) Is there some adjustment I can make, or is this the nature of an EF Safari? Thanks! Laura