Lamy: Major Differences Between A Safari And An All-star?

[EMM]

I know that the Al-Star has a metal body, anything else notable?

[Doug C]

Nope, other than it is slightly thicker.

 

Basically the same pen.

[rookieboyliu]

I noticed the nib from the Safari is black, while the Raspberry Al Star I bought for my friend had a silver reflective nib. Otherwise, they still use the same converter, and the Al Star has more friction when twisting the barrel into the part where you hold the pen.

[Tsujigiri]

The Al-star also has a clear grip so you can see the ink in the feed.

[Kabe]

That's one of the thigns I don;t like about Lamy. They pass one design as three (Vista, Safari, AlStar)

[EMM]

The price tends to be $10-15 more I noticed as well, lol

[J English Smith]

I was looking at the new orange one at isellpens.com today. Great prices there and he seems to have the full range. No affiliation.

 

The Lamy 1.1 italic nib is an especially nice nib that fits this series. A very nice and cheap way to get a medium italic nib that's pretty easy to write with (more of a cursive italic than a sharp italic).

[EMM]

I was looking at the new orange one at isellpens.com today. Great prices there and he seems to have the full range. No affiliation.

 

The Lamy 1.1 italic nib is an especially nice nib that fits this series. A very nice and cheap way to get a medium italic nib that's pretty easy to write with (more of a cursive italic than a sharp italic).

 

Exactly how big is the 1.1 nib compared to say a regular lamy F nib? My Safari has an F nib and it lays a fairly thick line even with subtle pressure. The Al Star model I plan to buy would come with an EF nib.

[I am not a number]

The 1.1mm is a pretty good approximation of the size of line it lays down, so compared to a Fine the difference is going to be considerable.

[Silvermink]

I noticed the nib from the Safari is black, while the Raspberry Al Star I bought for my friend had a silver reflective nib. Otherwise, they still use the same converter, and the Al Star has more friction when twisting the barrel into the part where you hold the pen.

 

The black nib isn't exclusively a Safari thing. I have an AL-star with a black nib, too.

[rookieboyliu]

Thanks for the heads up. Is there any difference between the nib with a black reflective surface and the one with a silver reflective surface?

[Silvermink]

Thanks for the heads up. Is there any difference between the nib with a black reflective surface and the one with a silver reflective surface?

 

Nope. My black and silver nibs are pretty much identical. Some have said they've noticed differences but no one's cited consistent differences or a large sample size so I'd probably chalk that up to unit-to-unit variation.

Edited October 4, 2009 by Silvermink

[DrPJM1]

There is no difference in performance between the black and the silver coloured nibs. These are my favourite cheap pens.

[Zaarin]

The AS is both wider and very slightly longer than the Safari (in both cases the difference is about 1mm). The cut-out ink window has a steeper depression from the body of the barrel on the Safari than the AS. The colour of the clip and nib (black/silver) varies within both the Safari and the AS ranges.

[rookieboyliu]

So in effect, the difference can't be attributed to much except the color of the pen and the materials it's made from.

[hehiheho]

The 1.1mm is a pretty good approximation of the size of line it lays down, so compared to a Fine the difference is going to be considerable.

 

Little precision: 1.1 is the width of the nib. But as it is a cursive italic, its angles are rounded. So if you press the pen very heavily on the paper, at some point you may reach 1.1. Maybe. But if you write softly like me... then it is more like 0.8 or less.

[richardandtracy]

The 1.1mm is a pretty good approximation of the size of line it lays down, so compared to a Fine the difference is going to be considerable.

 

Little precision: 1.1 is the width of the nib. But as it is a cursive italic, its angles are rounded. So if you press the pen very heavily on the paper, at some point you may reach 1.1. Maybe. But if you write softly like me... then it is more like 0.8 or less.

I have the same experience. To get a 1.1mm wide line I've found a 1.5mm nib is better. It looks a real monster though.

The fine gives, ooh, 0.3mm wide line? Something like that anyway, so the 1.1 is about 2.5 x that width unless you press hard.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[I am not a number]

State/Pen	Safari	Al-Star	Studio	2000
Length Capped	13.9 cm	13.9 cm	14. 0 cm	13.7 cm
Length Uncapped	12.9 cm	13.0 cm	13.0 cm	12.4 cm
Length Posted	16.6 cm	16.9 cm	16.0 cm	15.0 cm
Weight Capped	17.5 g	22.3 g	27.3 g	22.3 g
Weight Uncapped	10.2 g	12.8 g	17.8 g	13.4 g
Mid-Section Diameter	11.6 mm	11.2 mm	11.0 mm	10.4 mm

 

[EMM]

Oh wow thanks.

[twdpens]

The black nib isn't exclusively a Safari thing. I have an AL-star with a black nib, too.

 

Black clip = black nib.

Shiny clip = shiny nib.

 

These are the standard "catalogue" configurations for the Safari/Vista/Al-Star. There will be exceptions, of course, for example the italic nibs which are not available in black.

 

HTH,

 

Martin