New To Fountain Pens Lamy Safari And Perle Noire / Pelikan Black Combination?

[kvz]

Hi everyone,

 

My name is Kevin and I'm new to fountain pens! I've just ordered my first fountain pen - Lamy Safari Medium nib with the converter, along with two bottled inks - J. Herbin Perle Noire and Pelikan Brilliant Black as I use black ink a lot. I'm a student so I undertake a lot of note writing. I was wondering if you knowledgeable experts think my purchase (safari and the two bottled inks) are a good combination and good starting point for my fountain pen experience. I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong section of the website - I just made my account 15 minutes ago. Also, how long would the J herbin 30mL and the Pelikan brilliant black 62.5ml last me (I do write a lot everyday)? Is the medium nib a good pick for the high volume writing I have to do as a student? Any recommendations/pointers for me? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Thanks for all the help!

[Rabbit713]

I'm a student as well, and use a Safari for the purpose of note taking. I personally love these pens as they are fairly inexpensive, durable, and allow you to switch out nibs at minimal effort and cost. While I'm not a knowledgeable expert by any stretch, I think its a good decision for a "workhorse" fountain pen. I tend to take notes in blue or red inks, mainly because they show up a bit better against the black ink of notes and printouts, and prefer ones like Noodler's, that are waterproof. I've found that most inks are good for their intended purpose, so much of that comes down to personal preference. Anyway, great pen, and one that will help your hands not feel so cramped after hours of note taking!

[SnorriRafn]

You made a fine choice. If you find yourself running out of ink too quickle you could try getting an F nib. If the paper you are using can handle the M nib then you are going to have a really nice experience. I recommend getting a pack of lamy cartridges and keeping in your bag for emergencies. Nothing worse than having to use a ballpoint because you ran out of ink.

[kvz]

Thanks Rabbit713 and SnorriRafn. How long can the safari last if I maintain it properly? Will I have to buy a new one every year or so?

[owend]

Safari and similar pens are low price - why not get a different make of similar price to experiment, andget some green or blue ink, then you can have one pen with black ink for notes and one with coloured ink to annotate texts or your own notes later, as Rabbit713 suggests (I was a teacher, and I always had one pen blue or black ink and one pen red).

 

If your teachers write comments on your work, don't get the same colour that they use!

[WirsPlm]

Thanks Rabbit713 and SnorriRafn. How long can the safari last if I maintain it properly? Will I have to buy a new one every year or so?

Most fountain pens last for decades, you should have no problems with a Safari lasting many years (FPs have no or very few moving parts to wear out, a Safari converter could wear out but those are easily replaced). It's part of how fountain pens make economical sense, since you could buy a lot of Bics for that $30 Safari, but that Safari is going to be around years and years after all those Bics have been used up (also better for the environment since you don't put as much in the garbage, particularly using bottled ink), so it's a cost that is spread out over however many years the pen lasts.

 

Most inks work with most pens (so long as you have a converter to store bottled ink), so I don't think there's any problem there. One thing to know before ordering in Lamy cartridges is that mixing inks (like by putting a cartridge of Lamy ink into a pen that just ran out of Pelikan ink) isn't always a great idea, there can be chemical interactions between the different inks that make the pen not work as well. It's not usually a big problem, but there's a possibility the inks won't play well with each other.

Edited November 30, 2013 by WirsPlm

[kvz]

Ok thanks guys. I don't think I will get another fountain pen until I receive my safari and make sure I like it.

[lynxcat]

the good thing about the safari is that it can be many pens in one, since the nib is easy to change out and Lamy makes a wide selection of different ones that'll fit it. if you decide you don't like your pen because (for example) its nib is too broad for your tastes, try a narrower one.

 

and yes, a well cared for FP should last your lifetime or longer.

[kvz]

Should I flush my Lamy Safari (is that in and outting water with converter until it is clear) every time I refill with an ink (even if it's same colour)? Also, do I need to let it dry after flushing with water or can I use the Safari straight away?

[langere]

You don't have to flush the pen out every time if you use the same ink. Just do it once in while and you will be fine. However, do flush it out well if you are changing inks.

 

You will enjoy your Safari!

 

Erick

[kvz]

Thanks Erick!

 

How long do I have to let the Safari dry for after cleaning? And is M nib ok for notetaking?

 

Kevin

[shadow91]

I just got my first pen(a safari) a few weeks ago. I use it to write my first draft of short stories. It has been a beast so far. I'm sure you will love it! It's always fun to choose the color of your ink based on the color of your pen as well if you want to make things more interesting.

[doggonecarl]

What color Safari did you get?

 

If you write small you might find the Lamy medium nib a little big. And I have Japanese fine nibs that write smaller than Lamy's EF nibs.

[carlos.q]

Excellent choice of pen and ink. As far as the Safari's beveled grip section, you will find it will help you hold the pen differently... Not as a ballpoint!

Also, do check out this Goulet video: http://www.gouletpens.com/Articles.asp?ID=308

[ac12]

Should I flush my Lamy Safari (is that in and outting water with converter until it is clear) every time I refill with an ink (even if it's same colour)? Also, do I need to let it dry after flushing with water or can I use the Safari straight away?

 

No, flush maybe every month or two, depending on how much you write.

IMHO, flushing every fill is just wasting ink.

 

BTW, to clean the pen of old ink, you need to do more than flush the pen. The reason is there is an ink reservoir on the feed that flushing will not clean out. To clean that out, you need to soak the pen, nib down in a narrow glass for several hours, the ink will drift down out of the pen.

 

After you flush/clean the pen, you "should" let the pen dry out, because otherwise you will be diluting the ink with the water still in the pen.

I do this by putting the pen nib down in a cup with a pad of tissue paper on the bottom. The tissue paper soaks up the water that flows down the pen.

 

As for the pen, I would advise a F or even XF nib.

The reason is when taking notes, you will be writing a LOT. I found that is it easier to do so with a finer tip, so you can pack more words on a line. The Lamy F nib is equivalent in width to my Parker M nibs, and the Lamy XF to my Parker F nibs. This is why I recommend F or XF.

 

I would also advise you get a 2nd pen for your other ink color. This is because cleaning out a pen to switch ink color can be a PiA. OK not so bad for the Safari, but still cleaning out the old ink for the new ink is a lot of work. See the soaking comment above. This is especially important when going from black ink to any other lighter color ink.

 

If you do not physically abuse your pen, like stomping on it or throwing it around, it will last for decades. You will probably get tired of it and switch to a different pen before it fails.

 

tips:

1 - Refill the pen every day, AFTER you do you homework. In this way, you will start the day off with a FULL load of ink.

2 - Carry a second fountain pen or gel pen. IF your Lamy runs dry, switch to the 2nd pen. It is much faster to switch pens than to hassle with reloading the fountain pen, even if using cartridge ink. Save the reloading for when you get home.

[ALPrasetio]

Hey kvz! I've been using the Lamy Safari M nib with Aurora Black for notetaking in med school and has been working quite wonderfully. Mine did take a little while getting used to (the contoured part of the pen is uncomfortable at first but you get used to it). I also bought the charcoal colored one because it had a bit of texture, and it makes quite a difference when you're taking notes for longer periods of time (it's less slick).

 

I don't know how those two inks are but I do know that I was having trouble with the Lamy Black Ink with the Lamy safari pen (who would've thought?). But once I switched to the Aurora Black, it's been writing like a champ!

 

The converter holds around ~.7 ish mL of ink and that's enough to get me through around 15 pages of heavily detailed notes (the entire page is filled), so that should give you a rough estimate.

 

This is off-topic but does anyone know if the Vanishing Point's matte black is similar to the Lamy Safari's charcoal "textured" skin?

[85AKbN]

One of my recent FP purchases is a Lamy Al-Star.

 

 

Any recommendations/pointers for me? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Thanks for all the help!

 

Check out the Lamy Bob Nurin videos. Specifically the second one on filling convertors and the final 3 drops of ink you let out.

 

http://www.lamyusa.com/lamy_videos.php

[kvz]

 

No, flush maybe every month or two, depending on how much you write.

IMHO, flushing every fill is just wasting ink.

 

BTW, to clean the pen of old ink, you need to do more than flush the pen. The reason is there is an ink reservoir on the feed that flushing will not clean out. To clean that out, you need to soak the pen, nib down in a narrow glass for several hours, the ink will drift down out of the pen.

 

After you flush/clean the pen, you "should" let the pen dry out, because otherwise you will be diluting the ink with the water still in the pen.

I do this by putting the pen nib down in a cup with a pad of tissue paper on the bottom. The tissue paper soaks up the water that flows down the pen.

 

Thanks AC12! When you say flush, does that mean using the converter and a cup of water, and continuously rinsing in and out until the water coming out is clear? Ok, how long does it normally take for a Safari to dry after flushing?

 

 

Hey kvz! I've been using the Lamy Safari M nib with Aurora Black for notetaking in med school and has been working quite wonderfully. Mine did take a little while getting used to (the contoured part of the pen is uncomfortable at first but you get used to it). I also bought the charcoal colored one because it had a bit of texture, and it makes quite a difference when you're taking notes for longer periods of time (it's less slick).

 

The converter holds around ~.7 ish mL of ink and that's enough to get me through around 15 pages of heavily detailed notes (the entire page is filled), so that should give you a rough estimate.

 

Thanks for the info ALPrasetio! Thanks for the estimate of use - very helpful! Do you find that the Medium can be too thick for writing in a A4 notepad (like the 7-8mm ruled ones plain paper for school)

 

What color Safari did you get?

 

I got the matte charcoal black one Safari!

 

Thanks for all the help, really do appreciate it!

Kevin

[ac12]

Kevin

I recommend that you get a bulb syringe (got mine at the Target, infant dept) and use that to flush the pen.

It pushes more water harder, so is more efficient at flushing the pen.

 

Leaving the pen tip down in tissue paper overnight will be sufficient to dry the pen.

You can rush it by holding tissue paper on the nib, and wicking out the water. Keep changing paper to put dry paper on the nib, to wick out the water.

Edited December 1, 2013 by ac12

[ALPrasetio]

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2883/11144835625_2141dd57d7_c.jpg

20131130_231730 by Yfuk, on Flickr

 

 

I found no problem in using an A4 notepad with the medium nib at all. As you can see, it's slightly wider than a .7mm pilot G2, so you should be perfectly fine with it!

Edited December 1, 2013 by ALPrasetio