Safari Fountain Pen - Charcoal - Fine

When you first learn the basics of fountain pen writing, you need a no-nonsense pen that writes reliably, consistently, helps you learn the best way to hold a pen, is sturdy enough to be dropped off the desk more than once, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The Lamy Safari does all of that. And when you are ready to go to the next level, try different nibs, or try bottled ink instead of cartridges, the Lamy Safari is still there with you. Since it's a cartridge/converter pen, you can choose how you feed it ink. And if you are capable of putting a one inch long piece of Scotch Tape over your nib and pull it straight out, the nib comes right off and can be replaced by any other Lamy nib (except Lamy 2000 nibs), to include the $130 14k gold nib. Lamy even offers stub nibs in different sizes compatible with the Safari. The nibs are usually steel, and relatively stiff, so line variation is minimal at best. If you put too much pressure on it, and ruin the nib, you can get a replacement from online retailers in 4 regular sizes (EF, F, M, B) and three stub widths (1.1mm, 1.5mm, 1.9mm) as well as a "Cursive Nib) that's designed to write East Asian scripts, starting at $16 each. Installing your new nib takes about five seconds, wait for the feed to fill the nib slit with ink (you can help to prime the nib by squeezing a drop of ink from your cartridge/converter), and you're back in business. The pen's grip section is tri-lobed; the round nib sections has three relatively large flat spots on it to help guide your fingers to hold it in a way that gives you maximum control and the least amount of fatigue. If you've used a different grip to hold your pens/pencils, this may present a bit of a learning curve, but if you have no "bad habits" to unlearn, you'll be writing like a pro in no time. If you're coming from the world of Biros (ballpoint, gel rollers, rollerballs), it will take you a couple of writing sessions to teach your hand that you don't have to press down on the pen to get it to write. The stiffness of this pen's nib will be forgiving for too much pressure without damaging it. A properly tuned fountain pen should be capable of leaving a clearly defined solid line by you holding the tail end with two fingers, the nib on the paper, and you pulling the nib on the paper; downward pressure on the nib is not required, unless something is wrong with the nib, or the ink. With the sturdiness of this pen, and very little abuse, this pen can easily last 20 years...that means it can take you from grade school all the way to your ABA exam...or whichever career goal you have in mind.

The Good: - Pen is super smooth and easy to write with. I tend to write very small and precise, and my grip on a normal pen is quite tight. That leads to my hand getting tired quickly when writing, which means I don't do a whole lot of it. This pen has renewed my desire to write stuff down, which is a great feeling. - Design is solid, very light and easy to write with. Nice matte/satin finish. - Ink dries quickly in my grid Moleskine notebook that I use as a Project Journal for my hobbies, and I don't see any bleed. I wait a few seconds before turning the page, and I don't have any problems. The Bad: - The "fine" nib is a joke. It's way more like a medium, unless you write enormous. I'm used to using the small Zebra metal pens, as I like how precise they are. I found that the Lamy Fine nib produces a line that is just a tad too thick for my liking, but I don't really see much of a difference between the Fine and EF writing comparisons that I've seen. I may give an EF nib a shot eventually, but for now I'll just deal with it. I didn't dock a star because the pen really is great, and it may just be my small handwriting. This is by far my biggest complaint with the pen. I see that it is a common complaint, but I really didn't expect it to be so thick. - The ink dries quickly, but has a very faded look to it. This looks cooler with premium inks, but with the Lamy ink it makes it look lower-quality. I mean, I didn't really expect incredible ink, but it just doesn't look like anything fancy. Great pen for beginners, I highly recommend it.

Great first fountain pen! This was my first pen and I am glad it was. The triangular grip helps ensure that you are holding the pen correctly which is more helpful than people realize. I am a lefty and so I was very worried that it would smear or write super thick making fountain pens unusable. Once I had the pen in hand this was not really an issue for me at all. There were occasional smudges, but nothing that was remotely more than a regular gel pen, if not less.

I've owned numerous Lamy Safaris over the last thirty years and have a nuanced respect for the brand. Lamy makes my all-time favorite fountain pen, the Lamy 2000. The Lamy pedigree is sophisticated quality. And, for the most part, the Safari fulfills this heritage. There really isn't much which differentiates the writing experience between cheaper Lamy pens. The Safari writes like an Al-Star, which writes like a Vista, which writes like a Logo, which writes like an LX. Nibs and feeds are all the same. Nibs differ only in width. I'm fairly sure there is no difference at all, save materials used for barrels and caps and available colors, between the Safari, Al-Star, Vista and LX. All have the Safari shape, a wire pocket clip, identical nibs and ink windows. The Safari is made of plastic, while the Al-Star and LX are made of aluminum, with the Al-Star anodized in a variety of cool colors combined with chrome clips and the LX in some funkier colors (rose gold) with matching clips.The Vista appears to be a clear plastic (demonstrator) Safari. We're looking here at a basic $25 Lamy Safari. It will write as well as the $65 LX. In fact, for writing, it will be indistinguishable from the LX. Lamy nibs are generally smooth and consistent. They're replaceable. You can find Lamy nibs in different sizes if you hurt your nib, or want a different flow. Safaris generally last until you lose them or drop them. They're workhorse fountain pens. That said, these are the negatives I've experienced with Lamy Safaris, Al-Stars, etc. 1) Lack of a piston filler. For a big pen, these things hold surprisingly little ink when used with a standard converter. I far prefer using a syringe to refill Lamy cartridges. I suspect refilled cartridges hold 2/3 more ink than converters. 2) Lamy clips bag out over time. Don't pull on the clip if you don't have to. It will lose its tightness. 3) Lamy caps snap on with an inner plastic ring on the cap fitting over a ridge on the barrel of the pen. But use them enough and the cap will loosen and no longer snap tightly shut. I've had more than a few Safaris, Al-Stars, etc. become unusable because the cap loses its ability to hold tight. And I've ruined a number of shirts by caps falling off in my pocket and ink soaking into the fabric. 4) Aluminum Lamys dent and scratch fairly easily. I won't pay over $29 for a low-end Lamy, no matter what material it's made of. The $56 LX isn't a better pen than this plastic Safari. Except for being made of shiny aluminum, the LX is identical to the Safari. It seems you pay a premium for color and a further premium for metal barrels with Lamy. But the cheapest matte plastic Safaris look good longer than the rest. After decades of sticking with Safaris, I've moved on. A number of Indian and Chinese pen manufacturers are putting out quality pens for half the price, with piston fillers to boot. Check out Jinhao and Fountain Pen Revolution pens here on Amazon if you want to be a little more adventurous.

I am relatively new to using fountain pens - have several and without doubt the Lamy Safari is a great pen. It writes very smooth, very reliably, and does so with Lamy, Noodlers and Diamine inks. There is a lot from other commentators on the pen but I want to address one issue and that is the fineness of the line produced by the pen. I like a very fine line so I purchased a couple Lamy pens with extra fine (EF) nibs. Interestingly when I inked up the pens they produced very different lines - with the same ink. The surprise is that among EF nibs there is a much variation in line width as there is between a F and an EF nib. So I purchased about 5 nibs from different suppliers - and of the 5, four were what I would call EF and one was let me call it an EEF (I'm making this up as Lamy does not sell such a nib) - that is extra extra fine. The difference in line width and appearance is amazing between these two nibs. The EEF produces a crisper more vibrant line and I can produce very small writing that would be a blurr with the other nib. One of the tell tale signs of the rare EEF though is that it is scrachie to write with! I would not consider this a negative - it is just that the finer the nib the more the scratchiness. If you don't like a little scratchiness when you write you won't like these EEF nibs. But I don't mind the scratchiness in order to get the extra fine line and a more vibrant line. Why is there such variation in the nib? At first I thought it was the difference between the black colored nib and the shiny white metal nib - but I now have one EEF that is black and one that is shinny white. So my only guess is that Lamy's production quality control allows this variation in nib production. So the point of all this is that if you buy one pen or for that matter several they may all be scratchy and produce a extra fine line or they may all be smooth, the more likely case, and produce a normal fine line - but you can't know what it is until you buy it and try it so you might want to buy several spare nibs and just try them to find the very few that produce these EEF lines. I have not looked at the variation in the F nibs as I am only interested in getting the finest line in a reliable manner from my Lamy.

From most of the positive reviews, you'll see them mention this is a great beginner's pen or that it has excellent an return on investment. I couldn't agree more. The Safari has a nice grip that lines your fingers up so you grip the pen correctly. For me, that was great. It forced me to retrain decades worth of holding a pen/pencil incorrectly. This retraining makes it easier for me to write, especially for long periods of time. The graphite color is unpretentious, and the construction solid. Personally, I love the dark nib and adds to its appeal. It is light and doesn't press too hard in the hand when resting. Inside the barrel, it has grooves to line up the cartridge or converter correctly, making swapping ink in and out fairly easy. Clean up is quick and can be done without any difficulty. As for writing, it writes smoothly and the window in the side helps you see how much ink you have left. Apart from a little seepage of ink along the slit below the breathing hole on the nib, it writes fine. (This defect is more a function of the ink and not the pen, not all inks I've tried do this.) The Fine nib is perfect for me. Generally, I used to write with a .5mm pencil, now I write with this fine nib. I recommend you spend the extra $5-6 to get the converter as this opens up the door to experimenting with other inks to find what best tickles your belly button. It is not an expensive fountain pen (there are some that are even cheaper and "disposable") but you don't suffer in quality. I know I'll get a lot of mileage out of this pen. It was a great introduction pen for me and an intelligent investment (~$30). It'll also serve as a baseline for any future investments.

I am not a fountain pen user. I had a cheap calligraphy kit as a kid in the 80s, but my only other experience was with a ~10 year old Waterman pen (not an expensive one, something my father let me borrow). I do write a fair amount, mainly for work and grad school, and my current pens are a Pen Ballpoint Medium Ocean, Blue (PAR49789) with Rollerball Pen Refill, for Parker Retractable Gel, Medium Tip, Blue Ink, 2/Pack PAR30526 refills and a Parker Urban Fine Writing Medium Point Gel Pen, 1 Black Ink, Black Barrel Pen (35912) with Parker Refill for Retractable Gel Ink Pens, Medium, Black Ink, 2 per Pack (30525PP) refills. I just got the Lamy Safari Fine Nib pen today and tried it on a Piccadilly (Moleskine-copy) notebook with the stock ink (it ships with one cartridge). I also ordered a converter but, coming from a third-party vendor, it has not arrived yet. I mentioned that I have an inexpensive, older Waterman and I find that the Lamy pen writes much more smoothly than the Waterman. The fine nib on the Lamy also writes a better line than the Waterman (which must have a larger nib) and seems less scratchy. I don't know how much difference is due to wear and tear on the older pen. The differences between the Gel Ink pens and the Fountain pen are significant. The gel ink writes very quickly in comparison to the fountain pen. I'm not sure if I like how slow the Lamy writes, but that can also have some benefits. I can feel the paper through the Lamy, I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but the writing I produce is equivalent to Gel Ink. The benefits are in Fountain ink. There are tons of colors to choose from, and the inks seem to be less prone to streaking than the Gel ink (which can remain wet on paper for a long time). The other benefit may be ink price and certainly cartridge disposal when using a converter. I run through a Gel ink package a month... at $6 per package, plus the garbage I toss out, fountain inks seem more economical. I don't yet have any information on how quickly I run through a Fountain cartridge / converter fill-up. I understand that Lamy is trying to keep the prices low (and perhaps sell their ink cartridges), but if a converter cannot be included, it would be nice if one were available from Amazon directly (there are no prime offers on the Lamy converter). With shipping that changes this $25 pen into a $35 one, a 40% surcharge. Overall, I'm glad I can try out (and get used to) a good fountain pen for such little investment.

When someone asks me what pen they should get for their first fountain pen, I tell them to get a Lamy Safari. No question. Why am I such a fanatic fan of this pen? Is Lamy paying me a commission to write Amazon reviews on their products? No. Here's why: Pros -Will not cost you an arm and a leg as some other fountain pens will coughMontblanc -Sturdy moulded plastic design is scratch, dent, and general abuse resistant. This thing is a workhorse and is a true ballpoint pen replacement -Even though it is made of plastic, it has a nice texture to it that makes it feel substantial -Steel nib is utilitarian, sturdy, and oh so smooth. Never skips, never stops. No startup issues, ever. Writes a firm, consistent line. -Ink window so I can be lazy and check ink levels without opening the pen -Clip is springy and not too tight -Cap posts securely for those among us who can palm a basketball (not I) -Cap is a snap on/off and makes for quick note-taking without fussing with a threaded cap. Cap snaps on securely -Nib is removable for easy cleaning and for swapping with a different sized nib, which can be purchased separately -Comes with 1 cartridge of Lamy Blue ink to get you writing -Cartridges and converters snap into place securely so there's no chance that ink will leak inside the pen -Personal point: the shaped grip section is comfy for the way I hold pens -Personal point: the lightness of the pen makes for effortless writing Cons -Does not take international cartridges or converters, so you're stuck with Lamy proprietary products -Does not include a free converter. You'll have to get one separately (Z24) If you are thinking of getting your first fountain pen, I highly highly recommend the Lamy Safari. Its reliability, durability, and trouble-free nib is almost legendary and sets a high bar. But it's a bar you'll be thankful is there for you to compare future fountain pens against. I still use my Lamy Safari charcoal black with fine nib. It is currently inked with J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis.