Customer Reviews

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen, Charcoal Medium Nib (L17M)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First, let me say that I love fountain pens--all types, but especially Sheaffers. A colleague of mine turned me on to Lamy pens and they've become my workhorses.

I teach English so I grade many, many papers and I refuse to write with a boring pen. I used to use my antique shaeffers until a student almost dropped one. I had to have a daily pen that was, well, near disposable. I remembered the Lamy and ordered a Safari. Now, if something happens to it, I don't have a stroke. Plus, the broad nib has a wonderful ink flow!

I give them as gifts. They are a good pen to start using as they are very forgiving.

Do they write as well as my older pens? Nope. Are they more user-friendly? Yup. (Think mid 60's Jaguar E-Type versus 2005 Honda Civic. Which is more fun to drive? Which would you drive to the grocery store? Get my point?)

Bottom line: It is a $25 pen that you'll use more than your $100+ antique pens.

This is one of the best fountain pens under $50 USD, for fountain pen novices or for experienced fountain pen users. This is not a calligraphy pen, but the "medium" point (like a broad ballpoint, or maybe even a bit wider than that) forces you to write larger letter sizes and improve your handwriting. The grip is comfy, and it "forces" you to treat your writing wrist well.

any of the lamy pens are near indestructible and offer a smooth write for their price. it's certainly no DuPont but its a great pen (especially for someone's first fountain pen)

I BOUGHT THIS PEN FOR MYSELF, BUT ENDED UP GIVING IT TO MY DAUGHTER WHO IS COLLEGE STUDENT AND A GREAT WRITER. A LIFETIME OF WRITING, SINCE I GOT THE REFILLABLE CARTRIDGE TOO. IN A WORLD INCREASINGLY DEVOTED TO EMAILS AND BALL POINTS, WORSE STILL DISPOSABLE FOUNTAIN PENS -- ISN'T THAT SORT OF A CONTRADICTION?? -- THE LAMY OFFERS AN AFFORDABLE WRITING STYLE AND A GREAT, I MEAN GREAT, GRIP. I NEVER KNEW IT MATTERED SO MUCH UNTIL I HELD A PEN THAT WAS PROPERLY DESIGNED. I THINK I'LL HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER FOR MYSELF, IRRESISTIBLE.

I bought the Lamy Safari medium nibbed fountain pen after seeing my numerous Flickr friends using them to draw & write, all while claiming that they like the Lamy better than their much more expensive fountain pens.

It seemed like an inexpensive way to try a "real" fountain pen as opposed to the wet writer Pilot Varsity disposable I had been using. I bought the Lamy ink converter, so I could fill the pen with the famed Bulletproof Black Noodlers ink Noodlers Polar Black Bulletproof Eel Fountain Pen Ink to write in my Moleskine Moleskine Ruled Reporter Notebook journal, as well as do ink drawings & watercolor washes on watercolor paper.

Many people claim that the Lamy's don't bleed or feather in the Moleskines, but through additional research, it seems to depend on the particular paper lot of the Moleskines. So far, I personally have not had a problem with bleeding or feathering with the medium nibbed Lamy Safari in any of my Moleskine journals, or the Moleskine Cahiers. Ruled Cahier

I loved this Lamy so much, (the tip is as smooth as writing with a soft tipped pencil), that I just bought another one, with a fine nib and a bottle of Waterman Blue-Black ink.

PS - I am using the regular Noodlers black ink as opposed to the Polar. Amazon didn't have a link for the regular ink.

I wanted to start back writing with fountain pens,after doing research on this pen it was the best one for me.I ordered this in medium (nib),based on the quality of paper the pen ink spreads out sometimes more than it suppose to.

I ended up purchasing a fine nib again because a fine writes like medium in ball point pens.i often travel with the two together.

I read all the reviews regarding this pen and decided to make the purchase. Once I received and began using it, I was amazed at how smooth and comfortable it was to use. It looks great and simple and it serves its purpose. I would recommend buying either a refill cartridge or the converter to use refillable ink since I used it up within a week (of heavy use of course!)

This is the second Lamy Safari fountain pen (medium nib) I've bought for myself. They are good value for the price, lay down a good line and write relatively smoothly. The one problem I've encountered in both pens is that they leak out of the nib if stored on their side or cap end down, when I use them with the optional converter. I have not had a problem with them as long as I store them cap end up.

At the risk of offending the gun haters, the Lamy Safari is to pens what the Glock 17 is to pistols: it's made in Germany/Austria, it's made of polymer so it's light, and it works very well. Like the Glock it even has a little built in window so you can tell how much ammo or ink you have left.

I'm not really into fountain pens but my wife bought me a gift quality fountain pen for my birthday. I fell in love with the way it writes but it was just too darned heavy for writing. So I bought the Lamy Safari. The medium tip makes my chicken scratch handwriting look less scratchy.

I've bought Watermans and a few others. Almost without exception the companies other than Lamy are designing their fountain pens with Victorian or pseudo-Modern/pseudo-contemporary design principles. I think the point that's lost is that these pens are not only far from obsolete, but in some ways the most functional of all the pens. I was introduced to the Safari as a student in Art & Architecture at Virginia tech. An odd thing, I thought. But with the Fountain, you get the most control over the line. For drawing, they are very useful, also for writing. I write a lot in notebooks when I'm not directly writing into the word processor I use fountains. And i'm telling you the physical connection between the pen, the paper & the hand matters. But in any case, though these pens are thought to be a throw-back, inferior technology & the users sappy nostalgics or at best eccentrics, Lamy is not so foolish.

Lamy's fountains are very modern and have been since the 2000 fountain transformed the company. The Safari is one of the best. And in one sense I can't say the 2000 is better. Sure, it's got a gold nib (platinum coated too) and feels better than any pen I've held in my hand, but I don't dare take it out with me, and this is a nice point to bring in the clip. If you lose pens this clip will likely save you. Attach it to the most convenient part of your clothing but not to a book cover; you'll bend it out.

This particular body: the charcoal goes pretty far back. If you want a textured feeling go with the charcoal. All of the others are made with a shinier plastic and are extremely smooth in texture. My first was a charcoal and I recently bought one more.

Nib size: it is pretty well known that Lamy nibs run a bit big, but I wouldn't even rule out the broad nib. That's what I've got in the charcoal now. The ink flows much more smoothly than medium nibbed Safari and is not too broad. People say parker this, parker that. If you're looking for a great design that you'll use all of the time, buy this. And if you're looking for a perfect writing instrument, I'd recommend the Lamy 2000 even over the more expensive models. But there's no accounting for taste.

Note on the broad nibs. The broad nib takes a while to break in. The biggest mistake is to bear down on it because the ink won't flow for a second. You'll prematurely split the nib (something that is only okay after the nib is fully broken in and springy). You'll likely avoid an initial battle with the flow if you buy m nib or finer, but the broad nib flows the freest when flowing.