I would like to declare the Lamy Safari the unofficial Official Fountain Pen of the Typosphere. Seriously, how many of us have 'em? Stand and be counted!
I have two, neither of which are colors that photograph easily: an orange (medium nib), and the new aqua (fine nib), which in reality is a fairly dark turquoise. They've been my ink sample pens, for the most part, because they fill and clean easily, and because they just write so nicely. And it's nice to know if something *does* happen to a nib or converter, they swap out easily. Cheerful, bombproof pens they are.
7 comments:
Yay! I have several - red, white, clear, pink, and black. They were going for a song on eBay UK so I stocked up. I love the ease of changing inks and also swapping nibs - at first I got a variety just to try out (EF, F, M, 1.1), but then I decided my favorite was EF and got a good deal on a five-pack of spare EF nibs. With that and a good stock of converters, one would think all my FP needs could be met for the next decade!
I'm not a blogger but a COB (Commenter On Blogs). However, I support your nomination. I bought my first one this past Saturday, a red pen, extra fine nib, with red ink. It is the PERFECT editing pen. Yesterday I odered a second one, charcoal, again with an extra fine nib. Comfortable, reliable and inexpensive, these will be my carry pens. (The Pelikans, my favorites, are desk pens.) I foresee more Safari pens in my future and as gifts.
Question: if anyone knows, what is the italic stub nib like? Does it give a real italic appearence?
Jeff The Bear
I've got a coffee brown Al-Star and a silver logo, and the Lamy is definitely a reliable pen. :)
Ooh, I came so close to buying one... and may still do, when (not if) I place another order with gouletpens.com. The Sheaffer Prelude was a must-have, though, and I am loving it with Noodler's Air-Corp Blue-Black.
Do we have an official brand of ink? Noodler's, perhaps?
Adwoa - I envy you the pink and the clear a bit, especially the pink. I've not yet tried swapping out nibs, but it's nice knowing the option is there!
Jeff - I would guess the Safari italic nibs are the same as the Lamy Joy italic nibs. Mike Speegle brought a Joy to the type-in--he's had more experience, and I hope he chimes in. But from my few minutes with it, I would say you *can* get an italic look, if you know what you're doing. (If you look at our scribble sheet from the type-in, you can see my attempt in blue toward the bottom of the page.) And it's a good deal smoother and more forgiving than your average dip pen italic nib.
Vikram - I've yet to handle an Al-Star, but the coffee brown is lovely! Getting harder to find, too--it's a limited edition, no?
MTCoalhopper - I've heard wonderful things about the Preludes, and I believe I've expressed my feelings for Noodler's Air-Corp Blue-Black. I generally always keep at least one pen inked with it.
Of the inks I've tried, I've liked Noodler's and Diamine best!
I wholeheartedly support the proffered resolution by our esteemed colleague, LFP.
The Lamy is a great, inexpensive and versatile pen. I have two, an orange and a blue, one with an F nib and the other with an M (although truth be told I have switched the nibs back and forth so many times that I no longer specifically recall which nib came with which pen).
I carried the two of them to work every day at my slot maintenance job, a position which required a lot of crawling around inside bases and cabinetry, hauling 600 lb. machines to and fro, &c., and they held up like a dream. They may write fancy and all, but their sturdiness makes 'em a working man's dream.
As far as the Joy goes, I have never specifically been a fan of "italic" pens; I write more for utility than for aesthetics. That said, the Joy is a...well...a joy to use. The nib is smooth as all get out and the chisel tip adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the writing experience. That said, if you actually have nice handwriting like LFP, you can product some very nice-looking script.
So, yeah, I like 'em too. Now to start saving for a Lamy Dialogue 3 to make my life complete...
I have one, blue in color, filled with Parker Quink blue/black ink. The Line Writer has a black one (his favorite color), which he uses with blue/black Lamy cartridges.
Post a Comment