Lamy Safari Fountain Pen Review

2023 Mar 26

I am new to fountain pens and decided that my first pen would be the Lamy Safari fountain pen ¹. This pen is the most recommended pen for beginners that I have seen so far, and I understand why. I picked up the Lamy Safari fountain pen in Charcoal with a Fine (F) nib. I intend to use it as my primary black fountain pen, hence the black-on-black aesthetic. It was $25ish at the time I'm writing this on sale.

I chose an F nib as it seemed close to my former favorite pens, the gel Inkjoy 0.5mm. (For more information about why I switched to fountain pens, see the anecdote in my Muji review.) It is spot on for size with a 0.5mm gel pen and has cemented itself as my favorite fountain pen so far.

Lamy Safari fountain pen with writing sample

Lamy Safari fountain pen with cap off

Lamy Safari fountain pen with cap on

Feel

The angles of the Lamy Safari at the base make holding the pen incredibly ergonomic and comfortable. I inked the Lamy with Platinum Carbon Black, and it has been writing like a dream. The feel is very smooth and the ink flow is just right for the page. I haven’t experienced any issues with feathering, no matter what I write on (I make my own notebooks out of HP 32 Premium paper.)

It’s well balanced, the cap posts nicely onto the bottom of the pen, and I really like the little ink window that shows me how much ink is remaining in the converter. I added the standard Lamy converter to use with the pen since I want to minimize waste/cost of cartridges and I honestly can’t be bothered (at this point) with using a syringe to re-fill the cartridges like some people.

The one downside

The only issue I have had with the Lamy is that I forgot to re-cap it for about an hour the other day and it immediately dried up. I couldn’t get ink to flow even after scribbling quietly for a few minutes and had to resort to dipping the pen into warm water for a little while to re-hydrate everything. I realize that this is partially on me, as I forgot to cap the pen, but it seems absurd to me that it had dried out after only an hour. I don’t know if this happened because of the pen or because the ink is a bit drier, perhaps. I have seen notes in forums online that Lamys tend to dry out quickly, so I suspect it is a combination.

Overall thoughts on the Lamy Safari Fountain Pen

To date, this pen is my favorite of all of my fountain pens. I also have to agree with the majority of fountain pen users in recommending it as the best starter fountain pen. It writes like a dream, was easy to ink, and is comfortable to use.

My list of favorite pens for beginners so far, from most to least favorite:

1. Lamy Safari
2. Muji Aluminum (review)
3. TWSBI Eco (review)