Lamy Safari Fountain Pen - Extra Fine Nib - Charcoal Black Body & Black Clip

The Charcoal Safari in Extra Fine writes very, very nicely and its flat black body and glossy black nib are all business. The size, weight and balance of the ABS body make for comfortable writing, cap posted or not. The EF nib glides across any old paper I have so far tried, leaving a sharp, reliable line of blue from the supplied cartridge. I have a converter at the ready once I exhaust the cartridge and anticipate buying a spare nib in a different width, just for some variety.

This pen is just the ticket for the basic pen fan and constant user. For a true beginner still deciding between "yes" and "no" on the subject of the fountain pen, there are alternatives in lower price ranges. If you already love fountain pens and do not have a Lamy Safari, buy one without hesitation and enjoy it as I do mine.

I would rate this pen five stars (and more if permitted to) at a more competitive price.

beautiful writing on standard American notebook paper as many find it dreadful with some fountain pens

no scratch, no feather, little bleed(a small bit more than any 0.7mm ballpoint pen)

love the blue ink! i would describe it as electric, i was going to pop out the cartridge right away for the converter and ink bottle i ordered, but man, i'll stick with this until it's out =)

the EF from Lamy is the exact fountain pen size i wanted with notebook, small, yet it doesn't take detail away from the fact your using a fountain pen.

perfect with cursive script and Japanese! ^^

and no "bling", a every-day pen you can use without looking like your trying to impress somebody

Be sure to check the nib when you get it. I somehow received the bold nib version of this (even though the box clearly says "EX FINE"). The bold version has a "B" on the nib, whereas the extra fine has "EF" on the nib.

This is my first entry into fountain pens. I did have some experience with dip pens in college, so writing with a nib wasn't totally foreign, but these days my pens of choice have been the Uniball 207s gels and Vision Micro rollers.

The pen is extremely handsome. The plastic body is thick and feels very rugged while remaining quite light. The pen does, however, feel ever so slightly unbalanced with the cap posted on the back. The EF tip doesn't give a lot of variation in line width, so on paper (with a blue-black Monteverde cartridge) gives a very similar look to a Uniball Vision Micro black. The nib, out of the box, gave a very smooth writing experience... didn't have to deal with a break-in period.

I do have to say that using a fountain pen in meetings with clients has become a conversation starter. I enjoy not only the writing experience, but the psychological effect it seems to hold on people around me when I use it.

I really went back and forth on this. At first, I wanted to rate the pen a 3. However, I decided on 4 because of the build quality of the pen and the fact that they make an adapter for the ink. Really the review needs two parts.

1. The Pen - This is an awesome pen. The weight is perfect, the hand feel is great. The nib writes smoothly and evenly. It feels good against the paper with just enough tactile feedback.

2. The ink - The ink is horrible. I got the blue ink and it is the worst ink I have ever written with. The blue color is weak and looks like someone took REAL ink and watered it down. It doesn't last. The color fades quickly. I have been using the pen for about 3 months and the stuff I wrote when I first got it looks worse than it did when I first wrote it.

My suggestion, buy the pen and the ink adapter. Never even put in the lamy ink cartridge. Buy some really good ink and enjoy a great pen that writes perfectly and evenly. The pen is great, the ink is not.