Lamy Safari Fountain Pen, Charcoal Medium Nib (L17M)

I have a number of Lamy Safaris because they’ve always been great. If you’re starting out with fountain pens, this is where I’d steer you. The angled grip is meant to teach you form but in a comfortable manner. The plastic body doesn’t make it “feel” cheap like others do. I have a Platinum Plaisir that is a great writer but the plastic body is so light and feels so cheap. Not so with the Safari. The stainless steel nibs provide durability but also a firmness that some people might not like as much, however, the ink flow is always nice and consistent. The smoothness of the write is good for the money. I’ve bought a couple Pilot FPs in the same price point and the Safari was way smoother than they were. That was one thing that kept me getting into higher price point Lamys. They work well and I’ve never had any issues.

One of my favorite pens, it’s cheaper than most but works really well. I have been writing with it all the time. Get the refillable cartridge to go with it and this pen is unstoppable

It's a good pen. If you like your $2 Lamy knockoff like I did, you'll like this and appreciate it. The materials aren't significantly better, it does write better, it looks better and makes me feel better. I don't think there's $20 worth of materials here and $20 is a lot to spend on a writing instrument.... But the ~pen~ itself is worth $20 to me. It's a great pen to hand someone to try.

Honestly, I did not expect this pen to be so Great! It’s well built, super light, and the nib is perfect. Usually all nibs have a sweet spot but this seems to be one big sweet spot. Ink flow is even. Thanks for the great pen.

This pen is very lightweight, and feels nice in the hand. The ink flow is smooth and doesn’t result in ink running. The design is pretty classic so don’t expect anything new like it was inventing the wheel. Overall functionality is what you would expect, it is an ink pen. The material is all plastic, though that is expected for this price point. One drawback, however, the pen does not have the ability to really control the ink flow through pressure on the tip.Pros: good design, feel, weightCons: inflow is not controlled through pressure on the tip, material could be betterOverall: If you are in the market for a fountain pen, but don’t want to spend your paycheck, then this pen might be for you. For the price point it is definitely worth getting. 4/5

Best pen on the market. If Tony Stark uses it that everyone else should as well.

Excellent quality and features. Robust clip, durable materials, and ink window is ingenious. The grip is perfect for easy writing. Would easily recommend.

This review is about the Lamy Safari with Medium Nib.Before I start I want to mention that in my experience no two same make/model pens write exactly the same.Having said that, the particular pen that I purchased is not only solid 5 stars, but it is also the best pen in my collection of inexpensive fountain pens.I tested all the pens on different kinds of paper using different inks.1. The Lamy Safari was the smoothest writer on both quality Rhodia paper and plain printer copy paper just ahead of the Pilot Kakuno.2. Pilot Kakuno is very comfortable to hold pen with nib almost as smooth as the Safari.3. The Sailor Tuzu is very nice pen, however the Medium nib writes like Fine and it has too much feedback for my liking.4. The Platinum Preppy was as smooth as the Safari, however the nib’s “sweet spot” was so small that during normal writing it would feel scratchy from time to time.5. The Jinhao clone of the Safari performs well on Rhodia but feels the opposite of smooth on any paper that is not top notch.6. The Jinhao 9019’s nib has the same issue as the Preppy. It feels scratchy unless you hold the pen at the exactly correct angle.7. The Pilot Varsity and Zebra Fuente are OK if you need some color that you don’t use very often, like red or green. The Varsity is the only pen I have that could be used as “reverse writer” – meaning you can hold the pen upside down and this results in much thinner line. Good for drawing and writing formulas. These two as disposable pens and this is one of the reasons I rate them lower.8. The Pelikan Twist is in last place because I can’t really use it without holding it in a way that is very uncomfortable. Still not sure if this is bad design or manufacturing defect.I tested the Lamy Safari with Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue ink that works really well for me on different kinds of paper.Currently I am using the Lamy converter, however if I had to buy the converter again ... I wouldn’t. Just use the included cartridge and when it is empty, refill it with syringe with blunt needle from ink bottle. The cartridge holds more ink than the converter.For below sixteen dollars, which is what I paid, this pen is a steal.