Lamy Safari Al-Star Fountain Pen - Graphite - Extra Fine

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Lamy sets a high bar for fountain pens. Affordable while looking expensive, these pens write beautifully.My penmanship is not great and I originally bought a Lamy fountain pen to force myself to write slower and concentrate. The added benefit is that I get plenty of comments on how nice they look!

I have an Art pen rotring extra fine and i must say this one gives me a thinner line, wish i love, i must say its abit like a 0.3mm or 0.35mm but its really good for sketching in tiny sketchbook pockets, feels really good in my hand, i was worried that it could be really small for my hand, but i even use it with no cap on it, there is no need. People complain about the default blue ink, i like it, its good for sketching, i will buy a converter and then use my favorite waterman black ink, but for now, the pen does solid drawings in blue ink.I can finally do eye lashes on sketches, it was impossible with the art pen rotring in a small sketchbook, this pen is awesome for letter a4 paper size. The nib is a bit scratchy, but not in feels but in sound, you can hear it when you draw, but it doesnt scratch paper at all and moves super fast like if it was butter on bread.The nid its not a flex, but i can get thinner lines if i use it sideways, or if i do a fast stroke. Works great on regular paper, it doesnt absorb the ink that fast to make super bold lines. I really liked the black box that came with it, make it look fancy and expensive, too bad is disposable.The part were you grab the pen its not like a cilynder but as a triangle, with 3 planes, but still that doesnt bother me at all while drawing, makes me hold the pen even better. The pen can do super fast strokes and ink still come out with no delay, this is your pen. Because it doesnt matter the speed of the stroke, ink always come out almost instantly.There is nothing worse than doing some strokes and ink wont come out, so you had to start all over it, so far i havent seen this problem at all, im planning to buy a second one just in case.

This is my first fountain pen. I can't believe how fun it is to use! I find myself writing things now for no reason. Gotta make a grocery list? This pen makes it fun. I watched a few YouTube videos, and it seemed like the Safari was the go to do it all fountain pen for beginners. They weren't lying! I have not tried a plastic barrel, but this aluminum one feels very high-quality and cold to the touch when you pick it up. It's the little things!

Works great, feels good in the hand

This thing is amazing. I loved my fine nib pilot metropolitan, but the grip wasn't quite right, then I loved my medium nib Lamy Safari, but the nib wasn't quite right. Then I find this thing of beauty: the Lamy AL-star. The same dimensions and profile as a Safari, but with an aluminum barrel and cap! It's very light for a metal pen, probably because it's aluminum and not some heavier metal, but the grip is identical to the Safari, so if you like that one you will like this one. So for me, I like the way this fits in my hand. I usually prefer to post the cap for comfort sake, but I have noticed it's starting to chip at the end of the barrel. The color is staying though which makes me think this is anodized this color which should be good for durability. I travel with this pen daily and have had no issues. I like that the Lamy fine nib is just a bit bolder than the pilot fine nib without being nearly as bold as the medium nib. This is the Goldilocks size for me. I highly recommend this pen.

Very nice fountain pen. This metal pen seems to prevent the ink from drying better than the regular plastic-body Lamy pens. I also love the color!

Great pen, love the look and feel of the safari so I thought I'd give the Alstar a try. Unfortunately I received a safari instead, still a great pen I just paid extra

I'm a left hander, and the Lamy "fine" nib flows much more freely than I like. The extra fine nib is nice and precise, and certainly doesn't flow much. So, in a trade off, it's a little scratchy and occasionally you have to re-trace a line. But, for a lefty, it's a small price to pay for avoiding smears. The pen is light and nimble. It's a little tall, but very comfortable to use, and certainly one of the most recommended "starter pens" for fountain pen beginners. The Lamy ink cartridges work well, though obviously you'll want to get an ink refill converter so you're not stuck with only Lamy's ink (plus, they're more expensive than buying ink in a bottle). I do use the ink cartridges for air travel, as I have problems with (reservoir) ink leaking in my Pilot Metropolitan on planes. So the Lamy cartridges are great for that. But overall, I recommend the pen very highly. You shouldn't expect it to equal a $200 pen, but it's a great everyday instrument.