Side by Side Comparison of: Pilot vs Lamy

Awesome quality for the price. Writes great for a RIGHTY ONLY!Great fountain pen for the price. last a long time (filled with easily double the ammount of a replaceable cartridge.Writes great for a RIGHTY ONLY!LEFTIES YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Simply luv! I wanted a simple, basic, inexpensive fountain pen to use at work daily. This fit the bill. Lightweight & comfortable to use. Ink flow is even and concise. You do not need to use a lot if pressure when writing with this type of pen. The only minor drawback is if your "heavy-handed" & use too much pressure when writing, the tip of nib will bend/break. It is durable, but in an inexperienced fountain pen user's hand it will break. Overall, I highly recommend and WILL indeed purchase more of this particular pen. I found this Pilot Pen "Varsity" model to be quite comparable to the quality & percision of much higher-end/more expensive fountain pens. If your a fountain pen enthusiast like myself, you gotta try at this price point. You will be glad you did!

I have always had an affinity for fountain pens but as of late I've grown tired of the required maintenance for traditional fountain pens so I have opted for these more and more often. Though environmentally not the greatest to choice to make it does provide convenience when on the road. The ink flow is substantial and smooth. There is no bleeding on quality pages and the dry time is decent. There are no smudges on the pages. This is one of the best brands of disposable fountain pens. If you are not familiar with how they write watch some online videos before making this purchase. The idea of fountain pens might be appealing but the application and use is not for everyone.

Great pens for the cost! I have numerous 'expensive' fountain pens and these are great to use in that if you do happen to lose one it's not like you lost a $100 pen. They do tend to bleed a bit more than the high end pens, but these are no where near that expensive. Would definitely recommend the fine pointed pens due to the bleeding. I have gone through packages of them so far and will be ordering more when my supply runs low!

Love the feel of these pens. There is no messy business associated with filling a regular ink pen. The ink in these Pilots won't dry out during prolonged storage. I recently came upon a box of Pilot pens that had fallen behind some books. I probably purchased that box 5 years ago. The pens worked fine.

What can one say - if you like the Pilot V Pen in blue ink. This is the pen for you.

The Lamy Safari is a great everyday fountain pen!I bought it with the Lamy Refill Converter Lamy Refill Converter (Z24) and the Lamy Black Inkwell Lamy Bottled Ink 50ml with Blotting Paper-Black (LT52BK).It worked right out of the box, no issues at all!! It feels pretty nice in my hands and writes well.No skipping, dripping or mess. The converter popped right in, it has notches that you slide it in to.I will definitely be picking up a few more!Just a thought, they really should include the refill converter for free!

For years I ignored these very hot-selling pens. I thought they looked a bit 80s and cheap. But I finally got to try one and it was an instant bond. The grip is either going to work for you or against you. For me, it was absolute perfection. I can write with a Safari or an Al-Star all day and not get fatigued.

For others, it might feel like you are being forced to hold the pen in a foreign position and will feel as wrong as brushing your teeth with your wrong hand. But I think if you have a fairly "traditional" pen grip, you will probably absolutely "lock in" to this very light and balanced tool like it's an extension of your body.

The only warning I would leave you with is this: These pens are addictive. Being affordable and having every color including clear (the "Vista") you'll soon be looking at Amazon and thinking, "Oh! I don't have THAT color yet!"

This is as good as you can get for the price. I have used this pen along with comparable ones from Pilot and a slightly more high-end pen from Parker. Various tidbits of information from my use have been included below.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION:
This pen has become my daily driver and is leagues ahead of the competition in terms of reliability. The shape of the pen encourages proper grip (calligrapher's grip enthusiasts will enjoy it for sure). The construction of the pen is sturdy enough that I have had no issues after months of use. I have had issues with pens around this price point of the nibs becoming loose and making a mess of the ink flow. I'm happy to say that this issue has not occurred on the Lamy. A friend of mine who has the same pen has had his clip break off after months of extensive use, so I would be careful not to overly exert the clip if you can avoid it. The nib is not nearly as "fine" as one expects, so this should be taken into account and an extra-fine should be purchased if you absolutely must have finer penmanship.

INK:
Using a converter is easy enough, but I find myself using Lamy cartridges instead, which are inexpensive enough to buy in bulk and have them last a while. The cartridge doesn't carry a tremendous amount of ink so spares should always be kept on hand.

CONCLUSION:
As an entry level pen I can think of nothing better, and for those of you who want to try fountain pens before committing to a more ostentatious purchase, this is well worth the cost. My pilot and parker are gathering dust because I simply don't have the heart to go back to them after becoming accustomed to the positive nuances that this pen brings to the table, and indeed the paper.

This has proven to be a great pen. I am an officer in the US Army. I love to write with a fountain pen. However, my ink draw Jinhao is a little too fancy for carry and use with a military uniform. Additionally, I don't want to keep a jar of ink at the desk in my office. I bought this pen because it is a flat black (what we call subdued) that is more appropriate for daily military use. It is of more of a plastic material which makes it more durable against impacts. The cartridge swap out is quick, easy and clean. It writes just as well as my Jinhao. It is very light weight and I don't notice it when clipped inside my cargo pocket. I've already purchase one to give as a gift to my Sergeant Major who grew up in Germany and recommended Lamy to me when he saw that I carried an overly elegant Jinhao.

I've had much costlier pens, none of them compare to this. This pen is butter smooth and very reliable. It never leaks, and in this charcoal black it looks absolutely stunning. Did I mention that it absolutely glides over paper? I really can't say enough how remarkable this pen is. But maybe these attached pictures will help a bit. At this price point you aren't really concerned if you lose it (except perhaps you are so finicky that you worry about losing so fine a nib). I don't see the point of ever buying a pricier pen. This pen is everything. But (and this is truly a ridiculous "but") if I had one gripe it would have to be weight. The pen is light and sturdy. A workhorse for daily use, not a thing of art (though, golly, it is beautiful). As I said, this "but" is a stretch -- this is an excellent pen.

Caveat: I have owned costlier pens, though not as costly as the eye-popping numbers one sees sometimes for fountain pens. Some may reasonably argue that I have not covered the range, and so I cannot really 'benchmark' the performance of this pen relative to more expensive ones. True, but, on an absolute basis, this is an exceptional pen. Don't buy a costlier pen if you haven't tried this first to know what a great writing instrument feels like.

Pen writes very nicely. However the body of the pen and especially the pen cap are made with very flimsy plastic and makes the pen look and feel cheap.

Not too pricey and a decent writing experience. I have grown to love using fountain style pens since I was given a gorgeous Pilot, but don't like taking it everywhere or leaving it at work because it is both sentimental and pricey. These are fine for most things and work fairly well.

I had the medium point ones and am a fan. But I have been hoping for a fine point product. Again, quality is as good as the medium point. However, I found that the nib is still not fine enough. It is still thicker than my Parker fine point! LOL! But the writing is quote smooth and the ink flow is way better than my significantly more expensive Parkers!

Nice pens which feel just like a fountain pen. They write like a fountain pen which means that one must let the ink dry for a minute or so until it doesn't smear. I found that I write faster with these than with a ball pen since the ink wants to flow more quickly. The line is more of a medium width than a fine width. Overall, I like them

great pens, smooth writing without bleeding, nice tactile feedback. Will get a finer nub next time though for taking notes in class, these are for more sedate, recreational writing

I love these pens and have been using them in a variety of colors for a year now. The ones that I have had in the past have been medium nib and I was excited to try these fine pens in blue. Sadly the ones I received were black ink and a medium nib. I kept them anyways because I did not want to deal with shipping them back and I still love these pens.

Loved carrying and using this while it had ink in it. The texture, color, and feel is excellent. It's really my first fountain pen though, and I guess I wasn't aware of how fast the ink runs out. After a very small amount of writing (like less than a single 8.5x11 page), it was stone dry. I'm not sure if this is typical of fountain pens, or just the Lamy cartridge, or what; I haven't purchased any more cartridges yet; have been carrying my Space Pen and Zebra F705 meanwhile.

My first real fountain pen. I've tried some disposable ones and really liked them so I thought I would try this as a starter. It feels very nice and smooth. I had a little difficulty getting used to how little feedback this pen gives but I like that now. The ink flow is nice as well. The only thing the jury is still out on is the grip section being shaped to force a particular grip. It is probably a good thing for my first pen to create good habits but it just feels a little goofy and awkward.
I have tried Private Reserve Sonic Blue and thought the ink flow was a little slower than I would like or the ink just isn't very pigmented. I switched to Noodler's Liberty's Elysium which is a great vibrant blue and flows much better. I got 6 more samples packs from Goulet pens. Maybe I will update after I try them all.

Excellent pen. Owned the slick black medium nib version(not this textured charcoal fine nib). Both their medium and fine nibs write excellent. Ready to write as soon as you break the seal. No shaking and cleaning to get it to flow. No dry starts, to scratchiness. Smooth clean lines. I prefer to write with the cap off for a lighter experience but both styles have excellent balanced weight. Very comfortable for long periods of writing.

Cons: for 23-28$ average I wish it didn't look so cheap. It's chunky plastic although the quality is superb.

For the price and material quality you'd think it would come standard with a refill or two. Which brings me to my final con: I've only ever received these pens with blue ink. Ive never seen them listed with specific colours but I think a lot of people would agree that especially for fountain pens, black ink is standard. I doubt many people are buying this to correct gradeschool papers or jot down notes.

One tough fountain pen! I'm very pleased with it's performance with one single exception, the nib is not as smooth-writing as a Pilot pen I have in the same price point. Saying that, this pen is now my "daily driver".

Update 9/10/17: The nib is fine. The refillable cartridge is fine. The body is fine and uncracked. Unfortunately, the cap no longer clicks in to place and stay on the pen when not in use. Having said that, I used this pen A LOT and will be buying a replacement.

The Lamy Safari is a mainstay in pens under $50. It makes every single "best value pens" list. It should. It writes great. It has replaceable nibs. The threads on it are clocked so that screwing it back together lines everything up. It has an ink window so you can see when you're running low.

I take a star off because of it's looks. I'm not a huge fan. I think pens should be gold and lacquered and shiny. The Safari is plastic and utilitarian. The "paper clip" on the cap works well, but looks cheap.

If you are getting started with fountain pens, buy a Safari. It will give you something to judge all your other pens by.

I have used Noodler's Bulletproof Black ink and Waterman Black ink in this pen. Both write fine with no skips. I have found that if you leave it sit for a week it can be a smidgen hard to start again, but that is typical of most pens. Write with it every other day and you'll be fine.

My biggest complaint is that these pens are just too small for my hands to be/write comfortably with. Capped they are a bit over 5" long, uncapped and flipped they are about 6". The ink flows well, and it's basically a med nib.

These pens are really small (lengthwise) something I probably should have noticed. They don't sit well in the hand. Might be better for someone with smaller hands?

My daughter (who works in management) absolutely LOVES these pens - they're just OK for me. They look like quill pens,but write like felt tip pens. They definitely float along the page nicely, but the thin or "small" tip makes a pretty thick line to me. It is a very impressive looking pen, but it's too much of an effort on my part to make sure I hold it at the right angle. A true quill pen will also change the width according to how you hold the pen. So far I've found that it either writes in a thick manner or it skips or doesn't write at all. I'll definitely use the pens, but I'm not sure I'll reorder.

The ink flows pretty smooth, but these pins are no where close to a small or fine point. Depending on the paper this pen puts out a pretty thick stroke.

I wanted a disposable fountain pen with a fine nib. This one was ok but the line was too bold and for all intents and purposes, unusable for me

I love how these pens write and the size of them. However, I am not thrilled that the clip is cheap plastic. The clips break extremely easily and detract from the look of the pens. Yes, these are meant to be used and tossed, but I expect them to hold up until the ink runs out. This clip will not last that long. Aside from that, I am pleased with the pens.

I, along with many others had the infamous cap issue where the cap doesn't stay on after taking it on and off many times. It's a cheap pen but I think better design should be expected.

The weight is light. Write good but it leaked once in to the cap. It's not even on a airplane. So be very careful where you put the pen. So it won't ink you favorite shirt.

Not a secure cap.Most of my pants have a little blue dot on them now from putting this very nice, very comfortable pen in my pocket and using the clip on the cover to secure it to my pants, only to have the pen fall out and leak in my pants. In addition, I've had to send it back once now to have the cap portion replaced because of this problem of just not staying on the pen. I don't feel secure in keeping this pen in my good pants or suit jacket. I do love the feel of it and honestly, I prefer the cartridges to the refillable suction compartment. I feel as if the refill always runs out a week after I put in new ink.

This is my very first Fountain pen and i'm 42 yrs old! (Guessing that was shortly before most schools stopped using them because my mom who is 62 says they used to use fountain pens in school) But anywho... the pen is pretty nice, it wrote a bit on the light side even with Noodler's black American Eel ink at first, but after awhile it got fairly dark.

(But I'm a noob like I mentioned so maybe I just need a different ink, I might try Parker's or Pilot's ink later when I'm finished with this ink. Does seem like it's a bit of a ink hog? have to refill it every 4 pages of writing or so (Again maybe the fault of the ink donno)...

Also one strike about this pen would be it's a bit on the short side and very light weight (But I've searched Amazon for longer pens and with some weight to them and about 98% of the pens listed seem to all be on the short side and of lighter weight materials, but that' would be a plus for those with smaller hands or arthritis!!).

Other than that though, this pen writes very smooth even on cheap walmart notebook paper, not scratchy at all, I've also tried it with an old "Gregg's Steno" Notepad and it's pretty nice on that as well.

Great first time pen for noobs, I will recommend it still.

This pen has beveled edges on the sides of the grip for everyone who holds a pen with their thumb and forefinger along the sides of the pen. I hold a pen between my thumb and middle finger, with my forefinger on top of the pen and in line with the point. As a result, I can't hold this pen the way it was designed for me to hold it. I didn't realize it had flat, beveled spots on the sides until I got the pen. I tried holding it with my thumb and forefinger along the sides, but that puts the pen and my hand in an awkward, uncomfortable position, and I end up twisting the pen to the side so much that it skips too much.The pen is great for someone who holds the pen the way it's designed to be held. It writes very easily, very smoothly, and it's a very light pen.Before you order this pen, please examine the way you hold a pen or pencil. If your forefinger is on the top surface of the pen or pencil, you do not want this fountain pen. If you hold a pencil or pen with no finger on the top surface, but with your thumb and forefinger along the sides, then this is the pen for you.I'm not going to return the pen. I'll just find someone who holds the pen the right way for this pen, and give it to him/her. In the future, I will make sure that I'm buying a perfectly round, circular, cylindrical, non-beveled pen.

I contacted the amazon seller about the pens, they weren’t much help, do I am writing a review. If the seller correct the problem, this review will change.I received these pens today. I have spent several hours attempting to test/break them in. It writes excellent, sometimes. Other times, it doesn’t write when going across the paper. It does not happen each time that I arrive. It seems to happen intermittently while I am writing. And up having to go back several times and correct letters that have not written. I was hoping to find a new brand of pens that suited me. I’m very disappointed with the in accuracy/inconsistency of this fen it does not happen each time that I write. It seems to happen intermittently while I am writing. And up having to go back several times and correct letters that have not written. I was hoping to find a new brand of pans that suited me. I’m very disappointed with the inconsistency of this pen.Perhaps it is just this batch of pens and not all of them. But, the ones I got do not meet my standards.

This is my first experience with a fountain pen. I purchased the 'fine' point and it produces a heavier line than I would expect. The ink also bleeds through paper. Would not recommend.

The pen goes dry mid word or sentence, you have to right very slowly.

Meh. Bring back the old Schaeffer cartridge pens I bought for $1 when I was a youngster. I know they won't be that price now, but the quality was higher and they worked better for us who are left-handed. Right-handed folks my find these work okay, but this "leftie" will not be re-ordering.

Keep in mind this is my first foray into the world of fountain pens. I am by no means a fountain pen aficionado. However maybe my lack of knowledge may prove useful in an un-biased review. I got this and a Pilot Metropolitan. Hands down Pilot wins. The fine tip nib on this Lamy writes like a 1.0 gel pen. Very thick line. I guess German definition of fine is different than mine. Another thing is the weight of the pen is too light. This may be good for you? Not for me. Pilot includes a converter with the Metropolitan. Lamy does not. Finally the nib on mine was scratchy on paper as where the Pilot was silky smooth. If I would've gotten the Lamy first as my intro into the realm of fountain pen usage I probably would've dialed out and went back to my Hi-Tec Coleto.

I have not been very successful with these fountain pens. I have bought at least two and I must not be putting the cartridges in correctly because they have both leaked and I have to be very careful where I place them. I put them in plastic bags with padding to absorb the ink. I feel obligated to use them because I received my first one as a gift and thought I would buy another one because the first one wasn't very successful and I had the same issues with the replacement, with the order I bought cartridges and thinking I could replace it on the original one, but was not successful. I have not used these pens anymore.

Got to say I tired really hard to like this, but I just don't. I've used disposable fountain pens that write better than this. The pen nib is angled down slightly for some reason and this fact seems to be in part responsible for it not writing consistently. By consistency I mean writing without drying up. In addition the pen sometimes leaks or bleeds too much ink. I thought this was due to the ink I got, Noodler's Ink, so I cleaned the hell out of the pen, put in the blue ink cartridge that it came with it seemed to work better. However, as I continued to write with it, and even now since I just checked, it has excess ink pooling on the nib. Perhaps mine is defective, but from my understanding Lamy does QA on their pens before selling them.

I have two Lamy Safaris I bought several years ago for work, a fine point and a medium point. The fine point was just right, and the medium point was way to broad for writing. I wanted a second fine point for home use so I ordered this one. It appears that Lamy has redefined their nib sizes, because this fine point is the same size as my old medium! It is marked "F" so it is their fine point now, I guess. It writes well, but it is unuseable because of the very broad line. Included in the box is a little "voucher" that allows you to send your pen back to Lamy (in Germany) and exchange it for a different nib size. I think I will do that, requesting an extra fine point, and will report back in this review how that process went when (and if!) I receive my new pen. The expense of mailing it to Germany, plus the anticipated long wait make this a hassle, but I don't want to return it to Amazon because it is not their fault. It is not defective, just beware that if you want a fine point, you should order the extra fine.One happy surprise is that rather than a token ink cartridge, it actually came with the converter, which normally costs about $6.

The pen looks good but the writing action is very disappointing. I have some ebay pens I paid a few dollars for that are better. I don't like leaving this kind of review. But since I rely upon reviews always here is my experience.

I ordered this pen and the first one had a super scratchy nib - it can happen and it is a Fine nib, but it sounded like I was ripping phone-books while writing. So, the exchange came promptly from Amazon - this new one isn't scratchy, but it writes very... choppy is the best way to put it. It doesn't skip exactly, but line width's vary wildly even when writing at a consistent speed.So, the second pen had a nib that looked uneven (not the tines). The sides had different angles when it bent in to make the nib point. This was clearly visible to the naked eye so I imagine this didn't help. The main issue seemed to be the 'required' way to hold this pen - it's a good angle, but sometimes you need to hold something slightly different. The second pen I got, the nib would have worked if I could tilt the pen more, but then my finger was holding the edge and not on the 'guides'. I saw no easy way through internet searching to pull the feed out (the nib comes off easy, but that won't change the angle). For a $20 pen, this wasn't worth the hassle. It isn't like this is some nice desk pen people 'ohhh' and 'awe' at. It's a fucntional pen that needed to work right the first time and every time - it didn't.I did give it a second star for the fact it started writing instantly, every try. Even my more expensive pens occassionaly require a few strokes to get the pen fully up to speed. This lamy wrote the second I put the inked converter in and never stopped. So, if you get one with a good nib/feed - it should be great. I can't just keep sending it back and playing the lottery.

Not real pilot pens. Knock off

Cheap quality

Do NOT buy these- get the pilot varsity ones NOT made in China.

Bleeds

Item arrived in terrible condition. Does not write smooth and they run out of ink very fast. I am not happy with the product and am even more upset that I cannot return them for a refund.

Not impressed at all. Got the fine nib, I like a fine nibbed pen, this though is scratchy and awful. I have to press way harder than I have with any other fountain to even get ink out and if you write with any kind of speed it just scrapes and doesn't deposit anything. Don't recommend this. The Pilot one I got for around $9 was a way more satisfying pen.

Very scratchy, no matter what kind of paper. I could not understand the hype about Lamy pens. It has now been two years and I bought another Lamy from a well know pen store, this time an extra fine, and it was MUCH better. I wonder if the first one from this seller was defective or a counterfeit. I should have sent it back.

It broke after just one month and 10 days of use. The cap wont plug anymore, is all loose and falls off. Return window already closed.

I received an empty box with just a ink cartridge. NO fountain pen.Update: Received the missing pen today, but no ink cartridge in this box. I'm glad I got my full set now, but I'm not sure if I am to send back the original empty box.

Crazy line skipper. Maybe I got a lemony cricket but I have the Lamy ex-fine and that one has no issues, it makes great lines but this fine nib model makes full of crappy lines. The lines are almost like morse code. I recommend Rotring Artpen medium tip if you are looking for flowing lines with a medium tip.

I've had LAMY pens but this one was a complete piece of junk! The pen wouldn’t write properly and when it did write it released so much ink it bled through the paper. I would recommend buying this product from another company cause LAMY make a great product.