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kyle.o
3
Jan 18, 2013
You guys are aware you can easily purchase a lamy safari at amazon.com for 21 bucks, right? The twsbi mini is the best pen here and if you buy a lamy safari you're going to need a converter anyway unless you plan on buying more cartridges or writing less than 8 pages worth of notes.
steve
330
CEO
Jan 18, 2013
kyle.oHey, what's a converter? Also why is the twsbi mini better than the other options?
kyle.o
3
Jan 18, 2013
steveThe Lamy safari is one of a few fountain pens that has a little handy-dandy "window" on it. It's actually just a hole in the outer case of the pen that allows you to see how much ink is left in your cartridge. If you buy only cartridges this isn't a problem, but if you want to buy different ink colors than the standard rainbow (red,blue,black, *maybe* green), this pen requires a converter.It's basically an empty cartridge with a pump filling mechanism to draw ink into the pen from a bottle. Here's an example of one. http://imgur.com/KB7on39 you would dip the lower end, or sometimes the actual tip of the pen into an ink jar, twist the other end, and it fills the pen. Without one on the Lamy Safari, you have to buy cartridges, since you also cannot convert it into an "eyedropper" because it has the hole in the outer shell of the pen. An eyedropper is when you put ink straight into the back side of the pen and close it up, much like how an eyedropper works. The twsbi mini is "better" for several reasons. 1. The grip on the lamy safari is triangular, the twsbi is round like any other pen. 2. You don't need to buy a converter or cartridges, it comes with them AND you can convert the TWSBI to eyedropper if you choose. 3. Want a flexy nib like what you see in those fancy documents and deeds from the 1800's? Just change the nib. The Lamy Safari cannot do this, the TWSBI can. 4. It's not as big, a lamy sticks out like and feels like holding a brand new wood pencil. The TWSBI is more like holding a morning sausage link or two and doesn't stick out as much. It's also not as top heavy. That's kinda just off the top of my head, but for massdrop it's better to do the TWSBI. The Lamy Safari is a great starter pen, but like I said, nobody is going to buy it at the starting price of $35+shipping. You could buy two Lamy Safaris for that price. The $50 for the TWSBI is pretty standard though. I haven't seen one below $40. Not trying to sound like an ass either :p If it's your first pen you're undoubtedly going to want to buy ink too. A converter on amazon is $5 with free shipping. A bottle of ink on average is about $8. The Lamy doesn't come with a converter by default though, it comes with 2 cartridges which is about enough ink for 8-12 pages. It's just one of those things where Lamy exceeded demand after people were giving it rave reviews on the Fountain Pen Network. TWSBI Released the mini quite recently though around Halloween so the market has yet to become saturated and probably never will, due to the average cost of most of their pens ($40-100), compared to the lamy (20-$35, plus a converter or cartridges). That's just my opinion though. you can probably seal up the window in the Lamy with super glue or pvc epoxy and you would be fine, though I haven't tried it.
JoshWVS
4
Jan 19, 2013
steveHey Steve! When talking about fountain pens, there are two primary ways of filling your pen with ink: One option is to use self-contained, disposable cartridges filled with ink which you discard and replace once empty. (For example: http://www.gouletpens.com/Lamy_Black_Ink_Cartridges_p/lmy-lt10bk.htm) The other option is to purchase a 'converter' for the pen. Each company uses different mechanisms for their converters, but essentially they are reusable ink reservoirs you insert into the pen (like a cartridge) but rarely remove. This requires manually filling the pen every time it runs out of ink (which is not nearly as daunting as it sounds), and allows you to use any colour of bottled ink (many more varieties than cartridges). If any of that is confusing, or if you want more details, I highly recommend this series of videos: http://www.gouletpens.com/Fountain_Pen_101_s/1135.htm. I am not in any way affiliated with Goulet Pens, but I have found their videos to be very helpful and informative. (To be fair, I am also a happy customer of Goulet Pens!) P.S. The TWSBI Mini isn't necessarily "better," but some find it to be a smoother pen with a better filling mechanism, and it's quite difficult to find for any cheaper than 50$. The Safari on the other hand (while being an excellent starter pen) can be had much cheaper at many places online.
kyle.oJust to correct you on a point, you can change out the Lamy Safari/ Vista nibs quite easily. Not to a flex nib, but you can order different nib sizes from various websites on the cheap (13$). I'm with you though on the TWSBI being the better product here. I'd rather see a deal on the Mini or the Vac 700 than any of the Lamy pens.
geebs
2
Feb 4, 2013
kyle.oConverters are widely available for the Safari and the little window in no way whatsoever stops you from using one. In fact, my local stationary shop includes a converter with the pen... I thought that that was standard. I added the Pilot Prera as it's an excellent beginner's pen and my daily pen of choice. It's F nib writes much finer than the Lamy EF nib and is super smooth. It's also affordable!