Pens & Writing Gifts
LAMY Safari: What You Actually Get, and Who Should Skip It
The pen that turns up in every beginner recommendation thread. Here is every specification LAMY publishes, the one design decision that divides owners, and the three buyers it is wrong for.
How this page is funded. Buying through a link here earns us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend or the order we recommend it in, and we have not handled these products ourselves — see how we pick and the full disclosure.
The short version
Buy it if you want a first fountain pen and you want to know what line it will draw before it arrives. The Safari publishes a size F nib, which almost nothing else at this price does, and a fine nib is the width that actually works in a planner. Skip it if the recipient holds a pen unconventionally, writes left-handed, or expects bottled ink to work on day one - the molded grip permits one hold, the standard listing is a right-handed nib, and the converter is not in the box.
Every published specification
| Specification | Published figure | What it buys you |
|---|---|---|
| Nib | Size F (fine), polished steel | A narrow line that fits planner boxes - and a figure you can check before buying |
| Grip section | Molded ergonomic grip, listed right-handed | One hold, enforced. A teaching aid for a beginner, an annoyance for a settled hand |
| Body | Impact-resistant plastic | Light in the hand and hard to damage; it does not read as expensive |
| Supplied ink | One LAMY T 10 blue cartridge | Enough to confirm the pen works, and not much more |
| Converter | Z 28, listed as a recommended accessory | Bottled ink is possible but needs a separate purchase |
| Nib grades offered | EF, F, M, B and LH | A left-handed grade exists, though the standard listing is not it |
| Design | Development Group Mannheim, introduced in the 1980s | A design in continuous production for four decades, so parts are everywhere |
Quick picks
Ranked for the person doing the buying. Every pick names who it is wrong for.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  LAMY Safari Fountain Pen, Umbra, Fine Nib A German-made steel-nibbed fountain pen with a molded grip that teaches the hold, and a nib width printed on the listing rather than left to guess. | A first fountain pen that is actually usable | $30.95 - View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 2 |  LAMY T10 Fountain Pen Ink Cartridges, Blue, 5-Pack The cartridge the Safari ships with, five at a time - the part that turns a one-cartridge gift into a pen somebody keeps using. | A LAMY Safari that has run dry | $6.51 - View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 3 |  PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Black, Medium Nib A weighted brass barrel and a converter in the box, which is more pen for the money than anything else here. | A brass-bodied fountain pen with a converter included |
1. A first fountain pen that is actually usable
LAMY Safari Fountain Pen, Umbra, Fine Nib
A German-made steel-nibbed fountain pen with a molded grip that teaches the hold, and a nib width printed on the listing rather than left to guess.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
A fine nib is the right default for a gift because it is the width that works in a planner. Broad and medium nibs are lovely on letter paper and unusable in a weekly grid.
The molded grip is the Safari's most divisive feature. It forces the standard tripod hold, which is genuinely helpful for a beginner and genuinely irritating for anyone who holds a pen differently.
One cartridge is not much ink. A bottle or a pack of cartridges alongside turns this from a pen into a working setup, and costs very little.
| Nib | Size F (fine), polished steelThe width is published, which the Parker Jotter sets do not do.Source: Amazon listing - LAMY safari umbra fountain pen, size F nib |
|---|---|
| Grip | Molded ergonomic grip section, listed right-handedIt only allows one hold, which is a teaching aid and, for some hands, an annoyance.Source: Amazon listing - LAMY safari umbra fountain pen, size F nib |
| Supplied ink | One LAMY T 10 blue cartridgeSource: Amazon listing - LAMY safari umbra fountain pen, size F nib |
| Made in | GermanyLAMY states its writing instruments are produced at the company site in Heidelberg.Source: LAMY - safari fountain pen product page |
What it does well
- Nib width published, so you know what you are buying.
- Fine nib suits planner boxes and everyday notes.
- German-made, and a genuine entry point rather than a novelty.
What it does not
- The molded grip does not suit every hand, and the listing specifies a right-handed nib.
- Ships with a single cartridge and no converter.
Skip this: if the recipient writes on cheap office paper all day. Fountain-pen ink feathers and shows through on 70 gsm copier stock, and the pen will get blamed for the paper. See ink and bleed-through.
2. A LAMY Safari that has run dry
LAMY T10 Fountain Pen Ink Cartridges, Blue, 5-Pack
The cartridge the Safari ships with, five at a time - the part that turns a one-cartridge gift into a pen somebody keeps using.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
This is the purchase that decides whether a gifted fountain pen gets used. A Safari arrives with one cartridge, which is a few weeks of ordinary writing, and then it stops - and most people do not know what part to search for.
Blue is LAMY's standard and the color the pen ships with. Black exists as a separate pack; the point of this one is that it is the same ink the recipient already has.
Cartridges are the convenient option rather than the cheap one. A converter and a bottle costs more up front and far less per page, which is the trade the fountain-pen pages on this site keep coming back to.
| Refill type | Fountain pen ink cartridge, blueSource: Amazon listing - Lamy T10 Blue Ink Cartridges, Large Ink Capacity, 5 Pack |
|---|---|
| Count | 5 cartridgesSource: Amazon listing - Lamy T10 Blue Ink Cartridges, Large Ink Capacity, 5 Pack |
| Fits | LAMY fountain pens that take the T 10 cartridge, including the SafariThe Safari listing on this site states one LAMY T 10 blue cartridge as its supplied ink.Source: Amazon listing - LAMY safari umbra fountain pen, size F nib |
| Ink properties | Not publishedNo water resistance, fade resistance or archival claim is published for this ink. Treat cartridge ink as dye-based unless the maker says otherwise. |
What it does well
- The exact cartridge the pen ships with, so nothing has to be checked.
- Five cartridges is months of ordinary use.
- Turns a boxed gift pen into a working pen for very little.
What it does not
- No published water or fade resistance - not the ink for anything signed and kept.
- Blue only in this pack.
- Cartridges cost more per page than a converter and a bottle of ink.
Skip this: if you want to use bottled ink. A LAMY converter and a bottle is the cheaper long-run route and opens up every ink made - see is a fountain pen worth it.
3. A brass-bodied fountain pen with a converter included
PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Black, Medium Nib
A weighted brass barrel and a converter in the box, which is more pen for the money than anything else here.
Including a converter is the single most useful thing a gift fountain pen can do. Without one the recipient is locked to proprietary cartridges until they work out what a converter is and buy one.
Japanese nibs run finer than European ones at the same nominal width, so this medium sits closer to a European fine. If the recipient wants a genuinely fine line, this is arguably a better planner pen than its label suggests.
The brass barrel gives it a heft that reads as expensive. That is the whole trick of this pen and it is why it appears on every beginner list.
| Nib | Medium, stainless steelSource: Amazon listing - PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Medium Nib |
|---|---|
| Body | Brass barrel with stainless accentsBrass is why it feels heavier than its price suggests.Source: Amazon listing - PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Medium Nib |
| Supplied | One black ink cartridge and a Pilot press-plate converterThe converter is the part rivals leave out; it lets the recipient use bottled ink on day one.Source: Amazon listing - PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Medium Nib |
| Packaging | Keepsake gift boxSource: Amazon listing - PILOT Metropolitan Fountain Pen, Medium Nib |
What it does well
- Converter included, so bottled ink works out of the box.
- Brass body feels well above its price.
- Japanese medium writes finer than a European medium, which suits planner use.
What it does not
- Medium is still wider than a Safari fine; for very small boxes, choose the fine.
- Plain black barrel is understated to the point of anonymous as a gift.
Skip this: if you want the gift to look like an event. It is a superb pen and a visually quiet one; the Cross Bailey does the ceremony better.
The published nib width is the whole argument
Most pens in this price band are sold without stating a nib width. You buy, you wait, and you find out. LAMY prints F on the listing, and that one piece of honesty is why this pen is recommended more than any other to somebody who has not owned a fountain pen before.
It matters because width is the specification that decides whether the pen gets used. A fine nib fits inside a weekly planner box and behaves tolerably on ordinary paper. A medium or broad looks better on good stock and is unusable in a dated diary. If you are buying for somebody who keeps a planner, a published F is worth more than any amount of barrel finish. Nib sizes explained lines up how the grades actually compare.
LAMY publishes EF, F, M, B and LH grades for the pen. The LH is the left-hander's nib, and it is the reason a left-handed buyer should look at the grade before adding the default listing to a basket.
The grip is the thing nobody warns you about
The Safari's section is molded into flat facets. LAMY describes it as an ergonomic grip, and it is - for one grip. The faceting places your thumb and forefinger in the standard tripod hold and will not let the pen rotate out of it.
For a beginner that is genuinely useful. A fountain-pen nib only writes properly in a fairly narrow rotational window, and the single most common reason a first fountain pen feels scratchy is that it is being held rolled over on its side. The Safari makes that mistake difficult.
For an adult with thirty years of their own handwriting, the same feature is an imposition they cannot adjust. There is no version of this pen with a round section. If you are buying as a gift and you have not watched the recipient write, this is the risk you are taking, and it is the reason the PILOT Metropolitan with its plain round section is the safer gift.
The converter is not in the box, and that is a real cost
A converter is a small refillable piston that replaces the cartridge and lets the pen draw from an ink bottle. LAMY lists the Z 28 as a recommended accessory for the Safari rather than including one. The pen ships with a single T 10 blue cartridge and nothing else.
That is the specification on which the Metropolitan straightforwardly beats this pen: PILOT includes a converter. If bottled ink is the reason you are buying a fountain pen at all, the Safari asks for a second order before you get there.
One cartridge is also not much ink. A five-pack of T 10s costs very little and turns the pen from a demonstration into a working setup, which is why it is the second pick on this page rather than an afterthought. Pen refills and cartridges covers which fittings cross brands, and the short answer is that none of them do.
Plastic, and why that is not the criticism it sounds like
The body is impact-resistant plastic. LAMY says so plainly rather than inventing a material name for it. Against a brass-barrelled Metropolitan it feels light, and light reads as cheap when somebody first picks it up.
It is also the reason the pen survives being carried. A plastic barrel does not chip the way painted brass does, and it is lighter over a long writing session, which matters more than gift-opening weight for anyone who actually writes by hand for an hour. The honest framing is that the Safari is built to be used and the Metropolitan is built to be given.
Where it is beaten
- On the converter, by the PILOT Metropolitan, which includes one. See the head-to-head.
- On being a gift, by the same pen. Brass, a keepsake box and a round grip that cannot be wrong for a hand you have not seen.
- On suiting any hand, by almost everything. The molded section is the single most divisive thing about this pen, and no amount of nib quality compensates if the hold is wrong.
- On ink permanence. Neither LAMY nor the listing publishes any water- or fade-resistance figure for T 10 ink, so this is not the pen for anything signed and kept - see pens for signing documents.
- On being left-handed friendly out of the box. An LH grade exists, but the standard listing is a right-handed nib and the grip is unhelpful here. Pens for left-handed writers has better defaults.
Who should buy it
Somebody buying their own first fountain pen, who wants to know the nib width in advance and does not mind being told how to hold a pen. On those terms it is very hard to beat, and the four decades of continuous production mean nibs, cartridges and converters are everywhere.
It is also a good pen to buy twice - once in F for everyday writing and once in a wider grade later, because the nib units are sold separately and swap over. That is an unusually cheap way to find out what width you actually like, and it is not something most pens at this price allow.
Questions people actually ask
Is the LAMY Safari worth it?
For a first fountain pen, yes. It publishes its nib width, which almost nothing else at this price does, and a fine nib is the width that works in a planner. It is worth less to you if the molded grip does not suit your hand, because that cannot be changed.
Does the LAMY Safari come with a converter?
No. It ships with one LAMY T 10 blue cartridge. LAMY lists the Z 28 converter as a recommended accessory, so bottled ink needs a separate purchase. The PILOT Metropolitan includes a converter if that matters to you.
Is the LAMY Safari good for left-handed writers?
The standard listing is a right-handed nib and the molded grip is unhelpful for a hand that comes at the page from the other side. LAMY does publish an LH nib grade, so check the grade before buying - and see pens for left-handed writers.
Is the LAMY Safari metal or plastic?
Plastic. LAMY describes the body as impact-resistant plastic. That makes it lighter and more durable in a bag than a painted metal barrel, and it is why it feels less expensive than the brass-bodied PILOT Metropolitan when you first pick it up.
What nib size should I get on a Safari?
F, unless you already know you prefer a wider line. LAMY publishes EF, F, M, B and LH grades. F fits planner boxes and behaves on ordinary paper; M and B are better on good stock and too wide for a dated diary.
Safari or Pilot Metropolitan?
Safari for a published fine nib and a grip that teaches the hold; Metropolitan for a gift, for brass in the hand and for the converter in the box. The head-to-head works through both.