Posts filed under Lamy

LAMY Safari Rollerball Review

With my love for all things Safari, you would think I would have reviewed the LAMY Safari Rollerball by now. I checked, and I haven’t, although Jeff did share his opinion a few years back. It’s time for me to get on the board as well.

The LAMY Safari Fountain Pen has been a long time favorite of mine - this 2008 review is hilarious - and the Safari Ballpoint is a more recent fascination. (Side note: we don’t mention the Safari Mechanical Pencil around these parts.) While those two pens see regular use in my writing kit, it’s only with the 2024 Violet Blackberry Rollerball Special Edition did I commit to using one. So far, I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

Let’s get the obvious LAMY Safari issue out of the way first. This is not a pen for everyone due to the molded grip section that “places” your fingers into a set writing position. That’s all well and good if you have a traditional writing grip like I do, but it is a non-starter for many people for a valid reason.

I’m fortunate that it does work for me, because aesthetically I love everything about the Safari design. All of the bright colors they have released through the years - either in standard or special editions - are right up my alley, and they can design a pretty good dark-themed pen, too. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the famous LAMY Safari pen clip, which I also enjoy. It’s ostentatious, but somehow works.

With design talk out of the way, it is time to focus on what can make or break a rollerball pen: the refill. LAMY uses their proprietary M63 Rollerball refill and, luckily, it is a good one. I say luckily, because the downside of a proprietary refill is that it is difficult to hack in another refill if you love the pen but hate the refill. There is a Pilot G2 hack out there if you want to cut an extender for that particular refill, but otherwise, the M63 is your lone choice.

As best as I can tell without markings, the M63 Rollerball tip is approximately 1.0 mm. This is in the normal range for water-based rollerball refills, and while my preference lies in 0.7 mm tip sizes (there are a few rare 0.5 mm and finer rollerballs out there, but that’s an article for another day,) the M63 is manageable for my writing. Importantly, given the wide line size, it hasn’t exhibited bleeding and feathering on the papers I’ve tested it on, but I’m sure there are some non-compatible fibers out there. My expectations when I pick up this pen are a dark, controllable line, and the M63 delivers.

Should you buy a LAMY Rollerball pen? As much as I enjoy them, there is a solid list of pros (good refill, style,) and cons (grip, broad line,) to consider. At $20, the price is fair if you are interested, so add one to the list if it checks the right boxes for you.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Lamy, Rollerball, Pen Reviews.

Lamy Noto Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It can be easy to disregard pens that fall into the more mundane or sundry category after you've been exposed to and used much higher-end pens. Even ballpoints can be an elevated writing experience thanks to all the custom makers that design pen bodies around popular refills. Still, it's always interesting to me what these large pen makers can come up with on the other side of the price spectrum.

The Lamy Noto is a modern and sleek ballpoint pen that delivers a great writing experience at a fair price. The white body and matte silver grip are an attractive combo, and the three-sided shape adds to the stylish aesthetic. It won't be everyone's cup of their preferred hot beverage, but it will definitely capture the attention of many people whether they like stationery or not.

Even though the Noto is made entirely of plastic materials, it looks and feels really sturdy and well-made. Lamy has a long track record of making durable pens, so this one can likely be expected to last a while. The silver grip is a smooth texture, but the triple-sided shape of the grip offers plenty of traction for your fingers when holding the pen. It isn't Lamy's typical grip section, which I'm sure many people will see as a positive attribute over the more opinionated shape you'll find on the Safari.

The clip on the Noto is fairly small — both in size and also in the capacity for what it can clip to due to the space between the clip and pen body. It's pretty flexible and can expand a bit to attach to thicker materials, but I wouldn't do that often as it seems like the thin material might grow weak over time. For what it is, it does the job. In order to stick to the slim profile, I understand (and appreciate) the small clip design. Just don't expect it to pull double duty as a pry bar or anything.

The click mechanism is exceptionally smooth and quiet. For me, if a clicky pen doesn't have a satisfying and thocky sound, then it should be silent. The Noto does this well. The nock mechanism or spring require a healthy dose of force to operate, which adds to the feel that this pen is more premium than the price tag suggests.

The only branding for this pen is a debossed Lamy logo on the barrel opposite the clip. On this white body, it's really easy to miss the logo. It's really well done, and given the matte finish of the other color options, I'd expect the logo to be unobtrusive on those as well.

The Noto uses a Lamy M16 refill, and comes with a black medium cartridge in the pen. The M16 is a proprietary size, so there aren't many options. From Lamy, you can buy fine, medium, or broad sizes in black, blue, red, or green. Each refill is $6 a piece, so not the cheapest option out there (for those of us in the US, at least).

The M16 isn't my favorite ballpoint refill out there, but it's certainly a decent refill. It doesn't provide as crisp or dark a line as I prefer, but it's completely acceptable and reliable. You can certainly do much worse in terms of default ballpoint refills. This one starts up almost immediately and doesn't have any skipping or burping issues that some ballpoint refills have. It's a great refill, and that's good news because it's the only kind that works in this pen (out of the box, anyway). Still, it would be awesome if Lamy used a more generic and widely available cartridge shape.

The Lamy Noto is under $12 USD, which is a great deal for what you get. The refill cost is more than half the cost of the pen, and I'm honestly impressed with the quality and feel that Lamy squeeze out of the pen body and mechanics once you discount the cost of the refill. The price is low enough that you can pick one up on a whim if you happen to like the aesthetic, while also being confident that it will be a reliable and comfortable writer.

If the white and silver combo isn't your jam, there's also a blackout version and a navy/silver version.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Lamy, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Lamy 2000 4-Color Ballpoint Multi Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Lamy 2000 multi pen has been around for decades, but just like the fountain pen variant, you can buy them new today. I saw a Lamy 2000 multi pen a few years ago at a pen show when I was already in the midst of a multi pen craze, but I didn't jump on it when I had the chance. I regretted that decision. But then the pen became easier to find in the US, and I finally have one. It's a fantastic multi pen that just happens to have the iconic Lamy 2000 style.

I've tried out my fair share of multi pens over the years. From the basic Bic that you can find at most big box retailers, to all the sub-$30 Japanese options and even the more premium German pens that are made from metal and feature unique mechanisms for picking the refill. Each pen has its place and provides loads of value, but there's a lot to be said for style and form. I'm sure a Jetstream multi pen can do everything this Lamy can and survive almost as long, but which one do I enjoy using more? Definitely the Lamy.

When it comes to multi pens, one of the biggest options that will filter people from one side or another is whether or not the pen includes a mechanical pencil refill. Personally, I prefer my multi pens to be 100% ink refills as I don't prefer writing with mechanical pencils. But I also appreciate that there are abundant use cases where a pencil/pen combo is invaluable. In the case of the Lamy 2000, it comes with black, blue, green, and red ballpoint refills. I struggled to find the specifications for the tip size online, but a quick measurement of the line width on paper tells me that these are fairly fine tips at 0.5mm. It's a great width for my writing style, and the refills all produce a clean, crisp line once they start flowing. The ink formula in these ballpoint refills all take a couple of scribbles to get started, but they work flawlessly once they're going. I'm hoping that since these are ballpoint refills (as opposed to gel) that they'll last a bit longer.

The Lamy 2000 multi pen uses gravity to determine which refill to extend. I love this particular method because it always feels like magic when compared to the more common method of using one button per refill. How does the gravity system work? There are 4 refills inside the pen, and there are corresponding color indicators at the top of the pen barrel next to the nock (with the Lamy, the clip acts as the indicator for the black refill). Simply orient the pen so that the color indicator for the refill you want to use is on the top, press the nock down, and the corresponding refill extends. When you're ready to retract the refill, it works just like any other retractable pen — simply press the nock down again and it releases.

Pens that use this system can be a little finicky. For example, I have an old Staedtler multi pen that needs the orientation of the pen to be exact before extending the refill will work properly. Otherwise, it jams because two refills are trying to extend at the same time. In the case of the Lamy 2000, it works flawlessly. I noticed on the first few dozen operations that it felt a little scratchy, but that went away over time. I imagine there was some roughness or burs on the inside of the nose cone that were knocked down after some normal use. At this point, it's a smooth and satisfying experience.

Writing with the Lamy 2000 multi pen is a fantastic thing. I love the feeling of the Makrolon after it's been in my hand for a minute. It has superb grip while also being smooth. It's a magical material that I never get tired of using. The multi pen has a smaller diameter body than the fountain pen version, but it's still comfortable to use. The balance is great despite the length as most of the weight is toward the writing end. It's also pretty quiet while writing. multi pens can sometimes be a little noisy due to the unused refills rattling inside the body as you write, but that's not a problem for the 2000.

The included ballpoint refills feel smooth and make crisp, satisfying lines. Like I mentioned before, they usually need a couple of scribbles if you haven't used it in a while, but they work really well once they're "warmed up." As fair as ballpoint refills go, I really can't complain. The colors are nice and vibrant, and there isn't any skipping or thinning as I write or scribble.

One of the perks of the Lamy 2000 multi pen is that it uses a standard D1 refill size. This means you have lots of options for refills outside of the included ballpoints. There are lots of gel, hybrid ballpoint, and ballpoint refills to choose from, as well as plenty of colors. In the future, I'll probably swap in some gel refills in this pen to change things up. Sure, they don't last as long as ballpoint ink, but I like having the option of using different tip sizes and colors.

The Lamy 2000 is such a good design, and it's no wonder that Lamy translates the design to so many other types of pens in their lineup. I have several other non-fountain-pen versions of the 2000, but I think the multi pen might be my favorite of them all (except for the fountain pen, of course). At $79, it's also more affordable than the fountain pen and offers a lot of versatility with the instant color changing ability. If you're either a fan of the 2000 design or a fan of great multi pens, this is worth checking out. If you're a fan of both, this is a no-brainer!

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!