Comparing LAMY Safari Fountain Pens with Fineliners - Review 

I'm 70 so I'm of the generation who used dip pens in school. Then I got my first fountain pen when I was about 10 years old and it started a love affair that got stronger as I grew older. I have a few very good fountain pens with gold nibs for writing. I always use the fountain pen in preference to anything else and I enjoy drawing with them too. I think I'll get a couple of pens like the Lamy Safari and give them a go. I like the looseness of the fountain and the range of lines it can produce. Very interesting video thanks. I've subscribed.

My go to sketching pen is a Kaweco Sport and Pilot Prera for precision drawing.

Fine liners were designed for technical drawing where consistency in ink flow and line thickness are extremely important, and they do that very well. As a classically trained engineer, I almost grew up with them, so I don't mind that being part of them when using them in art.

I love my fude-nib fountain pens, and I use them almost exclusively for line-work. I've also started experimenting with loading up a bunch of cheap fountain pens with non-waterfast coloured inks and using a water brush on them. So much fun!

I love my Lamy I just got. So smooth for urban sketching. I do have several fine liners for other artwork. It will be interesting in the months to come which I turn to the most.

I got my first Safari a couple of weeks ago. I'd forgotten how nice it was to just write with a fountain pen. Used to always use one in school, and not sure why I stopped.

Surely a major consideration should be that the fineliners are throw away plastic whereas you can keep and use a fountain pen over and over!!!

I started with fine liners and found that some don‘t hold nib shape. Through your work I looked into a converter and ink for my Lamy. I was given a medium but discovered I can convert to a different nib (fine). I am now leaning away from what some may think is the initial ease of a fineliner to the flexiblility of multiple Lamy pens . It feels a bit like going back to the feel of a real book or albums in covers as opposed to digital, the prep and tactile element fit in with the art experience. ❤

Thanks for a really helpful video review Toby. You and your followers might like to know about a felt-tip brand, Yookers, which make replaceable tips and use ink cartridges. I recently bought one of these and have 4 x tips ranging from 0.8 to 1.4. The ink cartridges come in various colours and are water soluble so can be spread using a water brush, great for shading etc. There are various reviews here on RU-vid. It addresses that problem of disposable plastic, I think.

I'm new to urban sketching, so new I can count on one hand the number of scenes I have made. However, I have used pens a lot in art journaling. In particular, Zentangle is taught with Micron pens on high quality Italian watercolor paper. The Sakura pens (and any other of that style) do wear out their tips very, very quickly. I have a couple fountain pens, a Lamy being the first I ever purchased. I love how light it is in my hand. I think I will get some waterproof ink to get me started and get to know that fountain pen in a different context. I do "travel" around with my pens, but I have both converters and cartridges for my 2 favorite journaling inks. Thank you for this video.

Thank you for making this. Earlier today I was trying to decide on a pen to order and this is immensely helpful!

Want to find out more about my sketching and line work techniques? Join me on www.sketchloose.co.uk for in depth courses!

Wow! This was a wealth of information - thank you SO much!

Soopermam's comment mirrors my own thoughts: One of the main reasons that I like fountain pens is that they won't end up in a landfill or as part of a "plastic island" in an ocean. Also, for me, they make sketching more fun. :) Thanks for the video!

Hi Toby. Jim from Madrid Spain again... (I don't usually post a lot on RU-vid but with some if your latest videos I just have a "calling" to do so ..).😃😃👍 With regards to this video: 1) Thank you for doing it. I started buying finelinera to draw and sketch when I started and... the felt tips they use get destroyed easily when using good quality paper, specially with cold press and rough press watercolor paper, for example. 2) Fineliners (as you have said in the video) run out of ink way faster than a bottle of ink for Fountain Pens. 3) with Fountain Pens you have an "AMAZING" variety of inks (soluble and non-soluble) in such an immense range of colours that even with a full 100 set of finelinera you cannot achieve... basically because you can mix fountain pen inks to even achieve your own colors... multiplying by a lot your options! Something you can never do with finelinera. 4) in this video you are comparing 3 Lamy Safaris against 9 Fineliners of different width tips, if I counted correctly... that's not a fare challenge. For example... with just ONE of my FUDE nibs I can manage up to 7 different line widths (and Im not an expert!)... just to give an example. And if you use a Flex nib specifically for Fountain Pens (not a Zebra G nib which they use for Manga drawing, for example) the variation of line widths in a more "organic" way can never be achieved with Fineliners easily. 5) Fineliners are a great tool... don't get me wrong! But they are NOT ECO FRIENDLY! IT is too much plastic imprint already between roller ball pens, Fineliners, markers, etc in our world when you can achieve the same and even a lot more with Fountain Pens and their inks in the long term, but ELIMINATING most if the plastics used, the longevity of Fountain Pens by far (I mean years and years) exceeds a Fineliner's overall useful life). 6) Price/Cost - if you look at it as a one time purchase and never again... by a small set of Fineliners. But... if you are looking at it as an Every Day Writing And Drawing/Sketching Tool for a long period of time... then a Fountain Pen outweighs a Fineliner by far due to its incredibly smaller cost during the years of its life in comparison - besides of its multitasking capacity too since you can use Fountain Pens for their original intention, which is writing, as well as for drawing, which before was more commonly done with Dip Pens and something you wouldn't usually do with Fineliners (writing I mean) since they are usually ment more for drawing and not as EDC writing tools. 7) people may argue that Fountain Pens require maintenance that Fineliners don't need. It is TRUE! BUT... in comparison of all the advantages Fountain Pens provide with other writing and drawing tools (Fineliners in this case) and the easy it is to clean them (it takes me no more than 3-5 actual and real time minutes per Fountain Pen every few weeks, and that's for those using non-soluble inks) that I personally do not co sides it a burden. So... I agree with you on the Added Value of Fountain Pens and I just wanted to share some more feedback based on my personal experience. THANK you again, Toby, for such good content and videos! Cheers from Sunny Spain! 😁😎👍

I am brand new to sketching and love your channel and techniques! I have purchased the Moleskin and Lamy Safari and ,Ike them both. I hope to find a video of yours on how to use the converter so I can use waterproof ink. Looking forward to taking your courses! I am a journaler and love the Lamy in my travelers notebooks .

thanks for this helpful video ... i just ordered a Lamy Vista with F nib and a Moleskine Watercolor Sketchbook today! Before your video, but now I am sure the my decision was right …

Nice video, thank you Toby. I prefer fountain pens, I have a couple of Safari’s but I think my Twsbi Eco’s is the ultimate fountain pens for sketching. Ok price, very reliable, very good nibs and large ink capacity. I even like my Twsbi 580 Diamond’s with extrafine nibs but the Eco’s is probably more bang for the buck. Keep up the good work!

I prefer fountain pens, hands down. You get to choose any colour you like.

Superb video, but I think fountain pens have a mystique all of their own. They just feel great to make lines with. I have lots of fine liners and a few brush pens, which are fun to use of course. But the fountain pen seems to have such a sweet balance and feel, plus it's easy to change inks. Obviously, the line thickness is more limited, unless you use a Fude or calligraphy nib. For more varied thickness and heavy lines, then brush pens are great. I like using fine liners between 0.05 to 0.8, mainly black, some greys and sanguine and sepia too.

I've come to discover, in my many years, that amazing art supplies offer different experiences. However, you must have a little talent and a spirit that channels the universe, in order to make these magical items do something other than making blobs on my page. Ooops. Did I just say that? Yes. I keep trying. But I am clearly deferring to actual talent. Thank you Toby. I love your videos.

Fountain pens are more work but also more fun. For urban sketching, fountain pens are preferred 😀

I just received a new Lamy Safari. Loaded it up via the converter with Carbon Ink platinum. I dunno-- I’m very disappointed with it. Sometimes it flows. But between starting and stopping during a sketch, it goes dry, until you go over a line 2 or 3 times. Very inconsistent. I’d return it if I could. I guess I’ll stick to fine liners, which in my opinion, are far superior in terms of consisted flow for sketching.

They are interchangeable to certain extent. Its a matter of preference also. Convenience, costs, The line thickness variability, paper size (small paper needs a finer pen where as for larger paper you may use thicker pen) plays a role in the decision. Most significantly the type of paper that you plan to use will matter in the selection: Hot Press -> Fountain pen and fine liners work fine. Both provide butter smooth movements. Cold Press -> Fountain pen can stand the peaks and valleys (rough texture). Good luck with the fine liners...

I love using the fountain pen. I just bought my first one. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about waterproof ink so it’s soluble. I am trying to find permanent water proof ink but have looked everywhere! I’m in the US so any thoughts? Thanks so much. I follow you every day🤗

Love my Lamy Safari too

I agree with your conclusion, the fountain pen wins, yes expensive to start off with, here downunder $40-60, converter $10, ink $20-30, as to others are expensive in to long run. like how may Kilometres can they write until they stop working? As to Fountain pen "ink"? There's as saying (modified) cost per use!

Hi Toby…thanks for this great comparisons…..can you please recommend a waterproof ink….good for sketching?

I do love fountain pens. They are more elegant, more versatile and more fun in general. But I like fineliners because they are very practical and need less maintenance. So, as my mother used to say talking about my sister and I, both are well in their own way😂😂.

Hey Toby I'm started exploring urban sketching because of your videos, but I'm such a beginner... I own a Lamy Safari but I never put waterproof ink in it, so I was wondering if it's a good idea to buy a converter and carbon ink, or if it's better to get a cheap preppy and the same carbon ink, in order to 'save' the lamy. What do you suggest?

Nothing beats a fountain pen.

I use fountain pens but do get a bit frustrated with clogging with carbon black ink. Have to soak the nibs in soapy water from time to time.

Hello… is the LAMY Safari pens difficult to clean, especially when using waterproof ink? And hopefully not too difficult to fill either? Never used one but am eager to try so therefore I’m curious on above questions. 😊

Hi Toby. I wrote you I think sometime around this video. I was asking about waterproof ink cartridges. You recommended Waterman Paris? I can't remember but I purchased the above ink cartridges and they are not waterproof! Even when I left the drawing out overnight it still ran when I applied water. What did I do wrong? I appreciate you so much. Thank you so much for your time!! ❤

What is the preferred fountain pen nib size for urban sketching?

Just to add Fineliners, 99% of ball point and roller ball pens are disposable, can't really refill them, yes some have "refills" even when they are empty, trash they go, whereas fountain pens as you already know, like the Lamy Safari using the Z28 converter save $100's (£100's) in the long run! And with Lamy Safari they have many different nib sizes from EF, F, M, B 1.1 etc!

Thanks for the video Toby. I am learning urban sketching and new to fountain pens. Can you please recommend which nib size I should go for if I have to buy just one for now for drawing? Thanks!

I'm catching up on your videos so, being a bit late, I realise I may not get a response to this. I prefer the Lamy over fine-liners and agree your scores. I would like to use it whilst abroad on a forthcoming holiday - have you ever taken a fountain pen on a plane and if so - any problems eg leakages due to pressure changes?

All great pens, but it's not an either/or hobby. For the price of a packet of fags, you can buy a LAMY, and for the price of a pint, you can buy a couple of Uni-Ball fineliners. For the price of a night out at the pub, you can easily pay for this hobby, with quality gear. LAMY and uni-ball are both inexpensive quality products. There's nothing wrong with your video, and encouraging people into the hobby is always a great thing, but you should be encouraging them to get both, to try both, and not choosing between them...