Lamy AL Star- Review — Duck's Doodles

Welcome back!

Today is *drum roll* fountain pen review day!

I've decided to review a classic fountain pen, the Lamy AL Star, in the Graphite Grey color.

This was given to me by a friend as a present (Thanks Kellie!) when I was just starting to get into pens. She works at an engraving store, and engraved a few beagles in the cap- an adorable, personal touch.

This pen came with a "starter set" of inks; it included black, blue, turquoise, red, green, blue-black and violet. It also came with a converter so you can load up whatever type if ink you please. These cartridges are proprietary, so only Lamy brand cartridges can be loaded into the pen. However, the converter is easy to use, and therefore a great option that provides more flexibility for those looking to explore other inks.

Lamy AL Star with the starter set of ink cartridges. Ink colors, from left to right, are Black, Blue, Turqoise, Red, Green, Blue-Black, Violet and the ink converter

A close up of the beagle engravings on the cap

Lamy writing sample, including dry times

Since I use my Lamy at work for taking notes, I loaded it up with the blue cartridge. These cartridges are a great choice, going down well on paper (I used Field Notes Three Missions edition), and drying fairly quickly. The dry time of inks is always a big draw for me, since I'm often using my pens to write down notes in meetings during work and I tend to jump around the paper. There was no real feathering from the ink, the only time I had noticed some was when I was writing on a very cheap piece of printer paper at work.

This pen came with a default medium nib, and writes very smoothly. Lamy tests all of their nibs before they leave the factory, so you can be assured that you're getting a quality nib. (Though you may just want to give it all a clean before you load it up with any new ink, just to clear any testing residue)

Then pen also features a grip with two indentations on either side, giving it a triangular shape. This shape lends itself to a very comfortable gripping surface, and also provides a bit of a guide on how to grip properly for those new to fountain pens.

In addition to the shape of the grip, it's an opaque grey color, allowing you to see the feed of the pen; a nice look for those who are experienced in fountain pens, and a great introduction to how fountain pens work for those who are less experienced. Similar to being able to see the converter, these pens feature a window so you can see the ink level in the cartridge.

I'm a person who posts the cap of a pen when I write (that's the term for when you put the cap on the end of the pen, for those uninitiated into pen addiction), and this pen writes comfortably when posted. I find that because of the aluminum material, the pen is actually too light when writing un-posted. On the topic of the pen's material, some people have commented that they prefer the Lamy Safari, the AL Star's plastic cousin, because of aluminim's tendancy to scratch. While I haven't had that issue at all, I'll be sure to update this post in the event this happens to me.

Another thing that I particularly love is the clip of this pen- I enjoy the design and how it contributes to the overall profile of the pen, but I use the clip in a functional way, to keep my pen and my notebook (usually Field Notes, as pictured). The clip has continued to stay fairly tight through it's daily use, something that I was concerned with initially. The downside, for non clip fans, is that the clip is not removable.

While I love this pen, nothing is perfect. My biggest complaint about the Lamy AL Star is something that plagues fountain pens at large; nib creep. This pen has some of the worst nib creep I have seen to date. It doesn't affect the writing performance in any way, but if you're a bit particular like myself this is just a piece of information to keep in mind.

I really appreciate this having been given to me as a starter fountain pen, because I think seeing the cartridge filling system helped me grasp the way that fountain pens really work. The cartridges make for an easy setup, and the converter capability makes it easy to continue to use as I grow further into this hobby. Lamy has a reputation for making pens that could be classified as the workhorse of the pen industry, and for good reason. What it lacks in flashy design, it makes up for in reliability.

Lamy AL Star comes in a range of colors, including blue-green, ocean blue, black and a limited edition pink. These pens are available for around the $40 price point, and are sold by most pen distributors.

Thanks for reading, and happy writing!