by Mike Shea on 25 January 2006
I love fountain pens. I love their history, I love their simplicity, I love the way they write.
I first learned about the Lamy 2000 from Neil Gaiman who called it a "novel writing pen", although I believe he uses an antique Waterman pen to write his books. Many of the Moleskinners on Moleskinerie.com also recommended the pen.
The Pilot Vanishing Point was my current favorite fountain pen so I had little need of another, but I finally broke down and picked up the Lamy 2000. I couldn't be happier.
The Lamy 2000 fine point fountain pen writes a much thicker line than my Pilot Vanishing Point fine point. It writes smooth and without any skipping. I don't find I ever have to start the pen off before writing like I sometimes do with the Vanishing Point.
The ink draw is one of my favorite features of the Lamy 2000. The Lamy has no cartridge or converter fill, it only accepts ink from a bottle. With my favorite Noodler's black bottled ink in hand, I never take ink from a cartridge. As the back of the Lamy unscrews, it pushes air out of the internal reservoir. When it is twisted back down again, it sucks ink in from a small hole underneath the Lamy's nib. The stainless brushed steel tip shrugs excess ink off easily. Once filled, it is extremely clean.
The nib of the Lamy is platinum plated 14 carat gold. It writes smooth and without any skipping. I don't find I ever have to start the pen off before writing like I sometimes do with the Vanishing Point. The Lamy 2000 fine point fountain pen writes a much thicker line than my Pilot Vanishing Point fine point.
The body of the Lamy 2000 is Makrolon plastic brushed in a darkwood finish. With the back ink draw screwed in and the pen loaded, it is very difficult to see the line where the draw feed meets the base. The cap snaps on closed with the help of two small metal bits that stick out on the side. These two metal bits also help guide one's fingers when one writes with this fine writing instrument.
I use the Lamy 2000 primarily for story writing. I use it in both large lined Moleskine notebooks and the Arches Text Wove paper of the Renaissance Art journals. For both of these, it offers excellent skip-free writing. Unless you like a really thick line, I would try a Lamy 2000 before buying it for use in smaller Moleskine journals. Many people like it for the small ones as well, but I still prefer my Pilot Vanishing Point for small Moleskine use.
I am very happy with the purchase of my Lamy 2000. For my nightly (well, I wish it was nightly) storywriting, it is an excellent pen that lets me concentrate on the story at hand and not the mechanics of the pen.