My thanks to Jeremy for the loan of his Lamy 2000 Multipen for review.
Intro:
The Lamy 2000 is one of my favourite fountain pens that I’ve owned. Did you know that Lamy makes the 2000 model in a mechanical pencil, ballpoint, rollerball and multipen version as well? The Lamy 2000 Multipen will be my first non fountain pen pen review on Althaven.
Let’s face it, though I make a point to use fountain pens almost exclusively but there will be times we all need a ballpoint pen. That’s just the world we live in. We could just use whatever is available or we could up our game with a nice one. What’s better than a good ballpoint is having 4 at your quick disposal.
Performance:
The Lamy 2000 Multipen is made of the same Makrolon as the Lamy 2000 fountain pen. Like it’s more distinguished sibling the Multipen is accented with brushed metal finish. The main difference between the two models is one has retractable tips while the other doesn’t.
The Multipen has a ring with 4 colours around the top of the barrel. If you want the blue, all you have to do is make sure the blue ring is facing up and depress the nock. The blue refill will be chosen and be extended. This gravity based refill selection system works like voodoo and it almost works every time. You’d notice that unlike regular multipens, Lamy 2000 Multipen isn’t very fat. Rather, it is no wider than a single refill ballpoint pen. I suspect it is due to the refill selection system that allows to keep its rather svelte silhouette. The Lamy 2000 Multipen is very well made as I’d expect from a German company. The seam where the nose cone meets the barrel is flawless. I cannot tell where one begin and the other ends even when I run my fingers across the pen. The nock action is smooth but just a little noisy but at this point it is more of a nitpick than a genuine flaw.
However, the refills are another thing entire. Personally I do not like Lamy refills at all. I would rather get my refills elsewhere where possible. Luckily the Lamy Multipen takes the D1 refills, I’d recommend you take a look at The Well Appointed Desk’s epic refill reference guide and pick a refill you like. The refills that came with this Lamy 2000 Multipen tend to get ink blobs on the tip. Even after cleaning them away they developed again over time. They also hard starts and they do not have a consistent line. Some require more pressure than others to get it going.
Conclusion:
The Lamy 2000 Multipen is a very well made piece of writing instrument. It’s a worthy pen to pair with the Lamy 2000 fountain pen. However, replace the refills that inside as soon as you can. Once you have done that, you might have the best secret weapon in all fountain pen-dom.
Pros:
- Regular sized multipen
- 4 colours!
Cons:
- Lamy refills
Additional Reading:
