Brief Review Of Pai Li 001 Safari Clone

[bob_hayden]

I have reviewed other Pai Li pens here including another Safari clone, the 004.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325484-informal-review-pai-li-004-safari-clone-123/

 

This time I am looking at the 001 model, or at least I ordered an 001 and am reviewing the pen I received. This will be more of a heads up re an interesting and inexpensive pen than a thorough review.

 

I have found with Pai Li pens that I usually do not get a pen like the pictures in the eBay listing. In this case the pen is pretty much the same except it has a Lamy-like "paper clip" pocket clip while the pen in the listing has a clip that looks more like a Jinhao 599. The one I received looks most like the Hero 359 summer pens except that it has flats on both sides of the body and no name on either flat. In fact, the only identifying marks are "EF" and the Pai Li logo on the nib. Said nib is XXF and reasonably smooth for such, though not quite as nice as the XXF on the 004 I received. The nib has some spring to it and I was surprised at how much darker it wrote on downstrokes using Private Reserve Daphne Blue. I have only had it for a day or two, but so far I have no complaints, and it is unusual for me not to complain about Chinese pens;-) Price is $1.49.

 

This seems like a good pen in the Safari clone market and could be a good choice if you want a pen that looks as close to the original as possible and has a good XXF nib. I prefer the less Safari-like and slightly cheaper 004 but I do not see any of those for sale on eBay right now. As with other Pai Lis, it arrived quickly for a pen from China -- about two weeks to the NE corner of the US of A.