Advice on Lighters

Honestly, the cheap lil' Bics are probably the most reliable lighter you can get for your buck. I know what you mean. I hate them. They get hot really fast and you have to hold down the button. I use a lighter in the same way you do. I'm not a smoker, but I enjoy a nice cigar every so often with old friends. Also, it's nice to have for melting nylon, like you said. Also, i don't mind carrying around a little extra "fire" power in case of one of those emergencies where you need a flame. I carry a zippo that my wife got me for Christmas last year. It was a nice Harley Davidson lighter with the old 1970sish "1" emblem on the side. To bad it was glued on instead of fastened or riveted. a $40 lighter to a plain steel one in just a few months. But i digress. I like my zippo. I check the fluid levels every couple of weeks and top it off. If i were going out and about where i KNEW that survival could be a real issue, then i would opt for one of those fancy windproof lighters. As it is, i don't feel the least little bit worried if i go on a hiking/camping trip with the trusty zippo and a mag block fire starter.

Jake
 
I smoke a pipe.

I fill the Zippo once a day.

I spend more time lighting the darned thing than smoking it.

If I were in your situation, you just can't beat the Late Mr. Bic's lighter.

Plus, you can light it and hold it up during your rock concerts.
 
Kis have you ever tried one of those pipe lighters? Those are pretty cool. I used to have an old nimrod lighter from around 1930 something. it was pretty nice. it got all fouled up though. I lit a few pipes with it with pretty good success.

Jake
 
Same problem here. I don't smoke...so everytime I go to use the neat Zippo, it is out of fuel. There is a thread in the Gadget sub-forum about this. Do a search on zippo z-plus on Yahoo, or go see your nearest pipe and cigar shop. Some company makes a neat butane insert for our Zippos that should provide a better flame and be fueled when we need it. No change in appearance to your Zippo. Maybe $10???

Or, you can use a bicycle inner tube piece to wrap around your Zippo, helping to keep the fuel inside. This has worked for some, but seems like a "pain" to me.

Jeff
 
There are some really cool storm lighters out there if you are willing to pay for them, but for a really good one you are looking at 40$ compared to a pretty good big for a buck fifty. When I go mountaineering I take one of each just in case along with a box of matches.
 
Jake, I've probably tried almost every variant available. The zippo is fine until it breaks. I've already replaced the hinge pin. It was a gift from a lady, and it will go in a drawer when it can no longer light stuff. I wouldn't put a zippo in a tackle box or kitchen drawer. The Bic butane holds its fuel better than the cheap competitors, and is ready when you are.

The best way to light a pipe is seated on a log in front of a fire on a cool autuum night, with a clear sky above and dark, hot, sweet, steamy camp coffee in an enameled mug. You use a stick burning from the fire, take forever, fuss a lot, and sigh with a true contentment when you have pipe glowing, coffee tasting, heat radiating, and one or two good friends just watching the flames with you.
 
I used a Zippo for almost 20 years. My last was a gold one with an NRA life member pin on it. I loved them. Probably have 4 or 5 in a box still, including some from the Vietnam era, with crests of different ships on them, both the full size and compact size Zippos. They have the best warranty of any consumer product out there.

But there are several of these new butane windproof lighters that are little torches. Much more maintainable. I can't remember the name of the model, but many of the camping and outdoors catalogs had them. Think one was the Vortex?

Norm
 
I still have my old Zippo I carried for more years than I like to think about. I had the hinge replaced once on mine as well and if Zippo hasn't changed their guarantee is like HI's and is for life so you can have them fixed as many times as they break.
The thing I hate most about the Zippo is that overfilling it even just a little means a chemical burn on your leg or chest depending upon where you carry it.:grumpy:
I had a little lighter that was supposed to have been like an old time WW I or WW II lighter. It had a pull down tab on a flat on the outside where you could easily replace the flint and the fuel container was round and fit into the bottom of the body. also seems like it screwed in a couple of turns but I'm not so sure of that.
I know I loved the lighter because it would light in a full wind even when a Zippo wouldn't and it never gave me a chemical burn.
I finally traded it to my Uncle Ray because he kept at me, said he carried one like it when he was in the Navy.:D
 
Yvsa said:
I still have my old Zippo I carried for more years than I like to think about. I had the hinge replaced once on mine as well and if Zippo hasn't changed their guarantee is like HI's and is for life so you can have them fixed as many times as they break.
The thing I hate most about the Zippo is that overfilling it even just a little means a chemical burn on your leg or chest depending upon where you carry it.:grumpy:
I had a little lighter that was supposed to have been like an old time WW I or WW II lighter. It had a pull down tab on a flat on the outside where you could easily replace the flint and the fuel container was round and fit into the bottom of the body. also seems like it screwed in a couple of turns but I'm not so sure of that.
I know I loved the lighter because it would light in a full wind even when a Zippo wouldn't and it never gave me a chemical burn.
I finally traded it to my Uncle Ray because he kept at me, said he carried one like it when he was in the Navy.:D
Click to expand...

My father-in-law always complained to me as well that he didn't like Zippos because of the chemical burn, but that was simple to fix: fill them until the lighter fluid overflows. Then grab the lighter insert and hold it with the fluid packing down and squeeze between thumb and forefinger pretty hard for a few seconds. The extra pressure on the sheet metal sides will squeeze out any extra fluid onto the ground, but leave the packing nicely saturated. Then put the insert back into the lighter body and you know it will never leak because the lighter body will never squeeze it as hard as you just did.

You are right about the warranty. I sent them a couple of old Zippos from the '60's that had been made for the Navy, along with $1, and they made them up like new.

Great lighters!

Norm
 
Back when I smoked I always carried and used a Zippo with my ship's name and picture on it. Since I quit smoking I keep it in a small wooden keepsake box with a few other treasured items.
 
I usually just use a disposable lighter if it's normal weather. However when I go hiking and might be up on a cliff or something with a stiff "headwind";) then I go for the Brunton Firelight. Another plus is the other end of the little guy is a LED you can peer down in your pipe with to see if whatever you are smoking is consumed.
 
The IMCO lighter is like the european Zippo.

Neat action & cheap. Flint goes in like the bolt on a K-31.

Cheaper than dirt has 'em.

Also, Zippo makes a little accessory tank for fluid- small & won't leak.

But yeah. Bottom line, if you don't use & fill em daily, is a Bic.

Had one in a junk drawer for over 4 years- it lit right up, and worked til I lost it.


Ad Astra
 
I like to modify my Bic lighters. I take the cap off, and turn the valve open about 3 more turns. The flame is then 6-8 inches high and will light in any weather condistion short of a hurricane. But.... I don't smoke. I only use it for the coolness factor, plus it is funny to give it to a smoker who asks you if you have a light. :) Its only real use is to burn things and to fuse the ends of things.
 
Ad Astra said:
But yeah. Bottom line, if you don't use & fill em daily, is a Bic.

Had one in a junk drawer for over 4 years- it lit right up, and worked til I lost it.


Ad Astra
Click to expand...

Depends on the weather conditions. If you leave a brand new Bic in the car in Phoenix in the middle of the summer it will be dry before the day is up usually. When Barbie and I still smoked we had to learn that lesson several times before it finally took.:o :rolleyes: ;)
 
Bics are dirt cheap and reliable. Zippos are awesome but must be refueled.

The best that I know of are Colibri. They're really nice lighters that can be found online or in cigar shops probably. Incredibly high quality, work every time. Normally butane jets. They're more expensive, but the quality is really great.

Chris
 
I keep a couple of old GI match cases in the car and in my briefcase or pack, each stuffed with strike-anywhere stick matches. Works for me.

Noah
 
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