Bic lighter or butane jet lighter?

I am at 5400 feet of elevation as I write this, and can testify that torch lighters do not work worth a damn above a mile high. Neither do piezo ignitions. They may work fine for you flatlanders, but for a lot of us "out west" they're a waste of money.

Obviously, given my circumstances, I go for the Bic.
 
My limited experience w/ the butane lighters seemed to indicate that while the burned hotter, they did not seem to light tinder any better. I never tried burning rubber or nylon, so don't know about that. The cheap jet lighters are nowhere close to reliable.
I much prefer the Bic.
 
I EDC a mini-Bic. I think werever possible everyone should carry a EDC Bic. You never know when a fire will be necessary.
 
HomeBru and Cpl Punishmnet, you guys crack me up. When I started smoking cigars I bought a jet lighter. I was funny to watch the cigarette smokers burn the smokes in half. I still cary a jet lighter for EDC but I also have a magnesium/ferro rod with hacksaw blade in a pouch in my key ring as back up.

I've never had a probelm with my lighter not working but then It general statys at home when I go into the woods. Somebody want to explain why a Bic works at altitiude but a jet torch won't. Both use the same fuel, are under pressure and are ignited via a spark. Seams to me that both should work.
 
A freakin zippo will light on the top of Mt Everest. I backpack very high in the Sierra, Zippos will light about anywhere. Try It:D
 
James 61 said:
HomeBru and Cpl Punishmnet, you guys crack me up. When I started smoking cigars I bought a jet lighter. I was funny to watch the cigarette smokers burn the smokes in half. I still cary a jet lighter for EDC but I also have a magnesium/ferro rod with hacksaw blade in a pouch in my key ring as back up.

I've never had a probelm with my lighter not working but then It general statys at home when I go into the woods. Somebody want to explain why a Bic works at altitiude but a jet torch won't. Both use the same fuel, are under pressure and are ignited via a spark. Seams to me that both should work.
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Well, that's a mighty fine question, there, James. I wish I knew the answer, but I don't. I do know, however, that I have two torch lighters (a Zippo insert and a Zippo Blu) and neither of them work at altitude. Neither does my $100 piezo Colibri. My only guess as to why the torch lighters don't work is that the butane is coming out of there at too much pressure compared to the air around it. It won't light even if you hold a match up to it (it blows the match out). But that's only a guess. And yeah, regular Zippos work just fine.
 
I use a jet lighter for cigars, but a bic is much more reliable, and seems to be more fuel efficient. Plus even with no fuel left you can still make a spark.
 
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