Brunton Helios lighter

misanthropist

misanthropist

Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
1,236
Helios_L.jpg


I have no doubt many of you are familiar with this lighter. I am one of those "BIC lighter" people in that 99% of the time, that's what I use to start a fire, as I always feel that having a system that relies on tinder you carry in with you isn't really a better option, and I can always seem to get a fire going almost immediately using locally collected tinder even in bad weather, and really for survival purposes that's what interests me - fast, light, simple.

Anyway I've recently been thinking about the next step in lighters...something hotter and more windproof than a bic. These things definitely present themselves as the be all end all heavy weather lighter, but does anyone have any long term experiences with them in bad conditions?
 
For full disclosure, I have never used one of the nicer ones like the Brunton. On the cheaper ones I have used, it seemed that the magneto would quit working, so often there would be no spark to light the gas. If it did work, it didn't seem like the flame caught other tinder as well as the larger Bic flame.

I have a cheapie in my shed, full of fuel. I keep my shed just above freezing, and this lighter was sitting there so I tried it yesterday. While there was a spark, there was no flame. What the problem was, I do not know. It could be totally unrelated, but I doubt it. When I would refill the lighter, it would not light until it had warmed back up. To me, it seemed rather quirky for a backup anything. It mostly got used for soldering electrical connectors and heat shrinking them.

Once again, neither of the ones mentioned are one of the nicer models like you pictured.
 
Butane lighters are susceptible to cold. Hold it in your fist for a while or put it in your armpit. I have gotten Bic's and Cricket's wet and they worked once they dried out, so I would have died of hypothermia while waiting for them to dry.

The Helios type lighters work well in windy conditions, but are heavy, bulky and expensive. I would go for multiple mini Bic's and get the redundancy.

If you want something scary hot, I've got one of these:

http://www.masterappliance.com/mt5.html

MT5.jpg
 
For the money those cost you could have a Bic or two, some sort of fire steels/mag bars, a sparker, and assorted matches. I go for redundancy in firemaking and all of my kits have no fewer than four ways to make a fire. I also carry TinderQuik, WetFire, and cotton balls just in case.

Almost always when I make a small fire to make tea, I use a strike anywhere match or flick my Bic. I've never *needed* the other firemakers but practice using them if I should need to.
 
Well, the money doesn't really worry me much, as I've already got most of the backup options covered anyway.

You know I thought about something like a microtorch! But I wondered if the Helios might be more durable in the wilderness?
 
Never had one but most people who tried those have had negative comments. Maybe if someone with a Membership can point those threads.

I have a pocket torch similar to the one pictured above, and I like it a lot.
 
It looks like a fine lighter, but a terrible price.

As an alternative, I have started carrying a $12 Iroda butane microtorch in my PFD pocket.

As a canoeist, it's main use for me is starting an emergency fire to deal with hypothermia. With the onset of hypothermia and uncontrolled shivering, the truth is that you do not have very good use of your hands and fingers making it very difficult to flick your Bic or strike your match. Many utilitarian butane lighters light with just a simple press of a switch (a handheld microtorch would be ideal if they weren't so big). And they produce a big flame that stands up better to wind. (Mine is permanently dialed up to "high"). I find that even non-waterproof butane lighters like the Iroda work when wet. (I did a dunk test with mine and it took only 4 or 5 tries before I consistently got a flame.)

As for normal firestarting, I like a butane lighter for the way it throws out a big flame. They would be even more useful if you could see the flame in daylight. Makes a good backup to my primary tool, which are Coghlan's firestarter sticks.

Iroda

lighter1iw9.gif


dunk test...

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cold test...

Out of curiosity I wanted to see how it worked in the cold. I put it outside for 2 hours this morning – temperature was 12F (-11C). Results are it took me two minutes to get a repeatable flame. I clicked until my thumb was sore but it was the two minutes of warming up in my hand that got it to light.

snowtestbu1.gif
 
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Those type of lighters can be finicky. I had an opportunity to play with some high end Colibris and I wouldn't count on them. I have never tried the Brunton and I have been eyeballing it for a while but...
 
I have a tendency to want to gravitate to those fancy lighters. They just seem cool.

I have not played with that particular lighter, but here is my opinion regarding the style, by playing with others.

Cold weather: Not so good. You can see the ignition system working, but no flame. I am not one for having to keep things tucked away to make them work, so that is my biggest turn-off. Especially when a cheap bic, in the exact same conditions works just fine.

Ignition Systems: Some of them, especially on the really expensive lighters, are tested to an extensive amount of cycles. However, the seems to be done in a labratory as I have seen so called "tested" one fail much earlier. Here is my theory on that; Cycling the thing 10,000 times is all well and good. But, when you are actually catching stuff on fire (twigs, paper, cigarettes) a certain amount of debris seems hang around. After a long time, it seems to build up and keep the ignition from working. Much different than a clean environment, just cycling the thing.

I guess I just prefer a mechanical ignition system, because even if it is out of fuel, it can be used to very easily catch fine tinder.

It sounds like you have your mind made up on getting one, so if you do get one, please give us the first hand report. I would someone to find one that worked flawless for them.

Keep us posted,
B
 
I have a Helios...for a few years now. It was intended as the be-all-end-all lighter for me. But it isn't exactly that.

It does have problems in cold weather. When in these conditions I lanyard carry around the neck or keep inside an internal pocket.

The flame (as with similar lighters) is near invisible during the day. This takes some getting used to and some care in use.

The flame comes out forcefully, sometimes making items harder to light than the flame from a Bic or Zippo (and Esbit fuel tab comes to mind).

And the case of the Helios isn't as bombproof as its pictures indicate. It's all plastic. I think the lid is flimsy.

Still, it's my EDC lighter for the woods. Not sure I'd spend the same money on one again. I know a guy with a Windmill lighter that seems to work better for less $$.
 
I bought one of those about 5 years ago.Works pretty good. but uses fuel up pretty quick. Rather large for pocket carry. I still use my bic when im out in the woods.
 
I have one too. They are labeled SILVA (yep, the company that makes compasses) here and quite a bit cheaper than the Helios.
I bought mine about 4 years ago and have used it quite a bit - still going strong. I have to agree that the lid is a bit flimsy - but that hasn't been a problem so far. I have used that thing to light a cigarette on a beach during a storm so strong that I had to lean into the wind not to get blown over. That was rather impressive. I have even more expensive weatherproof lighters (Rowenta) - but the Helios is the easiest to refill. And it has a window to check the fuel level. It's bulky compared to a bic, but not to big to put in a jeans or coat pocket. I like mine, and would buy it again.
ilten
 
Hmm...this thread has left me more torn than I was when I started!

More research is in order!

Thanks for your help, guys.
 
I have a friend who has spent big $$$ many times on fancy lighters. They all eventually died. My wife and I each have $12 Z-Plus Zippo inserts that have been working for two years. I'd never trust them as my only fire-starting method, though. If you want to get fancy, keep the Bic and matches as a backup.
 
I bought a Brunton Helios as the ultimate outdoors lighter, but was disappointed first time out. I could not light the Esbit fuel tab in a small Ti stove with it. Firesteel wouldn't do the job either. Finally an ordinary camping match was successful.

Problem was the flame had to be directed downward to ignite the fuel element. This procedure was very awkward with the Helios, and I ran out of fuel while trying. Finally, I just struck a match and leaned it up against the fuel element in the small stove. Ignition was achieved in a few seconds.

Today I carry a firesteel, tinder and lifeboat matches.
 
Well, I think that about cinches it...no Helios for me!

I might give one of those zippo inserts a go, that's sort of interesting.

I don't mind spending money on gear but I don't like to spend money on gear that doesn't do things a lot better than cheap gear!
 
Colibri is a brand I have used. Most of the windproof lighters use a piezoelectric ignition with a catalyzing coil that gets hot and keeps the flame going if the wind blows it out. As with many survival tools, you are trusting your life to an increasingly more complex mechanical system, much as the GPS vs. compass and map debate. If you run out of fuel, get it full of dirt or water, or it just plain breaks, you are in deep doo-doo.

IMHO, butane lighters are handy tools, but you should have redundant systems available. A Bic in your pocket along with a firesteel on your survival lanyard/necklace should do the trick. Use the Bic as your first level of everyday fire and the firesteel as your backup. I actually carry one Bic and keep another in my PSK, and I use the mini's.
 
misanthropist said:
I might give one of those zippo inserts a go, that's sort of interesting.
Click to expand...

Others here have written about the Z-Plus inserts. Do a search and you should find plenty of favorable comments. You can get them here: http://www.countycomm.com/zplus2a.htm

You can find them on ebay, too. Mine is inserted into a bright orange Zippo.

Oh yeah-- with any of these types of lighters, it pays to use high quality fuel. I use Colibri Premium Butane- available from most any smoke shop. I paid $3.30 for it. DON'T use Ronson!
 
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Hey misanthropist, my wife gave me a couple of these guys as stocking stuffers. They aren't cool and as small as the Bruntons, but they cost $6.00 at Cdn tire. It should give you a good idea of how the butane lighters work. As for the $4 butane-electronic disposables. Toss them, they suck. I like these little torches and keep one in my kit. I understand their poor behavior in the cold. However, in wet conditions (provide they are kept dry) you can get really finicky tinder going as the flame burns at 1500oF.

DSC_0035-7.jpg
 
Scott Free said:
Others here have written about the Z-Plus inserts. Do a search and you should find plenty of favorable comments. You can get them here: http://www.countycomm.com/zplus2a.htm

You can find them on ebay, too. Mine is inserted into a bright orange Zippo.

Oh yeah-- with any of these types of lighters, it pays to use high quality fuel. I use Colibri Premium Butane- available from most any smoke shop. I paid $3.30 for it. DON'T use Ronson!
Click to expand...

Ditto on the fuel, but I don't see any advantage on the Zippo insert vs a garden variety butane lighter. It's piezoelectric and prone to the same problems as the Bruton, less the windproof feature. Cool if you use a Zippo or have a prized Zippo case, but nothing added for survival.
 
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