EDC Lighters?

jackknife said:
BIC!

I carried a Zippo for over 30 years just out of stubborn refusal to change to a better tool. But eventually I got tired of it being out of gas at the most inopportune moments. Or the Flint needing to be changed on the spot. Eventually, I ditched the Zippo and took up the Bic and never looked back.

The incident that changed me was trivial in the larger scheme of things, but it showed the long term reliability of the Bic. I had gone out to the shooting range and was the only one there. It was a private gun club out in the boonies. I took a break from shooting to step back and admire the beautiful summer day and enjoy a pipe. I packed some good Dunhill tobacco in my pipe, took out my trusty Zippo, and zip! Nothing. Nada. Dry!

This was an emergency. I really wanted t smoke my pipe. Dry Zippo, no matchers, but I remembered the emergency kit behind the seat of my pickup. In it was an old Bic that I had stashed there at least 5 years before. It was still in the plastic wrapper it had come in. Tore it open, not really expecting to have it work after all those years sitting in my truck in all extreme of temps from hot summer to freezing winters.

It lit the very first flick! Unreal!

I went on to use that same Bic for the next couple of months with no problems. The Zippo got ditched and never carried again. I have Bic's stashed in the truck, better halfs car trunk kit, day pack. It's been at least 15 years now that I've been using Bic's, and they always work, hold fuel for a pipe smoker for 4 to 5 months, and if you get the white or other light color ones, you can hold it up to a light and check how much fuel is left in it. I wouldn't go back to a Zippo if they were the last lighter company in the world. I'd carry matches before I'd carry a Zippo again. At least with matches I can see how many I have left, and they store for long periods very well.

Another Bic tale; not quite 20 years ago, our oldest boy was sent to San Jose, Costa Rica for 6 months on business for his company. The better half and I made arrangements to go visit. Unnown to us, John, knowing that his mom and pop were avid nature watchers, booked us on a trip in the rain forest. Hiking by day, with campsites by night. It was a guided group tour in the jungle, and it was an unbelievable time. Being a knife guy, of course I took note of what our guides were packing. They all had 12 inch machetes on their belts for most all their cutting jobs, including making dinner at our camp site that night. But I also noticed that they all had a little black nylon pouch on their belts that contained a SAK and a Bic lighter. They used the SAK for small cutting jobs, (SAK's seemed to be a universal pocket knife in Costa Rica). I asked one of the guides that spoke good English, why a Bic lighter. His instant answer was because they always work.

If a Bic lighter and a SAK is good enough for a guide in the middle of the Costa Rica jungle, that's good enough for me.
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Outstanding stories. Thanks for sharing.
 
I was born on the 4th of July so I have been a fire bug since I was a little kid. When I was 5 my mom found me trying to light matches in the house which really freaked her out. She knew I had an interest in fire and that just saying I couldn't would make me want to know about it even more. So instead of punishing me she got me a lighter that was just mine that she held on to and I could have any time I just had to ask for it and give it back when done. My parents also got a load of sand and dumped it in the yard where I was allowed to light fires and do whatever as long as I did it there. We had enough property and enough trees that I had a constant supply of firewood just from the deadfall.

When I was 8 or 9 I got a box of mail order fireworks that was bigger than I was and it was the best gift I think I ever got as a kid. I would make sand forts (no wussy castles) and put my army men around it and build tunnels that were filled with pine needles and strategically placed firecrackers and when it was all done I would burn it down and blow it up and take out the army men with my red rider as it was going up in flames. I spent just about every afternoon in that sand pile for quite a few years.

Even back then as a kid it was easy to tell a Bic was the best lighter. I also had the adjustable flame Scripto and generic lighters and they just didn't last like a Bic. Though it may have had something to do with me tearing them apart and backing out the flame adjust so it would spray a 8" flame but that's just pesky details.

I also had a Zippo for quite a few years that I still have somewhere. It was unique and unfortunately when I started smoking as a teen, which I quit cold turkey when I turned 18 and asked myself what the hell I was doing, I liked the taste the zippo imparted on a cigarette. But they did run out at inopportune times.

I also had a small brass lighter that was my Grandfather's that I never met, that some piece of crap kid ended up stealing, that had a button you pressed down that lifted up a cap over the wick while at the same time striking a flint. That lighter seemed to run a long time on fluid with the cap over the wick. You can find them as antiques now but I guess that stopped making them long ago. Seemed like a better design than a zippo.

Anyways, I'm just rambling. Oh, and a Bic is what I still carry around and have tucked away all over the place.
 
I have a ziploc with a butane insert that has worked well for the past few years. I'll probably pick up a Douglass lighter later this year. But I just grabbed this to keep in my emergency pack:

0e11a972808e3d5e3e9ca48cca314c42.jpg


Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I've got an electronic lighter and it is cool. But when the lid is down and the button is pushed it still 'lights' and after a day in my pocket the battery was dead and the electrodes half gone. I tried contacting the seller on Amazon a few times and nada. Amazon might replace it but I haven't tried but with the seller not replying I basically see it as $20 down the drain. I don't smoke and don't need a lighter but I'm a bit of a pyro so always have a lighter on me and if I can't carry it then it doesn't do me much good.

Just a heads up for anyone that buys one, you might want to make sure it stops when the lid is closed.
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I actually wondered about the easy button press on mine also. But since I don't carry every day, I have time to find a solution. My first thought was simply to affix a ring around the button requiring a deeper press to ignite. First thought was a simple washer. They can be found in any size and material. A nice brass or copper would look cool against the matte black paint. But now I think I may make something out of leather and not just a circle. Maybe even personalized in some cryptic way.

Now I want more electrics, a small but effective solar charging solution. (Not just for lighter, but also phone, gps, and other camping/survival products of these current times. Next is to gut all my stupid turbo evaporators we lovingly call a Zippo, and replace with butane inserts. Or just toss them and buy a bunch more Ronson Butanes. (Ronson is owned by Zippo anyway, so for those that may feel disloyal to "their" beloved Zippo's worry not). [emoji16]

And, I don't want to forget the "KISS" portion of any plan, need to buy a couple dozen Bics, and scatter around. No matter what cool products are available, don't discount the simple, basic, effective.....even if they are a bit boring. The simplest product is likely to save your bacon when all else goes south.

Stay pyro my friends. [emoji56]




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Sent from my mind....using Tap-a-Thought. (tm)
 
bflying said:
I actually wondered about the easy button press on mine also. But since I don't carry every day, I have time to find a solution. My first thought was simply to affix a ring around the button requiring a deeper press to ignite. First thought was a simple washer. They can be found in any size and material. A nice brass or copper would look cool against the matte black paint. But now I think I may make something out of leather and not just a circle. Maybe even personalized in some cryptic way.

Now I want more electrics, a small but effective solar charging solution. (Not just for lighter, but also phone, gps, and other camping/survival products of these current times. Next is to gut all my stupid turbo evaporators we lovingly call a Zippo, and replace with butane inserts. Or just toss them and buy a bunch more Ronson Butanes. (Ronson is owned by Zippo anyway, so for those that may feel disloyal to "their" beloved Zippo's worry not). [emoji16]

And, I don't want to forget the "KISS" portion of any plan, need to buy a couple dozen Bics, and scatter around. No matter what cool products are available, don't discount the simple, basic, effective.....even if they are a bit boring. The simplest product is likely to save your bacon when all else goes south.

Stay pyro my friends. [emoji56]




•••••••••••••••

Sent from my mind....using Tap-a-Thought. (tm)
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I think most are supposed to have a switch in the lid so that when the lid is closed it will no longer work. Mine obviously isn't doing that but from what I read it is supposed to stop working once the lid is shut so this very thing doesn't happen.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I think most are supposed to have a switch in the lid so that when the lid is closed it will no longer work. Mine obviously isn't doing that but from what I read it is supposed to stop working once the lid is shut so this very thing doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

A couple of times this winter I used mine as a hand warmer. Run it for a few with the lid closed, metal warms up....in-a-pinch hand warmer. [emoji56]



•••••••••••••••

Sent from my mind....using Tap-a-Thought. (tm)
 
I have a Douglas. It is beautiful and very well made however, I'm not a smoker and if left unattended it still evaporates fluid, even with the o-rings.

I have found a fondness for the djeep lighters. They have a bigger tank and I have carried one for over a year before without it going dry.
 
I keep a mini Bic in my belt pouch. I carry a regular Bic and/or a Vertigo Inferno triple torch for lighting my cigars. My Vertigo also has a cigar cutter built in, but it runs out of fuel fast. What I like about the Bic, is that if I run out of fuel in an emergency, I can find some gas or alcohol to dip a rag or paper in, take the metal spark guard off, then use the Sparks from the Bic to light that. I did this once before... Although the emergency was a friend having a Nicotine fit and an empty lighter. If I was more worried about the cold, I'd probably carry a Zippo.
vert_infer_chrome_large.jpeg
 
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IMG_2040.jpg I like the Porsche Designs PDJL1A Ti lighter. It's only 1/4" thick, refills from a butane canister, and has a piezoelectric ignition.
 
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I carry one of those tiny Zippos. It's unnoticeable in my cargo pants pocket. I don't smoke anything, but it's always handy to have fire available. Plus I just rewatched "The Thing". I want some fire in my pocket.
 
The PB-207 I mentioned earlier...large tank, latches on, comes with a stand for hands free work and super reliable in my experience. All the other similar torch lighters are a clone of this one, none have held up like the original.



~Chip
 
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I think bic lighters reign supreme of any lighter.
I have at least 20 of them stashed around the house and car.
Also I have a dual arc plasma lighter since it's windproof, my jeep is usually convertible.
 
I am trying to find one of these Douglass S Field lighters online. So far only on eBay and they are $150 Canadian dollars. To rich for my blood. I can find the L version online for a reasonable price but I do not think they have the sealed O-ring properties of the S version.
Any suggestions?

,,,Mike in Canada
 
I just grabbed a Numyth Tohil v2 Watertight Fluid Lighter from Amazon after getting sick of the lighter fluid evaporating from my Zippo. I've only had it for a few days, it lights as a lighter should but for me the real test will be how long it can be stored and still be able to light. According to the either the company or a customer answering it should last for 6 months.
 
This is the only zippo like lighter that i would ever recommend. http://www.bladehq.com/item--Douglass-Field-L-Lighter-Brass-DG--28468

Douglass Field L Lighter

this will still evaporate but very very slowly. like once a month (or longer) you may have to fill it. my zippo i have to fill every week and my Trench lighter i have to fill every two weeks. so while it wont last as long as contained fluid lighters, it will last much longer than most in its class. i prefer it much much more over the Douglass Field S and the L version looks better. i believe it holds fluid longer and is easier to use.

douglass-field-s-gold-cm.jpg


i also wrap waxed hemp wick around it... so that way when it gets hot you dont burn yourself and... i light the wick as it lasts longer and is more healthy to burn from if you use it for smoking. i do that for all the lighters tho.
 
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Thanks Mo2. Maybe the L class Douglass I saw is worth another look.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
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