flic my bic (right in the garbage)

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
9,786
Well, I still keep one in its little kydex holder on my maxpedition bag. However, we are constantly reminded about how apparently easy it is to light a fire with a bic lighter. No I say. Hell, I wasn't even trying to light a fire. I was trying to light a fine Cuban cigar on new years day in the middle of the bush. The wind just kept sucking the flame away and blowing it out. I tried the, light it inside your jacket business to no avail. Cuping over the cigar. No go. Flic the bic, watch the flame blow out. Flic it again, flame blows out. Swear a few times and repeat.

So, I then pull out firekit and grab a firesteel (I was lazy and just wanted my cigar lit) and struck a spark into a piece of charcloth. Blow out? No, the wind just made that char ember happy, happy glowing, happy. Lit the cigar from the charcloth ember. Perfect.

A zippo probably would have sufficed, but I don't have one of them thingies yet. So next time I hear somebody claiming how easy it is to start a fire with a bic lighter I'm going to call B.S. It is easy under some scenarios, but not all scenarios. They produce a weak flame that needs a great deal of shelter from the elements.

Lets face it, they were designed to light up cigarettes. On my adventure, they couldn't even do that!!!
 
Sounds like your BIC lighting technique needs some serious work :eek:

Don't throw it out, you can use it as a bottle opener too.

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90% of the time they work all of the time. :D

Lighters are convenient, period. But a more reliable back-up (or two) is definitely the way to go.
 
A piece of .0000 steel wool would have fixed you right up.

And you wouldn't have even had to put away your bic.

Sounds like you were sitting in the wind and only using your jacket. Try turning your back to the wind and cupping the lighter with your free hand. They work about like a match as far as wind goes.

Don't give up on the Bic mini. I love 'em.

But that don't mean it's all I carry... ;)
 
didn't take you for a cigar man KGD :thumbup:

I like my fire fuze (3" x 1/2" copper pipe stuffed with dental cotton and wetted with methyl hydrate. Burns for about 10 minutes, no smoke, and EASILY lights a cigar :cool:
 
kgd said:
I was trying to light a fine Cuban cigar on new years day in the middle of the bush. The wind just kept sucking the flame away and blowing it out. I tried the, light it inside your jacket business to no avail. Cuping over the cigar. No go. Flic the bic, watch the flame blow out. Flic it again, flame blows out. Swear a few times and repeat.
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Lighting a fine Cuban cigar with a bic??? Sacrilege! You need a Butane lighter, or a piece of dry cedar!

:D
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
Sounds like you were sitting in the wind and only using your jacket. Try turning your back to the wind and cupping the lighter with your free hand. They work about like a match as far as wind goes.
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There was a lot of wind and it was very gusty. The kind of gusts that hit you from different directions.

On the bottle opener, I use my belt buckle or knife spine for that.

Oh I'm not totally giving up on bics. However, I really see them as a convenience thing rather than an emergency fire thing. The point being, they suck under difficult conditions which usually when you need to build a fire. I'd rather have a hot spark and incendiary like rubbing alcohol or wet fire crubles than a weak flame that goes out too easily.
 
Bushman5 said:
didn't take you for a cigar man KGD :thumbup:

I like my fire fuze (3" x 1/2" copper pipe stuffed with dental cotton and wetted with methyl hydrate. Burns for about 10 minutes, no smoke, and EASILY lights a cigar :cool:
Click to expand...

That would have worked!
 
I love Bics. There is no way it didn't work. You did not do it right. You need to...

Ok, just kidding. I prefer using a firesteel to light everything anyway, so I really only have them for ideal condition fires, when I am in a hurry or some such.
 
i have one to use for perfect conditions and thats all they are good for,

and on a side note im truly disappointed that you did not use a fire steel at the very least to light a fire and then light the cigar, nevermind flint or a bow drill:D:p
 
Calebklyne said:
i have one to use for perfect conditions and thats all they are good for,

and on a side note im truly disappointed that you did not use a fire steel at the very least to light a fire and then light the cigar, nevermind flint or a bow drill:D:p
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Ha ha, a make shift bow drill to light a cigar. Now that would be hard core. All you need is the coal and you get that wonderful bow drill smell on your hands. Wouldn't that make the cigar taste soo much better ;)
 
kgd said:
Ha ha, a make shift bow drill to light a cigar. Now that would be hard core. All you need is the coal and you get that wonderful bow drill smell on your hands. Wouldn't that make the cigar taste soo much better ;)
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or better yet make a bowdrill using a cigar and skip the fire altogether;):thumbup:
 
kgd said:
There was a lot of wind and it was very gusty. The kind of gusts that hit you from different directions.
Click to expand...

Don't you love those? Sounds like you were a treeline--they're good for taking a directional wind and turning it into a barrage from all directions.

That's the reason I mentioned the .0000 steel wool. The sparks from the bic would have easily ignited some of that stuff fluffed up. And probably faster than the time it took you to get the fire steel and the char cloth out. Works with your fire steel, too. I haven't made char cloth since (of course, I still have a tinder can full of it in my pack!) Give it a try, if you like char cloth you'll love steel wool.
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
Don't you love those? Sounds like you were a treeline--they're good for taking a directional wind and turning it into a barrage from all directions.

That's the reason I mentioned the .0000 steel wool. The sparks from the bic would have easily ignited some of that stuff fluffed up. And probably faster than the time it took you to get the fire steel and the char cloth out. Works with your fire steel, too. I haven't made char cloth since (of course, I still have a tinder can full of it in my pack!) Give it a try, if you like char cloth you'll love steel wool.
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Already in my kit KemSAT. I agree, steel wool is good stuff!
 
It sounds like a tinder problem, once you got a decent first stage tinder you were fine. :D
 
Bushman5 said:
I like my fire fuze (3" x 1/2" copper pipe stuffed with dental cotton and wetted with methyl hydrate. Burns for about 10 minutes, no smoke, and EASILY lights a cigar :cool:
Click to expand...

Doesn't the methyl hydrate evaporate? Sounds like the tube is open ended. I've never used methyl hydrate before and am not picturing this.
 
Mike's inclement weather cigar-starting method:

(1) Discard Bic.
(2) On a flat surface, use a small file or hacksaw blade to shave a little pile of magnesium filings.
(3) Dip tip of fine Cuban cigar in pile of magnesium filings. Ensure that filings partially coat tip.
(4) Use fire steel to introduce spark to magnesium-dusted Cuban cigar tip.
(5) ignition
(6) enjoyment

Works in the wind, too!

Best,

- Mike
 
I don't know Ken.... I just don't know... I might have to call "operator failure" on this one.

Did you try taking your pants off and putting them over your head? Cause if you didn't.... well.....



Rick
 
I believe your Bic-fu is weak, my son, and requires practice. As the honorable KemSAT San has said, you must turn your back and cup the lighter in your hands.

Seriously, it just takes practice. I had a sailor aboard ship show me how. This guy lit a cigarette with a single book match in a typhoon. I was amazed. Once he showed me how, I was able to do it, too. The secret technique? Just what KemSAT said. Then practice, practice, practice. All the practice won't get you to Carnegie Hall, but it will get your cigar lit.
 
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