Surprise Present!

Vanguard41xx

Vanguard41xx

Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,135
After all the gifts were exchanged, my son came up to me a gave me a special present. I've been looking for one forever! A WW2 Bowers Army & Navy trench lighter. This really made my day.
I hope all of you had a great Christmas today!

Here it is with some of today's Christmas gifts.
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That is so neat!
I saw something similar on Pawn Stars.
Id say most of these were lost during the war...what a find!
 
Very cool lighter Vangaurd! I have never seen one before.Nice knives. I love the long nail nick.Happy holidays
 
Totally awesome Vanguard! That's my kinda present :thumbup: though I've only had a repro.
 
I was debating whether or not to, but I decided to LIGHTLY clean it. It looks a lot better now and doesn't look like I took it to a buffing wheel. :p
 
Wow! Where did he find that?! A buddy of mine would always taunt me with his; it is one of the more interesting designs I have ever come across.

What a special gift from a special someone, thanks for sharing.
 
DeadFall27 said:
Wow! Where did he find that?! A buddy of mine would always taunt me with his; it is one of the more interesting designs I have ever come across.

What a special gift from a special someone, thanks for sharing.
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He got it from an antique store down in Amish country, that we're actually going to tomorrow.
 
Great lighter Vanguard, and what a lovely present. Those things work forever too, and are a very practical low-maintenance, windproof lighter. If you can't buy the wicks, you can make one from one of the threads from a new traditional mop-head :thumbup:
 
That´s interessting gift. I´m still curious how they work. I´ve never seen such a piece before - they seem to be completelly unknown here in Germany/Austria... But that´s a nice original piece which seems to be made during or before WWII.



Congratz :)
 
Humppa said:
That´s interessting gift. I´m still curious how they work. I´ve never seen such a piece before - they seem to be completelly unknown here in Germany/Austria... But that´s a nice original piece which seems to be made during or before WWII.



Congratz :)
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Basically, it has a 'wick' made from soft plaited cloth, and a sparking wheel and flint. The wick is held in a tube so that one end sits under the wheel. You flick the wheel vigorously, and blow on the cloth until it glows, then light your cigarette. They're still sold here as 'fisherman's lighters'. I used to have an old handmade one myself (though not as old as this one), but gifted it a friend many years ago.
 
Thanks for the explanation, Jack. That makes it much clearer to me - though I almost thought about that how it (could) work. Interessting thing, really interessting :)
 
Humppa said:
Thanks for the explanation, Jack. That makes it much clearer to me - though I almost thought about that how it (could) work. Interessting thing, really interessting :)
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You've very welcome :) I think in Vanguard's second pic, you can sort of see how it works. Usually you have to spark the wheel vigorously with the heal of your hand, but a length of wick lasts for ages.
 
Jack Black said:
You've very welcome :) I think in Vanguard's second pic, you can sort of see how it works. Usually you have to spark the wheel vigorously with the heal of your hand, but a length of wick lasts for ages.
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You're not kidding, I tried it out today and it still works. I'm very pleased with it and on a lookout for a second one.
 
Vanguard41xx said:
You're not kidding, I tried it out today and it still works. I'm very pleased with it and on a lookout for a second one.
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Are you after another vintage one or a contemperary one?

wouldestous said:
interesting piece, although i smoke cigars and despair that it might not work for me. lol
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I suspect it probably wouldn't work very well with cigars. It's designed for the sort of roll-up that a hobo might think twice about smoking! :D
 
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