Zippos and Innertubes...

edit to this...i still have not filled the sealed lighter...i am going to keep it that way for some more time and see...
 
I did a similar test earlier this year. I have two Zippos, a titanium one and a chrome one. I filled them both, put a section of rubber iunner tube around the chrome one and wrote the date on it. As usual, the unprotected ti Zippo had no fluid left after 8-10 days, but IIRC the one with the rubber around it still lit up after 10-12 weeks.
 
zippo does have a new refillable butane lighter - a jet flame wind resistant type


I carry ronson blue flame torch lighters. It is very handy for reliable fire, but the pizo electro spark starters go dead if they get wet.
( this brand does work again when dry...unlike some others)


The zippo blue flame uses flint for spark...the instructions online seemed akward, but now I am seeing the advantage to this lighter. The flint spark, may be more waterproof than the pizo spark.

http://www.zippo.com/Products/Zippo_Blu_Lighters.aspx
 
Did you clean out the flour stuff inside the innertube, or did you just cut a piece and slap it on?

The problem I've had is finding a small enough innertube to fit my zippo tightly.
 
Gosh guys it sounds like if you are stuck in the wilderness with a Zippo for more that 8-10 days you're screwed. Then again if you are stuck in the wilderness for that long, then the Zippo is the least of your problems.
 
cool test, thanks for posting. i carry a austrian army lighter and also keep a ranger band around it to kind of seal it. my dad and i both carry the austrian lighters, but he dosent use a ranger band. his runs out more frequently, even though it sees much less use.

by the way, where abouts in OK do you reside?
 
I've also had problems finding the right size inner tube to use. What size do you have?
Bob
 
Great test. I like zippos but don't carry one cause I've never smoked. Thus never picked up the habit of carrying one. I may now pick one up and make a seal for it.

Doc I wish more people would bring up the loss of fine motor control due to hypothermia. I've been there and it plays hell with your ability to do the simplest tasks. I try to inform others of this problem and they just look at me like "yeah but it wont happen to me".

10-11 week storage is a good long time. I ususaly rotate the items in my kit more frequently than that.
 
So has anybody tried this with just electrical tape in place of the ranger band? I'm wondering if you would get a better seal.
 
kgd said:
So has anybody tried this with just electrical tape in place of the ranger band? I'm wondering if you would get a better seal.
Click to expand...

Hey k, to answer your question, no. If the lighter fluid got anywhere near the tape, it would dissolve the sticky stuff and the tape would unwind. I'm assuming your talking about the vinyl type tape as compared to the old school fabric tape (like hockey tape).

Having said this, muffler tape would probably work.

Doc
 
the inner tube is a 26x1.95

and no i didnt de powder it i just cut a 1" wide section and slapped it on.
 
Let us not forget that just because you don't have fluid, doesn't mean you don't have fuel. As was said earlier, one of the things the Zippo has going for it is the ease of one handed use. Couple that with a little bit of lint from stocking caps, socks, petroleum impregnated cotton balls, etc. and you have yourself a fairly decent one handed ferro-rod.
There are plenty of ways to get a fire going with just a spark, just have to think outside the box sometimes and not worry so much about "intended use".
Paulhilborn's example is a good one, cognac. I'm sure we all carry something flammable that could be used instead of lighter fluid, like hand sanitizer perhaps. So, sure, the Zippo might run dry after 8-10 days, but that doesn't make it worthless past that point(they generally throw better sparks when out of fluid than a Bic in my experience as a smoker). So, just consider filling it before an outing as another bit of "preparation".


Gautier
 
Thanks for the size Langston. I have tried the 26x1.95 and it fits really loose on my Zippo. Wonder what I've done wrong?
Bob
 
Hey doc - yeah that is true, but my experience is also that the solvation power is more limited if it is mainly vapor rather than liquid interacting with the tape. Then again, you could also put electrical tape around the ranger band during storage just as an extra varpor barrier.

Of course the electrical tape does take away the benefit of being able to open and discharge the lighter under cold conditions where lack of coordination comes into play.
 
kgd said:
Hey doc - yeah that is true, but my experience is also that the solvation power is more limited if it is mainly vapor rather than liquid interacting with the tape. Then again, you could also put electrical tape around the ranger band during storage just as an extra varpor barrier.

Of course the electrical tape does take away the benefit of being able to open and discharge the lighter under cold conditions where lack of coordination comes into play.
Click to expand...

This is true and the ranger band makes it a little more difficult to open, but that's what your knife is for - removing the ranger band and/or tape, but in the end, I agree with Gautier - filling it up is just one more little step of preparation and then you don't need to tape it.

Doc

Also, wouldn't cold weather slow the rate of evaporation?
 
well....mmmmmm....let me try it....

three zippos filled and place in the freezer and the fridge....with one just there?

this thread need to be a sticky with just the results in it....
 
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