Favorite lighters?

Sesoku

Sesoku

Joined
Oct 19, 1998
Messages
498
I usually carry a Colibri Quantum. I don't smoke, I just think it is a cool lighter and I like to have the means to make a fire if need be.
 
I'll have to pass on this one. Lighters fail to often for me to carry one. They get cold soaked and run out of fuel. I depend on my metal match (sparker). I carry three. One small one in the small survival kit in my cargo pocket, one big one in my front left poctet, and one in my survival kit in my backpack. I am a strong believer that if you learn how to use a sparker you'll never need anything else. :>)

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?


 
I generally carry a magnesium starter when camping. But you can't go wrong with a good old Zippo. I carry one most of the time in the winter for when I need a quick light. I've had the same one for 15 years and it works everytime (if its not dry)

James

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Improvise, adapt, and overcome. Words to live by.

[This message has been edited by MtnMan (edited 29 November 1999).]
 
I always carry a Zippo, its a great lighter. I also have a small kit in my truck that contains lifeboat matches, and a magnesium fire starter. The kit is always on me when I'm in the woods. Although the Zippo has never let down, other fire starters are additional insurance.
 
I realize that lighters in general are not as reliable as other simpler methods of fire starting. When I go camping I take back up methods with me. I have a zippo, but I quit carrying it for a couple of reasons. First, after carrying it for a while it always seemed to dry up. Second, if I filled it up more to keep it from drying out, it would sometimes leak and give me a rash from the lighter fluid. After a few times of that happening I got fed up with it and just started carrying a disposable. One of the reasons I got the Colibri was that I liked the waterproof case, but also that it is a lot cleaner, doesn't leak, and doesn't dry out. It also will automatically relight if it is blown out. The down side to this lighter is that you have to hold the button down to keep the flame going, and the lid can get in the way sometimes. It is a flameless lighter, so it only has a very small flame above the mechanism. This can make it a little more difficult to light things, but it also is to conserve butane so a tank lasts a loooonnnnng time.

I got this lighter around June or July of last summer and have been using it for stuff and just to play with since then. I think that there are some things that could be improved on it, but overall I like it.

Any input or criticism is welcome.
 
I have always used matches in a waterprooof container since lighters have failed me in the past. Also you can waterproof matches by dipping in melted wax or varnish.
 
I take a couple of cheap disposable butane lighters. Any or every tool you pack could become lost, broken or unavailable. I think it is a good idea (and fun) to practice primitive methods occasionally, but I rarely use them.

(Short chain hydrocarbon identified correctly in edit.)

[This message has been edited by Howard Wallace (edited 03 December 1999).]
 
Can you still get "strike anywhere" matches? All I see in the stores nowadays is strike on the box.



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Hoodoo

When you arrive at the fork in the road, take it.
Yogi Berra
 
I think strike-anywhere matches have disappeared in California. I haven't seen 'em for 10 years, probably.

That Windmill lighter looks pretty cool, have you tried it out, Spidey?

My backup firemaker is a Gerber Strikeforce, and a small magnesium/flint thingie as backup-backup. The Strikeforce is really too big, though.
 
I have always carried Lifeboat matches (only to use as backups cuz they're expensive!) I bought a cheap torch style lighter at the swap meet that will quickly light almost anything. But you have to hold the button down the whole time. I am look ing for a Zippo like a friend used to carry, all flat black and pretty indestructable.
 
Joe --

I bought the Windmill to take on my last backpacking trip. However, my son always beat me to lighting anything with his flint stick! It throws off a real hot, but somewhat small flame. I bought the clear one you see at the site. The new Delta looks interesting -- I`m sure I would have bought it instead if it were available when I bought. I wish I could give more of a report, but it will have to wait until the next trip.

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At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives… (Joshua 5:2)
 
This isn't nearly as convenient as a lighter but would make a good back up. I saw it in a book. They melted parafin (wax) over a bunch of matches. Each match was seperate so that you could pick them out with a knife tip one at a time.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
I pack a good old Zippo with extra flints in the packing and a small can of lighter fluid. The disposables make me nervous; I've read about too many people being turned into butane torches when a spark ignited a leaky butane lighter. I also pack some wooden matches in a film container, sealed with tape. Will have to look into those other suggestions though. Used to have one of the old brass, chrome-plated Marble's match containers that aren't made any more. Lost it when I was in Scouts.
 
I try and always mix my fire starters.

Use the cheap disposible lighters (the child proof versions are a pain), strike anywhere matches coated with fingernail polish to waterproof, and a flint.

Joe, I did get some strke anywhere wooden matches a few weeks ago at OSH Hardware in the BBQ department here in N. Calif. It seems like the flamable head is smaller than years gone by though.

Don't forget a fire starter too, like trioxiline sticks, gerber fire starters, or cotton balls mixed with vasoline stored in 35 mm film cans. I recently read that plain old patches of rubber inner tube (i.e. 2" x 2") work great!

Flares in the vehicle are excellent.
 
Strike-anywhere matches are tough to find.., but, apparently, they still make'em.

I see them at several booths in the gunshows and Y2K shows here in Ga. Almost always for $2 a box
smile.gif
Jeez..., I've got two 5 gallon buckets *full* of full-sized, and smaller sized strike anywheres..., each package sealed in ziplog bags..., and I bought them for about a dollar a package (a package was three boxes.) I guess I ought'a pop one of the buckets and sell a few!

Anyway.., Galyans sporting good store also sells strike-anywhere matches for $1 a box.
 
Do Strike-Anywhere matches ever "expire"?

Why are they getting hard to find?
 
Always carry at least 3 ways of starting a fire when going into the 'woods.' I carry a Zippo every day, and have never had a problem with it. Camping, I also carry a butane disposable, a small vitamin bottle with wooden matches and the striker piece of the box in it, and a Gerber Fire Starter. I have at one time or another used all of these to start a fire, so all have been proven to work, for me.
I once read of a survival school where each student was given one-half of a match to get a fire started (no, not the lower half
wink.gif
, it was split vertically). It was consistently possible to start the fire with the half match, if you got your tinder arranged right before you started.

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It's just a ****ing staple!
Maybe we should make knife blades out of staples!
Outlaw_Dogboy, Pax River NAS, Republik of Marilundt


 
The Windmills are good design and great construction. The biggest design flaw is the small capacity. In order to get a useful flame for lighting anything but a cigarette you need to turn the setting above 3/4 open. I have one of the glow in the dark ones. My wife borrowed it for a fishing trip and left it in her fishing vest. The piezo system no longer works
frown.gif
It got pounded by the Alaskan surf. It is waterproof enough for a downpour but not a dunking in the water.

I could send my Windmill in for repair but I think I'll try the Quantum Windproof Lighter next. I've only seen it in a Cabelas catalog so far. Must be new.

Growing up in a rainforest I've learned to rely on more than one system. So I have matches and a lighter. If it is family camping a bbq lighter is brought. Family camping we tend to bring everything that will fit in the vehicle. Woodchips mixed with melted parafin and poured into the cardboard egg cartons make a nice and cheap tinder source. Sometimes I put 3-4 wicks in each unit. I'll have to add a Blast Match type system to my kit.

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"A knifeless man is a lifeless man"
-Nordic proverb
 
David,

I hadn't said anything yet because I do not have the box handy to reference the exact model...and as I type this could not find the lighter either. I guess I stopped worrying about it when it stopped working. Since you seemed to be ready to purchase, I thought I would comment.

It looks like the model on the front right in the The Electro-Flame® Collection at this link
http://www.colibri.com/Colibri/Colibri_2/Quantum/quantum.html

I got it for the woods and general purpose. So far it has only see limited use for gentlemanly uses such as lighting a very few candles and searing a few rope ends. It has already died.

Hopefully, I'll find everything and they will cover it under warranty or I'll figure out what is wrong, but be forewarned.

I did look at www.equipped.com which had some info, hopefully it is more complete now.
 
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