Bic Lighters

Well then with sticking to the topic my vote goes to a Bic:thumbup: I have found Bic lighters in my gear that were 6 to 7 years old and they still lit up fine, never had issues with them drying up. But I do live in Texas at an altitude of 300ft where the air pressure is great enough to be easy on pressurized containers. I'm sure that for somebody living at 10,000ft in Colorado would have more issues because there is more of a pressure difference between the lighter and the ambient atmosphere. On the other hand I can't keep fluid in my Zippo for more than a week or so.
I still never go camping without plenty of strike anywhere matches in a waterproof container. The wooden matches are their own kindling, and I have built hundreds more fires with matches than lighters and that is what I'm experienced with.
 
rusty edge, I wish that I had your capabilities with rubbing sticks together to make fire. I really do. That's why I carry matches, magnesium bars, ferro-whatever rods, Zippo lighters (with extra flints and extra lighter fluid), Bic lighters, and a SAK for its magnifying glass. I even have several leather thongs around that I imagine would work well for stringing a "firebow."

I believe that having as many options as possible is the best way to do things, if even that's possible. There are no guarantees that you aren't going to slip down a set of stairs and break everything in your BOB or survival tin (No, I am in no way suggesting or implying that one should take a tumble down a flight of stairs, in order to see how many things get broken in your BOB or survival tin: Don't Try This At Home!), so, one might, indeed, end up with only the stuffing between their ears to allow them to survive.

Thank you for adding your thoughts to this thread. That's why I'm here, to learn all that I can, or, discover where/which areas I can further increase what's stuffed between my ears. ;)

GeoThorn
 
For daily use I carry a Zippo. If I am packing a PSK/BOB, I usually get a BIC lighter for long term storage.

I had a couple of cheap liquor store lighters that kept getting lost in my car. I know I left it in the car in the morning before work and could not find it in the evening. One day while vacuuming the interior, I found plastic shards in a rainbow of colors in various places of the car. Found a couple of the tops of the lighters in some weird places. Mental note- Dont leave lighter in hot car...
 
This reminds me of a fishing trip a year or two ago. The tide was down so we almost had to literally carry our aluminium dinghy over obstacles almost a kilometer before we reached the pool we were planning to fish from. I was of course totally wet and so was everything in the boat.
After all that hard work, all I wanted, was just to sit and have a smoke before we got down to the fishing. I took out my 'waterproof' windmill and it wouln't light. Shook it, blew on it, did everything I could think , but it still wouln't light. AHA! I still had my mini bic in my tin. Took it out, and you guessed it, it didn't work. It still had plenty of gas in it, was dry but just wouln't light!!! My friend was laughing at me because normally I was the overly prepared one, and here i was with Two useless lighters. The punchline was when he took out his cheap no brand lighter, it didn't work either! What was the odds of that? We must have been in the Bermuda Triangle of lighters!
Before anyone asks, They worked just fine before that morning, i checked. The stranger thing was, they didn't work even after we dryed them out. I had to throw everything away, even the wind mill.
Sorry for the long winded story.
 
I'm not a smoker, and I have yet to find a lighter I can rely on all the time. Zippo's my favorite, but you need to keep it filled and it's not waterproof. Disposable butane lighters have less hassle but they're pretty flimsy and you can't refill them. I guess I like older Ronson wick lighters, but those things are heavy and complicated. Also had a Colibri refillable butane. Worked well, but I found out that the brass butane "bladder" could pull off the lighter and spy me with fuel! No fun in that!
 
I thought I'd add something to this thread.
Yesterday, I found myself ten blocks from my car...after leaving both of my lighters in the car....

"Time to start looking for a lighter," was the thought that crossed my mind.

Thankfully, for survival, or, unfortunately, for our environment, "disposable" butane lighters are ubiquitous because, 'disposable,' to some people, means that it's acceptable to toss a lighter out of their car window. I wanted a cigarette and I didn't feel like walking into one of those corner stores, just to buy a BIC for $2. So, I decided to just start scanning the curb along the downtown street I was walking.

Within two blocks, looking closely, I found an adjustable butane lighter with its metal hood/wind-shield still in-place, and the adjuster thrown to the right, or, the highest flame setting. The lighter was pink, not my favorite color, but, heck, I was "rescuing" myself from paying $2 for a BIC when I have five at home, already paid for!

The lighter was scuffed up, like some tires had run over it, scratching it against the pavement. So, I tried lighting it. Nothing. Well, the sparkwheel rasped across on the flint, a spark shot the gap over the gas valve, but, no flame. The flame adjuster was as far over to the right as it could go, but it was limited in its swing by the sides of the steel wind/heat shield.

So, I popped the heat/wind-shield off. The flame adjuster could swing about another mm over to the right, but there's a fairly soft plastic guard stopping further rightward movement. I ran the sparkwheel again, and still no flame. That's when my Victorinox Classic was brought out, and I trimmed/cut off the plastic guard that stops the flame adjuster from moving more to the right. I then shoved the flame adjuster over to the upright plastic piece that holds the sparkwheel over the flint, and tried another flick....

A three- or four-inch flame lit up out of that son-of-a-gun! ;)

Well, that little pink lighter took care of the rest of my cigarette lighting needs at least until I could hustle myself back to my car, and retrieve my usual EDC lighters! If a lighter works and can grant me fire, perhaps saving me from spending $2 on an BIC, or, going without fire, the color doesn't bother me that much.

BTW, smoking cigarettes is a terrible, nasty, "habit"/addiction that is too deadly to too many. Please, if you've just started smoking, stop now before you get too hooked on it. Quitting anything that's bad for you is easier the sooner you start doing it.

GeoThorn
 
The problem with Bic lighters is that they are just lighters. I purchased a zippo that has a mirror finish. this way you can use it as a mirror, signal mirror, hand warmer, light source and a good windproof lighter. You can also use it as a lantern without it burning your fingers. Try that with a Bic. Try lighting a bic when you can't feel your fingers. As far as the lighter fluid running out on you, I get apx 8 days of use out of mine before it needs refilling. Not constant use, but in a survival situation you probably wouldn't be using it for much more than lighting fires anyways. If you run out of fluid, just turn your zippo upside down for a bit you can get another 40-50 lights before it is totally out. In my outdoor survival kit I also carry a small squeeze bottle of lighter fluid in case you are stuck for more than a week. Lighter fluid can definately help out in a pinch with other applications.

Rich
 
I don't believe that you can buy them anymore. Well, at least not in SC, I've looked in every store that I come across and can no longer find them.
 
Same here, I purchased a couple boxes about 10 years ago and they are not holding up well, guess i'll have to use the old Blue tip's. Does anybody know how to make a strike anywhere match?
 
Bic lighters are the best. I use a mini in my survival kit and a normal size one in my EDC and PSK. If you dropped am they are easy to find back, rain/water proof, don’t drop fuel, cheap, small and bullet-proof reliable. The yellow one is the best colour because it a bit transparent if you hold it in a bright light.

TIP: Take the inner of a bicycle tube. Make a hole in it, put a thin rope through the hole and u have a lanyard that also functions as fire maker.
 
Strike anywhere matches are still available, they're just really hard to find. I found my current supply at a Walgreens, behind the counter. I guess I sounded a little too excited when I saw them because the cashier gave me a weird look while she finished my transaction. Oh well. :D

Here's a link to Diamond Brand's website.

http://www.diamondbrands.com/pages/wooden/29.php

As far as I know they make all of the SAMs made in the USA. Mine are marked Fire Chief, but made by Diamond.

You may want to try these people-
http://www.emergencyresources.com/er_p11.html
I don't know anything about them, but they have a good selection.

My experience is that SAMs are easier to find in the country than the city. Feed or farm supply stores and the like seem to carry them more than most stores. I was surprised that Walgreens had them. I don't think they have had them since, at least not in the same place.
 
Vikaden said:
All you have to do is take a pair of needle nose plyers or a similar tool and pull the child guard up until it breaks away, I do this to all my Bics and have not had to flick one more than twice to get a flame.
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One of the many things I learned by taking up marijuana. Useful trick, I do it to all my bics.

Bics for me are reliable and produce a good flame. When smoking with friends, everyone always prefers someone to have a bic on them rather than a generic lighter with a piss-quality flame.
 
hah! And I though all smokers were con-active...Thats a great tip and I'll try it - notch up one for the stoners! Hmmm, maybe I should take up marijuana...Something just occcured tot me- hey has anyone here read carlos castaneda? there are some awesome tales along the lines of meeting an authentic american indian, travelling to a remote area and learning respect for the great earth mother whilst ingesting so much peyote that you throw up whilst having visions of the devil coming to eat you. Sounds like fun huh?
W
 
Heh, that's where one of my main itnerests in drugs has been. I grew up rather straight edge, but around my 15th or 16th year I started to research marijuana for a school report on whether it should be illegal or not. I ended up thinking, despite my personal position, that it should be legal from what I researched. Found out Native American cultures had used it and drugs like the one you mentioned, Peyote, for a variety of rituals.

Even as a user today, I wish people could adopt a system more like theirs. They seemed to (from what I read) treat the substances with more respect and seriousness than today's youth, who are just looking to "get fucked up."
 
Resurrecting this thread for a moment.

Because the butane release button on a BIC is pretty easily depressed, a BIC is constantly in danger of having a butane leak. I usually carry my BIC in a shirt pocket, rather than in a pants pocket, because, at least for me, there are fewer things to press the butane button.

Now I've found another, a better way, to carry a BIC. I've discovered that a Schrade LB-5 "Smokey" belt sheath nearly perfectly fits a BIC Maxi-sized lighter. Since my Schrade "Smokey" knife is small enough to legally carry in my pocket, I haven't used the sheath too much, but, I didn't throw it away. After all, I bought the sheath as well as the knife.

A BIC fits fairly tightly into a Schrade LB-5 sheath, but I imagine that'll change over time. The flap on the sheath protects the BIC butane release button from being inadvertently pressed, thereby potentially extending a BIC lighter's lifespan, and it saves me from carrying a BIC in a pocket.

If you have any belt sheaths that you aren't using for carrying a knife, you could convert its use to that of a lighter carrier/protector.

GeoThorn
 
Temper said:
I used to think that the whiz bang 'Electro-Turbo-Jet-Thruster' models were the cats meow, until I bought one and threw it in the trash less than a week later ($30.00 Windmill)
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Temper:
I was thinking of getting one. Can you elaborate on what was wrong with it?
Thanks
 
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