how to use an empty lighter

A

andrew7978

Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
664
Not sure if anyone has thought of this, but my bic lighter just ran out of fuel yet it continues to produce sparks. This could be used to light tinder. The sparks are probably not that hot and your hand would have to be real close to the tinder, but in a desperate situation it may be worth an attempt. It may only work on tinders such as cattail. Unfortunately, I will not have time to get out and try it for a few days. If anyone has tried this let us know your results.
 
Ive tried it with PJ cotton balls, and it worked great for me.

Nice post! I love gear that is multi use, thats why I only carry lighters with flints, not the electric clicker types.
 
Les stroud used the method in the altahama swamp episode of survivor man.. He used his empty lighter to make what is called a prison match.. he made a cone of tissue paper. and filled with cottont lint pickings from his sock than sparked the cotton and used it to get his fire going. here's a link of how its done http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=GlpwXTjmqBo
 
i have tried it before, but found it a bit difficult. i was using a plain cotton ball. it is always a good thing to know you can do if it comes down to it though.

one of the reasons i started EDCing a ferro rod...no worries about fuel leakage, running out, getting wet, getting too cold, etc. my zippo still comes out 99% of the time to start a fire or melt some paracord ends, but the ferro rod will work no matter what.
 
I make flint bombs-

I always pull out the flint and spring. Then wrap the flint on one end, grab the other end. And use another lighter to heat the flint red-hot.

Throw it against a hard surface and it explodes in a shower of sparks. I've had one's burn holes through 20+ pages of a magazine/newspaper.

Use caution though, and be responsible. Do not throw it at a human or another living thing.
 
thatmguy said:
I've got several expended mini-Bics.

I plan to hacksaw the bottom off, then stuff several Tinder-Quiks in, then tape the bottom back on.
Click to expand...

If you remove the wind guard (be sure to wire the spark wheel supports together first,) you can get very close to your tinder with the spark source. I removed the bottom of a regular sized clear disposable which gives me two sides for storage. On one side I have two fire straws; one filled with magnesium shavings and one filled with pj cotton balls. On the other side I stuffed in some jute twine and fatwood sticks. Then I sealed the base using candle wax.

Stitchawl
 
I did a bit of experimenting with empty Bics when I was a boyscout, long, long ago, but I found it to be more of a hassle than anything else. A ferro rod takes up the same amount of space, throws better sparks, and won't be confused with a lighter that actually works.
 
I know that we try to be practical & creative, but if you can carry something the size of an empty butane lighter, why not just carry a full one?
 
CWL said:
I know that we try to be practical & creative, but if you can carry something the size of an empty butane lighter, why not just carry a full one?
Click to expand...

A full one can empty on you without your noticing it. To trust one to be full in a survival situation can be a mistake. With an empty one you KNOW that it's empty, and are only relying upon the spark wheel to create your fire using other fuel sources (that can't leak,) perhaps stored in the base. This is NOT to say that you might not want to have a full one along too! :)

We strive for redundancy again. again. again. :D

Stitchawl
 
THe "empty lighter" situation is one we were supposed to teach back in the late 70's, but never did, since we dealt with youths who were not likely to have a lighter period, let alone one spent on lighting smokes. (oh but they had them, heh). Lighters without child safety were the norm, so no modifications were needed to just "use" the empty lighter as is.

The trick is to slowly grind some flint dust onto a light flammable material, such as cottonwood tufts, the inner fluff of a cat-tail, witches beard, deer hair, used TP, whatever might be available. Effectively, it is similar to a magesium stick, but instead of shaving off the magnesium, you just slowly grind the lighter wheel enough to chew up the flint (not fast enough to spark it) and make a small pile of flint dust on the cotton/fluff. Once you have a nice pile of flint dust, spark the lighter near it and the pile goes up. Usually, the sparking flint pile will light the fluff, and you go from there.
 
RescueRiley said:
Les stroud used the method in the altahama swamp episode of survivor man.. He used his empty lighter to make what is called a prison match.. he made a cone of tissue paper. and filled with cottont lint pickings from his sock than sparked the cotton and used it to get his fire going. here's a link of how its done http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=GlpwXTjmqBo
Click to expand...

This episode was just on the other day. He had one square of TP and a little fuzz from his cotton socks - a few sparks and he had essentially a fire straw.

TF
 
andrew7978 said:
Not sure if anyone has thought of this, but my bic lighter just ran out of fuel yet it continues to produce sparks. This could be used to light tinder. The sparks are probably not that hot and your hand would have to be real close to the tinder, but in a desperate situation it may be worth an attempt. It may only work on tinders such as cattail. Unfortunately, I will not have time to get out and try it for a few days. If anyone has tried this let us know your results.
Click to expand...

The "flint" in a lighter, as many here know, is ferrocerium. The sparks created are just as hot as those produced by scraping any other ferrocerium -- several times hotter than those produced by natural flint and steel. SO if you can get them on tinder that works with a ferrocerium rod, you should be in business.
 
Cotton fuzz, whatever, sitting right on the flint works well. After you strike the thing, just turn the lighter upside down to dump the ember into the nest of other tinder.

Commander, interesting. I'll have to try it.
 
Last edited:
Someone a while back posted that if you wrap TP around a striker (hacksaw blade for me) and then hit the ferro rod, the TP would take off.

I've tried it, and it really works well. You don't have to worry about knocking your tinder around, just slide the burning TP into the tinder off of your hacksaw blade.

With apologies to Cheryl Crow, it takes 2 squares to be really effective. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top