Lighters
Archived lighter reviews and discussions.
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- DjEEP Lighters
- Posted by Dano on Tuesday, 02-Oct-2007
I was reading through here and thought I would mention a disposable lighter that I've found to be, well, the most durable reliable hassle free lighter I've ever come across. Maybe ya'll already know about them, they are called ' DjEEP'. They cost like $1.99, they last for several months, they NEVER fall apart, never a problem at all. I've used them for a couple of years and I won't buy another disposable lighter unless it's DjEEP.
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If you've seen these, you should try them, they're excellent.
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- JetLite Lighter
- Posted by Kerry on Tuesday, 04-Sep-2007
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I know most here like one sort or the other of disposable lighter, for one reason or another, but as some have noted, I hate the inevitable callous or "bump" which develops on the thumb by using flint based ignition systems.
Recently, I was at a local, well, nearly local Walmart and found a lighter for under $3 from Ronson. It is called the 'JetLite'. For the price it was definitely worth a try. Will let you know if it holds up.
Initial impressions; impervious to wind, hot blue flame similar to a torch, never missed a light until I refilled it. Then it missed a few lights, but never more than 2 flicks. Piezo crystal ignition, tight production quality. Much better than many I have seen for far higher price. A plus is that it does not use a metal to change the color of the flame. The jet flame is like a small torch, actually could be used as such, I guess.
Time will tell.
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- Re: Ronson JetLite Lighter (update)
- Posted by Kerry on Thursday, 27-Sep-2007
It's only been a little over three weeks since I purchased two JetLites from Walmart, so this is really a little early for a review update.
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One of them still works perfectly. Never has missed a light and has been refilled several times. The other one started having problems lighting consistently immediately after the first refill. I am not sure that refilling had anything to do with it though.
I took the problem lighter apart to see if I could figure out why it wasn't working as well as the other. The only thing I could surmise was that it was not consistently opening the gas valve soon enough to have gas available to the spark.
In any case, I still trust it enough to carry it as my only lighter when I leave home as it usually takes less than three clicks to light.
They work exceptionally well in high wind. I was in a gust of about 20 to 30 mph and lit a smoke as easily as snapping my fingers.
Not every Walmart carries them as I found out. The store I bought them from is about 20 miles away and my local Walmart didn't have them.
I probably won't post another update until one of them fails completely.
- Re: JetLite Lighter
- Posted by Tom S on Tuesday, 02-Oct-2007
Here in the U.K. I have found the same problem with cheap refillable butane lighters. After the first refill, it takes a few goes to get the lighter working again, and even after that it is never the same again with usually a small flame. You get what you pay for I suppose!
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- Re: JetLite Lighter
- Posted by Hua Kul on Tuesday, 02-Oct-2007
Try purging it before refilling. Press in the refill valve until the lighter seems completely empty. Make sure you're not smoking when you do this. Shake (the lighter, that is) and repeat a couple of times, then refill and wait a few minutes before using it. Sometimes they work better after that.
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--Hua Kul
- Re: JetLite Lighter
- Posted by SirVette on Thursday, 25-Oct-2007
I have been using quartz lighters like the Colibri Berkley after losing a gold Dunhill at the lake. I recently purchased the JetLite for outside when windy & backup for trips, etc. It works fine.
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Ronson JetLite [link]
Got it at CVS who is evidently carrying all 4 models.
As for disposables, Scripto had a quartz model that worked fine & much better than a flint type.
- lighting up
- Posted by lukers on Saturday, 02-Jun-2007
OK I usually dont make comments on these types of forums, but I feel the need to in this case because Ive recently been smoking D&R tobacco and realize how good it is and that Mark Ryan is really in this business to make a positive difference, at least in my opinion. I also like this forum but have been only reading it so far. So here is my way of giving back: Ive recently started lighting my cigarettes using alternative methods other than a butane lighter. I dont recall how I started doing this, I probably lost a lighter and used some stick matches or something, and noticed how pleasant the taste was compared to the lighter. I started doing some experimentation and came up with some methods that greatly improved the taste, so much so, that it has totally changed the way I feel about smoking. This will probably sound a little anal retentive to some of you, but I dare anyone to try my methods for a week or so and tell me they dont notice a difference. What I do now is use an olive oil candle I made myself. Its a drinking glass with a candle wick held in place by a paper clip. I fill it with about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can buy pretty much whatever type, but stay away from other oils because they are smokier) and then light the wick, there will be little to no smell and the flame, if the wick is positioned correctly, will burn nicely. If you let it burn all day the 2-3 tablespoons should last. The smaller the diameter of the glass, the better in my opinion. Word of caution: Clean the glass and change the olive oil AT LEAST every other day, and refrigerate overnight. If not, the oil will go bad and you dont want that! (You can tell, when the candle starts smelling like burnt oil and the cigs will have an off taste) I then make up some matchsticks out of some kindling wood using a knife. Hardwood is best,Ive been using maple. Then light the sticks off of the candle flame, and thusly light the cigarette. This sounds involved, but its not that bad once you get used to doing things this way. The payoff is that your cigarettes dont stink. Theres hardly any smell at all except for a slight floral smell from the tobacco. I am using Windsail platinum. The room doesnt stink afterward and the cigs taste really good! An alternative to this is to buy a good beeswax candle and use that to light 'em. Theyre expensive and you'll notice a bit of a honey flavor, but its still good. Regular candles are made from petroleum products I think, so stay away. If I'm out at the bar I'll use small stick matches (not book) let the flame burn past the head, then light it. This isnt as good, but is still better than the lighter. The bottom line is this: the cleaner the flame the better. PURO- those of you who smoke cigars know what I'm talking about. This attitude should go doubly for those of us smoking cigs. So throw out the butane,propane, natural gas and any other petroleum product and give this a try. Smoke one in a closed room using these methods, then go back out take a breather for a minute or two, go back in take a whiff, then smoke one using a lighter, go back out then back in and see if you notice a difference. I hope someone out there tries this and notices the same thing I did. Impovements to these methods or comments are very welcome.
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- Re: lighting up
- Posted by cheap & chippy chopper on Saturday, 02-Jun-2007
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wild! I will not be surprised to discover that your thesis is proven. Let's see if the experimental scientists around here get moving on this.
It probably is exactly as you say, due to petroleum residue working its oily way along the stick as it's smoked, whereas the olive oil with a smoke point of ~ 325F will just burn off and leave the tobacco to do its thing thereafter.
fascinating, very cool, thanks!!
- Re: lighting up
- Posted by mike c on Sunday, 03-Jun-2007
I've noticed that since I was a little kid
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that's why I was especially surprised seeing threads on here about people's Zippos (to me, those always equaled headache)....there is NO DOUBT about even simple matches making a taste difference ....
got a nice pile of matchsticks right here, for when the lighter runs out....guess I'll use lots more now???
- Lighters
- Posted by Kerry on Tuesday, 09-Jan-2007
I wasn't sure where I should post this, so here it is...
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Since all of us "light up" I would like to hear comment about lighters.
I am especially interested in refillables, but comments on disposables would also be welcome.
My experience is that many of the cheaper "off-brand" disposable lighters run out of "flint" before they run out of butane or in many cases with the really cheap ones, the lever that activates the butane actually breaks long before the flint or butane is gone.
With the refillables, the piezo crystal or the mechanism which makes it work wears out much sooner than the rest of the lighter and there is usually no way to replace parts. I don't have any experience with battery powered lighters as I already hate to replace batteries in everything else that requires them.
Comments?
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Kerry on Tuesday, 09-Jan-2007
I forgot to add that I also have a "solar" lighter that I bought back in the mid 1970's. It is essentially a parabolic mirror stamped out of chromed steel with a stem that holds a cigarette at the focal point. Doesn't work as well today as I think the parabola has been bent and the mirror finish has been scratched. It still starts a conversation every time I use it.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by platoslostdialogue on Tuesday, 16-Jan-2007
You got a picture of this thing, Kerry?
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- Solar lighter Re: Lighters
- Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
Sorry, but I don't have a digital camera.
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Picture an elongated (eliptical or oval) satellite dish about 5 or 6 inches long by about 3 or 4 inches wide with a collapsable "fork" in the middle which holds the cigarette. It is either chromed or highly polished steel. I think I bought it at Radio Shack in the '70's for between $1 to $2.
Fits easily into a shirt pocket, but only works in full sun.
- Re: Solar lighter Re: Lighters
- Posted by mike c on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
sounds like the "coolest" novelty lighter I've ever heard of...I wish I had one. I'd really like to see it, especially at the point of ignition.
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- Re: Solar lighter Re: Lighters
- Posted by Dano on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
Yo Kerry!
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I know exactly what you are talking about ie: solar lighter.
Radio Shack used to sell them in the early 70's. I purchased a bunch of them and handed them out as stocking stuffers at Christmas.
As I recall, the appeal was they could light a cig in the wind with no problem. The looked just as you described, kinda like a parabolic radar dish with a big fork in the middle to hold the cig.
Most cool :)
Wish I would have kept one.
DaNo
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Dave Grant on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
There's one like it here:
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I remember the Radio Shack one, but I don't think it was priced at $9.95 :-)
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Dano on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
I don't remember the price but it was dirt cheap, well under $5. It was sort of a gag thing. I mean it worked, but not at night :)
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This was when we first started landing on the Moon and all this space age stuff got play. It was cool but ultimately you wanted a 50 cent bic lighter to fire up :)
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by scott johnson on Tuesday, 09-Jan-2007
I use a plain old bic, or a cricket. i sometimes buy tobacco at Smoker Friendly stores and their store brand tobacco comes with a free cheapy lighter. I keep those in the toolbox, glove compartment, etc. for emergencies.
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but, i like the dependable standard size bic lighter. i like the mini-bics, but keep losing them.
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Warren on Tuesday, 09-Jan-2007
I use cheap disposables, such as Cricket or any other push-button kind, which I buy a bagfull at a time. It provides the lightest and the smallest solution. I avoid wheel-based lighting mechanisms since after few years of use a bump grew on my right thumb at the point which pressed against the wheel (which luckily went away after switching to push-button lighters).
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The only mod I do with each lighter is to snap off the child-proofing (by twisting a screwdriver behind the plastic bar, then clip it with pliers). Once you go through it few times, the mod takes only few seconds. I also used to apply Goo Gone to remove the idiotic warning stickers, now I just put up with them (@#&% the antismoking bastards for both annoyances).
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Turtle on Wednesday, 10-Jan-2007
I got to have my zippo. I know its probably just in my head but it just tastes better, and besides it looks cooler, lol. I keep a bic for backup and a box of cheap ones for extra backup.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Jerzy_Joe on Thursday, 11-Jan-2007
I agree... Has to be a Zippo!!!
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by lipps1948 on Tuesday, 16-Jan-2007
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Anybody tried these? I love mine.
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Kerry on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
Here's my take on lighters...
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I hate the taste of naptha or whatever is in lighter fluid, so out goes the classic Zippo. The flint rollers cause a my thumb to hurt and makes a callous. The piezo crystal mechanism in "cheap" plastic disposables usually fails or the mechanism which works it fails.
Cheap disposables either lose flint before empty or the lever to let the butane out breaks and even the famed Bic doesn't easily allow you to know how much butane is left, so it always fails when you don't have a backup.
My current lighter is similar to the one lipps1948 posted above, but it is not an insert, per se. I bought it for $3.99 at the local tobacco shop. Looks like a Zippo from the outside, but on the inside is a butane "jet" or "torch" lighter. A can of butane (5.4 oz) will last over a year and as far as it not holding enough, it will last several days to a couple of weeks without refilling. No problem though, I simply shoot it with butane every couple or three days. Always works in the wind and the piezo spark unit seems to be better than most.
In any case, if it only lasts a year or two, $3.99 buys another one for the next at least one to 2 years.
I also have the refillable grill lighters, but I have a grill and use them for that. They don't work well in the wind anyway.
- Re: Lighters
- Posted by scott johnson on Thursday, 11-Jan-2007
I too have the tell-tale "bump" from using a wheel lighter. I also forgot to mention I keep one of those long "grill lighters" with the pull trigger by the back door. a quick squeeze and light as I head out in the yard. hangs from a piece of twine, but I know where it is when the power goes out.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by Keith on Wednesday, 10-Jan-2007
I just use a standard Bic. The minis are too small and the cheap lighters just aren't any good IMO.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by r.morris on Wednesday, 10-Jan-2007
Zippo=it works or they fix it free. I have sent them in after running my truck over them=brand new zippo. As zippo owns case knives their policy is the same. Most of my knives are case. In flashlights=maglights=saa even if you did not buy the light,streamlight original owner only.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by mike c on Wednesday, 10-Jan-2007
bic bic bic bic bic bic ,cheapies fall apart. spring apart. go up too high or, too low, depending on their ,mood, refillables get annoyning, heavier and more valuable lighters weigh me down, so it's bic bic bic bic, bic bic bic (the old shchol bic with the flame adjuster would be a nice throuhback. but I believe I've grown accutom
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by platoslostdialogue on Thursday, 11-Jan-2007
I gotta say, bics are the best disposable lighter on the market, and the only ones that dont frustrate me every time I try to light a stoge.
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- Re: Lighters
- Posted by NJDrew on Thursday, 11-Jan-2007
Zippo is my jam. Its time proven and looks nice. I have tried the butane, battery jet lighters and they are nice on a windy day, but the fuel runs out to fast. The bics are good for a backup, but don’t do well in bad weather. The Zippo works well, can be replaced for free and is mildly windproof.
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- Re: Zippo Lighters
- Posted by Tim Aydt on Wednesday, 17-Jan-2007
Zippo. Most reliable to me. I have four or five that need to be sent in for repair. Here's a few secrets for those that carry Zippos.
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If you have a spouse or friend that uses disposable lighters, you can recover the flint from empty lighters to use in your Zippo. I pick empty lighters out of ashtrays and take the flint whenever I find them.
Carry extra flint with you at all times. Store them under the felt in the bottom of your zippo.
A freshly filled Zippo is WATERPROOF. Yes, you can submerse a freshly filled Zippo in water for an extended period and it will still light. Although, a Zippo that is not freshly filled will soak water into the cotton and won't work for several months, and the water will dissolve your flints stored in the bottom.
If you've never carried a Zippo and decide to start, make sure that if you overfill your Zippo, you let it set for some time before carrying it in your pocket. Lighter fluid will give you an irritating chemical burn that lasts for several hours. I fill mine before bed and let it sit overnight.
- Re: Zippo Lighters
- Posted by David Brown on Friday, 28-Sep-2007
I gots to have my zippo too. I find I get more tenderness and pain in my thumb from a bic or disposable then I do from the zippo.
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And Tim has it dead on with the hints follow those and you may have a 22 year old zippo like i do that still fires up every time.
