dissection a mini-bic

[sean sangree]

For the grand cause of advancing ultralight backpacking, I just wasted one of my mini bic lighters, using my trusty cordless drill, pliers, and hammer. Here’s why- I love these lighters, but I’m always worried I’ll lose something so tiny around camp. I wanted to see if I could find a way to thread my lanyard through it so it could be worn around my neck like my whistle, pocketknife, photons, etc. There are two small slits in the metal cap but they’re too close to the flame and would burn. So I thought I’d try to drill a hole in the main plastic body in hopes that it wasn’t pressurized and merely protected a smaller fuel cell inside it. Not so. It’s definitely pressurized =). So it looks like I’m back to my original idea of using a dab of epoxy on the base as a means of attachment. I’d always prefer to enhance functionality by shaving weight rather than adding it, but in this case it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. (Actually, that’s not quite true- you can enhance functionality and shave weight on these puppies by popping off the child safety mechanism (a small metal hoop)- makes it much easier to light with gloves or cold fingers). Anyway, just thought I’d throw that out there…

[Jason Klass]

What about just using duct tape to wrap the cord around the lighter? i might be kind of multi-purpose and possibly lighter than epoxy (though I haven’t weighed it)

[sean sangree]

well, I’ll already have duct tape as a guyline stop on one of my fixed lenght treking poles, but you’re right, duct tape could work. I could use several narrow strips of duct tape just long enough to go down one side of the lighter, around the bottom (leaving a small gap for the lanyard, and up the other side. Thanks for the insight Jason! How do the rest of you manage to keep track of your bics?

[Mike Clelland]

Get a really bright colored bic lighter!

The Orange and Yellow are pretty vibrant.

Also, add a lighter pocket to a key piece of clothing. Sew a tiny lighter sized patch of fabric on your jacket in an easy access place. (maybe this is more of a WINTER tip) and then make a good effort to ALWAYS keep it in this tiny pocket…

Peace,
M!

[Dale Wambaugh]

One goes in my cook kit boiler pot and another goes in my survial ditty bag that always goes with me if I leave camp, or is carried apart from my pack (binered to my belt) on a ford. I have a light fanny pack that may take it’s place.

My current supply of duct tape is a 6′ peice wrapped around the tube for my back-up pair of reading glasses — a pair of those tiny ultralight readers. You could just as well do the same with duct tape around your lighter with a stirrup on the bottom made from a peice of wire or a strip of plastic recycled from a container. That would put an emergency stash of duct tape on your neck lanyard– handy stuff in a pinch.

Someone else had suggested stowing a scalpel tip for survival use and here’s a good place– while you are wrapping the duct tape around the lighter, lay a scalpel blade (or small Xacto blade) parallel with the lighter body and keep wrapping. You could create a hanging loop by wrapping a fish hook under the tape too.

[john Tier]

Much easier to take a safety pin, place it on the side of the Bic so that the little circle end sticks out and then wrap a foot of 1 inch wide duct tape around it.. then place on any lanyard or dummy cord desired… not only will you always have the lighter but you will have a safety pin and the always useful duct tape… been using this technique for years.

Pan

[Dale Wambaugh]

Pan wrote: “Much easier to take a safety pin, place it on the side of the Bic”

Pure genius, Pan! The major components of modern civilization are duct tape, paper clips— and the safety pin. I guess you could leave the point and head of the safety pin free and pin it in place too. [Dale runs to the basement to get his wife’s sewing box and the safety pins….]

[Dale Wambaugh]

Pan showed genius in writing: “Much easier to take a safety pin, place it on the side of the Bic so that the little circle end sticks out and then wrap a foot of 1 inch wide duct tape around it.. then place on any lanyard or dummy cord desired… not only will you always have the lighter but you will have a safety pin and the always useful duct tape… been using this technique for years.”

I got around to doing this and used a Cricket lighter which is piezo electric rather than flint and wheel ignition like the Bic. The Cricket is longer and easier to use in my fat fingers and it can use the full width of 2″ duct tape with room to spare. I put a healthy wrapping of duct tape for my emergency supply with the coiled end of the safety pin sticking out beyond the end of the lighter a bit. Works great for mounting on a lanyard and the duct tape makes it even easier to hold. I removed the kid-proofing on the lighter by breaking the tab off too. The whole package is 0.9oz.

My spare duct tape supply was previously wrapped around the eyeglass tube with the built-in LED flashlight. I abaonded that tube and a hard case for my sunglasses, knocking 3oz. off my base weight. I elected to wrap the spare glasses in a sack or other clothing and conceded that the sunglasses will be worn most of the time anyway– they are on croakies nd dangling from my neck if not perched on my nose.

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