Best butane lighter?

[Dale Wambaugh]

I was doing a serach on butane lighters and found items from 99 cents to $110. I’ve been using a Cricket piezo electric, which I like because it is long and thin, making it easy to hold and long enough to store duct tape on too. What is your favorite lighter?

[Summit CO]

how come nobody makes as isobutane lighter? everything is n-butane…

[Brian James]

To fill my lighters with isobutane, I use the Brunton Fuel Tool. Attached to a Bruntane or Coleman (my fav: 30% propane) canister, you can fill any butane-carrying device including lighters.

I carry refillable cheesy Ronson brand lighters that are piezo instead of flint-sparked. Not sure if they’re good, bad, or ugly but they have never not fired and the lack of a flint wheel makes it that much easier to light a stove or fire with frozen fingers.

Brian

[Dale Wambaugh]

I Saw that Brunton tool while surfing. It struck me as another way to use partially filled fuel cans. The one I saw was $14, which I thought was a little steep.

[Al Clemens]

I use mini bic lighters. One in the pocket and a backup in the cook kit inside a tiny ziplock. Small, light and reliable. They’re about 50 cents each when bought in a 4 pack. If it’s cold out their small mass warms up qickly in your hand.

[Christopher Plesko]

Where do you guys buy your mini-bics? I looked at Home Depot and the grocery stores but no luck in finding them. Just the 3 pack of full size.

[Michael Freyman]

just keep hunting for them … they are around

at the local grocery store where I shop, they have 12 checkout lines but only 2 of them have the mini bic lighters

[Dale Wambaugh]

The discount drug stores like Walgreens, Rite Aid, Longs (pick one for your region) usually have them.

Here’s a question: which lighter type is more reliable/weather proof– piezoelectric or flint?

[Christopher Plesko]

Haha yea I already looked up and down all the checkout lines. I’ll try walgreen’s next. They’re going to look at me funny when I stock up for a couple first aid/emergency kits.

Chris

[EndoftheTrail]

The local Wal-Mart here carries those tiny BIC lighters.

[Tom Gibson]

I think that the piezoelectric is more reliable than flint, especially if the lighter gets wet. Sometimes all it takes is one strike on a wet flint to kill a lighter for good, even after it dries out. Other times it’s nearly impossible to dry one out even if the flint is still good.

In direct contradiction of my opinion of reliability, I prefer a Bic lighter. The mini version is OK, but I prefer the full size. The difference in bulk/weight is minor and the small version is not good for a sustained burn – it gets hot too fast.

[John S.]

I like cricket lighters better than bics. I got a mini bic wet and it froze up on me at trips end. A cricket that got wet was working at two strikes after drying it off.

[David Lewis]

I use a Ronson… piezo-electric… and with a flame adjuster so it can throw a huge flame. I’ve had so many problems where I live (east coast… often wet and breezy) getting Esbit tabs going with a mini-bic… gave up on it. A few extra grams is worth if it means the different between eating in 10 mins. or fussing with my Esbit tab for half an hour trying to get it lit… burning my fingers on the mini-bic…etc. :) The last time I went with a mini-bic… I had to use some tinder to get my Esbit going.

[Vick Hines]

Lighting Esbit: a dollop of waterless hand cleaner usually does the trick. Then you can use almost anything to light it off. Flint and steel, even.

[David Lewis]

Thanks for the tip Vick. You mean that sanitizer stuff? Does it have alcohol in it or something? Anyway… good tip. Maybe that will let me go back to my mini-bic so I can save 3 grams! Woo Hoo!!! :) Seriously though… great tip. I’ll have to try it. I don’t usually carry that stuff… usually just use broner’s… but I’ll try that.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Yeah, that hand sanitzer is loaded with alcohol. NEVER use the stuff (for hand cleaning) near a flame. I’ve used it to start a fire just to see if it would work. It does, and I could see where it would get an Esbit tab going nicely.

I have better luck lighting Esbit tabs by getting the flame under– I tip the tablet up on the edge of the pan in the beercan stove or the wing stove and light the bottom edge. I have just picked up a tab to light it, but you want to be able to set it down quickly and accurately.

[Summit CO]

I’ve been warned that Piezo elements are highly unreliable at high altitude (10K+) IF the conditions are very humid.

This does make some sense. I’ve never tested it b/c I don’t have anything with piezo elements.

[Vick Hines]

never had a problem with Piezo at altitude – as long as the butane can vaporize. That’s the real problem. Keep the lighter in your shorts or something.

[Andrew Hedges]

I had a refillable butane “torch-style” lighter that ignited electrically by means of a fine wire that crossed the place where the butane exits. The lighter appeared to be high quality and was aimed at outdoorspeople (was windproof, etc.), but when I was using it to melt the end of some parachute cord I had cut, a piece of the nylon touched the wire element and the lighter never worked again.

Since that time, I’ve just carried a few disposable lighters.

[Mike Storesund]

Okay, I have read some opinions on lighters. I have used the Mini-Bic and while it is probably one of, if not the lightest lighter available, it does not offer an adjustable flame. They can be bought online 50 for $20. I can buy a 5-pack of Scripto® disposable lighters for $2.00 at Wally World and they do offer an adjustable flame as well as a clear wall so you can see how much fuel you have left. Both of these use the flint and steel wheel spark system that have failed me when wet. I also have an old tried and true Zippo® that I have had for over 25 years, with that, the entire system can be dried; add new flint and wick if necessary and it work again. Unfortunately its fuel runs dry rather quickly.

With that, I am leaning more toward a piezo-electric lighter, but have no experience with them. I have read it is definitely more reliable than a flint lighter. I see Brunton makes their Helios™ Stormproof lighter and claims at least 30,000 piezo ignitions and can get it on sale for about $45. They also make their FuelTool™ for $14. I think the FuelTool™ is a good idea and will let you use the last bits of your fuel canister to refill the Helios™. However, one can buy 150 Scripto® disposable lighter for about the same cost.

Can anyone advise if the Helios™ is worth the extra money (is it really that good) or is it more of a gadget for those that feel the need to have more ‘toys’ (I tend to fall into that category).

[Christopher Plesko]

Weighed 3 mini bic’s today (without warning stickers).

Average was 11.64g. No adjustable flame but that’s what the <1g trick birthday candle is for if needed. At that weight I'm only going to have some matches in the emergency bag and use the lighter for almost everything else. It's just so much easier for me compared to matches.

[Patrick Baker]

1x Mini Bic lighter
8X “Survival” matches & “scratch” pad
1x Sparklite & 4x Sparklite cotton pads

0.8 oz Total

Redundant ? Yes, to a degree.
But hey, fire is fire and this kit weighs less than one ounce.

[cary bertoncini]

(piezo type) FAILED at only 7000 ft. elevation. Just plain wouldn’t work. Works great up to about 5000 ft.

That Helios is supposed to work at genuinely high elevations – if it indeed does, a stormproof piezo lighter that works at high elevation would be worth the price. I’d like to know if anyone has used one much at altitude & if it’s good, it’s on my short list of items to pick up over the next year.

[Stephen Parmenter]

One caveat for piezo type lighters… don’t use them to light your fireworks. There is a little glow wire at the top of the lighter and I have had the sparks thrown off from lighting fireworks ‘burn’ through that wire, making it useless.

[Brian James]

I got a Brunton Firelight in my stocking one year. Mine was a POS: YMMV.

It struck me as some cheap $2 asian knockoff that Brunton branded because they knew that they could make a killing from yuppies buying it. I live at sea level and it won’t light half the time in my living room.

Won’t light right after you fill it.

Won’t light in a wind.

The flashlight feature relies on a gasket that was incredibly thin and frail and kept stretching out and falling out of its’ groove. I bought a decent gasket for 10 cents. The flashlight is frail and finnicky like the lighter part…

And the worst part is that it seems to be machined from solid steel or lead or something. If I was a smoker I would probably have left it in a garbage can by now; as it is I’ve tried enlessly to get it to work and now just keep it around for the reason they sell: it looks neat!

Hopefully the Helios is different. Remember: branding doesn’t always indicate quality.

[Author]

Posts