Best butane lighter?

[Eric Noble]

I know this thread is about the best butane lighter, but, I choose not to use a lighter. With a Spark-Lite and a little hand sanitizer I can easily light anything. Like Patrick, I also carry storm proof matches, but haven’t had to use them yet. I also carry trick birthday candles and a Fresnel lens. The lens is more for seeing stuff than for fires. All of my stoves (white gas, canister and alcohol) light as easily with the Spark-Lite as they would with a lighter. Esbit needs a little help from the hand sanitizer. A lighter is too complicated.

[Dale Wambaugh]

I’m trying a Coleman (Colibri) Tempest at the moment. The lighters with the flip top have more weather resistance, but that lid also gets in the way. It does stay lit in the wind, I guess due to that glowing wire– platinum maybe? The Tempest is a bit heavy, but it does have an LED flashlight built in. I got one on Ebay and it was old stock and the batteries were shot. I see Target has them on sale on their web site. I found some alkaline replacement batteries on Ebay cheap enough, but the originals are proably silver-oxide, which run $3.99 each at Radio Shack— and it takes 4 (!!!!). Ouch.

Next batter up: Sierra Trading Post has a less weighty (1.6oz) model of Colibri, the Firebird Submersible, for $12.95: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/product.aspx?baseno=98253 This looks more like a good tool and less gadget-like than the Tempest. It has the same windproof ignition system and a fuel level window. I’ll report back when I get a look at this one.

At this point the latter Cricket model is cheap, lights well, has a good fuel capacity and adjustable flame. It is long enough to get a good grip on and I wrap some duct tape around to for storage. Another writer here came up wih the idea of taping a safety pin with the eye out to hand from a lanyard and I do that too.

The little safety pin trick could work with a lot of items: I’m thinking about epoxying one to my Lexan spork.

[Dennis Horwitz]

I have had a lot of problems with lighters at high altitudes – 5000 ft or higher. The butane type seem to have pressurization problems. On the other hand, the liquid fuel Zippo always works. Opinions and experiences from others?

[Christopher Plesko]

I live at 5500 feet and commonly go to 8-9k. I can’t remember ever having a Bic not work for me. I’ll try out the regular Bic and minibic’s this weekend at 14k+ when I make some breakfast tea on the summit of Gray’s.

Chris

[J R]

I live at 6000ft, and regularly go several thousand feet higher.

One time at Barr Camp (10,200ft on the way to summit Pikes peak) the only lighter we could get to work was a Bic.

Of course, I have also had issues with Bic’s not working at 8000ft, so it might depend on the manf batch.

Storm proof matches might not be the lightest option, but they always work.

[Summit CO]

I live at 9,300ft and regularly go to the 12s and 13s. I’ve never had a bic not work as long as it was warm enough for the butane/soaked. Altitude itself has no effect on flint/steel sparking or butane coming out. Temp/mouisture are the issue.

I’ve been told that piezo issues at altitude have to do with with the resistivity of air which goes up with altitude, preventing sparking. Moisture I think can complicate because you can get shorts. Lots of people have talked about autoignition stoves failing to spark at higher altitudes and humidtimes. This sometimes can be helped by bending the element close to grill so the gap distance is smaller. You might not be able to do that on a lighter, however the gap distance is generally much smaller though the piezo element may not create as much of a differential.

We had a jetboil ignition system fail at 11.8 but that appears to be unrelated to altitude. The ceramic insulator cracked and cause it to spark nowhere near where we wanted.

[Niall Fritz]

Old tech wins. Zippo works in wind and at 10,000 to 12,000 feet; rain or snow. You can also use it as a quick hand warmer by heating the cap before closing it. You can keep it burning as long as you have fuel,and not get burnt holding it or by what you’re lighting since you don’t have to hold it near the flame.

The fancy butane model I once had wasn’t dependable above 5K. Bic is the next best choice; I’ve found the flint models more dependable than piezos.

[cary bertoncini]

other than the full size all titanium model that is pricey (1.6oz), I have’nt seen any weights for zippo models.

wondering how much a “slim” model weighs and if different finishes have significantly different weights.

anyone?

[David White]

According to the FAQ and Trivia section of the Zippo website; the regular Zippo weighs 2.05 oz. and the Slim Zippo weighs 1.50 oz. I assume thats without fuel.

[Mike Storesund]

My Zippo standard brass weighs 2.0 oz. (on my postal scale) with full fuel. Other than running out of fuel, it has never failed me from sea-level to 13,000 ft.

I guess I will continue to use it, with matches and forget the newer butane gadgets.

David got the corporate answer in thread above.

[Dale Wambaugh]

” Sierra Trading Post has a less weighty (1.6oz) model of Colibri, the Firebird Submersible, for $12.95: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/product.aspx?baseno=98253 This looks more like a good tool and less gadget-like than the Tempest. It has the same windproof ignition system and a fuel level window. I’ll report back when I get a look at this one.”

Got it today and it is 1.4oz on my scale. It’s a blowtorch too. The ignition is piezoelectric and is supplemented by a platinum catylist wire– if you try to blow it out, the glowing hot wire keeps the flame going. It is refillable and has a fuel view port. Heavier, yes, but it makes a miniBic look like toy. More water resistant too. Definitely a bargain over the Helios at $13.

[cary bertoncini]

love it if below 6000 feet elevation – above that it doesn’t seem to work at all.

[Dale Wambaugh]

The flame adjustment screw has the black plastic cover/stop on it. You can pull it out with a pair of tweezers– it just sits on top of the serrated brass end on the screw. With that out of the way, you can adjust the flame to suit your conditions. Once you find a good mid-point, the cover/stop just slides back on the end of the screw. I elected to keep it to prevent moisture and dirt from getting in there. Gross adjustments may be unsafe– use your brains there.

[Scott Toraason]

I just tried my Windmill Stormproof Lighter 362-0001 after reading the comments on this thread. The lighter worked fine below 5,000 feet, had difficulty igniting at 6,100 feet, and would not ignite at a known elevation point of 7,555 feet. After my trip I carefully re-read the instructions regarding high and lower altitude operation and the recommendation of flame adjustment. I just very respectfully emailed the company and asked them with proper flame adjustment, I assume increase in flame for higher altitudes, was this lighter designed to be functional up to say 10,000 feet. It will be interesting to see if they reply.

[Ken Helwig]

I gave up using mine because of the problems with altitude.

[Anonymous]

My suspicion is that the problem is the piezo. I say this because I have found piezos on my canister stoves to be useless above about 6000 feet. Fine for the Cascades, worthless in the Sierra. The butane fuel, both in Bics and canisters, has always worked just fine, at least for 3 season backpacking.

[Ken Helwig]

right no use in the Sierra’s

[cary bertoncini]

I took off the cap and adjusted as described above and was able to get it to work this time, but still not on every click

dammit when I was on the summit at 10K I forgot to take it out and try it up there!

[Peter King]

Had no problems recently with a mini Cricket lighter at 12,500′. Didn’t think to try it at the summits, unfortunately.

[Scott Toraason]

I just received an email from Abel Silva at Essential Gear regarding high altitude performance of the Windmill Stormproof Lighter. His response was helpful but greater explanation was provided in the High Altitude instructions on their website at http://www.essentialgear.com then go to Butane Lighters, Windmill, then to High Altitude.

Basically as one gains in altitude the flame adjustment (oxygen/fuel mixture) needs to be turned down so there is less flame and more 02. It was also stated that the Windmill was designed to work up to 9,000’. The obvious of keeping the lighter warm and using premium, i.e. triple refined butane, was stated. Reported successful use of the Windmill up to 15,000’ was stated in the High Altitude online section. They said that, I didn’t.

[Scott Toraason]

I just received an email from Abel Silva at Essential Gear regarding high altitude performance of the Windmill Stormproof Lighter. His response was helpful but greater explanation was provided in the High Altitude instructions on their website at http://www.essentialgear.com then go to Butane Lighters, Windmill, then to High Altitude.

Basically as one gains in altitude the flame adjustment (oxygen/fuel mixture) needs to be turned down so there is less flame and more 02. It was also stated that the Windmill was designed to work up to 9,000’. The obvious of keeping the lighter warm and using premium, i.e. triple refined butane, was stated. Reported successful use of the Windmill up to 15,000’ was stated in the High Altitude online section. They said it I didn’t.

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