How long will a mini Bic last?

Joe Brewer (YouTube) claims his lasted at least two thrus, AT & PCT.

Wow, that’s impressive.  I’m wondering if I shouldn’t bother buying a new mini Bic then for my CT thru?  Just use my old one that’s seen a handful of weekend trips?

I like the lighter colored ones that let me see the fuel level.  I use a canister a lot and just use the spark, no fuel.

I have been using the same one for 4 years. I only cook dinner mind you so I use it less than most, but it still has some fluid in it.

I have one I’ve used for 10 years, so some 275-300 days, and it’s about done.  This would be in line with Joe’s experience as well.  Sometimes I just use the sparker to ignite my stove and don’t do campfires or doobies. ?

I used the same mini Bic for my entire thru-hike of the AT. I haven’t used it as much since but it’s still in that same pot and I still use it. I would take one in your cook kit and put another in your first-aid/survival kit. I’ve had stickers stop working on lighters before.

If you didn’t get a translucent color that you can visualize the butane through, then weigh it before any use and after exhaustion.  A full one is 11+ grams. I haven’t used one up yet, but others on BPL have reported almost empty is 9 grams.  2+ grams of fuel in a mini-Bic.  Full-sized Bics have 4.5 grams of fuel in them: 21.75 grams full, 17.25 empty.

The more important question is if that 2-4 grams of butane counts against your base weight. I mean, it’s fuel, right?

Generally speaking, it takes more fuel to light Esbit than to light anything else if you hold the flame to the corner of the tab to light it.

Different, of course, if you’re using some sort of fire starting assistant such as PJCB etc that starts with a spark.

Per Ken T, unless you have a light-colored one and can confirm fuel level it might be best to splurge on a new mini Bic for an important trip.   ;^)

I think the 2ish grams of Butane shouldn’t count towards your baseweight if you plan to consume it. If you are carrying around that extra butane knowing that you’ll never use it, that’s just stupid and worthy of banishment from the SUL forums.

Someone needs to test cutting down the length of Mini-bics, resealing the end, and refilling. Length of mini bic should be relevant to planned trip length.

Save the grams. All the grams.

Indeed.

I am quite alarmed by the recent trend to go back to regular sized Bics.

Heresy, plain and simple.

And yes, a mini Bic lasts so long (too long, one might argue) that there is certainly justification for a nano Bic.

Esbit requires a little more effort to ignite IMHO. My new found Jet lighter is the best for esbit. Sounds like a mini jet boil or canister stove. 

Too heavy and those igniters fail. Good luck with it at altitude. Last one I had didn’t work over 5000′

“I am quite alarmed by the recent trend to go back to regular sized Bics.”

Agreed, a regrettable development. Mechanical failure and loss of device are greater threats than running out of fuel. That’s where the redundancy of two Mini-Bics is more prudent, one carried in pocket, one in the pack. The strike-anywhere matches are possibly overkill at that point, although I do that too.

“I am quite alarmed by the recent trend to go back to regular sized Bics.”

Of course, a full-sized Bic will cut into your weight allowance for your iPad, iPod, iPhone, GPS, MP3 player and large battery backup system. Can’t have that.

Cheers

+1 what Roger said.  Good one Roger :-)

Whatever Roger. You can carry two minis for the weight of one standard size.

minions gotta minion

http://support.backpackinglight.com/article/48-are-forums-moderated-what-are-your-guidelines

Yeah, yeah, I know. I have carried mini-Bics too, but I found them a bit harder to use when my fingers were freezing cold in the snow. They were a bit too small. I made my own trade-offs.

Cheers

David,

Here’s the answer…

Here’s more BIC information than anyone would ever want to know

@ngatel, thank you…the additional info was much appreciated. Do you know if “The Pilgrim 68˚ North” uses a bic?

Some additional info from Nick Gatel’s site:
In winter I often bring a backup BIC Mini, as the inability to start a fire could be life threatening or worse. The past 3 years or so I have been taking a BIC Mini Electronic on snow trips. The piezo has worked fine at high altitude up to around 12,000 feet. Beyond that it doesn’t work.
Heavier than the regular BIC (also available in the classic size), it has two advantages. It is easier to light and if it gets wet, it only takes a couple minutes or less to start working again. Sometimes I take a Mini Electronic when I will be using Esbit fuel as the fuel sometimes requires the flame to be applied to the Esbit cube for a few seconds. It is easy to light the BIC Mini Electronic with a forefinger instead of a thumb, which makes it easier to hold it to the Esbit cube. This would be helpful if you are a chimpanzee.

Do you know if “The Pilgrim 68˚ North” uses a bic?

Don’t know. Our conversations are about free market economics, personal accountability, and cheesecake; not gear. He doesn’t use Esbit, but an ancient MSR liquid stove — probably a Whisperlite. But I suspect on his last trip he wasn’t using a BIC since he was cooking dinner in temperatures often below -20F.

cricket lighters for me

How can I resist a lighter discussion?  A few years back I had three fire starting systems fail within 2 days during a PCT section hike.  My primary mini bic lighter ran out of fuel while trying to cook my dinner, my backup lighter wouldn’t light the next morning and my strike anywhere matches wouldn’t. Fortunately I had just come off the trail and waiting for a friend to pic me up the next morning.

The running out of fuel issue surprised me but I had been using esbit tabs for 20 plus day by then.  As noted by others you’re going to use a lot of lighter fuel with esbits due to the difficulty of lighting them.   Answer to the question about how long the mini bic lasts–“it depends.”

I do love a torch lighter for esbit but haven’t found one that meets my sometimes strict standards. Short trips are no problem but on long trips all of them I’ve tried have issues.

For general reliability the mini bic is hard to beat but I’ve found mini clipper lighters an alternative that I haven’t fully tested over time but has some features that makes it a better choice than a mini bic.

1.  Refillable (I use an adaptor to fill the lighter with isopro canister fuel).
2.  A better designed flint wheel to make lighting easier when your hands are freezing.
3. The flints are replaceable.
4. Same weight as the mini bic but a bit taller.

I’ve been using the same mini Bic off and on for the last 2-3 summers. I’m curious–has anyone quantified their usage of mini Bic’s? I only use mine to ignite my Esbit tabs for breakfast and dinner. At this rate, when will I need to resupply? I’m planning a thru-hike of the CT that will take me about 28 days to complete. Maybe a new mini Bic at the start and a new mini Bic in my resupply box about 250 miles in?

I don’t know exactly how long a mini Bic lasts, but for me having two of them is a perfect example of sensible redundancy even for ultralight backpacking, because mini Bics are so light, subject to failure or loss, useful on a daily basis, and a potentially lifesaving device if I get in serious trouble in a remote area. Personally, I’d carry two the whole way, one in my cook kit and one in a plastic bag in a pocket (inside if it’s cold) of clothing that I’ll always be wearing during the day. There’s even a chance my extra lighter will bail out another hiker who has lost the use of their own fire source.