Best Survival Lighter - NOT Zippo

[MrMillspecer]

Agree w Republican on the Bic. I keep mine in a zip lock bag. And have the magnesium striker, as well as the wooden survival matches as a backup.

 

[Camelfilter]

The best lighter is a five pack of bic lighters. Well made, cheap, will dry out eventually if it gets wet.

5 packs for $3.50 at BiMart in the current flyer...

 

[Certaindeaf]

5 packs for $3.50 at BiMart in the current flyer...

5-pack for a dollar at the dollar store.. every day.

 

[Republican]

I read an article written by a guy who survived the war in Yugoslavia. He gave a lot of good prepping advice. One thing he said was " if you have $500 for a generator, you would be way better off with 500 bic lighters. Changed the way I think about prepping forever.

 

[Camelfilter]

I read an article written by a guy who survived the war in Yugoslavia. He gave a lot of good prepping advice. One thing he said was " if you have $500 for a generator, you would be way better off with 500 bic lighters. Changed the way I think about prepping forever.

Interesting thought process.

I would suppose it would depend upon what one were prepping for as well. How long, with what etc.

Generators are a convenience, not a necessity.

 

[Joe13]

Storm matches are an essential in my mind (slightly off topic sorry).

They can get wet and burn like road flares for wet tender - I always have those in a container.

Did I mention I'm a fire bug?


If it burns things I'm interested in taking it with me lol.

 

[edslhead]

These are pretty good. All butane lighters are hit and miss on quality. Ive had one a these working for over two years now. Not sure where they make em.
Amazon.com: Xikar 9660BK Stratosphere II Lighter In Black Stratosphere Ii Lighter In Black: Health & Personal Care

Should have said all refillable butane lighters. I agree just pack some Bic's and at least one will work.
I spent $75 on a fancy new Xikar once and it arrived DOA. How can you count on something like that?

 

[Martini_Up]

for whatever reason, I don't have any luck with the elcheapo Bic lighters. I don't know if my thumb is too fat, too weak, whatever.....

They're a bit more but I get wwwaaaayyyy more reliability out of the Scripto lighters so those are what I stash.

 

[Tony617]

I have a few bundles of hurricane matches and a few packages of tinder material. I also have a swiss fire starter. Probably need to invest in a good lighter as well.

 

[Jamie6.5]

I have both paper and wood (short and long) matches, and plenty of each. Bic lighters and Zippos, with extra fuel and extra flints, and lint/wax, lint/vaseline starters. But when things are at their wettest and worst, I also have my 7-1/2 min. fusee road flares.
I have been in a situation where that was the only thing that would start the fire. The wood was wet and then frozen hard, and the flare was the only thing that burned hot enough and long enough to get the pile of twigs/sticks going to the point of making a self-sustaining fire.
So now there's always at least 2 in my BO stuff.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Flares are indeed good to have! I keep a half dozen in each vehicle.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

5-pack for a dollar at the dollar store.. every day.

one time some crackhead inline infront of me at 7/11 bought 16 lighters for some reason

 

[Jamie6.5]

Flares are indeed good to have! I keep a half dozen in each vehicle.

Drop a couple in your pack too. They keep forever, and can be used for starting fires, emergency light, and even signaling at night in remote areas.

 

[ArgentineSteel]

+1 on BIC butane lighters.

Really the only good thing about the Zippo, is that if it has fuel in it, and it's not full of water, it should light. It's much less sensitive to cold/altitude than butane lighters are. The problem with them is in hot weather they're pretty much out of gas in about 3-5 days. I used to carry a zippo, I've since switched over pretty much totally to BiC lighters, the only downside with them is that it's hard to determine how much fuel is in them without a bright flashlight. But they're cheap and sold just about everywhere. I think a 5-pack at walmart is $3?

I haven't had too many problems with Piezo lighters, I remember when we were kids we would buy them and tear the piezo element out to shock each other with, eventually they would go bad after a few days. I don't know if this is still the standard, I rarely use them. I had a butane torch type lighter I carried for a while that someone gave me, it worked ok and was fairly reliable. I think for survival use I would stick with a Bic.

I carry a small zippo on campouts. Fill it prior to the weekend trip.

All my gear bags have the cheap bics. And the mini-bic lighter will fit in an altoid can, with a chapstick, a couple cotton swabs, lots of vital stuff.

 

[AMProducts]

I carry a small zippo on campouts. Fill it prior to the weekend trip.

All my gear bags have the cheap bics. And the mini-bic lighter will fit in an altoid can, with a chapstick, a couple cotton swabs, lots of vital stuff.

Pill bottles work really well if you're using vaseline swabs, keeps the stuff from getting all over your stuff.

 

[CountryGent]

I've had this 3 or 4 dollar refillable one for a couple years now and has started my camp stove many times. it is a pipe lighter and really saves your fingers.
View attachment 345641

^. I've had pretty good results with this type in recent years.

 

[Lazyfaire]

one time some crackhead inline infront of me at 7/11 bought 16 lighters for some reason

They use butane to make hash oil (which is what blows them up too)

 

[Joe13]

They use butane to make hash oil (which is what blows them up too)

They don't use bic lighters for that, they use purified refills - 12 to 16oz containers I think. I've seen them at the shady mini marts that carry odd things.

 

[cigars]

The Djeep is one of my favorite all around lighters. Nice broad flame is excellent for lighting cigars or whatever you want to ignite. Square, compact shape fits comfortably in the hand. Find them at your favorite cigar shop.

 

[Joe13]

The Djeep is one of my favorite all around lighters. Nice broad flame is excellent for lighting cigars or whatever you want to ignite. Square, compact shape fits comfortably in the hand. Find them at your favorite cigar shop.

View attachment 369836

I thought cigars are lit with the cedar paper that separates levels of cigars in a box