I like to sit out on the back porch with the dog with a cigar and a shot of Jack Daniels. I’ve been buying all these butane jet lighters. They work great for about a week, then I try to refill them and they don’t work any more. So I decided to go back to a brushed chrome Zippo, like I had in the Army 40 years ago.

Lights every time.

Like my A-2 flight jacket and RayBan Aviators, the classics never go out of style.

Yet another case of the "Tried and True" being the most reliable and that which a person can make "sing and dance" under ALL conditions.

Well, the real jet lighter must have the price tag on it nothing less than $40. These have the real platinum catalytic element and long lasting construction. The primary cause of China made jet lighters is a failure of the piezoelectric igniter. The second - cheap butane refills, which clogs the fine pipes and grease the metal surfaces conducting the igniting spark.

By the way, the jet mode is very sensitive to gas pressure and to the temperature too. Right after refill butane is very cold. Allow 5 minutes for gas to set. The torch lighters with hand regulation of pressure (no tools required) are much more reliable, because you can adjust the pressure as necessary to overcome most of the above mentioned problems.

My $50 bling jet ligther works great. It eats the fuel so it's not something I suggest using all the time. (It's in my BOB, works great for lighting wet stuff.)

Gees, my little Bear Catalytic lighter has been going strong for about 4 years now, after being refilled maybe half a dozen times with various brands of butane. That little lighter cost me $8.00 at Walmart and it's been all over the world with me.

I have owned a few refillable catalytics that have not done well after being refilled. I gave up on butane powered soldering irons altogether. They have never been reliable enough for me to count on.

No doubt, one of twenty of those cheapos could be made well enough just by an accident No warranty though. And half a dozen refills is not that much impressive. I'm refilling mine every week or so...

That is a lot more use than I make of my lightgers. I only puff on a pipe once in a while and seldom use it for much else. It does fire up everytime I pop it out and push the tab.

Maybe I am just a little lucky.